In 2003, Du Hua started his career in an Internet company, but six years later, in 2009, this 28-year-old young woman born in an ordinary family mustered up the courage to found her own company, Lehua Entertainment.
At the beginning of the business, Lehua's start-up capital was only 2 million yuan, which was quickly spent. The company was unable to pay salaries, so Du Hua had to raise funds everywhere.
After being rejected and threatened by investors, Du Hua still borrowed 3 million yuan. When the investor told her that this was the last chance to borrow money, Du Hua did not back down, but chose to open up and mortgage his real estate, determined to let the company survive.
From these details, it can be seen that Du Hua's tough character. Faced with the difficulties of starting a business and the shortage of funds, she did not give up, but kept trying to find ways to solve the problem.
Even when she was pregnant and in labor, she still handled her work on the phone, and let the work be completed first during childbirth, which is admirable.
Du Hua not only has requirements for the company and career, but also is extremely strict with himself and his son. His 10-year-old son was sent to a harsh reality show and Shaolin Temple to practice, and Du Hua hoped that he could exercise his character.
This strict demand for the next generation reflects Du Hua's entrepreneurial style, and she hopes that her son will inherit this perseverance as well.
Undoubtedly, Du Hua's first impression is that he is strong, tenacious, and even a little ruthless. But this personality is the driving force behind her entrepreneurship and creates her strong heart.
It is with this personality that Du Hua can gain a foothold in the highly competitive industry of the entertainment industry, and gradually build Lehua into an entertainment giant. In her struggle, there is the spirit and courage of an entrepreneur.
In 2009, the popular idol Han Geng decided to return to China for development, and immediately became the target of major entertainment companies. And Lehua Entertainment, which had just been established, had almost no chips to compete with it under the circumstances at that time.
But Du Hua still relied on his own means and courage to successfully persuade Han Geng to join Lehua.
In order to win Han Geng, Du Hua gave him Lehua's equity and made Han Geng a shareholder and partner. Not only that, Lehua also opened a personal studio for Han Geng to provide more favorable conditions.
This was the first of its kind in the entertainment industry at that time. In the end, Du Hua even mortgaged his own property, just to give Han Geng a perfect development platform.
The joining of Han Geng has brought great opportunities for the development of Lehua. He not only brought Lehua the first financing of 10 million yuan, but also introduced the operation mode of the entertainment company he learned in South Korea, especially the idol training system, which directly laid the foundation for Lehua to become a first-class idol training institution.
It can be said that it was Du Hua's decision to win over Han Geng that put Lehua Entertainment, which was still in its infancy, on the fast track. Without Han Geng, the "accelerator" of financing and resources, it is difficult to say how many detours Lehua would have taken.
Therefore, the signing of Han Geng is an important moment in Lehua's history, which opens the door to the company's development and forges Du Hua's more decisive and bold business methods.
This moment unveiled the prelude to the rise of Lehua.
With the joining of Han Geng, Lehua has gradually grown into a top idol training institution. Now Lehua has not only cultivated first-line stars such as Wang Yibo, Wu Xuanyi, and Meng Meiqi, but "Lehua artist" has almost become synonymous with idols.
Lehua launches newcomers every year, and these newcomers have been systematically and rigorously trained and polished into all-round artists with both strength and traffic. As a newcomer maker in the entertainment industry, Lehua has become the debut pedal for a large number of artists.
The traffic and resources it has successfully created have also made it difficult for countless fans to resist the charm of Lehua artists.
This year, Lehua held its 12th anniversary concert, which was sold out within 8 seconds as soon as the tickets were opened, and the cohesion of its Wang Yibo fans was even more amazing. At the concert, countless cheering sticks flashed and surrounded by flower walls, fully demonstrating the brand power of Lehua.
It has become recognized as the strongest idol training institution in the industry, a real idol "gold-plated" factory.
Behind these achievements is Lehua's unremitting pursuit of top idols such as Li Yuchun and Eason Chan over the years. The highest goal in Du Hua's mind has changed from Lin Qingxia to today's Dong Mingzhu.
Through continuous system construction and talent training, Lehua has been built into an assembly-line entertainment empire, which has also established its leading position in the industry.
Today's Lehua is the dominant party in the entertainment industry, and it occupies almost half of the country. From the original Han Geng to today's Wang Yibo, Lehua has proved with his strength that he is a well-deserved idol and the strongest star-making factory.
These achievements are also the best verification of Du Hua's business methods and operational capabilities.
However, just when Lehua was invincible, its development also encountered a bottleneck. In recent years, Lehua's artists have frequently broken out negative news, and the situation of inconsistency between the personality packaging and the real self has emerged one after another, which has had a certain impact on Lehua's brand cultivation.
The artists trained by Du Hua "overturned" one after another. Some were found to have chaotic private lives, some were exposed for inconsistencies in their words and deeds, and some were involved in obscenity scandals.
The number of fans behind these artists is amazing, and once the negative news spreads, it will cause great damage to Lehua's social image.
What's more serious is that through these incidents, everyone found that the academic qualifications of Lehua artists are uneven, and some are still dropouts. Their comprehensive quality cannot be compared with senior actors, which also makes the idols cultivated by Lehua fall into a long-term red crisis.
