How a Used Car Dealer Taught Daughter About Entrepreneurship
The Missing Essay
When I was in elementary school, the very first topic that my teacher asked us to write about was our parents. It was easy for me to write about my mother because of her selfless care for the whole family, but not so easy about my father. He was a businessman back then. I didn’t respect his career until I started my own business. What I have been through keeps reminding me what he told me when I was little. I did not get it and hated to listen then. This month is my father’s birth month. To honor him, in this very personal essay, I would like to talk about many precious lessons he taught me.
My Father
My father grew up in China. He did not have a college degree in any sort. After graduating from high school, he got a job at a state-owned construction company, with a very steady income. On the side, my father used the money that my parents saved up and bought motorcycles — something my father always loved. He quickly found that he could make money in the used motorcycle business by buying low and selling high. Soon he made more money than his salaried job and decided to quit his day job. That was in 1985.
Before 1987, nobody owned private cars in China, except for businesses and government. My father waited in line in Tianjin…
