More Chinese graduates are trying their luck at starting their own business instead of working for someone else. But being an entrepreneur isn't easy, and not everyone's startup becomes a success story from the start. Demand for entrepreneurial support has given rise to a new industry -- entrepreneur education.
Over the past two decades, entrepreneurship in China has grown rapidly, and it is set to become a driving economic force in the country. In order to build a country of innovators, Zhang Tao and his team decided to provide services dedicated to helping budding entrepreneurs, including training and consultation.
"The core of our service is to provide guidance to young entrepreneurs. It is no doubt that they are professional in their own fields. However, over 50 percent of young start-ups fail because they lack experience in real practice," said Zhang Tao, CEO of Yeebee.
In order to encourage young entrepreneurs, many cities have set up start-up incubators, and come up with a variety of favorable policies such as tax reductions and housing subsidy.
Office buildings like this are sprouting across China to harbor young entrepreneurs – many are fresh graduates who lack experience. What they need is not just a working space, but effective guidance from real mentors.
Wang Chunfeng’s company is in a good place today. But he remembers how badly he needed guidance back when he just started out.
"We failed in all of our early attempts before 2010 – there was not much help we could find. When the company finally got on track and we needed to raise more funds, we found ourselves lacking experience in this area too. But now it is not hard to find help," said Wang Chunfeng, Dep. Gen. manager of Mobsys.
Unlike Wang and his company, many entrepreneurs today are just starting out. Some are even fresh graduates from college.
"For young entrepreneurs, being practical is more important. Instead of feeding them with unrealistic ideas, we are trying to help them solve their problems," said Zhao Wei, manager of Suhehui.
Seminars like this are popular among young entrepreneurs. And hundreds are being held in Beijing every day, often involving topics such as equity structure, law and intellectual property. And with knowledge set firmly in place, innovation is sure to follow.