"Women are more afraid of entrepreneurial failure than men. Fear of making mistakes and perfectionism often disrupt women's all-round thinking. Long-term social conditions also often make women more afraid of failure, being stuck in adversity, or being forced to cater. But the important thing is that Find the loudest voice in a noisy world, recognize your achievements, and then speak loudly to others, and don't be afraid to let others know your achievements." It was the British Consul General in Chongqing who made this point and encouraged women. Poetry Lady (Cecille El Beleidi). On April 24, 2018, the "Kunming Women's Entrepreneurship Forum" was held in Majia Courtyard, Kunming. The forum was initiated by the Yunnan British Alumni Association, hosted by the Kunming Wuhua District Overseas Students Association and Starup Grind Kunming, and worked with the British Embassy in Kunming. Co-organized by the Chongqing Consulate, Lean In Kunming, Yunnan Chamber of Commerce for Young Entrepreneurs, School of Finance at Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, and Kunming Women's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Demonstration Center, this forum was sponsored by Meals and Beverages provided by Younigna and Yunnan Milling Agriculture. The venue is specially sponsored by Majia Courtyard.
Cecille El Beleidi, British Consul General in Chongqing
Ms. Apesh mentioned that the latest McKinsey global research report shows that if women can play the same role as men at work, a GDP of US$28 trillion can be added to the global economy in 2025. “Equal employment and entrepreneurship are not only correct at the social level, they are necessary for everyone at the economic level. When women develop and perform well, society will develop better because women will improve in health and education. Investing more energy and time will have a very strong "ripple effect" on the next generation of society. Now more women are also seeking to start their own businesses, and female entrepreneurs often encounter more problems than male entrepreneurs. , most of these recurring problems are practical issues, such as funds, and personal skills issues, such as the creation and utilization of network and personal confidence issues. I encourage everyone to make their own connections. If you cannot make good use of your network, There is actually no point in making connections. Women who enter new positions tend to be more reserved and low-key until they find their own confidence, so it is very important to surround yourself with people who support you and stay away from those who let you down. You're a backslider."
Zhang Xiaoping, Vice President of Kunming Wuhua District Overseas Students Association
Ms. Zhang Xiaoping, vice president of Kunming Wuhua District Overseas Students Association, spoke at the scene: "China-UK relations are currently entering a golden era. In 2015, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to the UK and both parties agreed to build a global strategic partnership for the 21st century. In 2016, Yunnan and Liverpool became sister cities. The two cities will cooperate in cultural and creative, sports, education and medical institutions. We very much look forward to Kunming and Liverpool writing a new historical chapter together in the Sino-British Golden Era. The Overseas Students Association was established on September 24, 2017. It is a bridge and link for overseas students to contribute to Kunming Wuhua District. We encourage overseas students to bring advanced study abroad concepts back to their hometowns, build a bridge connecting the world, and jointly build China. Great future endeavors for the UK.”
In her speech, Ms. Wang Yandan, China Director of the Sino-British Basic Education and Football Project, asked the audience a question: "What do you think the image of a front desk receptionist looks like?" Many people would think that she is a woman. If you ask you what a scientist looks like, everyone will think he is a male. She mentioned that the concept of basic education and the media have a certain orientation, which leads us to have deep-rooted biases. We encourage everyone to avoid the formation of this kind of bias, avoid being guided by empiricism, and avoid preconceived ideas. The theme of International Women's Day in 2017 is "Dare to Change", and I hope everyone will have the courage to change and keep up the good work. "
Gary Millar, Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, UK
Gary Millar, Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, UK, extended an invitation to everyone to attend the International Business Festival organized by Liverpool UK Trade and Investment, Liverpool City Council and other British governments in June this year.
Roundtable discussion, from left to right: Spring City International Wine Club ANNA ORLOVA, Zuo Tao, founder of TAIYIS International (Hong Kong) Education Technology Co., Ltd., Wu Yuxuan, founder of Miart Music Education in the UK, Meng Qingyu, vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese
ANNAORLOVA: You all have overseas work experience. Do you think there will be any difference between your work experience in China and abroad?
Wu Yuxuan: "Because I work in music education, when teaching, Chinese parents will be very strict with their children and require their children to complete their homework with high quality, but British parents may feel that if their children can To learn happily, just go with the flow and not ask for too much, so teachers need to meet the needs of children in different countries when teaching, because it may be different, which is also a challenge for us.”
