In the魄力development course of Beijing Bailing's internal training project, there are lessons worth learning. The training coach once said that having lofty ideals is not enough; what matters is taking action. When we set goals for ourselves, they are conclusions reached after thorough deliberation. Therefore, persistent action is the way to achieve our goals. Once we have a clear goal, we should act immediately without hesitation or fear, otherwise we will lack courage and even with great ambitions, we won't be able to accomplish anything. Hesitation is the behavior of cowards who cannot persevere.
Regarding the development of courage, I would like to share a story with you. Here's how it goes: A successful young entrepreneur, over a decade ago, was an ordinary peasant child with no family or social connections. However, through his courage and relentless struggle, he became a successful entrepreneur. This entrepreneur’s name is Zhou Chengjian, whose journey from a penniless farmer tailor to a billionaire is no myth. Now 36 years old, Zhou Chengjian is the boss of a company with three thousand employees and assets exceeding hundreds of millions. This accomplished young entrepreneur was, more than ten years ago, just an ordinary farmer.
Like many private entrepreneurs without background, Zhou Chengjian completed the original capital accumulation through hard work. Born in Shikengling Village, Qingtian County, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, to escape the poverty of his ancestors, he learned tailoring skills at a young age. In 1986, at the age of 20, Zhou Chengjian went to Wenzhou to make a living. He did all sorts of dirty and heavy work, standing for three days and nights on the train, eating only one meal a day. After years of hardship, he accumulated some money and entered the local Miaoguo Temple clothing market, practicing his trade by selling clothes during the day and making them at night, working more than 16 hours a day.
For Zhou Chengjian, the opportunity to expand his capital finally came in 1992. That year, windproof jackets and sportswear from Shishi, Fujian swept the Wenzhou market like a whirlwind. Following market trends, Zhou Chengjian began producing these clothes. One time, a Northeastern boss ordered 300 pieces from him, which was a large number for a small workshop. Due to good product quality, customers kept coming, increasing the order quantity from 300 pieces to thousands. By the end of the year, he earned several million yuan, thus completing his initial capital accumulation.
Using virtual operations to quickly expand capital, within the next five short years, Zhou Chengjian's assets grew rapidly from millions to hundreds of millions. There was a secret to getting rich, which he summarized as using others' resources to grow his own business. After building the factory, the funds available to Zhou Chengjian were very limited. As a small private enterprise, it was difficult to get loans from banks. Out of necessity, he thought of using external forces to compensate for his lack of funds. In production, he adopted a strategy of branded production, establishing long-term cooperative relationships with more than 60 state-owned and joint-venture clothing processing plants equipped with first-class machinery and standardized management in Guangdong, Jiangsu, and other places. Currently, there are more than 60 companies helping Bestway produce, with an annual output of 8 million pieces of clothing. If all these enterprises were invested in by Zhou Chengjian himself, it would require at least 300 million yuan.
Despite having assets in the hundreds of millions, Zhou Chengjian does not spend his money on indulgence. He still dresses plainly, lives simply, maintains the simplicity of a farmer, and invests the money he earns into product design and brand operation. He plans to use virtual management in the next five years, such as hiring international professional companies for brand planning and listing the company, to quickly enter the modern corporate stage of legal governance and make the brand international. At the beginning of this year, he acquired 160 mu of land in Pudong, Shanghai, with a total investment of over 100 million yuan, to build an information-based logistics center and a leisure industry design village. Meanwhile, he was awarded the title of the most accomplished entrepreneur in the first China Fashion Industry Annual Outstanding Personality Selection.
Indeed, Zhou Chengjian's entrepreneurial process tells us that when we have the opportunity or goal to realize our dreams, we must boldly and unhesitatingly pursue it. Sometimes opportunities pass by in the blink of an eye. We should not fear this or that, hesitate, and miss out on even the chance to try, let alone succeed. Courage is actually the most basic quality that successful people possess. We should all learn this quality. When we have mature thoughts, prepared goals, or favorable opportunities, we must adhere to our life principles, make up our minds, seize the right moment, and dare to pursue our goals! Opportunities do not come again. With the first small success, greater harvests await us.
Let us all become professionals with courage, focus on our goals, find the right direction, and strive to achieve our grand ideals!
Article reprinted from: http://www.blwh.cn/hv_more.asp?id=299