Grassroots entrepreneurial story-handmade soap entrepreneurial story

Entrepreneurship has nothing to do with age and gender. As long as you want and are willing to act, you will have your own entrepreneurial story. Let me share with you the story of grassroots entrepreneurship. I hope you like it! Welcome to read!

Selling handmade soap for the first time

I majored in civil engineering at the university. You must be surprised how a engineering male can be reduced to selling soap, and it is easy to find a job by studying civil engineering. When I first entered the university, I thought I should devote my youth and sweat to the great construction of the motherland. It was just an accident superimposed on another accident, and finally I miraculously stayed with soap for a lifetime. I also had a good time in college. I have been a monitor for three years in four years, served as the president of a society in the college, won a scholarship from the school, passed Band 4, got a second-class computer certificate and so on. Even if I didn't write down my wonderful entrepreneurial experience at school, it was quite beautiful.

Becoming attached to handmade soap was really an accident. In the third year of college, I started to open a shop in the school. First, I opened a women's clothing store in partnership with my very good friend Wei Chun, and then I opened a boutique myself. The magical history of selling handmade soap began from this boutique.

When I was in college, I knew nothing about love. She is in Wuhan and I am in Nanchang. We are in a long-distance relationship. These trains can be said to be the best testimony of my beautiful love.

(Nanchang to Wuhan always buy a hard seat or a station ticket for the night)

There was a stroll in her school, in the snack street at the southeast gate of China Normal University. A beautifully decorated shop attracted me deeply, and the window was filled with many stones and the like, which was particularly beautiful under the warm yellow light. Only after listening to the boss's introduction did I know that the stone-like thing is handmade soap, which can replace facial cleanser to wash my face. This is the first time I've heard of this magical thing. It's very novel. On the recommendation of the boss, we each bought a piece.

If my first contact with handmade soap started when I stumbled across this store, then the thing that really brought me into contact with the business of selling handmade soap by myself should be reading the boss's book with registered customer information. She sends members to every customer who spends two yuan or more in her shop and keeps records. I am surprised how there are so many members in her shop, and judging from the decoration of the shop, it is not an old shop that has been open for a long time. At that time, my boutique had already opened, so I was wondering if I could sell this product in my own shop. Logically speaking, the customers I face are all students, so they will sell well.

When we went back in the evening, the two of us specially experienced washing our faces with this soap and compared it with facial cleanser. It's really nice, very clean and comfortable. I was very excited at that time. After much discussion, I decided to take this product back for sale. The next day, I went to that store again, talked with the boss all morning, and immediately took more than 3 thousand goods from that store. Back in Nanchang, I have an extra suitcase filled with handmade soap.

Second, graduate to work

Opening a shop at school is just my sideline. As a business practice, these shops are also resold after graduation. Like most people, I applied for a job. I'm competing for a large state-owned enterprise? China Construction Third Bureau chose Xiamen as its working place. At that time, it was because the city was beautiful, villas and mansions were being built there, and the surrounding environment was particularly good, which was what I wanted.

This is the gate of the project department where I work.

The blue house in the lower right corner is our project department, surrounded by music island, wetland park and private yacht wharf.

(This is a panoramic photo of Wuyuan Bay, a famous natural and ecological scenic spot in Xiamen)

Working in a company can be said to be the most comfortable day I have had since graduation. At that time, life and work were not particularly stressful, and there was no need to worry too much about money. Anyway, the salary is so much. The happiest thing is to work in a large state-owned enterprise. Many people who don't know us will think that we are awesome (of course, there are also many awesome people in the company, just like the little soldier I just entered at that time, who can only dabble in it), and it is decent to go out to meet people or do things. Life after work is more interesting. In addition to the activities organized by the company, I will also engage in various activities with my friends on the project, and I have never enjoyed that relaxed and carefree life since I came out.

These two people are my best friends at work, and the one in white is myself. This photo should have been taken at the democratic exchange meeting.

(These are two photos that won the prize in the company's speech contest, which shows that I was quite young at that time. )

Third, resign from the company and open a shop in Fuzhou.

