Confessions of a Successful Female College Student Entrepreneur: Resonance and Transformation
There have been resonances, beautiful stay-at-home women: there have been envies, there have been admirations, then think back to myself, from engineer to professional gamer selling game coins to full-time Taobao DIY handmade soap seller, it's actually something I've explored step by step.
I. University Era and the Bond with the Internet
Starting from my time studying at Central South University, when I was a freshman, the online game "Legend" became very popular. From then on, I developed a bond with online games and became an avid "Legend" enthusiast. Perhaps because of playing "Legend," my boyfriend and I came together, not through online romance but as classmates in university who played "Legend" together. Once, we both got a "Cai Jue" (a weapon in the game), and someone was shouting to buy it for RMB. After chatting, we found out he was from Chenzhou, so we asked him to transfer the money first before giving him the weapon. The next day, he really transferred 80 yuan to my bank account, and we were quite kind-hearted - we gave him the weapon. This was our first time earning money in the game, and we were very excited, using the 80 yuan to eat at Pizza Hut. Later, we started playing "Lineage II," which was a fun 3D game. We spent a lot of point cards on the game, but we never spent a single penny because we directly used game coins to buy people's point cards since we had time to farm game coins while others had money to subsidize us. Unfortunately, this game was later ruined by external cheats, filled with "dead people" who only hung around in the game, making it no longer enjoyable.
II. Two Jobs After Graduation
After graduation, we looked for jobs together and ended up working in Tongxiang, Zhejiang. It wasn't hard to find a job in chemistry, but finding a good one was difficult. The salary was low, 1200 yuan including accommodation, and you had to work 30 days a month to get 1200 yuan, with no holidays. We graduated from a key undergraduate program. I was assigned to work in the lab doing analysis, and my boyfriend was assigned to work in the workshop as a technician. At the beginning, we were very naive, thinking that as long as the job had potential for development, even if the salary was a little low, it didn't matter. However, after actually starting work, we slowly realized that in this joint venture company, the upper management was basically all relatives of the boss, and for us outsiders, it was harder than climbing to heaven to move up. After working for three months, I decided to leave. When we added up our savings, we realized that not having holidays was actually not bad because we didn't have anywhere to spend money, and in just three months, we had saved 6000 yuan together. My boyfriend always accommodated me, so despite opposition from our parents, we both resigned and went back to Changsha. We were more familiar with the area near the school, so after returning to Changsha, we rented a small house behind the school. The time looking for jobs was very boring, and every day we just submitted resumes online. While looking for jobs, we also played a new game called "Challenge," which was also very fun, but later our accounts were hacked due to cheats, so we angrily deleted them. Chinese hackers are really good; the game was still in beta testing when the cheats came out. If they weren't strictly banned at the beginning, the game would soon be destroyed by cheats. Why has "World of Warcraft" been popular for so long? Because they severely crack down on cheats. If a game is full of people hanging around upgrading instead of real people chatting and playing, what's the point of playing?
III. First Contact with Taobao
Thinking about taking the civil service exam, it's like a stable iron rice bowl. My self-study ability is pretty strong, so at home, I studied while also playing a Q-version game called "Angel Love." Originally, this game was meant for my mom, who, influenced by me, also liked playing online games. She liked Q-versions and didn't like violent 3D games. But I ended up playing it too. One time, I noticed that attack scrolls in the game would increase in price, so I used all my money in the game to stockpile these attack scrolls. A week later, the attack scrolls increased in price by more than five times, and I instantly became a "little rich girl." Meanwhile, my boyfriend registered an account on Taobao. At the time, I scolded him for being bored, but since we had a lot of game coins, he just posted them online for fun, and surprisingly, they sold. After tasting this success, we started doing business in the game, buying low and selling high, converting the game coins into cash, and earning two to three thousand yuan a month. This could be considered a part-time small business on Taobao.
IV. The Civil Service Exam Journey
I applied for the Hainan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau because my boyfriend is from Hainan. One day after the national exam, I unexpectedly received an interview notice. With very little preparation, I hurriedly went to Haikou. Chatting with other candidates waiting for interviews, I saw the male candidate competing with me for the same position. His written test score was lower than mine, so I felt more confident. After the interview, I thought I did pretty well because I had prepared answers for most of the questions. After waiting for a while, the interview scores were not announced, but the result was that the male candidate was chosen. Through connections, my father learned that during the meeting discussion, everyone thought I was good, but the female director insisted on wanting a male candidate. Of course, the director's word carried more weight. I felt quite aggrieved because if they wanted males only, why didn't they specify it clearly in the recruitment conditions? Or maybe the male candidate had connections? Anyway, in such exams in China, achieving absolute fairness and transparency is difficult.
V. Professional Gamers Can Earn Money Too
It seems I'm destined to not become a civil servant. Back home, I focused on playing games and earning money. Gradually, I understood the tricks of the game and knew how to farm more game coins. My boyfriend and I led groups of friends in the game every week to fight and seize territories. After seizing territories, we could open many sub-accounts to farm game coins in those territories. If we couldn't seize territories, we wouldn't earn any money, ha ha. We bought three computers, each running three or four sub-accounts to farm coins, thus becoming professional gamers. Then we sold game coins on Taobao. Selling virtual items doesn't require much promotion experience; it's all about price competition—those who sell cheaper do better. Each game goes through a process from prosperity to decline. In the later stages, game coins depreciate and become harder to earn, so it's time to switch to new games. During the initial beta or public tests, game coins are the most valuable. For experienced gamers, picking up new games is relatively easy. From "QQ Xia" to "QQ Free Fantasy," we played many games, which was quite interesting—we could play games and make money at the same time. Some people use RMB to exchange for game coins, while we use game coins to exchange for RMB. Selling game coins brings money quickly, but it's really tiring, and family pressure is also significant. My parents were unhappy, saying that as two college students, we should find proper jobs instead of staying at home playing games. Both my parents worked in government agencies, and many people asked them, "Your daughter scored so well, graduated from a key undergraduate program, what does she do now?" They were left speechless. Actually, since graduation, we've been outside our hometowns, not asking our families for a single penny. We sent three desktop computers home, replaced them with three laptops, and saved some money. But it still doesn't sound good to say. Who says girls must find a stable job for life? Who says college students starting their own businesses is shameful? We've just entered society, and without support from home, we have nothing, cannot achieve instant success, and need a process of exploration.
