China鈥檚supportivestartuppolicieshaveseenmanyuniversitystudentstostartbusinessesimmediatelyaftergraduation.Accordingtothe2017ReportontheEmploymentofUniversityGraduatesreleasedbyMyCOS,afirmspecializinginhighereducationmanagementdataanalyticsinChina,about3percentofgraduateschosetostarttheirownbusinesseswithinhalfayearaftertheirgraduationin2016.Butopinionisdividedonwhetherthisisindeedthebesttimetosetupshop.
PeoplelikeMichaelMinhongYu,MemberoftheNationalCommitteeoftheChinesePeople鈥檚PoliticalConsultativeConference,whoisalsoChairmanofNewOrientalEducationandTechnologyGroup,believesthatuniversitygraduatesshouldfirstworkasemployeestogainexperiencebeforetheycanruntheirowncompanies.Yuobservedthatlessthan5percentoftheuniversitygraduateswhostartbusinesseswithinhalfayearaftertheirgraduationachievesuccess.Theotherschoolofthought,however,saythatasChina鈥檚businessenvironmenthasbecomemorepreferentialtoentrepreneurs,andthetimetostartupisdefinitelyaftergraduation.
Duringtheprocessofrunningbusinesses,theseyoungpeoplecangainusefulexperience,evenwhentheircompaniesfail.Suchexperienceismorevaluablethangainingmoneyintheirfuturedevelopment.
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LinJianhuaPresidentofPekingUniversity
Itistruethatonlyafewgraduatescanbesuccessfulwhentheystartbusinesses.But鈥渂eingsuccessful鈥漝oesnotonlymeanearningmoney.Duringtheprocessofrunningbusinesses,theseyoungpeoplecangainusefulexperience,evenwhentheircompaniesfail.Suchexperienceismorevaluablethangainingmoneyintheirfuturedevelopment.Itcannotbelearnedinclassroom.Icallitbusiness-startupeducation,whichshouldbeapartofourtertiaryedu-cation.Encouraginguniversitygraduatestostartbusinessesimmediatelyaftergraduationmeansencouragingthemtodeveloptheirentrepreneurship,whichincludesfosteringtheirabilitiestobeinnovative,solvedifficultiesanddirectlyfaceuncertainties.
WangXiaochuanCEOofSougouInc.
Iencourageuniversitygraduatestostarttheirbusinessesimmediatelyaftergraduationastheyareenthusiastic,energeticanddaretotrynewideas.Alltheseareveryimportantinrunningabusiness.Universitygraduatesshoulddiversifytheirchoicesofemployment,andstartingupbusinessesshouldbeoneofthechoices.Thepreconditionisthattheyarefullyawareoftherisks.Moststudentshavebusiness-startupcoursesinuniversities,whichcanhelpthemfindtherightprojectbasedontheirinterests.Eveniftheyfailintheshortterm,theycanachievesuccessinthelongtermiftheyhavenofearoffailureandmakeconstantbreakthroughs.
ZengGuanghaoHeadofBusinessStartupandIncubationBaseforUniversityStudentsofHuiyang
Weshouldnotonlyencourageuniversitystudentstostartbusinessesimmediatelyaftergraduation,butalsoguidethemtogotoruralareas.ThisisinlinewithChina鈥檚ruralrevitalizationstrategy.Thereareabundantresourcesinruralareasthatcanhelpgraduatesdeveloptheirbusinesses.Inreturn,whenmoreuniversitygraduates,whoaretechsavvy,gotosetupbusinessesinruralareas,theywilldrivetheeconomicdevelopmentoftheseareas.Torealizethegoalofruralrevitalization,weshouldchangethetrendthateducatedyoungpeoplefromruralareastoworkinbigcities.
Ihopethegovernmentatvariouslevelscouldintroducemoreincentivepoliciestoencourageuniversitygraduatestodevelopinruralareassoastohelpbothuniversitygraduatesandtheruralareas.
Everybodywhostartsabusinessfacesthepossibilitiesoffailure.Iftheyfail,itwillputtheminaverydifficultposition.
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HuYunwangFounderofICCaf茅
It鈥檚noteasytorunabusiness.Youneedproductinnovation,teammanagementandmarketexplorationskills.Idon鈥檛thinkgraduateshavethesecapabilities.Studentshavealotofacademicknowledge,buttheydonothaveenoughopportunitiestogainpracticalexperienceofmanagement.Atthesametime,theydonothavesufficientsocialexperienceorsocialresources.Itisdifficultforthemtogatherthenecessarytalentstobuilduptheirworkteams.Thus,itisnotagoodoptionforstudentstostartbusinessesimmediatelyaftergraduation.Theyshouldfirstworkasemployees,improvetheircareercapacity,andlearnthebasiccorporateoperationandmanagementskills.
ChenMaohuiCEOofM-Teeth
Idon鈥檛thinkitisagoodideaforstudentstofoundcompaniesimmediatelyaftertheygraduatefromuniversities.Afterall,theylackexperienceand,moreimportantly,funds.Somepeopleborrowmoneyfrombanks,whichwouldputthemunderheavypressure.Everybodywhostartsabusinessfacesthepossibilitiesoffailure.Iftheyfail,itwillputtheminaverydifficultposition.Somepeopleevenusetheirparents鈥檓oneyforsuchventure,whichIamstronglyagainst.Thatmeanstheyalsoputtheirparentsatrisk.Studentsareenthusiastic,whichisapositiveattribute;butiftheyaretooenthusiasticaboutsomething,theymaybecomeirrational.Manypeopleonlyseesomesuccessfulcasesofuniversitygraduatesstartingbusinesses.Whattheydon鈥檛knowis,behindthepublicizedsuccessstories,therearemanyfailedcases.Universitygraduatesshouldrationallyanalyzetheircapacityandconditions,especiallyfinancialconditions.
ZhouHongyiChairmanofQihoo360TechnologyCo.Ltd.
ItisveryeasytoregisteracompanyinChina.ButIthinkitisagreatchallengeforyoungpeople,especiallynewgraduates,toturntheirideaintoproducts.Chinahasnumerouscompaniesinallsectors,anditisverydifficultforanewcompanytogetasharefromthemarket.Accordingtomyexperience,tobesuccessfulinstartingbusinesses,peopleshouldthinkdifferently.Butwithoutlong-timeworkingexperienceinthemarket,theydonotknowhowtothinkdifferently.
Isuggeststudentsbecomeemployeesaftergraduation.Eveniftheyworkinaverysmallcompany,andthecompanygoesbankrupt,theycanstilllearnsomethingfromit.Atleast,theyknowwhatmakesacompanyfail.Thisisgoodfortheirfuturedevelopment.