Maybe I'm used to it, but the comfortable work makes me feel that there is no sense of fullness in my busy life, and my heart is always missing something. Life in the company is also quite good. I eat well, drink well, sleep well, still have face, and my work is excellent. I and the technical director of the project have published professional papers in the national architectural magazine for more than half a year, which is relatively rare. In this way, I still feel that there is a restless factor in my body, and I always think that I should do something different from others, otherwise I will waste my young and beautiful time. Coupled with the good news from friends who started businesses outside during that time, I changed two cars in less than a year, which made my heart itch. Finally, I didn't resist the temptation and resigned after working for less than a year. A man went straight to Fuzhou to open a shop to sell handmade soap, with only 26,000 yuan in cash.

This is the periodical information published in our newspaper.

Fourth, in order to save money, move into the basement.

I didn't dare to tell my family when I resigned from the company. 26,000 yuan is definitely not enough to open a store normally. I have to rent my own house for dinner. You can't ask for money from your family. I can only find a way by myself. At that time, I tried every means to save my own expenses. When I searched for renting houses online, I directly checked the column with the lowest price, and then compared it. Living in a basement in a first-tier city like Beishangguang may not feel much, but in Fuzhou, there are really few people looking for a basement. I didn't think much at that time. Seeing that the place was cheap and convenient by car, I moved in. The rent of that room is 150 a month, and the utilities are all settled at 10 a month. This figure is estimated to have set a new record for many people.

(This is the room, which was originally estimated to be used by others to enter and exit the warehouse.)

Fifth, the first handmade soap shop opened in a difficult situation.

Although it is difficult, as long as you keep doing it, there will always be a way. Although I have no money on me, I opened my first shop by myself. The storefront is very poor, that is, the "storefront" is made of a groove formed by a 2-meter-long wall concave inward by 30 cm. People can only stand outside and sell things. The decoration is all done by myself, and of course there is no beauty at all.

At the beginning, the business was actually good, with a daily income of at least four or five hundred yuan, but this situation lasted for about 1 month and then suddenly broke down. There is subway construction outside the market where my shop is located, and some roads need to be fenced. Moreover, the demolition of some houses in the back is very dusty, and the number of people who go shopping in the market has dropped sharply. My shop's business withered before it fully blossomed.

Without business, you have to pay the rent as usual. If I continue to insist on not refunding, I will face the situation of closing the door because I can't pay the rent within three months and can't get the refund deposit before the contract expires. At that time, I was like a person crossing the river on the ice. Suddenly, I found the ice around me melting. I don't know where it's safe to go forward. It's dangerous to stay where you are right now. If I go back, it will be difficult to go to the other side. If I can't get my deposit back, I can't do anything but go to work.

Six, heaven never shuts one door but he opens another.

I have always had an unyielding pride in my personality, and I don't want to go back to find a job just two or three months after I quit my job and become the laughing stock of others. After the business of that store failed, I posted small advertisements about my transferred store everywhere, hoping to get the deposit back after the store was transferred. At the same time, I am not idle at night. Every day, I will go to a crowded place to find a new store in order to start over. In the end, everything paid off. Half a month later, I found another shop near the railway station. It is acceptable to rent a room with a large flow of people, without considering the bad public security environment around the railway station. The key to opening this store is that the original owner can run it without charging me a deposit. He belongs to the nature of subletting shops.

The rent is paid on a monthly basis. I used to have goods in my shop, so I decorated it myself. Finally, I really opened this store with less than 1W cash on me, and the business was surprisingly good. The daily turnover is basically above 1000, and the highest is over 3000. I find it incredible.

I was lucky to find the shop next to the railway station. At that time, I was reluctant to pay more, and the total cash on me did not exceed1w. I have borrowed money from my friends before I opened the shop, so it is meaningless to borrow money again. Strangely, the first store was transferred, and the second store got back the deposit not long after it opened. After this incident, I think since God won't let me go back to work, I must hope I can show my face outside. I can never give up easily. Later, I often inspired myself like this. No matter how many problems and difficulties I encounter, there will always be such a mentality: God never shuts one door but he opens another. As long as I don't give up and stop, there is a way.

This is a handmade soap shop that I can't open with1w. I made the wallpaper, shelves and lamp lines myself.

