China has 7 million fresh college graduates entering the workforce this year -- but when jobs prove elusive given the economic climate -- more are starting their own businesses. For all their aspirations to become the next Mark Zuckerberg, Bizasia’s Laura Luo finds out the harsh reality for these entrepreneur wanna-bes.
Graduation season in China is never just about running from one interview to another.
It’s also a competition of family connections. What’s making life even tougher -- the number of graduate vacancies are down 15 percent this year. Welcome to the real world.
When the going gets tough, the tough become entrepreneurs. A study by education consulting firm Mycos shows last year there were almost three times more graduates starting businesses than in 2008.
While Wang never gave up, her counterparts mostly do, studies show 70 percent of them dropped out of businesses after about three years. Wang then met Tianfang, the founder of classbox -- a mobile application for students. He says finding the right people to work with is crucial.
Besides a brilliant idea and a good team, Microsoft’s David Lin says you also need a good startup accelerator plus lots of hard work.
The work is paying off, Classbox has seen its user base surge over 3 million within a year, just by handing out flyers where the founders came from -- universities.
With a little seed of imagination, you can grow a field of hope. With the right kind of help and support, these young talents will hopefully find their perfect places in society, whether they work for others or for themselves.