Middle-aged entrepreneurs are trapped in debt.

On March 26, 2026, Liu Ming celebrated his 40th birthday.

At 6:50 a.m., he punctually opened a short - video live stream and shared fitness tips in the live - broadcast room. His account had only ten to twenty thousand followers. In the circle of short - video bloggers with millions of followers, he was not very noticeable.

However, he still appeared on time every day. There were only a few viewers at times, and sometimes there could be over a hundred. Liu Ming noticed that most of those who persisted in following the workouts were the elderly who hoped to strengthen their bodies, and occasionally there were also some young people who wanted to work out. He put some highly relevant products in his store window, such as whole - wheat bread, protein powder, and zero - calorie, zero - fat black coffee.

During the live stream, whenever someone asked a question, he would answer them all. After an hour and a half, the fitness exercises had been repeated several times, and he was already sweating profusely.

Liu Ming worked about thirteen or fourteen hours a day. After the morning live stream ended, he had to rush to the company to punch in before 9 a.m. After getting off work at 6 p.m., he would live - stream for one to two more hours. Only after operating and maintaining his short - video store well did his day's work truly end.

Liu Ming's full - time job was relatively flexible. He had a base salary of 6,000 yuan and performance - based pay. With the income from live - streaming sales, he could earn over ten thousand yuan a month. Among the working class, this income was okay, but when facing debts of over a million yuan, it seemed rather meager.

In January 2026, Liu Ming's debts began to be overdue on a large scale. His house and car had already been mortgaged, and he had hardly any assets left. How could he pay off the debts with just that little income? At night, he had thought about it many times: How did he end up in this situation after two attempts at entrepreneurship?

Thinking about it was useless. Life had to go on. On his birthday, he wrote a message on his WeChat Moments: "Suddenly, I've reached the age of no doubts. Happy birthday to me. Live well."

"Don't lose heart. Look forward to the future." Wang Xinyu, 43, often comforted himself in this way. He used to be a restaurant owner with an annual income of one million yuan. Now he worked in a factory with a monthly salary of 4,000 yuan. Like Liu Ming, he had elderly parents to support and children to raise, and his life was very tight.

"The gap is too big!" Wang Xinyu joked about himself with a smile: "I used to be a boss, but now I'm in debt of tens of millions; I used to drive a Mercedes, but now I have to take the subway and bus; I used to treat guests to meals, and it was normal to spend over a thousand yuan for a single meal, and sometimes tens of thousands of yuan to entertain guests; now I try to save money by ordering group - bought meals on Meituan."

Chen Lin, a 44 - year - old "second - generation entrepreneur", also had similar sufferings but a different ending. He was once trapped in debts of over two million yuan because of an entrepreneurial project and was harassed by debt - collection calls from morning till night. In 2025, after a long wait, there was a turning point: The payment for a project that had been overdue for several years finally arrived, and he paid off all his debts.

Currently, the personal non - performing loan transfer market is booming. The trading volume of non - performing asset packages has been rising steadily, from 18.648 billion yuan in 2021 to 36.9 billion yuan in 2022, 96.53 billion yuan in 2023, over 150 billion yuan in 2024, and more than 200 billion yuan in 2025. Among these transferred non - performing asset packages, failed entrepreneurs form a distinct customer group profile (see the report "The 'Rapid Development' of Personal Non - performing Asset Transfers" in Economic Observer).

Wang Xinyu said that there seemed to be many entrepreneurs like him. They once seized the dividends of the era but also faced the storms of the times. Finally, in their forties, approaching retirement, they were moving forward with debts.

01

Tasted the Sweetness of Entrepreneurship

Twenty years ago, Wang Xinyu had just graduated from Jilin University and started teaching at a secondary branch of a local higher art institution. However, less than two years later, due to the school's strategic adjustment, the secondary branch he was in was incorporated into other departments. Facing a "bleak" future, he left the school.

In 2009, Wang Xinyu joined Taiping Life Insurance and became an insurance marketer. At that time, the company was in a period of rapid development. Its total premium exceeded 20 billion yuan that year, and it set up new branches in Jilin and recruited a large number of talents. Referred by someone and passing the recruitment process, he successfully joined the company.

He worked in the insurance industry for five years. This career experience honed his eloquence and tenacity and also helped him accumulate contacts. Gradually, an idea germinated in his mind: He didn't want to work for others anymore and wanted to be his own boss.

During those years, the wave of "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" was surging. New technologies, new business forms, and new models were emerging vigorously. People on the streets and alleys were talking about "Internet +" and entrepreneurial dreams. Many of Wang Xinyu's friends also joined the entrepreneurial wave, opening online stores, doing franchising, and venturing into emerging industries. The air seemed to be filled with the restlessness of "Only by daring to fight can you win."

