"If you want to start a business, don’t just stay on the idea. Practice makes true knowledge. Don’t hesitate to have an idea. Just do it at once. The cost of trial and error in the early stage is very low, even if it fails, it is also an experience. " Wang Zihan, a 2021 graduate of Capital Normal University, who has been insisting on starting a business since university, said.
Wang Zihan is the main founder of a smart agricultural science and technology company. Since his sophomore year, he has put the idea of starting a business into practice step by step, and has successfully settled in Beijing University Student Pioneer Park (Science and Technology Park) to enjoy policy support. Today, the company founded by Wang Zihan is getting better and better.
Like Wang Zihan, there are many college students who choose to start their own businesses. On the road to entrepreneurship, what confusion and detours have they taken? What help did you get in the process of starting a business?
In 2021, Liu Fayuan and his team members undertook the photo service of student ID and business photos of the whole school. Photo courtesy of respondents
We should have the idea of solving practical problems and have like-minded partners.
"Based on internet plus’s new agriculture, we will provide users with a set of intelligent agricultural Internet of Things system to provide comprehensive services for the whole link of seed, production and sales." Wang Zihan and other founders started the "mini-pastoral" entrepreneurial project in July 2019. The initial idea was to solve the food safety problem, and at the same time, to increase the entertainment and popular science, so that more people can understand and like agriculture. Users can rent land online on the platform, let farm employees plant the vegetables and fruits they want, and observe the planting situation in real time through monitoring. "When the crops are ripe, farm employees can package and mail the vegetables and fruits to users."
At the same time, farmers also have a set of planting auxiliary systems. "Many farmers still grow vegetables based on years of experience, but the natural environment is changeable and the experience is not scientific and accurate enough. Our equipment and system can monitor the growth environment of crops, such as temperature, humidity, water and other information. Farmers can see the growth of crops in real time on their mobile phones, and can also realize automatic watering and fertilization directly through the system. "
At the beginning of 2020, affected by the epidemic, the sales of agricultural products in some areas were blocked. The "mini pastoral" project ushered in the first development opportunity. Wang Zihan, who grew up in the countryside, has a natural love for the land. He still remembers the scene when his grandparents braved the rainstorm to grab rice in the summer night when he was young. "My other founders and I grew up in the countryside. The original idea was just to help my family reduce the burden. Later, I didn’t expect that there were so many people in need, and I also helped many farmers during the epidemic."
When seeing the continuous orders on the platform, Wang Zihan and the founders felt great encouragement. "Many people sold their dishes through our platform. This sense of accomplishment is unspeakable. We will continue to work hard to do research and development and upgrade."
In September, 2020, Wang Zihan and his founders’ "Mini Pastoral" project won the first prize of the 6th China International "internet plus" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition for College Students (Beijing Division).
Perhaps from earlier, Wang Zihan showed his "talent" in entrepreneurship. Wang Zihan High School studied in Tianjin Yaohua Middle School and joined the school’s entrepreneurial club. "There is a senior who is going abroad soon. She knows a lot about entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial environment at home and abroad. She shares her experience with us every time she participates in a club activity. She said,’ Entrepreneurship means finding the pain points around us, then finding and solving problems, and making our life better.’ Her words planted a seed of entrepreneurship in my heart early, and I remember it very clearly. "
Wang Zihan remembered that he had put forward a particularly interesting idea at that time, "I used to like playing basketball very much, but girls were more clean. Playing basketball always made clothes very dirty. I wonder if I can make basketball with a soil-free material, so that my clothes won’t get dirty. " Thinking of his "whimsy" in high school, Wang Zihan smiled happily.
On the road to entrepreneurship, in addition to good ideas, you can’t do without like-minded partners. Liu Fayuan, a junior majoring in polymer materials in beijing university of chemical technology College of Materials Science and Engineering, is deeply impressed.
"I started making videos when I first went to college. At that time, I mainly wanted to record my college life." At the beginning of 2021, Liu Fayuan published a circle of friends in the circle of friends in his own name. I didn’t expect more than 60 people to sign up for the microfilm within a week.
"I’m surprised. I didn’t expect so many people to want to do it." Liu Fayuan quickly set up a shooting team, and embarked on the road of entrepreneurship after the shooting task, and founded the film and television studio of Chenying Mathematics. Many of the more than 60 people who made movies with him still stay in his startup company.
The "Mini Pastoral" project team is in the office of Beijing University Students Pioneer Park (Science and Technology Park). Photo courtesy of respondents
From site support to patent application, national policies solve worries
"There are tables and chairs, and the environment is also very good. The area is about 20 square meters, which can meet 6 to 8 people working together. " Liu Fayuan said. Since March, Liu Fayuan has gradually increased the frequency of working in Beijing University Students Pioneer Park (Science and Technology Park). In time for the summer vacation, he rented a house nearby and basically went there every day. Since he settled in October last year, he has increasingly felt the importance of the platform for startups.
