I was once confused in the agricultural materials field, especially when I faced huge resistance while reforming agricultural sales in a small enterprise. Later, the internet developed rapidly, especially mobile internet sales, which showed tremendous vitality. At that time, I began to design an internet sales plan for agricultural materials, believing that WeChat demonstrated strong vitality and would definitely become a popular method for everyone. To seize this opportunity, I decided to find suitable companies or platforms to collaborate with, and I would dedicate all my enthusiasm to this matter.

Since the original company owner had returned to a traditional conservative management style and handed over the business to his relatives, who adhered to traditional aggressive marketing, I knew that this company would find it difficult to gain developmental dividends.

So, at the right moment, I returned to my hometown and decided to communicate with my fellow villagers. If they agreed with my plan, I would work hard in my hometown. At that time, I was very down and out, but still persistent in learning from the excellent and in putting my dreams into action.

I called my fellow villager to arrange a meeting. However, he seemed to be very busy. I waited at the train station for a long time, from morning until afternoon, and only when I bought my train ticket did he finally arrive.

We found a small restaurant, sat down, and began to discuss. Compared to my plan, my fellow villager was more concerned about how I was doing. When he learned that I was struggling, he became impatient and refuted my suggestions one by one.

I said that the next few years would definitely be the era of mobile internet. WeChat has already shown strong vitality. My suggestion is to combine agricultural marketing with WeChat marketing, so that when WeChat becomes popular, your brand will be deeply rooted. I also suggested training employees in WeChat marketing skills, so they could continue to leverage their offline negotiation abilities while also utilizing WeChat marketing, and appropriately guide methods like WeChat Pay.

After listening to me, my fellow villager rebutted, saying that WeChat is not widespread. Do you know how many people have downloaded and used it? Making phone calls is still more common. You talk about using WeChat Pay; that’s a pipe dream. Only when you receive cash in hand does it feel real.

I replied that we must look forward; once it becomes popular, it will be too late for you.

My fellow villager said, let’s talk about the future when it comes. Who can predict it accurately? I live in the present. To be honest, I have never failed in my investments because I only focus on the present.

Then, seeing my downcast appearance, he sighed and said, you shouldn’t think about anything right now. Just earn some money honestly; that’s the right path. What you’re saying is all high-tech. Do you know that even university students who have studied for four years may not succeed? How can you, who are just starting out, succeed?

I explained that this is not high-tech; it’s something that will happen in the future. As long as your current employees master these skills and take the lead in business, this will be a blue ocean market, and you can become the market leader.

My fellow villager waved his hand and said, do you know how much money Jack Ma burned? He built his business by continuously burning money. We only have six or seven hundred thousand; that’s simply impossible. This is a money-burning endeavor.

My fellow villager earnestly advised me to turn back, and I didn’t want to say much more. Thinking back, at that time, WeChat was not widespread; it seemed that even my fellow villager hadn’t downloaded or used it, or if he had, he didn’t use it much. The entire environment didn’t support what I was saying. When I brought it up, he thought I was talking about Jack Ma’s model, which required burning money to establish Taobao and Tmall.

Later, I took a freight truck to Guangzhou and rarely returned home to meet with my fellow villagers. Of course, besides discussing this matter with my fellow villager, I also made a special trip to Qingdao Haier Company, my former employer, where I had once worked as a regional manager, and many leaders had a good impression of me. So, after I greeted the security office, I was allowed in and found the then-president.

We exchanged some views. He believed that the internet was just a gimmick, too abstract, and could not bring productivity. He also mentioned that they had relevant departments and asked the department head to come over for communication. I found that their understanding of this area was completely zero; they could not possibly adopt my suggestions. However, they still showed sincerity, hoping I would rejoin the company to contribute or become the company’s agent, with the company initially supporting goods and other means. Ultimately, I still declined their goodwill.

After I couldn’t make progress in the agricultural materials field, I began discussing greenhouse planting with agents in Henan, exploring the feasibility of dragon fruit. After case analysis, we concluded that the possibility was low, so we dropped the idea.

At that time, I was just a lonely warrior. I didn’t have the courage to do it myself; I just hoped to realize my ambitions through platforms that could accept my suggestions and plans. However, perhaps because it hadn’t become a hot topic at that time, or because the bosses I knew were all traditional business owners who viewed the internet as trivial, I couldn’t find a platform to showcase my abilities.

So, I had to jump from the agricultural materials field to the internet service field, doing user training on one hand while quietly continuing my research. Over the past several years, many explosive platforms and successful models have emerged, including many successful cases in the agricultural materials field, such as Taobao stores, live streaming, and online and offline chain marketing, yet I seemed to still be stuck in the past.

When everything truly happened and many successful cases blossomed everywhere, my fellow villager also saw the feasibility. However, by that time, the feasibility no longer had a market advantage, and it was very difficult for him to achieve something in this area.

Later, for some reasons, I visited my fellow villager’s company a few times, but each time I felt no real change. Although their company had grown much larger and had become more standardized, they still operated in the old way, driving to the store to sell products, and nothing else. It’s like someone who has never been willing to learn and hasn’t actually learned anything; even if he wears a doctoral cap, what good is it?

Every time we met, he was either too busy, hastily meeting for a few simple words, or he would take me along to join a friend’s meal, never giving me dedicated time to explain the plan or to calmly discuss future development. He would just say, come on over; just being here is enough. Each time, I left with a belly full of plans, feeling as if we were just characters in parallel worlds. Even if I went, what could I accomplish?

In a sense, he and the company still lacked the soil for real development in this area. They perhaps focused more on pragmatism, believing that as long as employees drove out to run the market, that was right, and everything else was not. So, how could internet marketing be integrated? Is it just a matter of chatting on the phone? Such a careless approach to business change could hardly yield surprising results. Perhaps the world does not lack people like me, but not everyone like me can find a platform to realize their grand ambitions.