Pet project: reluctant young woman moves into China family factory, rapidly ramps up profits, improves staff morale with dogs and cats policy

A young woman in China who reluctantly took over the family business has turned it around financially while bringing joy to its employees.

Wang Siyuan, from Guangzhou, Guangdong province in southeastern China, began working for her family’s manufacturing company after she was fired from her first job in 2019.

Fresh out of university with a background in accounting, she had taken a job as an intern with a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan (US$400).

“The company was quite small, with only five employees. I worked there for about two months, and then the boss fired me,” Wang told Tianye Video.

Although she wanted to be an accountant, after a period of unemployment and failing to secure a job in that sector, her father convinced her to join the family’s manufacturing business, which made jeans.

Initially reluctant, it transpired that her fresh approach was just what the company needed as Wang embraced the surge of live-streaming e-commerce in China, rapidly generating orders.

“My father was making the jeans at a cost of 30 to 40 yuan (US$5.5) and selling them directly on live broadcasts for 9.9 yuan plus free shipping. His friends thought he had gone crazy. So I started using Douyin for selling,” Wang said.

“It took me about two years to make that money back,” she added.

Since then, Wang has grown the business to five times its original size, and is selling about 500,000 pairs of jeans every month.

She manages more than 100 employees and has increased the factory floor space from 4,000 to 20,000 square metres.

The company also attracts many more young employees thanks to a specific policy introduced by Wang – she encourages them to bring their pets to work.

“We have six or seven dogs, and there are cats too,” Wang said.

In online trending videos, the innovative young boss can often be seen joyfully interacting with animals belonging to staff.

The pets are allowed to wander freely around the office, creating a very relaxed and comforting working environment.

The pet-friendly policy has captured the imagination of online observers.

“While other employees might be slacking off work, her staff are enjoying their jobs because they can bring their pets,” one person said.

“Being able to work with my pet around every day makes me happy just thinking about it,” said another.

“I cannot be separated from my pets. I want to apply to her company,” a third commented.