For Chinese university graduates thinking about a business start-up but without the courage to do it, there is no better classroom than Jinjiang.
Type "Jinjiang, Fujian" into the Google search bar, and you will get 21,600 results, at least 547 of which are websites of local companies mostly featuring the manufacture of shoes, garments and toys.
The Chinese town has realized "rags-to-riches" dream for two decades. It is the birthplace of China's first joint venture company using overseas investment, and has since nurtured a whole generation of private entrepreneurs.
But strangely enough, although most of Jinjiang's factory owners are young (many born in the 1970s), they tend to have little background in formal education. Very few of them have even obtained college diplomas.
According to Xie Yinlai, boss of a packaging company in Jinjiang, most have only finished primary school. Just having a chance to go to middle school was a luxury.
Xie himself was forced to work in a factory before finishing primary school because his family was unable to pay for his school fees. That also meant, by the living standards back then, being too poor to afford daily necessities.
But what he said cannot justify why there are 537 bonanza companies whose annual output amounts to more than 10 million yuan (about US$1.2 million) in Jinjiang. Many of us better-educated cannot help but ask why?
Xie Yinlai provides one of the reasons for Jinjiang people's thriving business successes. He said, "Successful business people know not only 'no risks, no gains,' but also believe that discretion is the better part of valour. The well-educated often think too much, consider too many factors, while their actions come too slowly. Business opportunities slip away due to their hesitation."
He is telling the truth as well as sharing wisdom. There are dozens of cases in Jinjiang echoing Xie's theory.
Zhuang Chunlong, manager of Aiqi (Fujian) Plastic Shoes Co Ltd, thought he had made a very wise choice in transferring his business from selling spare parts to making footwear. He initiated the footwear business when the shoe market was seemingly saturated in Jinjiang. He was determined to tap the overseas market for juicier profits after a careful balancing between risks and opportunities. His bet proved to be smart.
Some 20 years ago, Jinjiang was a poor county surviving on government subsidies. Most of the now-millionaire bosses spent their childhoods in need, and were forced to support their households.
But it may not be just money that inspired them to take their own initiatives. They do not desire to be like spokes on a wheel, doing the same work each day, however well paid.
Though they may have missed classroom education, they learned common sense and courage from their hard struggles in their early days.
Little wonder that even now, Jinjiang's young entrepreneurs continue to meet frequently with each other in teahouses and clubs to share wisdom and skills that people do not usually learn in textbooks.
