Lessons on the Road
A national nature reserve, Mt. Fanjing in Tongren, Guizhou Province, is sacred to Chinese Buddhists. An old Chinese saying goes, “Travel broadens the mind and enriches the soul more than reading 10,000 books.” In a similar way, entrepreneurs won’t find success without innovation, which cannot be achieved by making plans behind closed doors. Rather, entrepreneurs must go out, talk with people and spend time in nature. Each travel is an adventure and you will never know what the next trip will bring. For these reasons, I believe that traveling can be inspirational.
This July, I was deeply impressed and inspired by what I saw during a visit to Tongren, Guizhou Province, with some entrepreneurs from Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province.
I was stunned to find a once povertystricken mountainous area in Guizhou, Tongren has been completely transformed. It is teeming with visitors from across China, fashionable local young women and row after row of newly-built hotels and houses. “What happened here, in this remote, rural corner of China?” I wondered.
The answer lies in the country’s reform and opening up, a process that has changed people’s minds. Not only have the locals managed to grow grain on formerly barren terraced fields, but they have seized on emerging tourism opportunities, which has accelerated clean industry initiatives to help alleviate poverty by capitalizing on the value of green mountains and pristine rivers.
What inspiration does that bring to a business? For me, the spirit of craftsmanship is crucial. However, I cannot survive or make progress without putting in hard work to make breakthroughs – just like the local farmers in Tongren, who blazed a new path to optimally utilize their natural resources to create better living conditions. A business will surely decline if craftsmen and its operations do not keep pace with modern trends. Once a target for innovation is set, risk can be minimized through diversified production and access to the wider international market.
During my stay at Mt. Fanjing in Tongren, I noticed two restaurants on opposite sides of the road, one packed and the other virtually empty. I decided to try both to find out why. At the empty restaurant, the vegetables were fresh and the pricing was fair: It cost only 20 yuan for a big bowl of stewed pork with soy sauce. I was puzzled at first, but later learned that what makes the packed restaurant so attractive is its signature dish – smoked pork. “It’s delicious but not greasy,” diners say. Both restaurants use pork for their main dishes, but the busy one had simply cooked it a special way.
Such an anecdote should be inspirational for every business. Even if you sell the same product as everyone else, you can remain competitive by better meeting the demands of your customers.
Chu Jiwang is president and founder of the Ningbo Ruyi Joint Stock Co., Ltd., a major Chinese logistics equipment manufacturer. More than just an entrepreneur, Chu is a recipient of the China Charity Award, the top philanthropic honor in the country. In each issue, he shares his business insights and inspirations gained from his life experience.