In your 20’s and think you need to spend a few years in the working world before striking out with a small business of your own? Or perhaps you’ve got a fairly simple business idea — like reselling fashions or other items on eBay and think it just can’t be grown into a huge thriving business. Well you may be wrong on both counts.
One hard working young entrepreneur in particular who’s business had very humble beginnings exemplifies the role hard work and determination can play in business success. To help today’s youngsters be successful in an often unforgiving and always challenging business climate, Small Business Trends spoke to highly successful entrepreneur Yang Yang.
CEO of Dese Enterprise, Yang Yang, aka the ‘Boss In White’, was born and raised in Beijing. Starting from humble beginnings selling on eBay in 2004, Yang Yang quickly developed a flourishing business comprised of AMEClubwear.com, Pinkbasis.com and Cuteshoesforsale.com. The driven CEO now employees 80 people.
Yang Yang owes much of her success to commitment and study. The CEO obtained her undergraduate degree from Beijing University and went on to complete her Masters in Cambridge, UK.
“Now I can look back and clearly see that the reason I did so well was because of all the studying and extra work they [her parents] made me do”, says the Boss In White.
Success Tips from CEO Yang Yang
If you’re a millennial interested in starting your own business and being your own boss, take a look at the advice the incredibly successful Yang Yang gives to kindred entrepreneurial spirits.
Always Give Yourself Deadlines
“Give yourself a deadline on everything,” Yang Yang says. “A lot of things have no deadlines. Setting a deadline will help you finish your task faster.”
Reward Yourself When You Reach a Goal
“Reward yourself when you hit a goal, she ads. “Set a goal and when you reach it buy yourself something nice this will keep you motivated.”
Avoid Being a Perfectionist in Business
“Don’t be a perfectionist,” Yang Yang says.”In life everything is a balance, only you can decide if something is up to your standards. Sometimes trying to do something perfect may waste your time.”
Balance every aspect of your life and business, get the work done to the best of your ability the first time and don’t second guess yourself,” she ads. “If you always work hard and don’t cut corners then this is easy to achieve and you will be happy with your work.”
“A good example of this is when we take product pictures we can always go back and photoshop the background to make it look cleaner,” she explains. “Or you could clean up the background before you shoot and not have to go back at all. The background might not be as perfect as if you photoshopped them all but it will keep you from having to do double the work and remember you’re selling the product, not the background.”
Be Well Groomed and Always Present Yourself Well
“Be well groomed,” Yang Yang urges. “When you walk into a room your personal appearance is the first thing a client or customer is going to notice. Wear a nice outfit, when you look and feel good you tend to work faster.”
“I am very lucky because I can just pick something from my website, and have new clothes all the time,” she says. “You don’t need to wear new clothes every day but you should always spend five minutes before you leave the house and look in the mirror.”
“Make sure clothes are nicely prepared, buttons are buttoned, the collar is straight, skirt or dress is not wrinkled, no breakfast stain on them lol,” she xplains. “Always make sure your hair is looking good and it doesn’t look like you just got out of bed.”
“A good rule is to always be over dressed than under dressed!” she ads.
Don’t Waste Time Commuting to Work and if You Do Commute, Spend Your Time Well
If you really love your job, then try to live as close as possible to your work office so you don’t waste time on the drive,” Yang Yang says.
She ads, “If you can’t live close, then take advantage of your time traveling to and from the office. You can list ‘how to’ books on tapes to learn a new skill, or simply to relax in the little bit of alone time that you have in the car. If you take the train or bus to work the same applies, use this time to your advantage and don’t let it go to waste.”
Give Yourself Long-Term Goals
It’s important to have a long-term goal to work towards,” Yang Yang says. “Do you want to be rich? Do you want to help people? Or do you see yourself living at home with your mom when you’re 40 waiting for the meatloaf to be ready?”
She ads, “The point is, if you don’t want a lot out of life then you don’t have to put a lot into it, but if you are like most of us and want to be successful then you need to plan ahead. Only you can decide how your life will end up so make sure and give yourself some options.”
Dress for Success
Here Yang Yang has one simple rule. “Dress for Success,” she says. “I always say it is better to be overdressed!”
Study and Work Hard for Exams
“Write your way to success,” Yang Yang advises. “You can’t just decide you want to go to Harvard or in my case Cambridge and expect to get in if you haven’t been preparing for years. I was lucky that my parents pushed me to succeed in school from a very young age. I always had straight As but my parents still made me study and work with tutors every day.”
“I could never figure out why and would always complain that I didn’t have free time to relax or play with friends,” she explained. “Now I can look back and clearly see that the reason I did so well was because of all the studying and extra work they made me do.”
Find Your Passion
Finding your passion is easy — just think about what you enjoy doing in your free time for fun,” Yang Yang says. “I loved to shop for clothing and walk through the Fashion District downtown to see all the new styles and trends and was able to turn this into a job buying wholesale and reselling online.”
The question she poses to every entrepreneur? “What makes you happy?”
Network, Network, Network!
“Networking is a necessity,” Yang Yang insists. “One of the most important things about running a successful thing is networking. For my industry, it’s even more crucial than other types of businesses since I purchase items for resale every day.”
She explains:”The reason I am so successful is because I don’t have any buyers — I do it all myself.”
“Over the last ten years, I have developed personal relationships with the owners in order to buy direct from them, where my other competitors buy from sales reps,” she ads. “Making a great impression and keeping that relationship is key.”
Image: BossInWhite.com
This article, “Apply These 10 Secret Techniques from This Famous Chinese Entrepreneur” was first published on Small Business Trends