From soldiers to entrepreneurs

Counterclockwise from top: A photo taken when Dai Kun retired from the military in 2020. A photo of Sun Hao during his time serving in the army. Liu Wenyue and her dog at the dog training institution she established with fellow veterans. [Photo provided to China Daily]

China's retired soldiers are redefining entrepreneurship, creating successful ventures in household services, dog training, and digital platforms, showcasing resilience, innovation, and a commitment to societal impact.

Sun Hao first discovered information about the house organizing and cleaning industry online in 2021 while still serving in the army. It was known as the "lazy economy", where young people preferred to delegate daily household tasks to professionals, allowing themselves more time to enjoy life.

Sun saw the potential in this industry, and when he retired from the military in 2022, he decided to establish his own household service company with two comrades.

According to Sun, the military's stringent internal hygiene standards equipped retired soldiers like him with thoroughness and elevated self-imposed standards, which they applied to their new occupation. "With evolving consumer demands for an improved quality of life, basic household cleaning is no longer sufficient to meet people's desires for an enhanced lifestyle," said the 27-year-old.

Sun and his comrades are part of a remarkable group of young entrepreneurs in China: veterans, who, having bravely served their nation, are now leveraging their skills and experiences to blaze a new trail in the business world.

Despite having a well-thought-out corporate plan after starting his business, Sun discovered that the requirements for this job differed significantly from those in military life. "In the military, cleaning is mainly done with a cleaning cloth, and difficult stains are usually solved with steel wool," he said. "But when working as a cleaning professional, I realized there are many different tools and different cleaning agents used for different stains to avoid damaging items."

There are many memorable moments in Sun's career, and one of them occurred during the early stages of the company.

In April 2023, Sun received an inquiry from an elderly woman asking whether they could make dumplings as part of their service. Sun knew she must have made a mistake, but instead of declining her demand right away, Sun talked to the woman and found that she lived alone and had physical illnesses that made it difficult for her to move around. The next day, Sun and his four colleagues went to her home, provided free deep cleaning, and made dumplings for her.

"At that moment, I felt a great sense of achievement," Sun said. "We received support from the people in the military, and now that I've retired from the military, I can still use my own strength to contribute to public welfare."

Sun's team encounters stereotypical comments from time to time about the domestic service industry, which undermine the skilled nature of the job. According to Sun, home service involves intricate tasks such as full house space planning and customized designs based on clients' age, gender, preferences, and professional characteristics.

"For example, when we receive orders from beauty vloggers, we need to purchase storage products in advance based on their professional characteristics and optimize the space in their houses," Sun explained. "And for female clients, we always ensure that a female organizer is part of the team to cater to their needs."

Currently, Sun's team consists of 20 people, with 18 of them being veterans. "We primarily focus on recruiting retired soldiers to provide them with increased employment and business opportunities," he said.

Looking ahead, Sun has outlined extensive long-term strategies. "The lazy economy is thriving, and we plan to expand our range of service projects. For instance, the recently popular home-cooking service is well-suited for military chefs."

He also recognizes significant gaps and ample growth potentials in sectors like elderly care and hospital consultations. He believes that their image as veterans earns them more credibility from the elderly and their families to entrust these services to them.

"My aspiration is to lead more retired soldiers to collectively innovate in employment and help more people," Sun said.

Sun Hao [Photo provided to China Daily]

Canine guardians

Liu Wenyue, born in 2000, concluded her military service in 2020 after serving for two years in the army in Fujian province. She then returned to her hometown in Hubei province to pursue her university studies. In August 2023, she collaborated with other veterans to establish a dog training center.

"With the increasing number of people having pets and the rapid growth of the pet industry, I believe this career has a promising future," she explained.

Liu pointed out that while dogs bring joy and comfort to people, they also cause problems such as nuisance, injury, and environmental damage.

Therefore, part of the mission for Liu's team is to train dogs to better integrate into human society.

"Training includes teaching dogs to defecate in the appropriate place and not to bite people," she said.

Liu's team also incorporates police dog training. "We select suitable dogs and train them to join civilian rescue teams," she noted.

In fact, before establishing the dog training center, Liu and some veterans formed a civilian rescue team in early 2023. In addition to their efforts in searching for lost elderly citizens or items, the team also provided security service at singer Jacky Cheung's concert in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei, in September 2023. Their trained police dogs were capable of tasks such as searching for and inspecting prohibited and restricted items.

Currently, Liu's pet training institution organizes community activities to promote responsible dog ownership methods to the public. They also collaborate with professional police dog training facilities and bring in experienced trainers to update their training methods.

"We have intentions to build more training institutions across the country, develop our own brand of dog food, and provide pet medical services," Liu said.

Liu Wenyue [Photo provided to China Daily]

Navigating digital frontier

Dai Kun, 29, is the chairman at a multichannel network company.

After graduating from high school in 2012, Dai enlisted in the army in Guangzhou and served as a soldier. Five years later, he retired from the army and ventured into the Chinese liquor business with a friend at the end of 2017.

Unfortunately, this business endeavor ended in failure. "It not only cost me money, but also got me into debt," Dai said.

But Dai did not let this setback discourage him.

In April 2018, he relocated to Guangzhou and joined an internet company, where he was exposed to online live-streaming platforms like Douyin.

"I arrived at the company at 5 am and returned home at midnight every day, self-studying about the knowledge of the internet industry," he said.

Three months later, Dai left the company and embarked on his own journey as a live-streamer.

However, live-streaming was not as popular back in 2018 as it is today, and Dai had a limited number of viewers. "I lacked experience and often got stuck while chatting," he recalled.

He started exchanging WeChat with these initial followers and personally notified them before each live broadcast, building his own loyal audience base.

Dai's early accumulation of internet operation knowledge and his entrepreneurial vision allowed him to achieve significant success within a year, and he began recruiting and training live-streaming hosts.

"I provided them with one-on-one training, covering everything from selecting scenes and music for the live-streaming room to improving their communication skills, based on my own experience."

Toward the end of 2019, Dai identified another trend — live-streaming sales. "I was based in Guangzhou at the time, so I mainly promoted skincare and cosmetic items," he said.

Despite being unfamiliar with these products as a man, he dedicated considerable time to learning about them.

"My products are of high quality and are offered at significant discounts. My image as a veteran also helped me earn recognition and trust from my viewers."

Dai then embarked on travels to various cities in search of suitable sources for products. In June 2022, he encountered an elderly man cultivating navel oranges in Ganzhou, East China's Jiangxi province. The old man faced difficulty selling the oranges and sought Dai's assistance in promoting the oranges during his live broadcasts.

"He was almost the same age as my grandpa," Dai said.

Since he was raised by his grandparents in a rural area as his parents worked out of town when he was young, the old man's story resonated deeply with Dai.

So he formed a special team dedicated to helping sell agricultural products from rural regions across the country.

Continuously innovating his business model, Dai's team is currently exploring the application of AI technology to live-streaming and video editing. They are also collaborating with professional teams to plan the integration of cultural tourism and metaverse space.

Currently, 30 percent of Dai's team consists of veterans, and he plans to provide entrepreneurship training specifically for retired soldiers to facilitate their integration into society.

He has also established a livestreaming base in Mianyang, Southwest China's Sichuan province, to support people with disabilities and address their employment challenges.

"The nation has nurtured me, and now I want to give back more to society and the nation," he said.

Dai Kun [Photo provided to China Daily]

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