'Egg-cellent' business idea

A number of college graduates are starting unconventional new small businesses to find a footing in the ever-competitive market, as more young people find it difficult to land a professional office job in the current economy.

Among the recent success stories is that of Li's Egg Store, run by Li Xuan or "Brother Egg," a 23-year-old graduate who majored in animal science and medicine at Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, but decided to try his hand at selling farm eggs online after quitting his pig-feed selling job in the summer.

Li bought nearly 3,600 eggs from a chicken farm in Wuhan and opened Li's Egg Store online. To his surprise, he sold out in three days - and went on to sell more than 15,000 eggs over just a three-month period.

"I saw vendors selling fruit and pastries online and started thinking about what I could sell," he told Wuhan Evening News. "My mom said it was hard to buy farm eggs at supermarkets, so I got the idea after finding out that in fact most grocery stores don't sell them."

Li said that business has been so good that he's already been able to pay his parents back the 20,000 yuan ($3,279) he borrowed to buy a car for deliveries to start his company.

"I'm happy, not because of the money I've made, but because I've made an honest living for myself," he said.