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Thread: Reaching for riches

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[quote=LIONPOWER,254450]The delegate to the National People's Congress is not sure how many business trips she has made by now - flying first class and staying in five-star hotels - but she vividly remembers her early days when she lived as a vagrant trying to get her business off the ground.

"The experience that came with these hardships is priceless," she says.

The 46-year-old mother of two enjoys having a big family. She and her 28 family members live in the top floor of the family company's six-storey building in Yiwu's Qing Kou Industry Zone .

Everyone has a private bedroom and shares a huge living room, which is spacious enough to play basketball.

Three maids are responsible for the family's daily meals, and two big round tables are set up in the dining room: One is for adults, the other for children.

Except for traveling, the chairperson of the Neoglory China Holding Group (NCHG) seldom eats out and cherishes every chance to dine with her family. After meals, she goes to her office and works late into the night.

"I am always the pillar of my family, while the family members provide emotional support and care for me. We have a wonderful relationship," she says.

Zhou entered the accessories business in 1986, a year after she married Yu Yunxin, who also sold embroidery.

"What I noticed while making my early sales in Northeast China was that local women loved colorful hair ornaments," she recalls.

"I found it inspirational to see that everyone wants to look beautiful, whether she is rich or not. So, I believed the business potential was huge."

The couple bought a booth at Yiwu's Small Commodity City. Her husband was responsible for purchasing material, while she and her sisters manned the booth in the day and processed accessories at night. Sometimes, even her youngest son would make contributions to the family business.

In 1995, they invested several million yuan in opening an accessories factory in response to a call from the local government to develop industry.

"The money was all of our savings from a decade of hard work. I could not help worrying about what kind of life we would face if we failed," she admits.

"But my husband said we could start from scratch, as long as we are diligent and determined."

The company developed dramatically over the following years. However, the management became a headache for Zhou because of her limited educational background.

So, in the late 1990s, Zhou and several local enterprisers enrolled in the Party School of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China, where the countrywoman first learned about human resources and financial management.

Since then, she continued to invest in education for herself, as well as her staff, to keep them on the cutting edge.

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