VI. Passion for Handmade Soaps
Staying at home and staring at the computer screen all night made my skin deteriorate significantly, so I began thinking about skincare. As women, our faces are important, even if we're stay-at-home women, we don't want to turn into yellow-faced old women. Thus, I started indulging in shopping—not only buying a large amount of skincare products but also searching for various methods of skincare and face masks online. Eventually, I was attracted by the new concept of handmade soap. I am stubborn—if I find something interesting, I will delve deeply into it. Maybe I should thank my chemistry major; understanding the principles comes easily, and I learn quickly. After mastering the theoretical knowledge, it was time to practice. I bought a bunch of oils, carefully calculated the formulas, and started making soap. Having spent years in a chemical laboratory, hands-on work is not difficult for me, and everything went smoothly. However, the waiting period is long—one month before the soap can be used. Watching my soaps every day without being able to use them was tormenting. After using the first block of soap, I truly fell in love with it. My overworked face improved significantly after some time—it became smooth and delicate. Washing was clean, and even without applying other skincare products after washing, there was no tightness like when using facial cleanser. No wonder people advocate staying away from chemical harm. I threw away my facial cleanser and ordered my boyfriend and family to use the soaps I made. After becoming obsessed with making soap, I was no longer satisfied with one formula. I tried different oils and combinations, adding different natural ingredients effective for beauty, making different bath soaps, shampoos, and household soaps. Making soap is easy, but making good soap requires a lot of effort. Slowly, the soaps piled up at home, and the speed at which the family used them far lagged behind my innovation speed, haha. My boyfriend was troubled and suggested selling some of the soaps. He always referred to my handmade soaps as "soap," and although I corrected him many times, he still couldn't change.
I immediately bought a simple camera, selected some styles, took photos, and listed them last year. Selling physical goods is much more exhausting than selling virtual items—you need to take nice photos, write detailed product descriptions, consider packaging that is both aesthetically pleasing and durable, and deal with courier issues. Also, you need to act as customer service. Selling virtual currencies was super simple—transactions could be completed within minutes, including purchase confirmation and evaluation. However, selling physical goods is different—customers have many questions, and you need to answer them patiently one by one. You also need to follow up with the courier and provide after-sales service. Moreover, selling physical goods requires considering promotional strategies—adding旺铺(shop), decorating the store, joining consumer protection programs are inevitable. Then I joined Yahoo Express, and initially, terms related to handmade soaps were relatively niche, with low bidding prices. A bid of 0.3 yuan could rank second page. Every day, I checked how much money was deducted, and it never exceeded 3 yuan, but I could feel its effectiveness. Even though good wine needs no bush, if people can't see your good product, it's useless. Therefore, regardless of transaction volume, at least Express directly increased browsing volume and exposure rate, bringing popularity, which naturally improves transaction volume. Perhaps when you start advertising, you won't see particularly noticeable results, but it's a process of accumulating popularity. Potential buyers usually collect items and compare slowly; few people buy immediately, but once collected, they'll keep checking until they decide to buy. Now, the bidding for handmade soap-related terms has risen, and with more buyers, it's gone up to over a yuan, which is heart-wrenching. I stopped competing for higher rankings. Participating in Express activities is very cost-effective; I always bid low, just 0.06 yuan, adopting a steady approach. However, if the product description is done carefully, it's easy to qualify for the activity. Maybe the competition in the beauty channel is relatively smaller—I can't remember how many times I've participated. Anyway, the small second won't let you continuously participate in the activity; they select once a week. However, the customers drawn by these activities mostly don't understand handmade soaps and are just curious. Often, there are questions like, "Why is your soap so expensive? Is the price for one piece or three pieces in the photo?" etc. I explain each question individually. Handmade soap is incomparable to commercial soap. Someone asking means someone is interested, and many willing-to-try customers exist. I am confident in my soaps.
To my relief, the feedback on the soaps is quite good, and sales are increasing. Gradually, I stopped the gaming business and focused solely on soap-making. After all, selling game coins has no future, while soaps have potential. Nowadays, people advocate natural products, and more people are accepting handmade soaps. There are many repeat customers in the store, and I sincerely thank the support of the ladies, many of whom were introduced by regular customers. Some enthusiastic ladies even proactively send me background color paper for photography and natural materials for soap-making, which makes me very moved. Family members have transitioned from misunderstanding to support, often bringing fresh things for soap-making, like homemade honey, free-range eggs, organic pumpkins, cucumbers, and loofahs. My mother, being a doctor, often prepares medical gauze, alcohol, and disposable medical gloves for me, haha. Physical business indeed requires a process of accumulating customers. Currently, monthly sales reach over ten thousand yuan, and my boyfriend and I can't handle everything alone. We hired a college student sister to help with packaging and shipping. We also bought a house, paying the down payment ourselves without spending family money. We can move into the new house in October this year, and the soaps will also move into a bigger house with us. Compared to big sellers, it might not be much, but I firmly believe that maintaining good quality will lead to better business!
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