Where should he start his business? Wang Xinyu thought of starting a catering business. That year, the catering industry was developing rapidly and showing a split: On one hand, many restaurants were closing down; on the other hand, characteristic catering businesses were developing well. He thought that he had no technical skills and didn't understand the operation logic of emerging industries. Blindly following the trend would only lead to failure. However, he was good at dealing with people and was familiar with the local people's consumption habits. So, he decided to start with the most down - to - earth and low - threshold catering industry. Wang Xinyu opened his first barbecue restaurant with full confidence.

The barbecue restaurant was very profitable. The 700 - square - meter store made a net profit of over one million yuan a year. Soon after, he opened a second one and was determined to open branches across the country and not just focus on barbecue restaurants.

At that time, fusion restaurants were quietly emerging in first - tier cities, combining different cuisines and even Chinese and Western flavors, attracting many consumers to try something new. Wang Xinyu selected a location and opened two fusion restaurants locally. At that time, he didn't have enough funds, so he not only borrowed 2 million yuan from the bank but also some money from relatives and friends. Seeing that his barbecue restaurants were doing well, his relatives and friends were very willing to lend money to him.

At the height of his success, customers flocked to his restaurants. By the end of 2019, with two barbecue restaurants and two fusion restaurants, Wang Xinyu had accumulated 4 million yuan in cash assets. In his words, although he was not a rich man, he was definitely a "winner in life" among his peers.

During those same years, Liu Ming also completed his initial capital accumulation.

In 2015, Liu Ming was already a senior executive of a communication company in Beijing, with an annual salary of four to five hundred thousand yuan, and he had also accumulated a lot of resources. At that time, the company encouraged internal entrepreneurship, that is, taking on some internal business content or work projects, starting a business, and sharing the results with the company. From 2015 to early 2016, Liu Ming earned nearly 4 million yuan through an internal entrepreneurial project. He also felt for the first time that the potential for making money through entrepreneurship was much greater than that of working a regular job.

In 2016, Liu Ming, who had been a "drifter in Beijing" for six years, faced a choice: His child was three years old and was about to start kindergarten, but neither he nor his wife had a Beijing household registration. Should he go back to his hometown in Wuhan to start a business?

He was 28 years old at that time. The company's leadership valued him very much and said that he could work remotely even if he went back to Wuhan. At that time, he had already saved several million yuan in deposits and had a house in his hometown. He could almost "lie flat".

However, Liu Ming chose to resign. He always felt that he was still young and could take more risks. So, he took his "first pot of gold" from entrepreneurship and returned to Wuhan to start a plan to improve his life: He bought two cars, renovated his house, moved his parents from the rural hometown to the city and rented a long - term apartment for them... The total cost was 2 million yuan. His wife took care of the child full - time, and he set aside enough money for daily life and invested the remaining one million yuan in entrepreneurship.

Compared with many entrepreneurs who groped on their own, Chen Lin already had a roadmap handed down by his father. Chen Lin's father was originally engaged in the central air - conditioning cooling tower industry and made a profit from it. Growing up in such an environment, Chen Lin had strong practical skills. His father thought that perhaps his son could take over his business. So, as soon as Chen Lin graduated, he was "brought into" this industry by his father.

That was the era when high - rise buildings were springing up in cities. At that time, the cooling tower industry was really a sunrise industry. "There were so many projects that we couldn't handle them all, and the profits were unimaginably high. In the early days, the profit margin of a project could reach 200% to 300%. As long as you were willing to run around, endure hardships, and advance funds, you could make money," he said.

Chen Lin was engaged in what was commonly known as "sub - contracting" in the industry. That is, he didn't have his own factory but was affiliated with a large local fiberglass factory. The factory provided equipment and technology and was responsible for producing cooling tower sheets, custom - making fans, and processing iron parts. Chen Lin was responsible for running business, contacting the client, coordinating logistics, and organizing workers for on - site installation and after - sales service.

The advantage of this model was that there was no need for heavy - asset investment, no need to maintain a factory, and no need to hire full - time workers. As long as you had contacts and abilities, you could get a share in the industrial chain. Of course, Chen Lin also needed to pay a certain amount of deposit to the factory to ensure smooth production.

02

Continue to Invest or Give Up?

From 2016 to 2017, Liu Ming launched two entrepreneurial projects: retail in colleges and universities and education and training.

At that time, in colleges and universities, dormitory convenience stores were a necessary consumption for many students. The campus had not yet popularized face - recognition management, and the demand for instant consumption such as snacks and instant noodles in student dormitories was strong.

