Wen Cai Ruhan
“Many people outside say that you dare to smash so many advertisements, but you are actually laundering money. What do you think?”
In December last year, Shang Zhou exclusively interviewed Yan Weiting, the founder of ONE BOY, the hottest but most low-key clothing brand in Taiwan.
Originally, we expected that he would get angry, but unexpectedly, he sat up straight from the sofa and began to remember everything. “I’ve heard many versions too! They say I’m a rich second generation, gangsters, gambling…, and one is Chinese capital!” He laughed.
“Have you thought about clarifying?”
“Why? These versions sound like I have more background than I actually do… and the discussion is high, so that’s good.”
There are ONE BOY everywhere from the bus and MRT to the eight o’clock stall
Uncover countless mysteries from Taobao goods to Park Minying
ONE BOY, Taiwan’s most mysterious, fastest growing and most polarized clothing company in the past 10 years.
Even if netizens’ comments on him are not always positive, from Facebook, PTT to Dcard, there are frequent discussion threads such as “Taobao goods OEM” and “Chinese imported ready-made clothing”.
However, his business seems to be very good! Today, the 32-year-old chairman Yan Weiting finally nodded to accept an exclusive interview with Shang Zhou.
He revealed that the company’s annual revenue is approximately NT$2.5 billion. How on earth did he do it?
He graduated from middle school and started his own business at the age of 17
Deeply realize that “Peking University and Tsinghua University are not as courageous”
Yan Weiting said: “The entrepreneur I admire the most is Wang Jianlin (chairman of Wanda Group) from mainland China. He once said:“Peking University and Tsinghua University are not as courageous as you; Harvard and Yale are not as bold as you,”I think it can realize a lot of things. “
This sentence is indeed the epitome of ONE BOY’s entrepreneurial journey.
Yan Weiting is not the rich second generation. He said that his highest education is a fifth technical school and a junior middle school graduate. His father is a carpenter and his mother is a housewife.
Due to an episode of part-time job, he opened an online store called ONE BOY. At the beginning, there were few people interested in the store. It was not until 2014 that a “jacket” with warm, windproof and water-repellent functions was put on the official website.
Spend 50% of his net worth to buy the jacket supply chain
“What I want to do is to rush straight to the top”
At this point in the conversation, Yan Weiting’s attitude was frank: “Yes, the first jacket is indeed a Taobao product (OEM)!” Unexpectedly, the sales volume of this product has been released, and this product has remained at the top of the list. “I just thought, is it possible to use more snacks on this product and make it the main product?” He said.
In the end, Yan Weiting spent more than half of his net worth and flew to the mainland to find the factory owner. He first contracted the production capacity, and then obtained 100% of the shares. It was like buying the factory and becoming his own supply chain. “From 2019, we will design, Make patterns and decide on fabrics by yourself,” he said.
Others felt that the gamble was too big, but Yan Weiting said:“If you want to make the jacket known to everyone in Taiwan, then you can’t do it slowly. What I want to do is to go straight to the top.”
It seemed very risky at the time, but he has indeed blazed a path, a path that big factories look down on and small factories dare not gamble on.
Dare to rush, dare to gamble, the external evaluation is polarized
Relying on his courage, he fought back from the fringe market to the mainstream
He first started with the customer group that e-commerce neglected, and then found artists to endorse, operate TV commercials…, and launched a series of marketing. Later, its advertisements began to penetrate into the whole age group, and even the bus advertisements and the huge billboards of the MRT can be seen.“If you do the same thing as others, you won’t be remembered!”Yan Weiting said. Now ONE BOY is also attacking physical stores in addition to e-commerce, and currently has 27 strongholds in Taiwan.
Dare to rush, dare to bet, although the evaluation is polarized, it is undeniable that Yan Weiting and ONE BOY have caused ripples in Taiwan’s business circle. The interesting thing about his story is not how clever his business strategy is, but that the boy, who was only 17 years old at the time, did not stop because everyone said it was not feasible. Relying on his courage, he was able to fight back from the fringe market in everyone’s eyes to the mainstream for everyone to see.
“The point is, what do you think is right in your heart, do you dare to do it with all your strength?”He said.
※ For the full text, please refer to Issue 1840 of “Business Weekly”.
※This article is published with the authorization of Business Weekly, and reprinting is prohibited without consent.
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