Student entrepreneurs learn harsh lessons in China

Graduates seek prospects at a job fair in Huai'an, Jiangsu province, on Dec 6. HE JINGHUA/FOR CHINA DAILY

Rocky road to success

When asked by investors and researchers why they chose to start heir own companies, most young entrepreneurs replied: "I want to change the world." The 2013 MyCOS report showed nearly 50 percent of college graduates started their own business because they had a dream.

"Unlike some of the 'post-70s', young people today are motivated by idealism rather than financial considerations," Garage Cafe's Li said.

However, many young hopefuls find that the road holds many challenges and the prospect of failure. Their lack of practical business sense, contacts and experience means many feel frustrated and optimistic at the same time.

In September, when the Jinshan district of Shanghai conducted a survey of startup entrepreneurs born after 1970, it concluded that nearly 93 percent of successful young entrepreneurs chose to work in the same sector as their parents, rather than genuinely "start from scratch".

Liu Shuiyin, founder of easyuni, a one-stop education portal website, said the road to success was littered with countless frustrations, and she saw many competitors drop out in the early stages.

"I felt very frustrated almost every time I spoke with investors because they seemed to make a hobby out of demolishing you and your ideas," said Liu, 24, from Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. "At the start, we believed it would be easy for people from the post-90s generation to attract large amounts of investment. That turned out to be untrue," she said.

"I didn't have a clear approach at the beginning, so sometimes I told different stories when I spoke with different investors. However, I believe those moments helped me to rethink my products and helped me to mature in the process. The key to survival is to be confident and get used to the 'suffering'," she added. "It's an adventure, so you have to enjoy the journey and be ready to adjust to changes at any time."