Liu Ming met a corporate executive who also saw potential in this field. They hit it off and started a business together: The other person was responsible for market development, and he was responsible for investing and external cooperation. They built an online ordering platform for colleges and universities based on WeChat mini - programs and official accounts and launched operations in several colleges and universities in Hubei.

The entrepreneurial project got off to a good start. They rented warehouses and school family compounds, and recruited employees from college students. Most of them were fresh graduates. Some were preparing their graduation theses, and some took part - time jobs because they couldn't find suitable full - time jobs for the time being. These students were responsible for on - site promotion and dormitory delivery, which pushed the monthly revenue of the project to one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand yuan.

That winter in Wuhan was extremely cold. In the cold, most of these college student employees could not bear the high - intensity delivery work. Coupled with the approaching graduation and job - hunting, they left their jobs one after another after the winter vacation. This entrepreneurial attempt ended with a loss of over one hundred thousand yuan.

Not long after, Liu Ming started his second entrepreneurial project. By chance, Liu Ming met a partner with rich experience in vocal music training. The partner had three stores in Wuhan, covering training projects such as adult and children's vocal music teaching, with an annual revenue of over one million yuan and a mature operation system. The two parties reached a cooperation and opened a direct - operated store in Xuhui District, Shanghai. Liu Ming was responsible for investing and expanding the market, and the partner provided teacher training according to his own operation system and course standards.

At that time, the one - time investment in store decoration was nearly two hundred thousand yuan. With the salaries of three teachers, rent, water, and electricity, the monthly operating cost was about five to sixty thousand yuan. However, the partner's own stores had stable business, and he devoted limited energy to this joint - venture new store, only coming to the store for one week each month. The store also couldn't find a suitable store manager for overall management, and the operation was extremely unstable. When the business was good, the monthly revenue could reach two to three hundred thousand yuan, but in most months, it was only tens of thousands of yuan, which could not cover the cost.

After struggling for 14 months, the store lost nearly nine hundred thousand yuan, and he had to close it down.

At the end of 2017, when he heard that a relative had made tens of millions of yuan from stock trading in a year, Liu Ming was very tempted. However, at this time, he had renovated his house and bought a car. After two entrepreneurial attempts, the savings he had accumulated in the early years were almost gone.

Liu Ming decided to borrow money to invest in stocks. At that time, the bill flow of him and his wife was relatively high, so they had relatively high credit limits on credit cards and bank consumer loans. Liu Ming borrowed all this money, a total of six hundred thousand yuan, for stock trading. The average interest rate of these loans was between 8% and 10%.

No one expected that 2018 would be extremely difficult for investors in the secondary market. "Black swan" events such as the trade war occurred one after another, and the stock market was under continuous pressure. In just a few months, Liu Ming lost six hundred thousand yuan in stock trading. At the end of that year, he liquidated all his stocks. The next year, he went to Shenzhen and joined a company founded by a friend. The company's main business was online education. In 2021, the "double - reduction" policy was officially introduced, and the industry underwent drastic adjustments. The education and training business could hardly continue, and Liu Ming faced another career turning point.

At the same time, the pressure from his family also made it difficult for him to focus on his work outside. He had been separated from his family for two years. His wife was taking care of the child alone at home and had been bearing all the parenting pressure for a long time. His son also needed his father's company at that time. His wife seriously suggested to him: "If you can't make a lot of money in Shenzhen for the time being, you'd better come back."

After returning to Wuhan, Liu Ming joined an adult online education company, planning to settle down first and then make long - term plans. However, an accident happened again - his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Liu Ming immediately resigned and went home to take care of his mother. After his mother's condition stabilized, he re - sorted out his plans. He still couldn't let go of the idea of entrepreneurship, so he decided to start again - through short - video live streaming.

03

During the Days of Debt Crisis

In 2020, there were almost no customers dining in Wang Xinyu's restaurants offline, and there were also very few online take - out orders. However, he still had to pay the rent, restock the goods, pay the employees, and repay the decoration loan from the previous period.

By the end of 2023, he couldn't hold on anymore. Although the street traffic had recovered, the previous consumption boom was gone, and his four stores closed down one after another. On the day of closing the stores, he paid the employees an extra month's salary to let them leave peacefully. However, he himself owed nearly ten million yuan in debts - except for the two million yuan bank loan, the remaining seven or eight million yuan came from the trust of relatives, friends, and elders.

Recalling those days, Wang Xinyu was silent for a long time and said: "Entrepreneurship is like gambling, but it's just reasonable and legal. If you win the bet, you'll have a glorious past; if you lose, you'll be bankrupt. You must think twice before acting."

Chen Lin was also trapped in debts of over two million yuan.

At his most difficult time, the debt - collection calls rang from morning till night, but the payment for the project was nowhere in sight. He had a child to raise and elderly