Richard Liu Qiangdong is the founding father and CEO of one of the most exceptional firm in China, Jiangdong.com. He launched the business in 1998 after working for a Japanese firm. However, although he is currently one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the world, Liu was not into entrepreneurship. While enrolling on campus, Liu chose to pursue sociology as he wanted to venture into politics. However, his dreams were short-lived. While studying, he used to spend most of his free time mugging up on computer coding and programming. After graduating, he went on to continue with his studies at the China International Business School.
After completing his studies, he was lucky to land a job with a Japanese firm. The firm dealt with the broad-scale distribution of food products. However, in 1998, he was tired of working for others. Hence, he used the little amount of money he had to start a small shopfront in Beijing. The brick and mortar shop was responsible for selling magneto-optical products. However, using his managerial and entrepreneurial skills acquired while working for the Japanese firm, he was able to expand and grow his firm. By the end of 2002, the firm had already opened new 12 branches in other parts.
During the SARS pandemic, the Chinese economy was greatly affected. Thus, the majority of the businesses in China were shut down temporarily. Furthermore, others encountered substantial financial losses. Jiangdong, for instance, faced a loss of more than 8 million yuan.
In 2004, Liu Qiangdong decided to come up with a way of keeping his business running. The same year, he launched an e-commerce retail business website. The online retail was responsible for selling his products together with electronics and tech gadgets. In 2005, Liu closed all his shopfronts to focus on Jingdong.com. Currently, the firm is the largest in China when it comes to revenue generated. Furthermore, the firm is also a top-notch firm in the global realm.
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