Thirty years have passed, and Zhou Yuying always remembers that on the evening of the day when she was forced to leave school because she couldn't pay the tuition for the second year of junior high school, she walked alone on the riverside embankment in tears for a long time.
A year and a half after dropping out of school, in 1995, Zhou Yuying found her first "job" in her life: helping her aunt next door take care of her eight-month-old baby, earning 80 yuan a month.
It's not an easy job for a 16-year-old girl. Zhou Yuying has no experience in childbirth and does not know how to take care of newborns. Holding a child, coaxing sleep, changing diapers, preparing three meals a day, every aspect of life is a test that people can't relax.
Stills from "82-year-old Kim Ji-young".
A month later, the neighbor tactfully dismissed her. The newbie nanny lost her job.
Zhou Yuying, who couldn't find a new job and needed to subsidize her family, could only come to her relatives' house again to take care of her paralyzed elders in exchange for 60 yuan a month in labor expenses.
Time flies, and the embarrassment of girlhood is still in my heart, but Zhou Yuying has gone to another world in her life.
The 45-year-old runs a housekeeping company in Shenzhen, with an office store of more than 1,800 square meters and an annual revenue of nearly 10 million yuan. Poverty is no longer her fear.
Zhou Yuying
In Zhou Yuying's company, there are many women like her, who have exerted their abilities in the housekeeping industry and bloomed with bright and moving brilliance. Through her narration, we see the tenacity and courage of a female entrepreneur, and how the door of the times is open to more women, leading them to a more independent and broad life.
Another possibility to make a living
In the two years after dropping out of school, Zhou Yuying secretly cried many times.
For most of the past two years, she has lived with relatives and taken care of her paralyzed big daddy (in the Hubei dialect, her grandfather's brother is called big daddy).
Taking care of the elderly is an extremely tedious and laborious task. Zhou Yuying needs to get up early every day, prepare breakfast, feed the old man one bite at a time, and then take advantage of the old man's rest time to clean and wash clothes. The temper of the elderly who has been bedridden all the year round is not very good, and the food is made slowly, it is not in accordance with the taste, and when relatives do not clean it in advance, they may attract scolding.
Zhou Yuying is a girl with strong self-esteem. is not good at cooking, so she gets up half an hour early to study how to steam steamed buns; If she didn't clean carefully enough, she would mop the floor one more time; Every time she was scolded, she would only silently tell herself in her heart, "I must learn next time".
It takes a lot of energy to keep your home clean and tidy
Carrying out heavy housework for a long time has brought a certain degree of damage to Zhou Yuying's body. At the age of 17, she was already suffering from rheumatoid arthritis due to her poor immunity. Bending over, squatting and other postures can cause obvious pain, and in the worst cases, it is difficult to even get out of bed. There was also a large rash of unknown origin on the back.
Even so, she still endured the discomfort and completed her daily care and housework while drinking medicine. Because the 60 yuan she gets every month is an important source of income for her small family.
It was the late 90s, and nannies were still alien and new to most Chinese families. Zhou Yuying herself had never heard of this kind of profession, let alone thought that in the next few decades, her life trajectory would be adhered to it.
It wasn't until the old man passed away and Zhou Yuying, who needed to find a new place to go, that he heard from other relatives that working as a nanny in a big city, taking care of the elderly or giving birth is a "formal job", and the monthly remuneration is not low.
Stills from "We Are Not Good Enough".
Zhou Yuying understands that her education level is not high, and the type of career she can choose is limited. And the housekeeping industry, which happens to be able to give full play to his past experience and match his quiet and careful personality, may try to move forward again.
Thinking of her parents and younger brother, who were still working in the brick factory, Zhou Yuying decided to go south and give full play to the ability she had accumulated in the past two years to do housework and take care of people.
All the way from the bus to the green train, after several rounds, Zhou Yuying, who was just 20 years old, came to Shenzhen. At that time, the millennium was approaching, the whole city was changing day by day, and every time she went out, she was surprised to find: "The building under construction is several stories higher." ”
Zhou Yuying is determined to put down roots here.
Shenzhen Longgang
When she first arrived, she heard people talk about the need for nannies in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, who could be paid 1,200 yuan a month. After being introduced by relatives, she found a job as a confinement nanny, taking care of a pair of twins and an elderly woman who had just finished confinement. In addition to taking care of children, Zhou Yuying will also look through the newspapers and magazines subscribed by the host's family, wanting to learn more knowledge.
In the cracks of a local newspaper, Zhou Yuying saw an advertisement and contact information for a housekeeping training company. Zhou Yuying plucked up the courage to dial the phone, and it was also on that day that she decided to go for training and become a real professional confinement lady.
