From a Few Million to ¥100M: A Factory's Ten Years

A mom-and-pop export factory took ten years to go from a small workshop to an integrated manufacturer-trader with 100-plus staff, and from a few million in sales to close to ¥100 million. Its path holds the most practical lesson for small and mid-sized exporters: go deep in one track, work the channels thoroughly, and change engines as the times do. In the age of AI search, that engine change has come round again.

Ten years from a workshop to nearly ¥100 million: what made it work

This Shenzhen-based lighting manufacturer started in the most traditional form there is — a husband-and-wife team building a business from nothing. No resources, no connections; it grew by making the business solid, step by step.

Looking back at its ten years, three moves stand out.

• Pick the right track and go deep: it stayed with lighting and never kept switching direction;
• Work the channel thoroughly: it started on Alibaba.com in 2011 and climbed from the entry-level Export Starter (Chukoutong) membership to Gold Supplier, then to Industry Leader;
• Bind tightly with its partner: from product selection and paid traffic to sales SOPs and tax compliance, it worked closely with its partner at every step.

A real ten-year case: a Shenzhen-based lighting manufacturer

From workshop to factory

Over ten years the company grew from a small workshop into an integrated manufacturer-trader with 100-plus staff, staying focused on the lighting track. Sales went from a few million at the start to close to ¥100 million by the end of 2025.

Taking the platform to its limit

90% of its orders come from Alibaba.com, making it the undisputed leader merchant in its sub-category on that platform, holding the number-one spot in the category for years and counting.

The owner leads the learning

The company's leader built a deep partnership with Yihang Network — not a buyer-seller relationship, but studying together, bringing teams to industry competitions and joining study tours in Hangzhou. In its own words on its website: "Behind outstanding results is mutual trust, and every deep conversation along the way."

The case closes on one phrase: "ten years of deep roots, full-funnel operations." Those few words point straight at what comes next.

How this playbook carries into the AI era

The "go deep + work the channels thoroughly" playbook still holds in the AI era. But the list of channels needs one new entry.

Platforms are still the base — but no longer the only door

90% of this company's orders come from Alibaba.com, which shows how well it runs the platform. Seen in the AI era, though, the risk is obvious: an order structure that leans too heavily on a single channel. Change the platform rules, raise the cost of traffic, and all the pressure lands on that one line.

AI is the front-of-decision step

Buyers used to look at your products on the platform, compare prices, then read reviews. Now many buyers ask AI one question before they even open the platform: "Which Chinese suppliers in this category are reliable?"

In other words, AI now stands at the very front of the buyer's decision chain. If you are not mentioned at that step, no amount of platform excellence further down will bring the buyer to you.

Move ten years of trust assets into AI

This company has built up ten years of trust assets — export track record, category standing, customer word of mouth. Those assets used to sit inside the platform and inside customer relationships. Now they need to be structured into public sources AI can read (website, authoritative media, industry platforms), so that AI can "see" those ten years too.

Three suggestions for small and mid-sized export factories

1. Keep going deep. Focus on one track and become number one in a niche. This logic only matters more in the AI era, because AI prefers to recommend "the expert in a given category".
2. Add channels, don't switch. The platform is your base, but let AI become a second leg — don't hang your order structure on a single rope.
3. Make your assets visible. Turn qualifications, track record and case studies from "only you know it" into "AI can find it too".

Yihang Network has accompanied many manufacturers from the Alibaba.com era to today. To find out where your factory stands in AI recommendations, see Yihang Network's GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) full-funnel marketing.