The reason why Ma Yun wants to run translation agency is mainly based on three considerations: 1. At that time, many foreign trade companies in Hangzhou needed a large number of full-time or part-time foreign language translators; He has too many orders in this field, and he is really too busy; At that time, there was no professional translation agency in Hangzhou.
Many people just have ideas and never act. But as soon as Ma Yun has an idea, he will act immediately. It was 1992. Ma Yun was a young teacher at Hangzhou Institute of Electronic Technology. He is 28 years old and has worked for four years. His monthly salary is less than 100 yuan. But no money is not a problem. He found several partners to start a business together and set up the first professional translation agency in Hangzhou. At the beginning of starting a business, it was also difficult. In the first month, all translation agency's income went to 700 yuan. At that time, the monthly rent was 2,400 yuan. So kind colleagues and friends advised Ma Yun to stop fooling around, and even the confidence of several partners was shaken. But Ma Yun doesn't want to give up.
In order to maintain the survival of translation agency, Ma Yun began to sell underwear, gifts, medicines and other small commodities, and sold them everywhere like many salesmen. He was humiliated and looked down upon. In the past three years, translation agency has survived by selling these groceries by Ma Yun. From 65438 to 0995, translation agency began to make a profit.
Now, Haibo Translation Agency has become the largest professional translation agency in Hangzhou. Although it can't be compared with Alibaba today, Haibo translation agency contributed a lot to Ma Yun's entrepreneurial experience. Haibo translation agency's greatest inspiration to Ma Yun is: Never give up. Without money, you can succeed as long as you never give up.
The Second Time: Founding China Yellow Pages
China Yellow Pages is the first website in China, although it is extremely rough.
The website was established because of an experience of Ma Yun in America. 1995 In early 1995, Ma Yun visited a friend's Internet company in Seattle and saw the magic of the Internet with his own eyes. He immediately realized the huge development prospect of the Internet in the future and immediately decided to return to China to do the Internet. At the beginning of his business, Ma Yun had no money, and all his possessions were only 6,000 yuan. So he sold the office furniture of Haibo translation agency, borrowed money from relatives and friends, and made up 80,000 yuan. Coupled with the investment of two friends, a * * * is only 65,438+10,000 yuan. For an Internet company, a mere 654.38 million+is really shabby.
Many people say that you can't compete with millions of Internet companies. Others say that today's environment is completely different from when Ma Yun founded China Yellow Pages. At that time, 654.38+ 10,000 yuan was ok, but now it is definitely not. I said, it's all excuses. People who say such things can't achieve much in this life, because all they see is difficulties. For China Yellow Pages, in the early days of its establishment, capital was indeed the biggest problem. Due to large expenses and little business, at worst, the company only has 200 yuan cash in its bank account. However, with the indomitable spirit, Ma Yun overcame all kinds of difficulties and turned the turnover from zero to several million.
Of course, China Yellow Pages was later acquired by Hangzhou Telecom. But I think China Yellow Pages is still successful in Ma Yun's hands.
The third time: founded Alibaba
Alibaba is undoubtedly a miracle in the history of Internet in China, which was created by Ma Yun and his team. But when Alibaba started its business, it didn't have much money, 500 thousand, which was pieced together by 18 people. 500 thousand, it's all their money However, it is this 500,000, but Ma Yun shouted such a declaration: We want to build the world's largest e-commerce company and rank among the top ten websites in the world!
That is 1999. During the period of 1999, the Internet in China entered a white-hot state. Foreign venture capitalists are crazy about investing in China Internet companies, and Internet companies are also crazy about burning money. 500,000 yuan is only a small advertising fee for such large portals as Sina, Sohu and Netease. Alibaba's start was quite difficult. Everyone's salary is only 500 yuan, and the company can't wait to spend half of it. Go out to work, carry forward the spirit of "going out on foot" and rarely take a taxi. It is said that once, everyone went out to buy things, and there were many things. There is no way out, so they have to take a taxi. On the way, everyone waved to a taxi. When a Santana arrived, they waved their hands and stopped sitting. They have been sitting in a Li Xialai, because the cost per kilometer in Li Xia is cheaper than that in Santana, 2 yuan. Alibaba used to be almost unsustainable because of financial problems.
Eight years have passed. On June 6th, 2007, 165438+ Alibaba was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a market value of US$ 20 billion, making it the largest Internet company in China. Ma Yun and his entrepreneurial team have created the greatest miracle in China's Internet history.
Most people who want to start a business in China are the same. They think of thousands of ways at night and get up in the morning to take the same way. They are much smarter than Ma Yun and can come up with many good ideas for starting a business, but they have never implemented them. Because they have too many excuses and reasons. "I have no money." They all think so. So, they continue to live a mediocre life. Today, I watched the speech delivered at the opening ceremony of Peking University in 2008. At the end of his speech, Yu said something like this, which made me particularly moved. He said: a person's life is a life of struggle, but some people live a great life and some people live a trivial life. If we have a great ideal and a kind heart, we can pile up many trivial days and turn them into a great life. But if you are mediocre and have no ideal every day and stop making progress from now on, then your life will always be a pile of trivial things.