Coming to the training class, Zhou Yuying regained the hard life of her student days. During the day, I attended classes and practiced, and at night I returned to the dormitory, took the doll and repeatedly simulated basic actions such as bathing the newborn and turning over, and quietly recited auxiliary nursery rhymes. Once, the teacher who came to the routine inspection found that Zhou Yuying was still practicing with the doll after the lights went out, and couldn't help but say to her: "Just pass the assessment successfully, there is no need to rush for 100 points in every class." Your own body is also important. ”
But 100 points is Zhou Yuying's expectations and requirements for herself. After half a month of closed training, in the final qualification assessment, Zhou Yuying successfully obtained the domestic service qualification certificate with full marks in all subjects.
"What you are determined to do, you have to do well." This simple belief has run through every one of her door-to-door services since then.
With the help of the east wind, it grows as a seed
After getting the employment certificate, Zhou Yuying's career path has been much smoother.
The mother of the first door-to-door service was very satisfied with her, extended the original one-month service period to three months, and recommended Zhou Yuying to another friend who had just given birth when saying goodbye.
Patience, meticulousness, diligence and peace, these qualities cultivated since childhood have been brought by Zhou Yuying to every family she serves. Taking care of the children and the mother who has just completed childbirth is a big challenge for every confinement lady. The problems faced by newborns are complex and changeable, and different mothers also have their own requirements and habits, but striving to satisfy every customer is Zhou Yuying's constant insistence.
Confinement lady is a super good helper for mothers in postpartum recovery and newborn care
Because she needs to get up regularly to feed the baby and take urine, Zhou Yuying's sleep is always chopped. Even if it is the sound of the baby next to her in his sleep, she will wake up immediately and get up to check. During the day, in addition to the necessary housework, she will also take the initiative to play with the child and make confinement meals for the mother in different ways. On weekends, she would go to the library, read books on postpartum care, newborn parenting, etc., take notes, and go back to practice repeatedly. When she meets a novice mother who is in a bad emotional state after giving birth, she will always chat with each other, and use her experience and perception as a woman and mother to enlighten the other party's anxiety and pressure as a new mother.
The praise continues, and more and more customers take the initiative to invite Zhou Yuying to serve at the door.
At the beginning of the new century, which is full of opportunities, many people have begun to explore the path of entrepreneurship with vigorous hope. Many customers have also asked Zhou Yuying: "You are doing so well now, why didn't you think of starting your own business?" ”
Entrepreneurship has become a seed buried in my heart, waiting for the moment to sprout.
The current Dongyao housekeeping office environment
For women who were born in rural areas and have a low level of education, opening their own company in Shenzhen sounds more like a dream. How to deal with the business license, how to choose the office location, how to recruit the first batch of employees, how to manage······ In every link, Zhou Yuying is worried that she can't do it and can't do it well.
The connections that had been accumulated before came into play at this point. A sister from her hometown, who also started a business in Shenzhen, knows Zhou Yuying's situation very well, and she shared her entrepreneurial experience in great detail, teaching her how to apply for licenses, lease offices, and how to make the company run quickly at the beginning of its establishment.
Under the leadership and support of another woman, Zhou Yuying founded her own housekeeping company. The recruited employees are also sisters she knew when she was a confinement lady before, and she thinks that she must rely on her own and her sisters' hands to truly gain a foothold in Shenzhen.
At the beginning of the company's business, almost all of its customers came from referrals from customers they had served before. Every time she bills, Zhou Yuying will personally bring the housekeeping aunt to the door, and on the way, she will carefully share with the aunt the matters that need attention, and tell the other party to make sure that the customer is satisfied.
Stills from "Escaping Shameful but Useful".
After changing her identity from a service provider to a manager, Zhou Yuying soon encountered a bottleneck. In the past, the source of customers recommended by acquaintances was very limited, but where did the new source come from, Zhou Yuying had no experience, and he couldn't find the entrance to break through. She tried to consult some local housekeeping companies in Shenzhen to seek opportunities for cooperation, but there was no follow-up.
The upstream customer source is not stable enough, and the level of downstream service personnel is also difficult to ensure its stability. Many of the confinement wives recruited by Zhou Yuying are their past peers, but they lack a comprehensive assessment of their specific vocational skills and service ethics, so they will also encounter situations where the employer is dissatisfied and requires a replacement of personnel halfway.
Going it alone won't last long. This is also a common dilemma faced by many junior entrepreneurs, the original resources are often too dependent on the entrepreneurs' own interpersonal relationships, and it is difficult to operate for a long time, and the development of new resources needs to face the inspection and competition from the market, in this process, large companies, large platforms have more advantages.
This advantage is reflected in the ability to provide standardized training for employees to ensure the quality of their output; At the same time, the large platform has the advantage of resource integration, which can better match market demand and supply. For individual entrepreneurs like Zhou Yuying, the platform means a bridge, and it also means the east wind of boost.
"Tsinghua" poured into the housekeeping industry
In 2010, his son, who graduated from college, decided to quit his job and work in Zhou Yuying's housekeeping company, for a very simple reason, "I don't want to see my mother work so hard alone, so I will be her assistant." The arrival of my son has given this small company a new impetus.
