Executive finds success in noodle

Kang Liunian, a Chinese white-collar turned entrepreneur, made Japanese noodle popular with unique taste and new business model in Sanlitun, Beijing.

Kang came to Beijing in 2001 and worked in marketing department for various kinds of companies such as State-owned companies, foreign companies, joint ventures and internet entrepreneurial companies.

At the end of 2016, she decided to resign from a well-known internet company as a senior manager and pursued her dream of opening a noodle shop.

"To start a business of my own has always been my dream. I was 36 then and for me it was a turning point in my life. I had to be brave enough to leave the comfort zone and give up all the labels to obtain further growth," Kang said.

After heading to Tokyo to learn from the most popular noodle shop in January 2017, Kang opened her first Japanese restaurant in Sanlitun in Beijing in July last year.

By using online marketing strategies and application of online data algorithms into marketing, Kang made the restaurant popular in four to five months.

The thick soup makes the noodle taste special and it takes 16 hours to make the soup to guarantee good taste.

As it costs high and takes time to make this thick soup, Kang only sells 80 bowls of noodles each day.

Kang said one has to have craftsmanship spirit and ability to do things efficiently with limited resources to make the noodle delicious.

She plans to expand her business through standardized management chain and open her second restaurant in China.