Although Lehua's assembly-line training model can quickly create popular idols, it still needs to polish the connotation if it wants to stand at the top of the entertainment industry for a long time. Lehua's artists lack sufficient acting skills and self-cultivation, and they can't withstand scrutiny in front of public opinion, and frequent overturns are inevitable.
This undoubtedly casts a shadow on Lehua's brand golden signboard.
If Du Hua is committed to changing this status quo, he must adjust the training mode and strengthen the construction of artist connotation. Otherwise, Lehua's idol factory will only continue to output bad money of varying quality to drive out good money, and eventually lose the trust of the market.
Corresponding to Lehua's internal management problems, changes in the external environment have also had an impact on it. In recent years, the mainland has implemented a series of measures to regulate the entertainment industry, which has directly affected Lehua's development model.
In 2021, the state launched the "Qing Lang" special action to strictly investigate all kinds of chaos in the rice circle. Major websites have closed the idol list function and no longer allow fans to help the list.
This was followed by the further cancellation of the off-site voting link of idol competition programs, which directly cut off fans' operation of idol traffic.
These measures are undoubtedly a heavy blow to Lehua. Lehua's idol training model is highly dependent on fans to build momentum for artists. It affects the emotions of fans through talent shows and creates topics and traffic.
And now that the participation of fans is strictly restricted, Lehua has also lost the best channel to market idols.
Subsequently, CCTV directly ordered the broadcast of idol development programs. This means that the draft mode that Lehua is good at is in the restricted area. At the same time, brokerage firms are also required to be subject to a higher level of regulation.
Faced with an increasingly strict environment in the entertainment industry, Lehua had to re-examine its own development path. It has to adapt to the general direction of industry norms and will eventually be phased out. Adjustment is the inevitable choice for Lehua to gain a foothold in the new environment.
Under the internal and external troubles, Du Hua and Lehua are facing a huge dilemma. Its resources are lost, the training model is blocked, and Lehua's aura is getting bleak day by day. However, Du Hua's ambitions did not stop there.
The frequent overturning of artists has caused Lehua's social image to plummet, and endorsement resources have been interrupted.
And the strict management of the entertainment industry has made Lehua lose the platform to create explosive points.
The number of fans has declined, resources have decreased, and Lehua's commercial value has weakened.
Idol training, as Lehua's family background, is also unsustainable. In the new environment, Lehua's assembly line training model is facing collapse.
Du Hua wants to replicate Wang Yibo's success and cultivate another top idol, which has become extremely difficult.
However, even though the situation was extremely unfavorable for Lehua, Du Hua's heart still burned with a flame of hope. She still dreams of continuing to discover and shape another superstar of Wang Yibo's level.
For her, challenging the constraints of the environment is her calling.
We don't know if Du Hua will be able to achieve his ambitions in this era of increasingly standardized management of the entertainment industry. But her tenacious personality and strong will will undoubtedly support her to continue to move forward.
Lehua's golden age has passed, and whether Du Hua can lead it to create more glory still needs the test of time.
Looking at Lehua's current situation, whether it can return to its former glory, the prospect seems slim and uncertain.
The dual pressure of internal artist management problems and the external environment has put Lehua in an unprecedented predicament. Commercially, it has lost the market advantage of the past, and the negative evaluation of the public is spreading.
The arrogant Du Hua may find it difficult to accept Lehua's increasingly bleak status quo. She still has ambitions and wants to create new glories. But it is still unknown whether Lehua can regain its peak in a harsh environment.
However, we can't completely deny the possibility of Lehua turning over. As long as Du Hua adjusts its strategy and solves internal shortcomings, Lehua still has the opportunity to achieve new breakthroughs in the field of segmentation. But it will require a radical change and rebirth.
No matter what Lehua's fate is, Du Hua and her Lehua have experienced a bumpy entrepreneurial journey. She represents an indomitable entrepreneurial spirit and a valuable inspiration for those who come after her.
Lehua's story is not over yet, we will wait and see how it ends.
Looking back on the development process of Du Hua and Lehua, we can get the following enlightenment:
First, success requires hardship and struggle. Du Hua resolutely started a business, did not flinch in the face of difficulties, and achieved his career with tenacious will. Any success is built on the acceptance of hardship.
Second, enterprises should keep pace with the times and cater to the development direction of the industry. Lehua blindly adhered to the old path in the new environment, and was abandoned by the times. Entrepreneurs must have a keen sense of smell and adapt their strategies to the situation.
Third, talent training can not only look at the external packaging, but also the construction of connotation is more critical. Lehua's artists are strong and capable, and finally overturned frequently. Enterprises should pay attention to the quality of employees, not just look at the traffic.
Fourth, mentality determines destiny, and we must maintain positive energy. Du Hua did not give up easily in the face of failure, and positive energy supported her to set sail again. Mentality affects the development of enterprises, and confidence and perseverance must be established.
Fifth, the development of enterprises requires long-term planning, not just looking at immediate interests. Lehua pursues rapid results and has not established a good talent echelon. Entrepreneurs should take a long-term view and establish a strategic vision.
The story of Du Hua and Lehua inspires us that the road of enterprise goes hand in hand with adversity and setbacks. We need to learn from its spirit and examine the law of enterprise development in order to succeed.