A college student in southwest China has become the talk of the campus for his reliable and cheap haircuts.
Ding Weijie, a 19-year-old who is studying new energy vehicle technology in Sichuan Province, decided to earn some extra cash by running a "hair salon" in his dormitory, but at only five to six yuan (72 to 87 U.S. cents) per haircut.
His dorm, his hair saloon. /Photo via The Cover
His “hair salon” has taken off, especially with male students looking for a good deal.
"The price of having a haircut in the school's hair salon is relatively expensive for students as it costs 30 yuan each time," said Ding, who started his side business after being inspired by a career development competition.
Ding spent 200 yuan of his savings to buy the gear, and taught himself by watching online videos and using his classmates as guinea pigs.
It only costs five to six yuan. /Photo via The Cover
Coming from a poor family, Ding began to do some part-time jobs when he was in high school and he has been looking for opportunities since he entered college. Coincidentally, he was inspired by a career development competition and then came up with the idea of starting his own business on campus.
However, it is not an easy task to start a business on campus as there is fierce competition among students, with many opening small businesses such as food delivery and grocery stores. Luckily for Ding hair salons are not common on campus, so he started doing haircuts for his schoolmates and it later proved to be a success.
Ding has garnered praise for his entrepreneurial initiative, with the university dean Zhang Jianping saying the school supported his business and would help him apply for a business scholarship.
Ding's roommate described him as a person business minded. /Photo via The Cover
Nowadays, more and more Chinese college students are eager to start their own businesses on campus. According to a study on entrepreneurship among Chinese college students compiled by the Center for China and Globalization, more than 60 percent of students said they were interested in starting their own business. A total of 70.4 percent of students saw entrepreneurship as a better way to achieve self-improvement and self-worth.
In return, Chinese universities also support students who want to run their own businesses in many ways, including providing them with business scholarships and offering free enterprise training sessions.