Professional people do professional things, don't see others making money and go in, otherwise you will lose a mess.
Text: "Chinese Entrepreneur" reporter Deng Shuanglin
Editor|Li Wei
Image source: Medium Attempt Library
On April 26~28, the 2024 (16th) China Business Mulan Annual Conference hosted by China Entrepreneur magazine was held in Wuzhen, Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province. At the meeting, Du Hua, founder and CEO of Lehua Entertainment, shared the theme of "boundary extension".
The core points of Du Hua's speech are as follows:
1. Lehua is also learning new fields, such as vertical screen short dramas.
2. The ability of entrepreneurs to continue learning is very important, the current era is changing every day, and many things are changing every day.
3. In the future, every entrepreneur and founder is a personal brand, and if the personal brand is well shaped, it will add points to the enterprise.
4. Everyone needs to have a reasonable emotional value at each different stage, work is important, life and beautiful scenery are also important.
5. The choice of track is just as important as the opportunity. For entrepreneurs, don't blindly enter the track if you are not familiar with it, otherwise you will waste a lot of your time and cost.
Du Hua, founder and CEO of Lehua Entertainment
The following is a transcript of Du Hua's speech (with abridgement):
Good afternoon, everyone, because there is other work ahead, I took the latest flight over, and it was already 4 o'clock in the morning when I landed. I think if I had a digital doppelganger, I wouldn't have to work so hard and just let my digital person share it with you. Indeed, my assistant is good and helped me prepare my digital person Huahuazi.
As you can see, the AIGC digital human researched by our company, firstly, Mandarin is more standard than mine, and secondly, it has more knowledge than me, which can free up a lot of my time and energy. The entrepreneur gives everyone the impression that we are very strict, strong women. However, I think that in the development of business, with the development of technology, many things can be replaced with some high technology, such as these functions of AI. The title of my talk today is "Continuous Learning, Shaping the Core of Personal Branding".
Lehua Entertainment was founded by myself in 2009, my previous resume many people know, Internet background, in 2009 because the last company was sold to Shanda, so I came out to start my own business, to this day Lehua has been 15 years. In the past 15 years, we have been exploring and researching business models, and finally explored a business model that can be replicated, that is, to be an idol artist.
First of all, I think the ability to continue learning is very necessary, because the current era is changing every day, and many things are changing every day. For example, I recently learned about AIGC, Sora, and Doubao, many of which I had not seen in the previous learning process, and as a female entrepreneur, the ability to continue learning is very important.
The second part is the construction of personal branding. Many times, as an entrepreneur in the 60s and 70s, it may be a more reserved generation. As our entrepreneurs in the 80s and 90s, this wave of people who have come from the Internet, personal branding is very important.
Take myself as an example, because of social fear, I was particularly afraid of being in front of the media camera, and then I thought of another model, that is, I can make my own short videos. I think that in the future, every entrepreneur and founder will be a personal brand. If the personal brand is well built, it will be a plus for the business.
Thirdly, I think we must have a communication with young people. As a female entrepreneur, I am most afraid of detachment from reality, many times as a boss, maybe the subordinates below will not be so willing to communicate with us, so at this time, I think communication with young people is very important, the change of the times is in young people, just like we grew up in the past.
My first angel investment was given to me in 2009 when I was 28 years old, so over the years we have been investing in consumer goods on a large scale with a little accumulation. I think that only by communicating deeply with young people can we have a better channel to understand the world.
The fourth part, the importance of like-minded teams. At all times, everyone needs to have a reasonable emotional value at each different stage. I started my business at the age of 28 and now I am 40+ years old, and now in addition to my career, family, and children, I think that many like-minded partners are also very important, because he will give us a lot of emotional value.
For example, this year, I watched a lot of concerts on a large scale, such as Li Zongsheng's concert and Jacky Cheung's concert, and I think these gave us a lot of emotional value. As an entertainment company, Lehua actually gives everyone an output of emotional value regardless of our music, film and television, or variety shows. Therefore, I feel that on the road to entrepreneurship, there is not only work, but also life and some other beautiful scenery.
In the fifth part, I think the choice of track is just as important as the opportunity. Lehua Entertainment itself is in the idol track, and it is a very leading enterprise in China. However, because I have always had a heart ready to move, I was not willing to accept the original track, so I chose some other tracks.
In addition to investment, I also have to do some other things, such as the beauty track, I also personally run the supply chain, run the design, try all the products, after two years of hard work, the brand decided to close last month, the main reason is that I think the first track is a special volume, the second is that I crossed over, many things need to be learned from 0 to 1, and the learning cost is very high for me.
Therefore, for entrepreneurs, I don't think you should blindly enter the track that you are not familiar with, otherwise, you will waste a lot of your time and cost.
The last point I want to share with you is the power of idols in the entertainment industry. I think that in recent years, concerts, dramas, and movies have developed very well, especially like concerts, similar to Zhang Jie's concert, which has opened nearly 60~70 shows this year, and the venues are full, I think everyone has a demand for entertainment consumption.
We're also learning new areas, such as vertical skits in all aspects. Our main track is the idol track, and many times when we see other industries making money, we always have a restless heart. We tried the tracks ourselves, such as vertical skits. Professional people do professional things, don't go in when you see others making money, otherwise you will lose a mess.
I hope that the idol power in the entertainment industry, including the artists cultivated by our company, will not only have good business ability and positive energy in society, but also hope that they will carry Chinese culture out of China, rush to Asia, and go to the world.