Beijing University Student Pioneer Park (Science and Technology Park) is one of the incubation systems of Beijing University Student Pioneer Park. In 2015, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission issued the "High-quality Employment and Entrepreneurship Plan for Beijing Universities" to start the construction of the business incubation system for college students in Beijing. At present, there are four municipal college students’ pioneering parks in Beijing, namely Liangxiang Park, Software Park, Science and Technology Park and Shahe Park, as well as 25 university sub-parks, and the incubation system of "one street, four parks and more points" has been formally established. Up to now, the total incubation area of "Four Parks and Multi-Points" is 85,000 square meters, and 4,225 entrepreneurial teams of college students have been incubated, which has led to 24,594 jobs and raised more than 2 billion yuan.
"Here are all startups. When chatting with them, I will learn about their company’s establishment, original intention and business strategy, including their different professional backgrounds and experiences, which brings me a lot of help and impact. And these are difficult to learn in other channels. " Liu Fayuan told reporters that he deeply felt the "same frequency resonance" with these entrepreneurs and received a lot of useful information.
Located in Haidian District, where high-tech enterprises gather in Beijing, surrounded by start-up companies, spacious and bright office space and intimate entrepreneurial policy services … Beijing University Student Pioneer Park (Science and Technology Park) has given many college entrepreneurs a warm space.
Kuang Xiaozhen, director of the Employment and Entrepreneurship Guidance Center for College Students in Beijing, once said that after the entrepreneurial team moves in, it can not only get the support of free rent, water, electricity and property fees, but also enjoy basic services such as policy consultation, industrial and commercial registration, legal services, full-process banking services, upgraded services such as professional training, tutor counseling and talent recruitment, as well as expanded services such as investment and financing docking, industry docking and ecological platform construction.
"I probably calculated that the venue alone can save me more than 100,000 yuan a year." Liu Fayuan said. For large enterprises, hundreds of thousands may be nothing, but for the college students’ entrepreneurial team in the initial stage, the saved funds can do more things, which also means unlimited possibilities.
These college entrepreneurs also received a lot of support from the school during their school days. "The First Normal University set up a technology transfer center two years ago. We settled in, applied for business licenses, applied for incubation projects, etc. The teachers here have given a lot of help. If you want to apply for patent intellectual property rights, the school also has financial support for patent fees. " Wang Zihan said. The Technology Transfer Center of Capital Normal University is a platform for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements of Beijing Science and Technology Commission and a member of Zhongguancun Technology Managers Association. It is the first batch of technology transfer institutions established in response to Beijing’s call. It is responsible for the daily operation of the "Sunac Base of Capital Normal University", which is used as a hub to integrate various innovative and entrepreneurial resources of the school and promote the radiation of scientific and technological achievements to the science and technology commissions of Beijing and Zhongguancun Park.
Intelligent agricultural Internet of Things monitoring equipment used in "mini-pastoral". Photo courtesy of respondents
The "compulsory course" on the road to entrepreneurship is team management.
Coming from the campus, most of the initial members of many college students’ entrepreneurial teams are classmates who get along with each other day and night. For many entrepreneurs, learning to manage the team well has become a "compulsory course" on the road to entrepreneurship.
As for leading the team, Wang Zihan thinks that the difficulty lies in how to make the team members agree with the tasks they have released and carry them out without reservation. "Everyone is a student and has his own study and life. From a practical point of view, it is impossible to put all the time in entrepreneurial projects. From a management perspective, it is still quite difficult. "
At the same time, every road in front of graduates may make the entrepreneurial team "go their separate ways".
Liu Fayuan also had deep distress about this. "There are many students in the team, and the students are unstable." Fortunately, Liu Fayuan was inspired by the same entrepreneurial team after he settled in Beijing University Students Pioneer Park (Science and Technology Park).
"We have a senior from Peking University on the 11th floor. He has been doing an entrepreneurial project in the campus market. I told him this thing about me. " Liu Fayuan said that the seniors told him that both the student team and the adult entrepreneurial team will face various factors that lead to personnel instability. When faced with this situation, what needs to be done is to stabilize the members who have been following themselves, maximize their enthusiasm and attract more fresh forces through projects.
For the survival of the fittest of team members, the sharing of seniors also made Liu Fayuan suddenly realize.
