On the road to entrepreneurship, what tricks did Wang Daha figure out?

When the reporter went to interview Wang Zhi, he was busy preparing for an important event, and for this event he had even put on this outfit.

Employee: "The belt won't fasten, my belly is a bit big. Suck it in, suck it in."

Reporter: "What kind of costume are you wearing today?"

Wang Zhi: "Ancient costume, the clothes worn back in the days of princes, so handsome it's off the charts, right?"

Reporter: "You're very satisfied with this look of yours?"

Wang Zhi: "Yes."

Employee: "President Wang is so handsome today."

Wang Zhi: "Handsomer than ever before."

Not only did he dress up carefully, Wang Zhi also prepared 5 horses, and these horses would soon be put to great use.

Wang Zhi: "Who are the ones riding? You, right?"

Employee: "Yes, Xiao Xu, him, and me."

Wang Zhi: "One for him, one for him."

Wang Zhi reminded these horse trainers to get ready, to prevent the horses from being spooked and hurting people once they entered the arena.

Reporter: "I see you keep stroking this horse, what does that do?"

Horse trainer: "It soothes it."

Reporter: "So it can be a bit calmer."

Horse trainer: "Right, just pat it and communicate with it."

So what exactly was Wang Zhi going to do today?

Wang Zhi: "Please welcome the Marquis of Lu'an to appear."

At 10 a.m., the event began. It turned out that every weekend, Wang Zhi held this kind of ancient-costume garden ceremony at his agricultural expo park, letting visitors watch for free, with the aim of attracting tourists and boosting foot traffic.

Employee: "The Happy Weekend Tour of the Prince's Estate officially begins."

Watching the performance was free, but the visitors' curiosity was stirred, and if they wanted to ride a horse themselves, they had to pay by the hour. Wang Zhi's agricultural expo park covers 400 mu, and here visitors can also catch free-range chickens, pick vegetables and more, with more than 10 activities, and every weekend it attracts visitors from Fengyang county town and surrounding cities, with a daily foot traffic of over 500 people. The park had just opened in September 2015, and in 2 months its revenue reached more than 2 million yuan.

Local people all say Wang Zhi is a bit magical; not only is the agricultural expo park's business booming, but whatever he does booms. In the 3 years from 2012 to now, he has successively invested in 5 new projects including catering and car sales, and each one he starts booms. Now the entire enterprise's annual sales exceed 50 million yuan.

When the reporter went to interview him, students from the graduating class of Chuzhou City Vocational College came to Wang Zhi's agricultural expo park to ask him to share his entrepreneurial experience.

Xu Mei, deputy secretary of the Party General Branch of the Preschool Education Department of Chuzhou City Vocational College: "What's so magical about him? In 3 years he launched 5 projects, and each one he launched boomed. Everyone wanted to come and meet Mr. Wang Zhi up close in person, to see whether he really has some classic secret to entrepreneurship or some magic weapon for starting a business, and why in 3 years he launched these few projects and each one boomed. He is truly a legendary, highly legendary young entrepreneur."

Local people say Wang Zhi is an entrepreneurial genius, but in the interview, Wang Zhi told the reporter that he had never even dreamed he could achieve the results he has today. Just 3 years ago, because of business failure, he was still carrying more than 3 million yuan in debt.

Wang Zhi: "Three years ago I was borrowing money everywhere."

Reporter: "Different from now?"

Wang Zhi: "At the most, I owed more than 3 million, I was rather lost, under a lot of pressure, afraid, afraid that if I couldn't turn things around, it would be trouble."

Wang Zhi told the reporter that starting in 2012, he felt he had figured out the tricks of entrepreneurship, and successively launched 5 new projects, all very prosperous. From more than 3 million yuan in debt he made a splendid turnaround, and now the enterprise's annual sales exceed 50 million yuan, which local people find unbelievable. In just 3 short years, with such a big transformation, how did Wang Zhi do it?

Wang Zhi: "Like this thickness, about 2 mm, if it's too thick it won't taste as crisp when eaten."

Cooking is Wang Zhi's special skill. He is from Xiaoxihe town, Fengyang county. After graduating from junior high school he attended a culinary school to study cooking, and after graduating in 1997, he went to work as a chef at the restaurant his parents ran in Fengyang county town. At that time the Wang family's restaurant had lackluster business, with annual revenue of only 100,000 yuan. It was the appearance of a girl that changed the course of Wang Zhi's life.

Her name is Chen Chuanqin. Her aunt's home was next door to Wang Zhi's. In 2000, the two gradually got to know each other and fell in love, but Chen Chuanqin's family strongly opposed the marriage.

Chen Chuanqin: "The opposition was very strong. The family ran a small restaurant, and what else, he was ugly. I think a man shouldn't be judged by his looks; I think he should have talent, a person should have a sense of responsibility. Anyway, the reason I took a fancy to Wang Zhi is that I think he is a man with a sense of responsibility."

Wang Zhi: "At the time I told her, I said that although I'm not good-looking and my family doesn't have much money, none of that matters. In the future I will definitely treat you very well, and I will make you, among your relatives and circle of friends, definitely become the happiest person."

For love, Wang Zhi decided to start his own business independently and strive for a better future for the girl he loved. Seeing that the clothing sales business was very good at the time, Wang Zhi took out 20,000 yuan in savings and opened a clothing store in Fengyang county town. By 2008, the clothing stores had expanded to 14, with annual sales exceeding 10 million yuan, and he and Chen Chuanqin also got married.

After 10 years of entrepreneurship, by 2010, Wang Zhi's clothing business began to decline. Buying clothes online was cheap and very popular in places like county towns where spending was not high, and Wang Zhi's physical stores suffered a big blow in sales, with goods piling up unsold and operations running at a loss.

Wang Zhi: "I borrowed money from the friends and relatives around me. For the larger amounts I borrowed 100,000 yuan, tens of thousands of yuan; for the smaller amounts I even borrowed a few thousand yuan at the time. For a while, I could hardly sleep all night."

The fruits of 10 years of hard work were all lost, and he was still more than 3 million yuan in debt. During that time Wang Zhi was so worried he had insomnia every day. He made up his mind to transform, and this time he had to be cautious and must find a good money-making project.

Wang Zhi began traveling all over the country to investigate, visiting more than 20 cities and looking at many industries such as baijiu, printing and home furnishings. Every time he saw a project he would analyze it repeatedly, and he also consulted experts in the industry, giving up on it if he felt it wasn't suitable.

Wang Zhi: "(Home furnishings) this industry, although its space is very large, its requirements for professionalism are also very high. You need to be more familiar with design and some furniture installation skills, and the capital it requires is also very large."

Opening a home furnishing mall required too much investment; producing baijiu as a small brand had no advantage; opening a printing factory had no raw materials in the surrounding area and high transport costs. Running around the whole country and looking for 2 years straight, Wang Zhi did not select a single project.