Higher education really pays off: Doctor Xu sees major success in farm produce business
A farmers' son with a doctor's degree has used his highly specialized knowledge to become a success at selling vegetables!
Xu Chuanchao started his business in Tianjin two years ago and he now runs 22 supermarkets in the city.
At present his chain has more than 370 employees and sells millions of yuan of farm produce and merchandise daily. It has become the largest local produce supplier and his house brand Jishixian is estimated to be worth a hundred million yuan (around 15 million US dollars) in the industry.
Xu's success is mainly attributed to his higher education, as he majored in logistics while earning his doctorate at Tianjin University.
At that time, Dr Xu focused on the farm produce industry's huge market and he noticed its somwhat messy sales structure. That's when he decided to utilize his knowledge of logistics and seize the opportunity of setting up a new business model.
Xu's idea was to combine the use of the Internet with physical stores and to simplify the whole supply chain for selling farm produce, creating a model that has farmers selling directly to customers.
The end-to-end pattern increases the farmers' income while lowering the actual prices of products for consumers.
Mr Xu said, "For example: Jujubes are picked directly from their origin in Jiangxi Province and sell 1.9 yuan for every 500g in our store while it sells at 3.5 yuan in other markets." .
Xu's business success didnt happen overnight. He actually failed twice trying to set up businesses, and lost over one million yuan before he finally established a successful business model.
Mr Xu's parents are actually farmers themselves in a rural part of China, when their son was originally accepted for PhD studies at Tianjin University the whole family was immensely proud.
"Making a living as farmers has been tough for my parents and therefore they want me to find a stable job earning a decent salary," Xu said, "but I look at starting and running a business very differently."
To Xu Chuanchao, selling fresh produce everyday is something meaningful to do. "Food quality and safety are vitally important to people; it is worth a lifetime to do it well," he said.
Source: http://english.cri.cn/12394/2017/02/07/2281s951384.htm
