Entrepreneurship requires passion, but it absolutely cannot be impulsive.
At the time, I chose to do Korean beauty and clothing reselling because I "felt" that Taiwanese girls all loved wearing Korean clothes, and the materials and cuts were nice with relatively cheap prices, so I recklessly started executing. Indeed, everyone around me was doing the same, but friends are not "the market." Many entrepreneurs in their early stages fall into a kind of "self-deceiving illusion." Sometimes the product is great, that's true, but due to competition and market saturation, honestly there's just no opportunity left.
↑ These are all products I stocked back then — many items, completely aimless.
I originally thought that having lived in Korea, doing Korean reselling would be a good idea. But actually, this behavior was what people used to call "small-scale trading" — something people were doing years ago. What I deeply realized about myself was the most serious issue: I made the wrong judgment.
When it comes to market research, here's a statistic:
AppWorks partner Lin Chih-chen compiled the top 5 reasons for startup failures in Taiwan:
1. Lack of market demand (42%)
2. Running out of cash (29%)
3. Wrong team (23%)
4. Pricing and cost factors (18%)
5. Loss of focus (13%)
Based on my experience, entrepreneurship requires a holistic understanding of the industry and market landscape. Since I chose Korean beauty and clothing, beauty products alone break down into skincare and makeup. These can be further subdivided by different functions — moisturizing, brightening, hydrating. Makeup includes foundation, concealer, eyebrow pencils, eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipstick, and these can be further divided by different shades, textures, finishes, and effects. There are tens of millions of products — it's impossible to stock everything. Therefore, you need to conduct market research first. Market research includes analyzing age groups, regions, price points, brand preferences, and more. Then, based on the results, you find products that match your costs while being popular and profitable. Don't say talking about making money is vulgar — entrepreneurship isn't just about fulfilling your ideals; making money is also crucial. Because with money, you can do more of what you want to do, you can grow your business, feed your employees, and then you have the right to talk about realizing your dreams and pursuing personal freedom. So tell me, when you start a business, can you not talk about making money? (Jack Ma mode activated)
↑ I packaged blush and skincare products myself, adding my own LOGO
Once entrepreneurship neglects market research, it becomes completely aimless. This leads to mindless purchasing decisions — seeing products you like and thinking they're great, or planning development strategies based purely on imagination. This approach, where you start from "self-centered needs," is absolutely fatal. Market research plays the role of an anchor that keeps a ship from drifting with the current. It's essential. Only after you establish market positioning, define your target audience (age, gender, interests, usage habits), and assess profitability should you proceed with product sourcing and market expansion. This allows you to target specific groups and further understand different customer needs. But these were things I failed to do well in my early entrepreneurial days.
You might ask, isn't this basic? It's really not that simple. You have to try it to know. According to statistics from the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration's Entrepreneurship Consultation Service Center, the probability of a general person's startup closing within one year is as high as 90%. Among the 10% that survive, 90% of them close within five years. Only 1% of entrepreneurs can survive past the first five years — the failure rate in the first five years is 99%. Since entrepreneurship is a "high-failure domain," only by fully understanding the real factors behind the high risk and assessing your own ability to endure setbacks can you minimize losses. What we need is "failure education": "failure is inevitable," "the earlier you fail the better," "failure is a required course in entrepreneurship." (Reference source)
