女性创业成功的背后What Women Need for Successful Business

In China, there is a saying that women hold up half the sky. It alludes to the idea of equality between men and women, but more often it is used to describe women that overcome hardship and challenges to obtain great achievements. Ma Rui is one of those women.
中国有个说法叫“妇女能顶半边天”，讲的是男女地位平等，但现在更多时候用来形容妇女敢于挑战、战胜困难，最后取得了巨大的成功。马瑞（音译）就是其中一位。

The 35-year-old woman of Hui ethnicity is the mother of a ten-year-old child. She is now the owner of a maternity nursing club in Kunming, capital city of Southwest China's Yunnan Province. Her success didn't happen overnight.
她35岁，回族人，是一个10岁孩子的母亲。现在她也是昆明一家月子中心的老板，但她的成功绝不是一夜造就的。

"I used to work in a private import and export corporation as an accountant. In 2002, I got pregnant and could not longer run certain errands. The company tried to convince me to shift my position, but I didn't like the new offer, so I quit the whole thing."
”我以前在一家私人进出口公司做会计，2002年我怀孕了，不能出差了，公司就劝我换岗位，但我不喜欢新岗位，所以我就干脆辞职了。”

As Ma Rui celebrated the birth of her child, she also had to face the challenge of unemployment. The new member of her family weighed on their finances, pushing Ma Rui to find a solution. Meanwhile, her mother also wished to find a place where young moms could share knowledge, experiences and services regarding baby care; this inspired Ma to set up a maternity nursing club. With all she had--40,000 yuan—she turned the idea into reality.
当马瑞庆祝孩子出生的时候，她也面临着失业的问题。孩子的到来增加了家庭财政压力，这也促使她寻找解决之道。这时，她的母亲想找个地方让年轻的妈妈们能共享育儿经，这给小马带来了灵感，她想到建一个月子中心。她拿出所有的积蓄4万块钱，把想法变成了现实。

"We were self-employed. The whole place was just 40 square meters and it was far away from downtown. Because we had to cover all the rent, equipment and decorations with the meager 40,000 yuan, the place looked quite shabby compared to what we have now."
“我们是个体经营，只有一间40平方米的小房间，还远离市中心。因为我们要用区区4万块钱自负房租、设备和装修，所以房间看起来比现在看起来的狭小简陋很多。”

There were more challenges than Ma had imagined. Maternity nursing wasn't quite popular in China ten years ago. Even in big cities like Bejing and Shanghai, simple projects like baby swimming were mostly managed by hospitals with support from outside funding. Ma Rui's club was struggling with low income.
挑战比小马想象的还要多。在10年前的中国，月子中心还不普及，即便是像北京、上海这样的城市里，像婴儿游泳这样简单的项目也只是在医院里依靠民间资金存在着。小马的月子中心经营得很是惨淡。

"Our first deal was finalized more than three months after the business started. We made a few hundred yuan; at that time, we barely made ends meet."
”我们第一笔生意是开张三个月后定下来的，就挣了几百块钱。在那时候，我们很难继续维持。”

Just before Ma Rui was about to close down her business, she was approached by the Kunming Women's Federation. That's when she learned about the petit, secured loan policy which the Federation initiated to help business women. In 2006, Ma Rui was granted a 90-thousand-yuan loan with the help of the Women's Federation.
正当小马准备停业的时候，昆明妇女联合会找到了她，那时她才知道联合会专门帮助创业女性贷款的政策。2006年，在联合会的帮助下，小马获得90000块的贷款。

"That loan gave me the strength to go on. Without it, I would have closed down the business. Ninety-thousand yuan may not sound like much now, but it was a large sum back in 2006. When the windfall arrived, I opened my second branch."
“贷款给了我前进的力量，没有它我可能就关门了。9万在现在看来不算多，但在2006年那可是个大数目。一收到贷款，我就开了第二家分店。”

With funding pouring in, Ma Rui renovated her old store and opened a new one in a densely populated community. The loan not only helped her through the hard times, it allowed her to expand her business. In 2009, with a second loan of 150,000 yuan, Ma Rui opened more branches. Now, she owns four stores in Kunming. Her club is the top choice for mothers seeking maternity nursing service.
随着资金的注入，马瑞把她第一家店重新装修一新，又在人口密集地段开了第 二家分店。这些贷款不仅帮她度过了最艰难的时期，还让她扩大了生意。到2009年，第二批贷款的注入，马瑞开了更多的分店。现在她在昆明已经拥有的4家分 店，在月子服务领域，小马的店成为了年轻妈妈的首选。

"We used to make a few hundred yuan a month; now we are counting our income by the hundreds of thousands. In the past, we only offered baby swimming services, now we have four baby natatoriums, two baby-product stores and four baby clothing shops. The biggest store is more than 800 square meters large."
“我们曾经一个月才挣几百块钱，现在我们的工资已经涨到了几万。过去，我们只提供婴儿游泳项目，现在我们有4个游泳池，2个婴幼用品店和4个婴幼服装店，其中最大的店已经超过了800平方米。”

That's the purpose of the small loan project by the Kunming Municipal Women's Federation. Ever since 1998, the Federation started cooperating with local banks to provide guaranteed loans to local businesswomen, helping them develop their own businesses and become strong, independent women. Mei Huifen is the vice president of Kunming Municipal Women's Federation.
这也正是昆明妇女联合会小额贷款的目的。自从1998年，联合会开始和当地银行合作，给创业女性提供贷款担保，帮助她们创业，变得更自强、独立。

The support didn't stop there; after receiving the loans, Ma Rui became more involved in the Federation's loan project. Apart from joining the Federation's training programs on business management, Ma Rui was also encouraged to share her experience alongside other business women. The moral support coming from the group gave her great the strength to persist through the difficulties.
支持并没有结束，马瑞更多地加入了联合会的贷款项目，除了加入商业管理的培训计划外，她还和其她女性商人共享她的经历。这个团体给了她精神上的力量，支持她度过各种难关。

Now, with her business booming, Ma Rui has started doing social welfare projects. In 2013, her club cooperated with UNICEF to promote breast-feeding, offering related training and services to young moms. She believes her business is like a second child, a child she raised with the support of the Women's Federation.
现在，随着生意的日益壮大，马瑞开始加入社会公益活动。在2013年，她的门店和联合国儿童基金会合作，为提倡母乳喂养，给年轻的妈妈们举办相关的培训和服务。她觉得她的生意就像她第二个孩子，一个靠联合会支持养大的孩子。