The first time I encountered Taobao was during my sophomore year. At the time, maybe life was too empty or maybe I wanted to get an early start on social exposure, so I started selling shoes online with my girlfriend.
We bought dozens of pairs in bulk from a shoe market in Jinan and took pictures with our mobile phones because I didn't have a computer back then. So every day, I would spend hours in the school's computer lab, thus beginning our first Taobao journey and starting our first entrepreneurial experience.
At the time, perhaps due to fewer online store owners and our low prices, business was pretty good. However, since our school was located in the suburbs, there were no courier service points, so for each shipment, we had to pay 6 yuan for transportation into the city. Later, after calculating all costs including transportation and internet fees, we realized that we weren't making much profit. After disposing of all the shoes, we decided not to continue (which I deeply regret now).
After graduating from university, we both found decent jobs. But after working for a year, we realized that life seemed to be becoming monotonous; every day was just about going to work and coming home, devoid of any passion. Maybe others thought it was a great job—not too tiring with good benefits—but we didn’t want to live like that. We are young and we have dreams! We want to live boldly!!
A person must have dreams, even if they seem far away!!
So, despite our family’s opposition, we chose to quit our jobs and return to Taobao. However, when we re-entered this vast online market, everything had changed. If you're not careful, you fall behind. Now there are so many people doing Taobao (which also proves the market has potential), so competition is fiercer than ever, making it much harder than before. But we believe that as long as we work hard, this huge Taobao market will definitely reward us!
This time, we chose women's clothing. We went to the clothing wholesale market, set up a studio, and although conditions were tough—water supply was limited—if we didn’t collect water in the morning, we wouldn’t have any water to drink all day. In the beginning, we often skipped meals, eating whatever we could grab. We worked almost until midnight every day (it was still very cold in the northern part of China at night in February). Responsible shopkeepers and customers chatted enthusiastically, but because the windows needed ventilation, we used two foam boards to block the wind. However, the wind was so strong that it blew the boards down, hitting the shopkeeper.
During difficult times, we encouraged each other because we knew this was the path we chose, and we had to walk it well. During happy times, we laughed heartily because we knew that sunshine always comes after the storm, and we would definitely succeed!
We believe that many dreamers, on their way to success, no matter what they encounter, will not give up and will move forward bravely because they know what they want!
Because we are young, we fear nothing!
Because we have dreams, we are willing to do anything for them!