In May 2019, the Organization Department of Linyi Municipal Committee commended a group of "leading geese" in rural youth entrepreneurship. Zhang Bingtao, general manager of Shandong Maohong Import and Export Co., LTD., a villager from Gaoda Village, Shengli Town, Tancheng County, won the honorary title of "Good Youth" in Yimeng Rural Entrepreneurship and Prosperity.
Zhang Bingtao, born in 1981, graduated from York University in Canada. In 2012, after studying abroad, I went back to Gaanda Village, Shengli Town, Tancheng County, my hometown, and founded a company to develop straw hat import and export business. Through the "Internet +" model, it has improved the popularity of straw hats, expanded the sales scale, broadened the sales channels, and promoted the development of rural areas.
Give up high salary abroad and return home to be a straw hat "economic man"
After graduating from overseas study in 2007, Zhang Bingtao stayed in Canada and joined Taiwan Acer Group in charge of product sales and planning. Relying on his marketing knowledge, his performance improved step by step. With a monthly salary of more than 4,000 Canadian yuan, equivalent to more than 20,000 yuan, comfortable working environment and excellent living conditions, Zhang Bingtao once had a great sense of achievement.
Start at the bottom and fight to be an expert in the hat business
He gave up his well-paid "white collar" job and returned to the countryside to work in straw hat processing. His concept of employment made his friends around him difficult to accept. "I grew up in the countryside, so I have a deep affection for this land. The country is also encouraging the development of modern enterprises and calling for 'mass entrepreneurship and innovation'. I think I can make a difference by starting a business in the countryside." Zhang Bingtao's calm answer is a powerful interpretation of his dream.
In order to better understand the straw knitting industry, he visited nearby hat factories every day to do market research and understand the types, markets and development prospects of straw hats. In a tall hat factory, he started as a receiving clerk and worked as a warehouse clerk, packer, designer and head of the foreign trade Department, etc. He accumulated little by little and made progress step by step, from an original "layman" to an expert, and also found the direction of his own business.
Strong rise, for the straw hat with wings to take off
After more than a year of market research, Zhang Bingtao found that the traditional marketing model has been unable to keep up with the development of The Times, and the export of foreign trade is not strong, restricting the development of many enterprises. In 2013, Zhang Bingtao registered Shandong Maohong Import and Export Co., Ltd. in Linyi to raise funds from various sources. He wanted to use his rich experience in marketing and sales to plant wings for the local straw hat industry.
Everything is difficult at the beginning, only by their own efforts to have a foothold in the vast network, he used his network marketing and computer expertise, relying on Alibaba International platform, established a shop, began to do straw hat wholesale business. At the beginning of the recruitment process, the company was not well known and was not well regarded, so it started with only four people. To do his job well, Zhang spends his days staring at his computer and sleeping less than five hours a day. As a result of overwork, one meter seven more than his head is less than 100 jin, the body resistance is also poor, a little cold comes, will catch a cold for a long time.
Hard work pays off. Through the unremitting efforts of this small team, the company exported more than 1 million yuan in that year. After six years of development, the business scope covers various types of hats, docking Hebei, Zhejiang and other places, mainly exported to Europe, America, Japan and South Korea and other countries, in 2018, the export of foreign trade reached more than 30 million yuan.
In 2016, Zhang Bingtao set his sights on China again and started to engage in the domestic e-commerce of Chuang Yun, doing hat retail business. In just two years, the sales volume of domestic e-commerce reached more than 5 million yuan, truly creating a good situation of blooming abroad and at home.
Now, Zhang Bingtao is planning to diversify the development of e-commerce park. "The rapid development of e-commerce has played an increasingly important role in boosting the county's economic development," he said. "Coupled with the government's recent policies, I feel that the e-commerce industry is coming. My future is not a dream."
Post time: Dec-28-2022
