Yang Jian, 24, has experiences that his peers are very envious of.

A master's degree candidate majoring in maritime commerce law at a maritime university, and also the owner of a company worth over a million. He not only has a good command of his liberal arts major, maritime commerce law, but also holds an important place in the field of computer networks under the sciences category. Many people refer to him as an all-round talent.

Yesterday, at the "2006 Provincial Higher Education Graduates Grassroots Employment and Self-employment Advanced Achievements Report Meeting" held at Shenyang Industrial University, I got closer to this youngest "General Manager" known as the "University Student Entrepreneurship Star."

Despite having assets reaching a million, Yang Jian, standing on the podium, was still dressed plainly. As the General Manager of Dalian Sizhou Information Technology Co., Ltd., 24-year-old university student Yang Jian has become a well-known figure through self-employment.

Yang Jian dug up his "first pot of gold" through serious internships.

In his second year of university, Yang Jian started interning at a law firm. Many classmates left after getting their internship certificates stamped with red seals, but he voluntarily requested to intern for half a year. Subsequently, he assisted lawyers in completing a lawsuit worth more than 50,000 yuan.

"From my first year of university, I began working as a tutor," Yang Jian said. In the following one and a half years, he widely engaged with society during his spare time, learning about business management. However, the real "first pot of gold" came from his internship.

Starting from his second year, Yang Jian, like many other students majoring in maritime commerce law, interned at a law firm. Many classmates left after getting their internship certificates stamped with red seals, but Yang Jian voluntarily requested to intern for half a year.

"Each ocean transportation case costs at least hundreds of thousands of yuan, but I didn't hope to earn money. I just wanted to know how the law firm operates," Yang Jian said. At this time, he received an opportunity: a lawsuit worth over 50,000 yuan that he helped the lawyer complete. Afterwards, he received his first payment — over 20,000 yuan in lawyer fees.

At the beginning of entrepreneurship, he became the boss of seven people.

Yang Jian used this fund to establish Dalian Maritime University's first student website, "Qihang Network," which became the prototype of the "Xingqi Ba" website, a clothing franchise. With the increase in website visits, his personal capital quickly grew from tens of thousands to nearly 100,000 yuan.

The arrival of his third year of university once again became an important entrepreneurial opportunity for Yang Jian. Due to serving as a student union official, he gained more interpersonal relationships. Yang Jian began upgrading his website during his free time and established the "Xingqi Ba" website (www.thinkbar.com). He successively invested the money he earned into the website, and for a time, the daily visits to the "Xingqi Ba" website reached over 200,000 people. His personal capital rapidly increased from tens of thousands to nearly 100,000 yuan.

Soon, Yang Jian became a famous self-employed entrepreneur. In 2004, due to his excellent grades, he was recommended to pursue graduate studies in his major. However, he chose to serve as a volunteer in Qinghai Province. The "Xingqi Ba" website continued to operate normally, and by this time, Yang Jian had already become a small boss with seven employees.

Facing losses and the risk of bankruptcy

In March 2005, while in his first year of graduate school, Yang Jian registered Dalian Sizhou Information Technology Co., Ltd. with a capital of 1 million yuan through a small loan provided by the government and financing from friends. Within three months of the company's start-up, it incurred a loss of over 400,000 yuan.

As an information company founded on the internet, it faced enormous pressures such as renting office space, taxation, and employee salaries. The original "Xingqi Ba" website was no longer dominant.

Within three months of the company's start-up, Yang Jian's pioneering company incurred a loss of over 400,000 yuan. Due to the lack of advertising revenue, the company faced the risk of going bankrupt.

Out of necessity, Yang Jian began acting as a computer agent, selling jewelry online, and reselling tickets to large tourist attractions. This not only failed to reverse the losses but also caused a decline in the popularity of the "Xingqi Ba" website, leading to a temporary loss of website resources. Six months after starting the company, the lease for the office building Yang Jian rented expired, and the money he had on hand was insufficient to cover the funds for the second half of the year. Many people advised Yang Jian to become a lawyer, while continuing to run the company posed the risk of losing everything.

Changing his approach and using his learned expertise to develop software

The newly developed "Law Firm Information Management/Office Automation System" allowed the company to quickly rise with orders worth 20,000 yuan per week. By March this year, the originally operated website project expanded to include software development.

Faced with difficulties, Yang Jian, who had been determined since childhood, still chose to start a company and received support from the Maritime University, obtaining two free offices in an old building. After summarizing and analyzing, Yang Jian's company began engaging in B/S software development and quickly received numerous orders.

After calming down, Yang Jian, targeting his studied legal profession, developed the first set of "Law Firm Information Management/Office Automation Systems" within the company and began applying for patents. This company quickly rose with orders worth 20,000 yuan per week and, by March this year, expanded the originally operated website projects to include software manufacturing.

Yang Jian revealed that he would continue to expand the original website resources, and the developed "Educational Network Internal Resource Search Engine" has been completed and will soon provide free resource search services to students at various universities.

Dialogue with Yang Jian

Struggle and plan at every stage of life

During the break at the report meeting, Yang Jian, wearing a sash, accepted an interview from our reporter.

He happily told the reporter that the company had just hired new staff a few days ago, and he now has over 20 employees, nearly three times more than before.

Huashang Morning Post: What do you think is most important in your successful university years?

Yang Jian: Whether or not you have plans for the future, that is, what you want to do in the future and what you should do now, each stage requires effort.

Huashang Morning Post: Is the planning you mentioned a full-life plan?

Yang Jian: Every stage of life requires struggle. If you get admitted to university, it doesn't mean you'll definitely have a good job; if you don't learn anything, you won't pass the interview.

You might be temporarily complacent with the success of this stage, but it doesn't represent your entire life, nor does it mean others won't surpass you.

Seeing this, at the age of 23, I am studying hard to get a fully-funded postgraduate scholarship, determined to achieve top rankings. At the age of 24, I will also be like Yang Jian. I, Peng Chun Chang, can also become a boss.

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