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Being listed at the 16th of China's wealthiest persons this year by Forbes, Jack Ma, China's e-commerce king said to young entrepreneurs at a forum on Sunday that successful business should profit by helping people and serving their needs.
Ma, the founder of the Alibaba group shared his entrepreneurial experience with Hong Kong's young people, those who are interested in establishing their own business, and impressed an audience of about 8,000 with his iconic startling statements and charisma.
"Opportunities are hidden in every complaints people make," he said, " instead of joining the people who keep complaining, you should learn how to dig the problems out and solve them."
Being an English teacher turned internet pioneer, Ma established Alibaba, with a group of 17 people, mostly his students, aiming to help SMEs to grow through using internet in 1999. Though the group now has moved beyond its original remit of connecting businesses to each other, Ma said that he endeavors to keep his initial inspiration of founding this business.
Alibaba has come to dominate internet retailing in China, with branch businesses that let companies sell directly to the public (Tmall) and enable members of the public to sell to each other (Taobao), etc.. Taobao and Tmall processed 1.1 trillion yuan ($170 billion) in transactions last year, more goods than passed through Amazon and eBay combined, according to Morgan Stanley. The Economist named the Alibaba as "the world's greatest bazaar" in its report this March.
"I had not pictured what my business would become at the time I started," Ma said, "my customers' needs have turned into my mission and motivated me all the way till today."
"We developed Alipay, the online payment service system," he said, "for our customers need a reliable way to purchase on the Taobao." "And now I do believe that people need a more efficient logistic system to improve their online shopping experience," he added, "so recently I started China Smart Logistic Network."
Eighteen days after stepping down as CEO of Alibaba, Ma has announced his plan to establish China's largest logistic platform CSN, which consists of a number of Chinese e-commerce and logistics companies, bearing the goal of delivering packages to consumers anywhere in the country within 24 hours.
"Only one out of 100 people can be success in their own businesses, but you should never give up," Ma gave his advice to young entrepreneurs.
"Building a business can be a rough voyage," he said, "you have to clear your mind and be really determined and passionate on your own idea. When you start, you have to stick to your ideas and keep on fighting."
Ma said that being open-minded, responsible and willing to share are the crucial qualities of young entrepreneurs. To the youngsters of Hong Kong, he said: "you have to compete all the young people around the world, not solely your peers from the Chinese mainland. " He called the Hong Kong youngsters to open up their minds, and to find opportunities globally.
