Learned to walk on two legs, and learned to pursue a side hustle; during the pandemic, a side hustle saved me
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I am 165 tall, have good skin, and consider myself to have average to above-average looks. Although I’m pursuing an undergraduate degree at university, few people might be familiar with the name of this institution. I majored in history, and my parents thought that after graduation I should become a history teacher by getting a teaching position. My brother followed his parents’ advice: after graduating from a prestigious university, he took the civil service exam and is now the deputy town head. Yet, for six years since graduation, he has remained working at the local level in the countryside. I’m different from most girls in college; during my time there, I was extremely passionate about researching digital products. As a freshman, I often helped my roommates fix their computers and phones. Starting in my sophomore year, I took on part-time work doing digital repairs in the female dormitories, helping students with issues such as reinstalling operating systems, replacing hard drives, fixing problems with phone sound, or devices that wouldn’t turn on. The fee for each service ranged from 10 to 50 yuan. Although the charges weren’t high, there was a great demand from girls since their computers and phones often broke down, so my business was very successful. Starting in my junior year, I no longer needed my family to cover my tuition and living expenses; I earned them on my own.
During the summer vacation after graduating from university, I returned to my hometown and wanted my parents to invest in opening a digital repair shop that would deal in phone and computer accessories as well as provide related repair services. But my parents refused firmly, insisting that I take the exam to become a teacher, since I already had the teacher qualification certificate from university. They also thought I was pretty and had a good figure; being a teacher would provide stability, and it would make it easier for me to find a husband in the future. Where I am, those who earn a bachelor’s degree in education usually end up teaching in elementary schools, and they aren’t assigned to schools in the county towns; instead, half of them are assigned to elementary schools in very remote towns. If they want to be transferred to schools in the county towns, they have to use connections and take exams, which is extremely difficult. In the end, I managed to convince my parents; the costs for renting a shop, carrying out renovations, and purchasing accessories totaled over a hundred thousand. And that’s how my entrepreneurial journey began, but entrepreneurship is not easy; difficulties kept coming one after another.
I am a very patient and hardworking person. At first, business was slow in the store, as it was not located in a particularly busy area, which meant the rent was lower. I know a store needs time to build up a customer base, but I don’t have enough working capital, so I simply can’t sustain it for long. I don’t have the funds to sustain this long-term effort; from morning until 10 p.m., I might only have one or two hours actually available to work, and sometimes even less than that. The rest of the time is spent watching over the store, waiting for customers to come in. After two months, I became very distressed – I didn’t know how to keep going. With just my business income, I couldn’t even support myself, let alone cover the rent. But I didn’t want to give up on my dream, so I decided to find some part-time work to help make up for the losses the store was suffering.
But when I was looking for part-time jobs, I found that there were very few flexible part-time opportunities that wouldn’t interfere with running the store. After some effort, I found a job as an article editor on the Little Bee Remote Work website; I could do this work when there was no business in the store. Although I only earned a little over 200 yuan in the first week, I was still very happy because I received a salary. Many part-time jobs available online require deposits, or one doesn’t get paid for the work done, and there are plenty of scammers out there. Article editors don’t need to be excellent writers, but they do need to type quickly, as more work means more pay; as they become more skilled, they can earn four to five hundred per week. I work at least five or six hours a day, as the business in the store is not very busy. I’m really happy; I’ve finally found a flexible part-time job, so my store won’t have to close. As a girl, it was very stressful for me to go against my parents’ wishes and ask them to invest in opening a digital repair shop.
I firmly believe that business will keep improving as long as I provide good service and have solid skills; there should be no problems, it’s just a matter of time. I’m still young at the moment, and time is my asset, so I’m not afraid. As long as there are no customers in the store, I start working on editing articles every day; however, the pay is around 15–20 yuan per hour. The advantage is that the salary is paid out after about two weeks. Later, I found a part-time job as an online English customer service agent on Little Bee Remote Work, dealing with simple online English conversations. I was the English class representative in both high school and college. I passed the CET-6 in my sophomore year, and when I encountered difficulties, I used online translation tools to help me. The income from working as an English-speaking customer service representative is higher; one can earn around 3,000 per month. If done full-time, the salary would be quite low, but I do this job while also working at the store.
Since I was young, I have dreamed of having my own small shop, taking care of it myself. Every customer who comes in is like a part of my life’s landscape; I witness their joys and sorrows, day after day, year after year. Once I become a symbol of a certain place, serving the residents around me, I also become their friend. Although my shop still doesn’t generate enough income at the moment, I am convinced that such times will not last long. Having hope is good. And as long as I’m not lazy, I also earn extra money from part-time work every day. Every day, aside from receiving guests, I work on Little Bee, where I can be flexible with my schedule. I feel that I lead a fulfilling life; although it’s tiring, I really enjoy it, and I’m working hard for myself.
Before I knew it, three months had passed; the store became increasingly popular, people gradually got to know me better and came to respect me, and business improved. I managed to get through those tough times by working part-time. Thanks to my decent repair skills, I was able to solve various problems related to people’s digital devices, which earned me praise from the local residents. Through my perseverance, hope finally appeared, and my business grew better and better. Business is improving a bit now; I have a surplus of a few thousand yuan each month. As long as my parents’ hard-earned money isn’t wasted, I’m at ease. Moreover, my current job is also something I enjoy – helping customers solve their problems gives me a great sense of fulfillment. I’m happy to see them happy after their issues are resolved. Gradually, I’ve also become friends with some people around me.
But the moon goes through phases of waxing and waning; in 2020 we faced this pandemic, and the store couldn’t open, so I couldn’t earn money by working face to face. Fortunately, at that time I remembered that I still had a part-time job, and I could work remotely through Xiaomibee, which meant I didn’t end up with no source of income at all. So, during this special period, I worked from home. I feel lucky; if it hadn’t been for the difficulties in the early stages of opening the business, I wouldn’t have looked for part-time work, and if I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have come across this platform. This is exactly what the old saying goes: don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
My business has reopened now, and sales aren’t as good as they were before the pandemic, but I’m not worried at all. I’m convinced that things will get better once the pandemic is completely over. When I’m not busy, I still continue to do some part-time work. Earning a little more money is secondary; my main goal is to avoid falling behind in my computer science studies. Since the hours for this part-time work are flexible, it doesn’t affect the store’s business at all. I plan to use the profits from the store to start another company focused on IT-related activities; I think that’s how I might be able to achieve financial freedom. One has to do something on their own to keep the business of the store running, and any unexpected problems can cause significant setbacks. After going through this experience, I realized that it’s important to have a variety of side businesses as well; otherwise, facing unexpected issues can be very difficult.
My business has reopened now, and sales aren’t as good as they were before the pandemic, but I’m not worried at all. I’m convinced that things will get better once the pandemic is completely over. When I’m not busy, I still continue to do some part-time work. Earning a little more money is secondary; my main goal is to avoid falling behind in my computer science studies. Since the hours for this part-time work are flexible, it doesn’t affect the store’s business at all. I plan to use the profits from the store to start another company focused on IT-related activities; I think that’s how I might be able to achieve financial freedom. One has to do something on their own to keep the business of the store running, and any unexpected problems can cause significant setbacks. After going through this experience, I realized that it’s important to have a variety of side businesses as well; otherwise, facing unexpected issues can be very difficult.