"When I was in a meeting at the company before, I kept telling everyone that’ I want to take the company as my home’. But what the seniors told me was that the team could not be regarded as a home. " Liu Fayuan explained that there is no concept of elimination at home, and there will only be more and more people, but the team is different. The team should be more like a team. "Unsuitable people should be screened out, and the right people can join in at any time, so as to ensure that the whole team has been rushing forward."
On the issue of human resources management, Wang Zihan chose to minor in one major to help himself. "I minored in two majors, one of which is human resources and public affairs management. I feel that I am still inspired by taking the team."
"When you are ready to start a business, you must always stick to it and don’t waver." Some people left and others joined. In the course of two years’ entrepreneurship, what impressed Liu Fayuan most was his personal mentality. As a college student entrepreneur, whether he insisted on starting a business, went to the postgraduate entrance examination, or went abroad to study, every road was full of temptations. "I also wavered, but I finally chose to start a business. As a founder, you must put your position right. Many people are following me, so stick to your choice and firmly believe that your choice is correct. "
Liu Fayuan participated in the 2022 Zhongguancun Entrepreneurship Roadshow. Photo courtesy of respondents
Taking both study and entrepreneurship into consideration, "Entrepreneurship is the final week every day"
For students, studies always seem to come first. This is an unavoidable problem for college students who are busy starting their own businesses.
Wang Zihan majored in secretarial science, and minored in two majors at the same time. The dense courses allow Wang Zihan to absorb new knowledge, but also take up a lot of time. "In fact, the learning content is relatively easy to grasp, but time is really tight. Especially after the project, I have to take two teams and participate in various competitions, which will be really desperate. However, when I came over and looked back, it was really a shining experience. I was busy with what I liked, and every moment was very fulfilling. "
Liu Fayuan is also very busy, busy with classes, busy with starting a business, and busy with self-learning about entrepreneurship and management. "Especially in the final week, when I saw that everyone in the group and friends circle was short of time, I thought it was too childish. Because besides the final exam, I am also busy with starting a business. Entrepreneurship can’t stop for a day, and entrepreneurship is the final week every day. "
Fortunately, despair and nervousness on the road to entrepreneurship are always accompanied by a great sense of accomplishment.
"At the end of last year, our company was making a year-end summary. Then I found that there were only four startups, but by the end of the year, there were already 26 people. Together with some people at school, there were more than 40 people. " Liu Fayuan explained that it is not simply because of the increase in the number of people, but more sense of accomplishment comes from so many people’s recognition of the road he chose. "More people join, which proves that the road to entrepreneurship is correct. I think this is the most fulfilling for me."
From a simple idea to a start-up company, Wang Zihan and Liu Fayuan have experienced many ups and downs and gained growth.
"Whether it is the teammates of the entrepreneurial team, the teachers who gave me guidance, or even the judges who will give us advice after the game, and the business partners of other companies, everyone is giving us help and support. Whether an entrepreneurial project can finally succeed, I think people are the most important, and the idea of the project is second, because I pay special attention to team members. " Wang Zihan said.
In June, 2022, "Several Measures to Support College Graduates’ Employment and Entrepreneurship in Beijing" was officially issued, in which more support policies were put forward for college students’ entrepreneurship.
In terms of financing, the GEM and the sub-fund of Beijing Science and Technology Innovation Fund have been strengthened to connect with college students’ entrepreneurial projects, and the policy of guaranteed loans and interest subsidies for entrepreneurship has been implemented, giving financial support such as one-time entrepreneurial subsidies. On the site, the longest free service period of the college student pioneer park will be extended from 2 years to 3 years, and it is clear that about 30% of the sites will be arranged for entrepreneurial carriers such as incubation bases invested and developed by the government, which will be provided to college graduates free of charge. In the incentive mechanism, colleges and universities are encouraged to comprehensively use policies such as allowing students to leave school to start businesses, counting entrepreneurial achievements into credits, and promoting the award-winning and exemption. At the same time, the pilot project of affordable rental housing for college graduates in Beijing during the graduation year was launched.
This is undoubtedly good news for many college students who want to try their best in the field of entrepreneurship.
[Project Introduction]
Mini Tianyuan
● Co-founder: Wang Zihan
● Project introduction: Based on internet plus’s new agriculture, provide users with a set of intelligent agricultural Internet of Things system. The system provides comprehensive services for the whole link of seed, production and sales. Users can rent land and plant vegetables and fruits online on the platform.
Chen ying Shu ke movie and television studio
● Co-founder: Liu Fayuan
● Project introduction: independently develop, host or undertake various types of film and television planning and post-production, and strive to help customers realize the integrated film and television services of individual and group display image enhancement, corporate brand building and media communication.
Beijing News reporter Yang Feifei
Editor Miao Chenxia proofreads Zhai Yongjun.
