Top students join forces to tap the blue ocean market of agriculture
If he had not encountered agriculture, Zhou Yan would probably be weaving through a forest of buildings made of reinforced concrete right now. In the eyes of many people, a top student from a prestigious university like him should wear a suit and tie and write his youth in a first-tier city, but Zhou Yan chose a different path.
With an undergraduate degree from Harbin Institute of Technology and a master's degree from Zhejiang University, Zhou Yan's academic record is quite eye-catching. During his several years of master's study, he published more than 10 high-level papers alone. What surprised everyone was that as soon as he graduated in April 2013, Zhou Yan went to Yiwu, Zhejiang, and started running a Taobao shop.
In the surging e-commerce circle, Yiwu, which started with a small commodities market, can be called the front line. This small county-level city attracts entrepreneurs one after another, and the mighty ranks also included Lu Weiwei. As Zhou Yan's high school classmate, Lu Weiwei was also a veritable “top student.” In 2009, after graduating from East China University of Science and Technology with the top score in his major, he could have been recommended to Tsinghua for a combined master's and doctoral program, but Lu Weiwei, who aspired to start a business, chose to go alone with a backpack to Yiwu, a place far from home.
During that period, Lu Weiwei sold many products, and it was not until 2013 that he locked his target onto home gardening. This business had just started on Taobao and was simply a blue ocean with unlimited prospects. When Lu Weiwei told Zhou Yan about this business opportunity, it instantly stirred his entrepreneurial passion as well. Just like that, the two “top students” started from nothing and began their journey of pursuing dreams.
After all, the shop was just an empty shell. In order to find high-quality resources, Lu Weiwei and Zhou Yan often needed to go out for inspections, and they also had to do pre-sales and after-sales service well. For a whole year, the two never rested and had to work overtime until midnight almost every day.
Hard work pays off. The next year, the shop achieved the No. 1 sales volume in the gardening category across the entire network, reaching more than 6 million yuan in sales. After the online store stabilized, the two carried out in-depth strategic thinking: if they only sold goods, both profits and prospects would be very limited. Especially as competition intensified, the shop would gradually lose its advantages. To develop over the long term, they had to hold core resources in their hands.
Simply put, they needed to have real industry. After full discussion, the two decided to focus on two main businesses: fertilizers and succulents. The former had large market demand, and the two happened to match it professionally, making product research and development easy. But for the latter, if they wanted to grow plants in Yiwu, where land is extremely expensive, the cost would be extremely high. Through an introduction by a friend, Lin'an entered their field of vision.
In recent years, Lin'an's e-commerce development has also been rapid. Compared with Yiwu, its express delivery advantage is already comparable, while operating costs can be greatly reduced. More importantly, by leveraging its geographical advantage, the two could also seek technical support from nearby Zhejiang A&F University. Therefore, in September 2014, the two moved their families to Lin'an.
In order to find a base, the two founders rode bicycles around searching and finally found a piece of land of more than 50 mu in Taihuyuan Town, located at the border of Zhejiang and Anhui. A few months later, 9 simple greenhouses rose from the ground. Together with 3 multi-span greenhouses, the two invested almost everything they had, putting in more than 2 million yuan.
When everything was advancing smoothly, who could have expected that a heavy snow in the winter of 2015 crushed all the simple greenhouses. Because they lacked experience in heat preservation, many plants froze to death, and overnight the company lost more than 400,000 yuan. This setback did not defeat the two young men. Instead, they became braver with each setback, and the rebuilt greenhouses soon got on track.
Because they had their own sales channels, the vast majority of succulents could be sold online. Together with self-developed fertilizers, nutrient soil, and substrates, supplemented by seeds, flower pots, watering cans, and more, visitors to their shop could easily buy all home gardening supplies in one stop.
Zhou Yan told the reporter that because they seized the main businesses, fertilizers and succulents brought huge traffic, and by grafting on a rich variety of products, they increased the average order value. Profits were very considerable, and the repurchase rate was very high. Nearly 20% were returning customers, and last year's sales approached 10 million yuan.
As the company operated, the two further discovered that with home gardening becoming increasingly popular, fertilizer use was a big market. Compared with foreign brands, their self-developed Xinnuo series nutrient solutions and nutrient soils had high cost performance and were very suitable for integrated online and offline sales. Now, these fertilizers have registered brands, and offline distribution is progressing rapidly. The company is expanding production capacity and preparing to cultivate this market in depth.
In the company, Lu Weiwei serves as chairman and Zhou Yan as general manager. Of the 30 employees, 10 are university students. Having left the city and come to the countryside, both said they do not regret it. Although agricultural entrepreneurship is hard, working this land always feels very grounded, and the ancient traditional industry also needs fresh blood to find new paths. As long as you work hard, you can write your life anywhere.
Reporter Zhu Haiyang of this newspaper