Need a fuzzy frog hat for your dog? Visit Taobao's Puppy Mischief, where unique pet goods from lace-trimmed dog tutus to specialty puppy shampoos are for sale.
Yao Zhen and his wife set up shop on Taobao in 2009, after experimenting with various online retail strategies.
The business was inspired by Yao's own love for dogs -- he houses rescued pups, and at one point had more than 10 canines running around. As a dog owner, he spotted the demand for pet goods, and thought he'd try his hand at the business.
Yao said that setting up on Taobao was attractive because he could spend as much or as little time as he wanted to develop the shop. "Even if you do a little business, you can still make some money," he said.
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In the early days, Yao bought a small stock of goods from other stores to resell online, but the business has grown so much that he now deals directly with manufacturers.
Puppy Mischief is now bringing in roughly 2 million yuan ($321,400) in annual sales, and Yao has been able to hire about a dozen employees in two cities. He even gets some orders from pet stores in the U.S. and Canada.