In my son's memory, since childhood, my mother was the voice on the other end of the phone. It wasn't until he came to Shenzhen and came to his mother that his son had a personal perception of his mother's hard work. Every day, Zhou Yuying goes out early and returns late, and she has almost no free time when she is in the office, she needs to understand the habits and preferences of every aunt and employer, and constantly make and receive phone calls, docking customers, etc.
Zhou Yuying rarely complains to her children about the hard work of starting a business, but from her backache and physical discomfort from time to time, her son understands the pressure on his mother.
Zhou Yuying's son Wang Dong
In order to make it easier for his mother, from the drafting template of the commercial contract to the docking of upstream and downstream channels, the son follows Zhou Yuying every day to learn about how the housekeeping industry operates, and in this process, the son also realizes that better development prospects can only be sought in a larger platform.
Children who have grown up in the Internet era have more interest and cognition in the use of platform resources and the exploration of new distribution platforms. With the encouragement of his son, in 2021, Zhou Yuying officially joined 58.com.
After working with 58 Daojia, the improvement at the operational level of the company is obvious. In the past, Zhou Yuying's customers were mainly referrals from regular customers, as well as inefficient methods such as sweeping buildings and distributing leaflets. After accessing 58 Home, whether it is customer acquisition or brand introduction, it is realized on the platform in digital form, and the whole process is more concise and efficient.
Dongyao housekeeping access 58 to home, the company's operation has been greatly improved
Another significant improvement comes from the recruitment and improvement of workers. How to ensure the quality of the aunt and ensure the satisfaction of the employer is a problem that Zhou Yuying has always wanted to solve. After entering 58 Home, all workers who join the company need a series of basic background checks and vocational training to ensure the quality of their labor before they can enter the stage of receiving orders.
After the supply side is more reliable and the demand side is more open, after these two key problems are solved, every link of its service process has been incorporated into a more standardized and scientific management system.
In Zhou Yuying's company, a new professional role has been introduced - domestic service broker. To put it simply, the professional function undertaken by domestic service brokers is to become a bridge between employers and service providers, and to improve the accuracy and satisfaction of service matching.
Wang Dong is instructing domestic service brokers in their work
According to Lin Jiayan, a housekeeping agent, in every housekeeping service, what the agent needs to do is to fully understand the needs and preferences of the employer in the early stage, and select the aunt candidates with a high degree of matching, and then arrange interviews to ensure the service quality of the aunt. In the process of domestic service, she also needs to pay regular return visits; After accepting the service, she will work with her employer and aunt to review the cooperation and find the areas that need attention and can be improved.
Whether it is a housekeeping service broker or all working aunts, they will be included in the regular training and assessment mechanism of 58 Daojia to ensure that their services are professional and scientific.
With the help of digital platforms, the face of the housekeeping industry is changing.
One of the major changes is that the housekeeping industry is undergoing a change from extensive to subdivided. Taking the industry resources integrated by the 58 Daojia platform as an example, in addition to the traditional categories such as live-in nannies and confinement nannies, there are also many emerging fine branches that provide services such as elderly care, scientific parenting, child growth and companionship, family early education, health management and so on.
The brand promotion board in Dongyao Housekeeping Company
Another major change is that there are more and more young people, especially many highly educated young people are also willing to understand and enter the housekeeping industry. In Zhou Yuying's housekeeping service company, there are many post-95s and even post-00s service providers. In the memory of Lin Xiaohua, the training supervisor, the young person she remembered the most was a girl who graduated from Tsinghua University, and the other party said that she was optimistic about the future development prospects of the housekeeping industry, so she wanted to develop further in this industry.
As Zhou Yuying's son said, in the past few years, his biggest realization is to see "another possibility in the housekeeping industry". The housekeeping industry is no longer just a labor market for middle-aged women, but a modern industry that provides corresponding services for different families and groups of people in the whole society.
Here, caring for others is no longer just a domestic obligation for women, but a way to earn pay and dignity for tangible work. Zhou Yuying's gold medal confinement sister-in-law said, "I was originally a person who likes children very much. Every time I watch my baby grow up day by day, watching him smile at you and play with you, that's the most rewarding moment for me. And in the past few years as a confinement lady, I have indeed made money, so I am very content. ”
Zhou Yuying is guiding the training of confinement sisters
When deciding to transform the company, Zhou Yuying said that one of her major motivations was not to let her son feel that this was an industry with only a low level of education and middle-aged aunts, and she hoped that her son could be very confident and confident to tell others that I was not only helping my mother do things, but also exploring and developing a career that I recognize.
Now three years have passed, Zhou Yuying's Dongyao housekeeping company has opened a new store, and there are more and more customers and aunts who handle it, and they are getting younger and younger.
This article only represents the views of the author and does not represent the position of the platform
Author | Road Deer
Edit | Jiang Suren
Co-ordination | Zhang Pengxia
Exclusion | Mt. Jingshan