Migrant Workers Fall in Love with the Internet Plus, Embracing a New Digital Life

“All our workers now transfer money to me via WeChat and Alipay, and when we need to discuss things we use QQ groups and WeChat groups, and during the Chinese New Year they even send red envelopes in the groups!” Jiang Shuiping (screen name) said to the reporter enthusiastically while looking at his phone.

Jiang Shuiping is the boss of a Nanjing migrant worker renovation team——“Jiang Shuiping Renovation Team.” “This small construction team of mine, with no office space, has an annual turnover of 10 million yuan thanks to the Internet.” Jiang Shuiping Renovation Team has attracted considerable attention for this, and for Jiang Shuiping, the changes the Internet has brought to his life go far beyond this.

A “renovation” expert becomes a true expert, a contractor secures venture capital

Jiang Shuiping began using the Internet very early on. “On National Day in 2005, I started posting online. I had no money to buy a computer, so I went to internet cafes to write ad posts and desperately posted on all kinds of forums. At the time I had just one thought: just do it, if you don't do it you're finished!”

After waiting anxiously for 13 days, Jiang Shuiping finally received his first customer call. “When I picked up the phone and pressed the answer button, my hand and my voice were both trembling.” The first order was a duplex renovation of a three-story building near Longxiang Yayuan in Yuhuatai District, with more than 200 sq m of tiling alone.

Afterwards Jiang Shuiping asked this customer: “When you chose us back then, weren't you afraid we might have problems?” The customer's answer surprised and delighted him: “Your renovate-first-pay-later model gives me control. If the work isn't done well, I don't pay. I visited more than a dozen renovation companies, and they all required a 60% prepayment. Once you hand over that much money to them, it's the same as handing them control over the renovation.” By the Spring Festival of 2006, Jiang Shuiping had taken a total of 4 orders.

Jiang Shuiping told the reporter that posting hard ads on forums at first did not work very well, so later he went to renovation forums to “play” the expert, and by consulting industry experts he gradually became a “true expert.” In 2006, his own piece “The Renovation Diary of a Contractor,” which exposed shady practices in the renovation industry, became a hit as soon as it was posted. And the post “In the Same Boat Through Storms,” which drew as many as 90,000 views and told the story of his entrepreneurship and his love life, brought Jiang Shuiping at least 100 orders.

Now, Jiang Shuiping Renovation Team has more than 150 workers in Nanjing and franchisees in 53 cities nationwide, with an annual turnover of more than 10 million and a profit of 1.3 million. On May 3, 2014, Jiang Shuiping obtained 2 million yuan in angel investment and founded Nanjing Jiang Shuiping Information Technology Co., Ltd. Jiang Shuiping jokingly calls himself “the first contractor in China to secure venture capital.”

Unable to afford office rent, and it unexpectedly gave rise to a new business model

“I do all my promotion through the Internet.” Jiang Shuiping told the reporter that a big advantage of this is saving on advertising costs. “One image, one article can stay online for ten or twenty years, and with one search you can find it very easily.” In 2014, Jiang Shuiping spent a total of just over 10,000 yuan on advertising.

“We are so asset-light that we have almost no assets at all.” Jiang Shuiping said, “There is no office, and all the company's employees work from their own homes. Customers go to the construction site to see the workers' attitude and craftsmanship, then chat about the quote, and if everyone gets along they go to KFC or McDonald's and other such places to sign the contract.”

“At first it was because we were poor and had no money to set up an office or hire designers, and later it gradually developed into this asset-light model.” Jiang Shuiping said.

Besides the company's asset-light characteristics, Jiang Shuiping also tried a new payment model. “Ordinary renovation companies require a 60% prepayment when the contract is signed. What we adopt is ‘settle step by step, renovate first and pay later.’”

“Renovating first and paying later completely solves the problems of poor worker attitude and poor craftsmanship in the traditional home renovation industry.” Jiang Shuiping told the reporter that workers get paid directly by the customer, so in order to get their money smoothly they make the details especially good. Moreover, this changes the relationship between workers and the boss from an employment relationship into a cooperative one: after the workers do the details well and get paid by the customer, the workers then “pay” Jiang Shuiping.

Through word of mouth, this model brought Jiang Shuiping many highly skilled workers.

Efficiently connecting with customers, the Internet brings a new breakthrough in the home renovation market

“Mobile Internet is very hot, and I now place great importance on WeChat official accounts, and I've put a lot of effort into running micro-communities.” Jiang Shuiping took out his phone to show the reporter.

In the “Jiang Shuiping Renovation Team” WeChat official account, there are sections such as “Renovation Cases,” “Book a Renovation,” and “Free Quote.” If customers do not understand something, they can also chat directly with dedicated customer service staff. It can be said that if customers do not want the hassle, they can handle all the renovation consultation work on their phones and simply wait for the workers to come to their door.

As his renovation business began to develop, Jiang Shuiping also had new ideas. “Now I no longer manage the construction side at all, because the model has already matured, and I am expanding nationwide franchising.” Jiang Shuiping is very confident in his existing business model. “Later on, I will build several worker schools based on the Nanjing base, and we will be responsible for training workers. Because no matter how good the promotion is, it is useless without excellent workers.”

Jiang Shuiping is full of confidence in the future Internet home renovation market, and is also seeking breakthroughs.