A bowl of spicy hot pot made Tianshui famous.

In recent years, the entrepreneurship wave in county towns has been flourishing, attracting numerous ambitious individuals to venture into this trillion-level market. As of 2022, China's county-level consumer market scale has exceeded 10 trillion yuan, and by 2023, the cumulative number of people returning to their hometowns to start businesses nationwide exceeded 10 million.

County towns have become a new hotbed for entrepreneurial waves, and Xie, a franchisee from Yangjiang, is one of the pioneers in this fertile ground.

1. Giving up the "iron rice bowl," a pharmacy student ventures into auto parts

"If I could choose again, I would still firmly choose my current entrepreneurial life." In 2017, Xie made a bold decision: to give up the "iron rice bowl" and start a business!

Approaching 40 years old, Xie is a native of Yangjiang. After majoring in pharmacy during university, he entered the system following the trend of taking civil service exams, enjoying an enviable "nine-to-five" job.

"No one expected me to give up what people considered a coveted position and venture into entrepreneurship, becoming someone others thought was overreaching." Due to his nature, he was born to be adventurous and competitive, always "planning" to start a business.

△ Xie (second from left)

"I'm a novice with no experience, no connections, and no resources, making it difficult to find a suitable business project," until a childhood friend recommended that he learned about Baturu auto parts' franchise presence in Yangjiang--with traffic, mentorship, and low startup capital, he got his family's approval and dove into the auto parts industry.

Now, after more than 7 years as a franchisee, Xie has achieved monthly sales of up to 1 million yuan, with an average stable level around 700,000 yuan, directly doubling his income, "If it weren't for my initial drive, I'd probably still be a wage earner making a few thousand yuan a month."

2. Starting from zero, an auto parts novice captures 50% of the market

"They (the experienced mechanics) often dialect to mention auto parts terminology that I didn't understand, which easily made me feel inferior," recalling the early days of franchising, Xie still vividly remembers his identity as an auto parts novice.

Fortunately, the platform's franchise model is extremely friendly to auto parts newcomers. The headquarters arranged regional managers to take him and his team to visit the market and understand needs. Within a month, he had established connections with numerous repair shops. "I have the advantage of being a local, the mechanics find my accent familiar and are patient in teaching me," now he has become something of a mentor himself, able to guide newly-entered mechanics.

△ Inspecting parts

As the market expanded, winning over customer mindsets became another major challenge for Xie.

He still remembers a comprehensive repair shop customer who had refused to use the platform for years. One day, they bought a Mercedes-Benz S-Class headlight worth 20,000 yuan offline. After receiving it, there were some defects. Since offline original parts typically have no warranty upon leaving the store, combined with logistics transfer issues, the supplier couldn't provide a good solution, and ultimately the customer couldn't claim compensation and had to "eat the loss."

Xie seized this opportunity to get the customer to place orders online, and according to platform rules, he promised quality assurance and after-sales service procedures, following the entire process closely, finally winning the customer's trust. "Our platform has a complete liability determination process and after-sales solution, I must make sure customers know this."

Trust is built on sincere service and genuine experience.

△ Guiding customers to place orders

Especially after upgrading to a franchisee in 2020, he admits he gained greater freedom in business development and sourcing, able to tailor solutions to his specific challenges, truly making it his own business. He also became more motivated.

To date, Xie has established partnerships with over half of the repair shops and 90% of 4S store customers in his area, and combined with insurance business cooperation through the platform, he truly felt the sweetness of entrepreneurship.

3. Brothers starting a business together, great potential

The gradually improving consumer environment in county towns and the emotional bonds of family relationships are important attractions for people to "return" from big cities.

For Xie, starting a business with brothers is the confidence that made him decide to take root in the auto parts industry.

"Our team has 5 people in total, all young people of similar age, with flexible and non-rigid divisions of labor. We deliver along 3 routes daily, which 3 people can handle, and the remaining time everyone invests in business development and customer communication," in daily work, his team is more like brothers, chatting about work and daily life. They even have fitness equipment at the shop, and can spar during leisure time. Isn't this the unique relaxation that county town entrepreneurship brings?

△ Yangjiang franchisee brother team

Now as a father of two children, he balances family and business. "Now I have flexible working hours, I can handle business with just a phone and check operational data on the backend anytime, which means I have more time with my family."

Regarding his 2024 plans, he is focusing on customer maintenance and new energy vehicle parts supply.

"The platform has been continuously updating and supplementing new energy vehicle parts supply, and what we need to do is closely monitor demand and wait patiently for results. Our goal this year is to fully understand market needs, continuously activate customers, and increase our share of repair shop customers to over 60%."