In the 1990s, there was a famous street sign in Zhongguancun, which read "How far is China from the information superhighway?" The answer is "500 meters ahead". Zhongguancun, transformed from an electronic street, was a symbol at that time, symbolizing the origin and future of China's information industry. This industry, which is born with market economy genes, has shown a mighty growth trend in Zhongguancun; Zhongguancun is also a legend. Countless intellectuals started from scratch and created one wealth miracle after another. For students in Beijing and even the whole country, Zhongguancun means passion and ideal, and it is a hot spot for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Zhongguancun South, China Renmin University, 1992, welcomed a new student from Suqian, Jiangsu. He is a little fat and short, and looks very popular. His name is Liu. Xiang Yu, the most famous ancestor of Suqian, saw the majestic Qin Shihuang when he was young and once said, "It can be replaced." Liu seems to have inherited such ambitions. He devoted himself to politics, worked hard and was admitted to China Renmin University. He followed the guidance of a teacher and enrolled in sociology. But shortly after entering school, his brother told him that sociology had nothing to do with politics and the employment situation was not good, which made Liu feel confused. Since you can't be an official, let's go to sea. He later recalled this experience and laughed that it was difficult to start a business in China. At that time, he had nothing, and the only way was to start a small business, save enough money, and then organize a team.
Liu was born in a peasant family, and his family was not rich. When he was in college, his family gave him 500 yuan to go on the road. He is determined to stand on his own feet and not bring a burden to his family. In his freshman year, he helped people copy envelopes for 3 cents each. In his sophomore year, he bought a 25% discount hardcover book from the wholesale market and sold it in the office building. He also works in the school computer room and teaches himself programming. In his junior year, Liu rode his bike to a unit in Mentougou every day to practice as a programmer, from which he earned his first bucket of gold. He participated in some government and rural information construction projects and earned more than 100,000 yuan by writing programs, becoming one of the richest college students at that time.
Holding thousands of dollars in his hand and borrowing thousands of dollars from relatives and friends, Liu opened a restaurant near Zhongguancun. In the past, the clerk in the restaurant had low salary, lived in the basement, usually only ate leftovers, and the boss personally controlled the funds; After Liu took over, he raised his salary, improved the accommodation environment, and served delicious meals and hot drinks to the salespeople for them to do shopping and cashier. This young man who started a business with idealism confused trust with management and suffered the first setback in his career. Due to loose management, employees always try to embezzle the money in the store, so it is useless for a year. He lost all his investment in the originally profitable hotel. The lesson Liu learned from this is: "You must trust employees, but trust does not mean no management."
1996, Liu graduated and owed a lot of debts. He entered a Japanese-funded enterprise and continued to do his old job-programming in his spare time. This Japanese-funded enterprise has a job rotation system, which has trained Liu, who knows most positions from computer informationization to logistics procurement like the back of his hand. However, after paying off Liu's debts, I didn't miss the job. "The impulse to start a business is getting stronger every day, and finally he can't control himself." . So he resigned from his position in a foreign company with a monthly salary of more than 4,000 yuan, rushed to Zhongguancun with his savings of10.2 million, rented a small counter and sold a burner. The name of the counter is "JD. COM multimedia, that is, JD. COM mall ".
Why is JD.COM called JD.COM? Because there was a word "Jing" in the name of Liu's first girlfriend, he combined the word "Jing" and the word "Dong" in his name to get "JD". COM”。 From then on, Liu stumbled and got bigger and bigger, and realized his ambition in his career, but his love failed to have a decent ending.
"1998, as a college student, it is a shameful thing to set up a counter in Zhongguancun, especially the school where I graduated is still well-known." When my girlfriend, who was a graduate student at that time, came to see Liu, she often asked three questions: "Are you going to live like this all your life? Why can't we go abroad together? Why can't I take the postgraduate entrance examination? " The girlfriend's parents are also firmly opposed, thinking that Liu is worthless. Finally, his girlfriend left him.
However, Liu had no choice but to go on his own way. He kept his mouth shut, even from his parents. It was not until 200 1 that Liu's mother became suspicious and got up and came to Beijing. She called Liu and asked him to meet her at Beijing West Railway Station. When she saw that the business could not be carried out, Liu told the truth. Mother is very sad and thinks that college students have to stand at the counter when they go downhill.
When his girlfriend left to oppose his family, Liu was once in pain. Speaking of this experience, he was filled with emotion. "The biggest pain in the first three years of my business was not that I stood on the side of the road and distributed leaflets with a white eye. It was not that I was indifferent, but that I felt that no one in the world understood me ... Even if I earned more than 300,000 in the first year, I was still inferior in their eyes."
But the rapid growth finally made everyone understand that Liu was right. In 200 1 year, JD.COM Mall became the largest optical and magnetic product agent in China at that time, and opened more than ten branches all over the country. Liu's personal wealth also exceeded 10 million yuan for the first time. Since then, he has positioned JD.COM Mall as a traditional channel provider, and intends to copy the business models of Gome and Suning to operate IT chain stores. Just when he was ready to expand in high spirits, SARS struck in 2003, which dispelled the hustle and bustle of Zhongguancun and led to a sharp drop in business. Coupled with Liu's concerns about the safety of employees, he temporarily closed all stores.
No business means losing money. When Liu heard that someone was selling things online, he asked around and wanted to get involved. At that time, Search Tesco Digital Mall was in full swing, and Liu became a merchant of Search Tesco. Later, an old employee of Souyigou recalled: "Other merchants always ask if your store rent can be reduced, but Liu always asks how your program is compiled and how your process is controlled. He never cares about the price, but he is very interested in the background technology of e-commerce. "
At that time, Liu, who didn't even know what BBS was, went to a forum and posted an "advertising post" to promote his online shop. The founder of the forum replied to his post like this-"I know JD.COM, this is the only company that I bought CDs in Zhongguancun for three years without buying fakes." Because of Liu's words, six transactions were made that day.
After tasting the sweetness, Liu became interested in online sales. This young man who only plays QQ and forums, has never been Dangdang, and does not understand Excellence, believes that "e-commerce is the future!" After consulting countless related materials of e-commerce. JD。 The transformation plan of COM has been put on the agenda.