Chinese online BBQ seller's Colonel Sanders dream

BARBECUE STALL, ONLINE STORE

Li found his business inspiration in his parents' humble barbecue stall. Some college students organizing barbecue parties and eager to avoid exhausting preparation work used to come to the stall to order ready-to-cook barbecue.

When his parents received these orders in the amount of several hundred yuan or more, they were overjoyed. They did not need to cook the food, but could make a handsome profit from the sales.

Now Li can make as much money daily online as his parents earned each year at the market. The business revenue of Yesbbq (Yesbbq.taobao.com) surged to 8 million yuan last year from 2.8 million yuan in 2012. The company's profit margin remained stable at about 30 percent, three times higher than his parents' barbecue stall.

"My business is a combination of my family's barbecue tradition and my major in college," he said.

ROUGH START

However, life was not so easy during the company's start-up phase. Li waited anxiously for more than three months to receive his first online order, in the amount of 278.5 yuan, after setting up the company in November 2008 on Taobao.com, China's e-commerce titan.

His parents and younger brother all helped at the family-run company, but it only registered a meager business revenue of about 200,000 yuan in 2009.

Li's parents objected to the hassle-free return policy and partial or even full refund service provided by the company in the beginning. But strict quality control, good service, sound corporate reputation and patience helped the young entrepreneur find career success.

"Reputation is the lifeline to online sellers, as your customers cannot see you face to face," Li said.

The company even promised to refund customers one yuan for every minute behind the scheduled delivery time.

Good customer service has retained thousands of customers for Li and helped Yesbbq grow into a company with 30 full-time employees, 40 part-time delivery workers and three delivery minivans.

The company's space in Yangpu District, about six miles from the Shanghai Bund, has also increased to more than 10,000 square feet from less than 800 square feet in 2008. The company's return rate has stayed as low as two percent.