I found the business information of this store in the computer that year, and I can see that the business of this store is good. )

Seven, create your own brand, strict quality control.

At first, all the handmade soaps I sold were bought from other stores. There are many brands and the quality is uneven. Some soaps may be produced in small workshops, just because I sold them earlier and had no competitors. Most customers have never seen handmade soap, as long as it looks good and smells good. At that time, after the products were sold for some time, customers often complained that some soaps were allergic or uncomfortable. Because soap is not produced by ourselves, it is difficult for us to deal with this problem, so we can only refund it to others.

At that time, I was thinking, if we want to make handmade soap for a long time, the product quality must be guaranteed, otherwise all the sales networks and influence I have worked so hard to build may collapse at any time because of quality problems, and the bigger the scale, the higher the risk. At that time, I didn't expect to be a brand chain, just thinking about how to make the business in the store better for a long time. Finally, it is concluded that only by controlling every link of the product from production to sales can the product quality be completely controlled in our own hands. It is in this context that I set up a company and registered my own brand. The purpose is to control every link of products from production to sales and ensure product quality.

Handmade soap is easy to make. It is estimated that you can buy some information yourself and study it at home for a day or two. But after all, it can only be regarded as a hobby, and the requirements cannot be too high. If business is done, it is not enough. You must have special equipment and testing tools to ensure the stability of product quality. This is something that individuals cannot do.

This is the whole process of making soap in our cooperative workshop, all of which are real-life shots. )

(The product comes out first by testing, and only after testing can it be sold in the market. )

Eight, the development of chain, to the whole country.

Compared with the time when the brand really developed, it was after the first store in Nanjing started. After coming to Nanjing, the decoration image and management mode of the storefront have been greatly improved and more standardized. I wrote down the problems I encountered before opening the store and some experiences I summarized in the process of sales management, and then started to promote it abroad in combination with some joining methods I saw and learned. Because what I wrote is really summed up from practice, which is very operational, and the business of my store is really good. In addition, the handmade soap project itself is also very attractive, and people who join me are coming one after another all over the country.

It is through this way of joining the chain that I sold my handmade soap all over the country, that is, this year, I gained the first 1 10,000 yuan in my life.

This was the first store in Nanjing at that time. It's small but exquisite. )

Our chain stores all over the country are more in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and they are still developing inland.

(At first, because the brand was just starting and its popularity was relatively small, all the store signs directly used the word "handmade soap", so that everyone would know what products the store sold when they saw the store signs. )

Nine, in the face of network impact

I am a physical store business, and the impact of the Internet on physical stores will definitely have an impact on me. Especially this year, WeChat business is popular all over the country, which makes me feel particularly obvious.

15 The popularity of WeChat business in the first half of the year can be described as a little crazy, but there are also many handmade soap brands sold on WeChat, such as Treasure Island Magic Soap, Chinese God Soap and so on.

In the first half of the year, due to the impact of WeChat business, the sales performance of our own offline stores also declined. We were really nervous at that time. We also opened the sales channel of WeChat agent, probably because we didn't invite stars, didn't spend a lot of money on advertising, and the sales in WeChat business were not very good. What wechat business didn't do at first is also related to the model we built ourselves. We have always insisted on improving product quality and offline service, rather than designing a way to stick goods on agents layer by layer to achieve our sales goals. We respect selling products to real consumers, not leaving them in the hands of middlemen.

I think business also needs to have some principles of its own. We can't stick to what we think is right just to make money. Wechat business declined rapidly after explosive growth, just like there is a saying that when the tide ebbs, you will know who is swimming naked. In the second half of 20 15, many wechat business brands disappeared. After the WeChat business was booming in the big environment, many products that fish in troubled waters also withdrew from the market. So is handmade soap. After the frenzy, none of the "big brands" rising on WeChat remained, and the market finally returned to a rational calm state. At this time, the turnover of our offline stores rebounded, even better than before the impact.

What you lose, you will gain.

After this wave of handmade soap hype, the living environment outside is more favorable to us. More consumers know how to distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of handmade soap and the benefits of washing their faces with handmade soap, which is equivalent to giving us an advertisement to popularize the knowledge of handmade soap for free.