Zuo Tao: When I first studied in the UK, when we first sat in the classroom, we were basically in a group of ten people. The teacher would give you a topic, and then everyone had to express their own opinions. Views and opinions. Whenever I express my opinion, I always want to get some validation, judgment like right or wrong, but in fact no one will tell you right or wrong after expressing my opinion, but I later understood that you need to listen to different opinions. , and then form your own unique opinions instead of imposing a standard of right and wrong.
Meng Qingyu: Zuo Tao just mentioned that critical thinking is important. In fact, this is also very important when starting a business. You need to think about what your advantages are and what the market needs. You can’t just follow the crowd. When we return to When China started entrepreneurship, we did not have our own lives. We were always working and seldom thought.
ANNA ORLOVA: Do you have any suggestions on how to open your mind and form your own opinions?
Zuo Tao: I think it is important to collect enough information to form your own opinions, and at the same time you need to be responsible for what you say. You need to have your own opinion, don't just follow others. You must have your own judgment and information, and then be brave enough to express your thoughts.
Meng Qingyu: Be brave and learn to question, and learn to communicate and discuss more with people around you. In the process, you can gain a lot of knowledge and information.
ANNA ORLOVA: From a global perspective, what advantages do Kunming enterprises have, and how can they take advantage of these advantages and take the initiative to go global following the country’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative?
Meng Qingyu: Kunming is the central city in Southeast Asia. It gives you many opportunities to cooperate with many people from Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and other countries, so I think this is an advantage not only for women.
Zuo Tao: Institutions in Kunming can take advantage of the unique advantages of cultural and historical exchanges with Southeast Asian countries to do more people-to-people exchanges and promote people-to-people diplomacy. For example, last year we took students to Thailand to visit a local public school. The local principal received us. During the question and answer session, a student sang a traditional Chinese song on the stage. Then the principal was very happy and said that he actually planned to add more Chinese to their mainstream courses because Chinese was becoming more and more important. One of the Chinese children was immediately inspired. She thought the principal's decision was a good one and made him feel very proud of being Chinese. Later, a Thai teacher posted the conversation between him and the principal on Facebook, which received many likes. As we go global along the “One Belt and One Road” initiative, we need to have soft influence, so that we can effectively cultivate children’s cultural confidence and become messengers of cultural dissemination.
ANNA ORLOVA: What advice do you have for female entrepreneurs who want to expand their businesses from home to abroad?
Meng Qingyu: I think you need to pay attention to the brand value of your products. The market is changeable and sometimes there are no rules to follow.
Wu Yuxuan: It is very important to keep learning new things and continuously improve innovation capabilities.
Zuo Tao: I think it is very important to manage your network well and accumulate effective network resources.
Roundtable discussion, from left to right: Zhao Mengyan, senior board member of Ram&Sonz Ltd., Zhang Mei, director of Kunming Women’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Demonstration Center, Kong Ling, deputy general manager of Shuodian Cultural and Creative Culture Company, Zhang Lixin, deputy general manager of Yunnan Qianxin Enterprise Management Co., Ltd.
What is the original intention of starting a business?
Zhang Lixin: After working for a certain period of time, different changes occur in my life. Especially after I have children, I feel that I want to educate my children through precepts and deeds. I feel that as a parent, for my children, even if they are very young, they can see some of the world through the perspective of things and me, and find some ability to solve problems through me.
Zhang Mei: The original intention of starting a business had a core issue. Before I was 30 years old, I was a league cadre of a state-owned enterprise, leading 300 young league members. Later, why we start a business is because we have a certain ability and we want to start a business. I think this is the core. Once you discover the external tools and internal skills, you will want to start a business. In fact, today there are very few people who start a business because of survival, and most of them are for self-realization.
Kong Ling: When I was in college, I worked as an intern as a temporary reporter. There was an earthquake. When I went to the local area, I had a realization that life is all about small problems except life and death. I felt that I was very weak at the time and wanted to make myself stronger. Being able to protect others and those I love. I also want to help more people. At least I think I will feel satisfied when I get older because I have done something for others.
