Liu Minxia

SMALL and simple, a beehive is a fertile colony of cells that helps produce young honey bees. Likewise, a new shop named Beehive  designed to look like its namesake  has emerged on a commercial street near the campus of Shenzhen University with the purpose of helping breed China’s innovative talent.

Founded by Pang Haibin, a Shenzhen University graduate, and his partner, Jia Yan, Beehive sells only original works of designers. Although only open for a one-month trial so far, it is gaining a reputation.

With a grand opening planned for Saturday, Beehive has become a sales channel for about 30 young, promising designers from Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai and other mainland cities. “It’s very hard to be an original designer before gaining recognition,” said Pang, 24.

“We hope Beehive can be a place for them to showcase their works and make a living. We refuse counterfeited goods and bring in works only after we visit a designer’s studio and see them.”

With a superb collection of beautiful and useful things including cups, bags and photo frames, Beehive has been frequented by students and the 60,000 residents nearby. The business broke even in the first month, Pang said.

But this small success didn’t come easily for Pang. He started about six other businesses before he worked on Beehive this year. Prior to graduating from university last July, he founded several design service workshops with his classmates.

“As a design major, I only cared whether it looked good and didn’t give much thought to costs, management or locations,” Pang said. “I was immature and unrealistic. Later I found I could earn nothing from our projects and that was not what I wanted.”

After graduation, Pang joined a well-known real estate advertising design company in Shenzhen, where he met his current partner Jia.

A housing downturn last year dragged down the company’s business volume, and Pang quit late last year after deciding to do something different with Jia.

“Many people have come to us to ask about opening a franchise chain, and some asked to become shareholders,” Pang said. “Although we lack funds, we don’t want to do it now. We worry we don’t have the ability to manage it.”

With a small amount of money his parents gave him, Pang used up all his savings and borrowed some from friends in order to keep the shop running.

“My parents are business people, and they started from scratch. I prefer to borrow from others rather than use their hard-earned money,” Pang said.

A foundation set up by his university has brought some financial hope to him. “I learned that more than 60 projects are vying for 17 cash awards,” Pang said. “Those chosen can get up to 100,000 yuan (US$14,636).”

Having never studied management in class or from books, Pang has learned to improve himself and his business by trial and error. “Things have changed. I can’t model myself on Ma Huateng or Ma Yun,” he said. “And theories are too grand or vacant. I have my own way to go and have to learn by myself.”