In terms of WeChat agent, after other brands' handmade soaps faded out of WeChat circle of friends, our brand's handmade soaps not only existed, but also sold better, which was an advertisement in itself.

Another big surprise of 20 15 was the establishment of its own wechat mall, and the establishment of its own wechat distribution mall based on the company's official wechat account.

In fact, the purpose of establishing WeChat distribution mall was to implement the concept of selling our products to real consumers and establish a WeChat sales model without hoarding goods. It was really unintentional. At first, we didn't think it would have a big market. Until we saw the real transaction data in the background, we still felt incredible. On the first day when the official WeChat account launched the distribution platform, it placed more than 90 orders, and its sales exceeded 10,000 yuan, exceeding the sales of any physical store in one day. Moreover, it has continued to grow and develop in the later period, and now it basically maintains a state of selling more than 10,000 a day.

At first, because I didn't expect to send so many packages a day, it can be said that several of our friends were exhausted and packed and loaded there all afternoon. )

I think the success of WeChat distribution mall can be attributed to two points: First, the threshold of distribution mall is low, and there is basically no threshold. Anyone who buys 99 yuan or trades two orders in the mall can be upgraded to our store, which is equivalent to opening a handmade soap shop for himself with 99 yuan, without having to deliver the goods himself. Another important reason is the excellent quality of products. The products sold in the micro mall are of the same variety and quality as those sold in our offline stores, even.

The low threshold gives many people a chance to try. If the quality is excellent, they can lock in the potential customers of this attempt. The same principle can be copied and spread continuously. As long as it can spread, potential customers who have tried before will definitely make money. When they make money, they will put more energy into promotion and communication, forming a positive cycle. The facts also prove my inference that the people who spread differential diseases are mainly students and young workers. The number of people who earned more than 10,000 yuan through our platform in the first month was still relatively small, and it increased significantly in the following months.

(Backstage commission data: In February, because it includes the Spring Festival holiday, there are not many people whose commission exceeds 10,000 yuan. )

If you are interested in our WeChat distribution mall, you can scan this QR code.

XI。 conclusion

The experience of 20 15 made me understand a truth more. If we can't guarantee the quality of products and blindly pursue external gorgeous publicity and channel erection, then the gorgeous scenery we finally present can only be a flash in the pan and can't last long. Product quality is the cornerstone of our other activities. Only when the cornerstone is firmly laid can the building built on this foundation be stable and may give you some unexpected surprises. The same is true of doing things. You can't play tricks for long. Only the real thing can stand the consideration of time. Only by being sincere, honest and practical can we go further and further, and the road under our feet will be wider and wider.

? Entrepreneurial skills:

1. Analyze personality

One of the best skills to start a business is to know yourself. Ask yourself if you are an entrepreneurial talent. Are you willing to work long hours? Are you open to criticism? Have the ability to cope with the financial crisis? Will things stop in time if something goes wrong? Before you devote yourself wholeheartedly, first make sure that you are able to withstand all kinds of pressures.

Involve your family.

Working with your family will definitely help you start a successful business, because your family can be your consultant, help you with ideas and give you feedback. The support of your family can promote your success. If you give them more important titles, such as business partners, then you can share the workload together, or persuade them to invest in shares to solve the financial problem in your.

Sell only necessities

Ensuring that your products can stimulate public interest is one of the most important skills for starting a business. Entrepreneurship is to provide the public with the goods or services they need. If you want to start a business, you must first make sure that the goods you provide are indispensable to the public, not dispensable. Before starting a business, please make sure that your goods or services are attractive enough.

4. Don't innovate

In fact, there are many advantages in choosing old products. Improving existing products to add new functions or additional benefits is more attractive than new products to some extent. If you buy or sell a new product, you must convince the public of its advantages and be willing to buy it.

5. Fully investigate the market

If a small business wants to succeed, you must first understand the market you want to enter. This is also one of the best skills for entrepreneurial success. Investigate the demand of products, market size, the number of competitors, the prices of similar products of other companies, and the sales volume of this product. This is the information you must collect before you decide to start a business.

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