The growing number of support programs for youthful entrepreneurs in Nanjing makes it clear that now is the time for courageous locals to start their business. The Nanjing Young University Students Entrepreneurship Program that kicked off late last year is only one of the organizations offering invaluable help to student start-ups in order to boost the economy.
The NYUSEP was introduced by the government in order to offer financial aid and administrative advice to young Chinese university graduates looking to start their own company. It targets budding Jiangsu entrepreneurs who graduated from university within the last five years or are still students at one of the local higher education institutions and want to become a business owner in the city of Nanjing.
Applicants admitted to the program receive a monetary grant up to a maximum of ¥500,000, necessary registration and paperwork free of charge, as well as directions in opening a business. If the company finds itself in dire straits after the set-up, the government will also assist in finding investors to keep it going.
Due to the fact that the local government needs to hand out a certain minimum of grants a year, the chance of being chosen is not as slim as one might think. Vincent Shao is one of the lucky ones to be selected as a young entrepreneur. Having recently made use of the program to set up his business, Axis Mexican Restaurant & Bar in the Xianlin part of Nanjing, he still marvels at the simplicity of the application process.
“To apply for the scheme all that is necessary is a business proposal and some simple paperwork. It just took a couple of minutes to register, they glanced at the plan for a few minutes and I had my grant within a day”, he explains.
As a participant in the program, Vincent speaks highly first and foremost of the help he was afforded, making setting up his business a quick and easy process.
“Usually it takes people three months or longer to set up companies such as mine, but thanks to the NYUSEP, their representatives told me exactly what needed to be done and I was able to go through the entire process of setting up my company in only 24 days”, says Vincent. “They were incredibly helpful and even wrote me a to-do list, I really appreciate their support.”
The NYUSEP is only one of a multitude of support programs and contests to help kick-start young Jiangsu businesses. Also introduced in 2012 was the Nanjing 321 Plan, an entrepreneurship contests that targets experts and students with overseas experience.
Nanjing 321 targets people with overseas study or work experience, who own innovative technology or can show an achievement with a broad market prospect and are willing to start companies in Nanjing.
Having already attracted over 400 bright minds in previous years, the contest is entering a new round with finals coming up in April 2014 in Nanjing.
With such a wealth of grants to choose from what is becoming abundantly clear, is that Nanjing is currently the place to be for young business-minded talents. The wealth of new bars and restaurants being opened by fresh graduates can attest to that.
