I, 38, left the Internet and sold snail powder
2022-05-10
11 years ago, 27 year old store manager Jiang did not want to continue to live as a 9-to-5 car enterprise employee and came to the Internet to start a business. Taking advantage of e-commerce, store manager Jiang saw the possibility of Internet + snail powder. From planting bamboo shoots in the field to developing new flavors, from live broadcasting to bringing goods to join in training, this "non professional" college student in the eyes of his relatives has also become an example of helping farmers to get rich in his hometown. Although at the beginning of his career transformation, his work changed from developing app to washing lettuce and soaking rice noodles, store manager Jiang doesn't think he has left the Internet. In his view, the Internet is not an industry, but a thinking and ability to improve business efficiency. College students who don't want to be white-collar workers I studied vehicle engineering in college. After graduation, I went to a car enterprise headquartered in Zhejiang to do technology. I feel that this is a job that can see the head at a glance. After staying for more than a year, I want to change my life and leave. Now some young people want to go back to their hometown, but they don't know what to do. I was also like this at that time: the choice to go back to my hometown was mainly to enter enterprises or institutions, but when I was in the car enterprise, I always stayed in the office safely. I didn't want to go back to such an environment, so I wanted to try something new. It was 2011 and the Internet was still a new trend. I returned to Liuzhou, Guangxi from Zhejiang and went to a company headquartered in Beijing for website development. I remember when wechat was just launched and app development was still very popular. After working for some time, I set up a technology company with my friends to develop apps, websites, applets and Internet of things systems. In 2015, we were making shopping malls and websites for traditional physical stores. At the same time, we observed that the prepackaged snail powder was on fire, so we thought about whether to change careers to make snail powder. There happened to be a relative in our family who opened a shop to sell snail powder 20 years ago. He had rich experience in taste and raw materials. That year, I applied to the government to build the second batch of factories with pre packaging production qualification in Liuzhou. At first, the idea was opposed by his family. They think I should live a white-collar life after graduating from college. Although the division of labor between me and my relatives is that I focus on Internet marketing, in order to learn more about snail powder, I still start with soaking powder and washing vegetables. When the store is busy, I have to help clean up the dishes and chopsticks. But at that time, he was young and willing to try anything. He relied on some savings saved by the website. Although he was struggling financially and worried that the factory would not be able to recover its capital, he was generally very motivated every day. Internet + snail powder After our prepackaged snail powder was sold in large quantities, I found that the whole industry didn't care about education and didn't feel like overqualified. Previous experience in Internet is still applicable in marketing promotion. The purpose of platform development is to shorten the distance between information and people. When selling snail powder, I also think about how to shorten the distance between people and products as much as possible, combine pre packaging with e-commerce, and try to combine domestic sales with foreign trade. From 2017 to 2018, I sold snail powder to the United States, Europe and Australia, but after the epidemic, the export business was suspended. When doing pre packaging marketing, I found that many people don't know much about snail powder. For example, the general impression of snail powder is sour, spicy and smelly, but in fact, we have over interpreted the "smell" of snail powder, and many production enterprises deliberately make it smelly in order to amplify the impression of snail powder smell. I want more outsiders to know about snail powder and like it. What really makes snail powder popular all over the country is the Internet, especially the publicity of goods anchor and e-commerce. In 2019, when few people do live broadcasting and bring goods, I will sign up for class to learn. I was the first group in Liuzhou city to go to wanghong business school for further study, specializing in learning how to become an anchor with goods. Then, I began to share the knowledge related to snail powder with you in a short video, including raw materials, practices, tastes, etc. But I never position myself as a net celebrity. I just use this kind of platform to enlarge the marketing effect and promote production. After the epidemic, prepackaged snail powder became more popular, and there was a great demand for snail powder all over the country. I think that since the prepackaged snail powder has done sufficient cognitive education for consumers, the popularity of snail powder is high enough, and the taste of prepackaged snail powder is far less than that of physical stores, I should expand physical stores and become a brand chain. Store manager Jiang grinds the dough in the rice flour factory Source / respondent After all, relatives have been a physical store for 20 years, and their technology and formula have been tested by the market. The competitive pressure of opening a store in Liuzhou is indeed not small. Although the whole city is not large, there are thousands of snail powder stores all over the street. If you want to break out of the tight encirclement, you have to find another way. When I first started making short videos, I just wanted to share some snail powder culture, but later I found that some local fans who saw the short videos would come to the store to eat, and even some foreign fans who wanted to open snail powder stores came to me to learn technology. So I thought of receiving students through short videos and expanding franchise chains. At present, we have franchise stores in Beijing, Guangdong, Yunnan and Hubei. Last year, I recruited more than 160 students through short videos alone. Some of them have been very successful. For example, a couple in Henan learned the practice of snail duck foot pot from me on New Year's day last year, which has become a local characteristic snack in Zhengzhou. The first store opened in the Spring Festival. Henan TV station also interviewed and opened a second store in less than three months. Others have found a way to make a living for the whole family through snail powder. There is a couple in Shaanxi who are in financial difficulties and came to school with an eight month old child. They want to go back to open a small shop or set up a stall to make a living through this technology. I reduced their tuition fees and taught them more. Group photo of manager Jiang and students Source / respondent 38 years old, stressed but not anxious From the pre packaging factory of snail powder to the joining of physical stores, I have been doing the middle and back end of the industrial chain, but I think it is not enough. Because whether it is pre Packaging Import and export or opening physical stores, many core raw materials need to be purchased. However, with the expansion of the scale of our own physical stores and franchise chains, the demand for raw materials surges. If we plant bamboo, beans and fungus ourselves, directly contact farmers from the source, and then carry out the next step of processing and sales, the industrial chain can form a closed loop and reduce costs. At the same time, Liuzhou government is building a snail powder characteristic town, and plans to make this town a "grasp" of the tourism industry and drive the industrial development of the town. So this year, we and the villagers' Cooperative in Liuzhou planted thousands of mu of bamboo shoots and 1000 mu of beans. Store manager Jiang works in the bamboo shoot field Source / respondent In fact, compared with my previous work on the Internet, I am now under more pressure and my hair is losing. Although the technology of our brand is mature, it takes a lot of effort to develop new products in combination with the consumption trend of the market, such as snail duck foot pot and extended pickles taught to students during training. But even under pressure, I'm not too anxious. It's said that it's the post-90s or post-00s era, but I think I'm still young and energetic to try. Although I'm nearly 40, I feel that getting old or not accepting new things is a manifestation of getting old, and I've been paying attention to new trends and new ways of playing without age anxiety. My ideal has always been to see more scenery, taste local food and make more friends, but my work has been busy, I have no time to realize it, and even delayed my marriage. Next, I plan to go to all parts of the country with my team to understand the market, expand business and make friends with short videos, which can be regarded as the realization of my ideal. (Xinhua News Agency)
Edit：Li Ling Responsible editor：Chen Jie
Source：houchangqingnian
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