Zhao Mengyan: I think I have always been willing to understand Yunnan female entrepreneurs and Yunnan minority entrepreneurs. Because I think the reasons why women in Yunnan start businesses are very vivid, and they may be different from those in other countries, such as improving the economy or having such a dream. Because Yunnan is a place with a very rich cultural background. First of all, I am a Bai ethnic group. Dali used to be a very important business area. This local culture will affect me. When I was working in France, I helped many large companies with brand transformation and brand architecture. During this process, I found that there were many Chinese entrepreneurs who had a great desire to go global and were pursuing cooperation with foreign institutions in their services. But when you work with them, you will find that they are very insecure. When they come into contact with a new service, you will find that they will be in a state of anxiety and unable to focus on starting a business abroad. From this As a starting point, I decided to return to China to think about how to undertake a bridge. I think the market is very diverse. People may have a very frontier feeling about Yunnan, but if you look at Chanel and Olay, many of their raw materials come from Yunnan, so I think the local business operations in Yunnan have not yet fully developed into one of their own. The higher space, this is a big associative space and the task is also very difficult.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of female entrepreneurship?
Zhang Mei: I was a judge at the National Women’s Federation Women’s Entrepreneurship Competition last year. Tong Wenhong, the vice president of Alibaba at the time, was sitting next to me. She told me that she had done a lot of research and data analysis and found that among female entrepreneurs 52% of entrepreneurial failures are due to poor decision-making, and 46% are due to team disorganization.
I think the disadvantages of female entrepreneurs are: first, lack of rationality and being too emotional. Maybe I misjudged the person and misjudged the target. Second, there is a lack of logical thinking. Martin, the vice president of Tencent, once told me that he doesn’t look at WeChat during the day, but only looks at the data behind it, such as how many people are online and how much money is flowing on it. He has a team of six people, and he reads books on social psychology, religion, and the relationship between people every day. For example, when it comes to "red envelopes", they don't use them as soon as they have an idea. They studied the Chinese people's concept of face and the Chinese people's concept of needs. So when we start a business, how do we think about our goals? We must learn to form the logical thinking behind the business.
So what are the advantages? In fact, we are seeing the advent of the sharing era today, and women have also become the theme song. Seventy percent of Alibaba’s bosses are female bosses. We are both buyers and sharers. You see e-commerce Do it so well that every product woman can spread the word. I think the second advantage is tenacity. There are many women in the craftsmanship spirit. For example, many embroidery people on my platform are already well-known masters. They feel that this is part of the national heritage and they insist on doing it.
Kong Ling: I would like to talk about some external challenges that women face when starting a business: First, the critical eyes of the outside world. When a man makes a decision, most people are acceptable, but when a woman makes a decision, many people will You like to be skeptical at first, and only after countless successes may others accept your strength. The second is society’s unreasonable expectations. Some people like to compare men to agents and women to mother ducks (who need to take care of their baby ducks). Society expects men to be independent and able to make their own decisions, while women are expected to consider other people's feelings first. I think this social atmosphere actually requires everyone to work together to improve it. On the other hand, women have advantages: First, women are more empathetic. Women's minds are more delicate, and it is easier for women to detect some of the other person's emotions. Secondly, women's evaluation of themselves is more calm and accurate. The third is that women are better able to make correct decisions when facing pressure. Women's intuition is more delicate. In fact, many times you don't need to be afraid of your intuition. You have to follow your intuition and look for evidence. For example, if you see a news today, it is said that Yunnan's baking industry is expected to grow to a scale of 200 billion next year. You need to learn to analyze this data. For example, which data comes from large enterprises, which comes from small enterprises, and which ones come from small enterprises? How much labor and time do you have to invest? In fact, I think there are no absolute advantages or disadvantages for women to start a business. As long as you see your shortcomings and are willing to improve them, you can correct them.
Zhao Mengyan: I think women should let go of the idea of being a tomboy. Women don’t need to impose the role of men on themselves. First of all, you have to accept that you are a woman. It is good for women to like beauty or softness. It does not mean that you must be strong to be accepted.
Difficulties encountered by women in entrepreneurship
Zhang Mei: In fact, I think many of the problems that men and women encounter when starting a business are very similar, such as funding, partners, etc. But for women, I think the first and most important thing is: concept. In fact, today, I think a change in concept can make a business model thrive. Nowadays, the concept of "adhering to design" is often mentioned. Many people think that my company has not reached that scale yet and there is no need to do this. . But in fact, adhering to design is the sorting out of a goal. For example, there is a woman who makes sanitary napkins. The product is very good and she has been doing it for many years, but it is really difficult to promote the product. Later, we helped him change his marketing model and upgrade from products to service products. We brought it into health management, emotion management, gender and parent-child management. So looking at it today, what is adhering to design? We need to help them make this decision-making. This does not mean that it is not necessary when a company starts to develop, but it is more critical when it is just starting out and is very small.
