Age no longer a barrier for entrepreneurs
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, April 18, 2016
In the Shanghai Employment Promotion Center's report, people between 16 and 35 years old were the most active in startups, with 11.8 percent being entrepreneurs and another 20.7 percent considering establishing companies.
The report pointed out that 12 percent of young people start their own businesses. He Yihao is one of them. He set up a company in 2014 with a chemical leak-monitoring system using thermoelectric thin film, which he had developed to win a silver prize in a national entrepreneurship competition for university students.
He quit the company because he wanted to develop his current project, a mobile phone application called “Kui Bu” (Small Step), which provides college students with a range of information on academics, career planning and club activities. His new company now has 50 employees.
He said favorable policies and changing attitudes played an important role in making his start-up possible.
“I heard many graduates of our schools say it was more difficult for them to talk to investors 10 years ago, as they did not pay much attention to young students,” He said.
“They did not believe students had mature ideas or could produce quality products.
“But when I go to investors, I can feel their respect, rather than prejudice,” he added. “They are really interested in my ideas and are willing to listen attentively.”
He also pointed out that universities provide better instruction on entrepreneurship and effective services to help them develop their ideas into businesses.
When he entered the Mechanical and Power Engineering School of East China University of Science and Technology in 2012, the university had just upgraded its entrepreneurship courses to help students develop a range of business-related skills.
The school also has a special program in which students can run a service department to practice their business operation skills. During one year in the program, he was responsible for finding part-time jobs for students, promoting sub-projects, recruitment, training and wage payment.
“The rich experiences I had prepared me for operating a real company,” he said.
“I came to understand what problems I would face when I started my own business and how to solve them.”
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