Executives often boast of being "self-made" men, but the life of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co President Li Shufu has truly been a journey from rags to riches.

The man who leads his company in the landmark acquisition of globally renowned brand Volvo recounted his story on Nov 10 at a get-together in Tianjin for Geely GX7 drivers, many of whom can relate as owners of small and medium-sized enterprises striving to make their businesses bigger and stronger.

At the gathering, Li told of how his first investment ever was a single second-hand camera that he bought from his father for 120 yuan in 1982 at the age of 19.

He started out taking pictures for a living. A year later, he opened his own photography shop and began building his fortune brick by brick from there.

In 1986, he established a refrigerator plant and later a motorcycle factory in Zhejiang in 1993.

One year later, he acquired 57 hectares of land in the city of Linhai and established the Geely Haoqing Automobile Industrial Park, which produced its first Geely Haoqing hatchback in 1998.

One of the country's earliest domestic carmakers, Geely made headlines when it negotiated with Ford Motors to buy all shares of Volvo Cars for $1.8 billion.

"I was born in a poor village in Zhejiang province," Li used to say this to reporters. "The first thing is that I'm not afraid of difficulties. The second thing, I don't fear poverty. The third, I like making a fortune."

Li described his experience of doing business as "pursuing dreams, grasping opportunities, adhering to beliefs, making good decisions and concentrating powers".

"My dream is that one day Chinese cars will be driven all over the world, instead of letting foreign brand cars drive over China," he told the Geely GX7 owners at the get-together event.

"Learning from President Li's story about Geely's development, I was deeply moved. I dare not say that my business will become that big, but I really have more confidence for the future," said Li Qingdong, a GX7 owner from Guangzhou.

"I'm running a small company, and I have encountered many problems in the process. I used to feel upset and at times felt like giving up. However, Li Shufu's experience is a good example. As long as you have courage and perseverance, you will definitely do things well," Li Qingdong told reporters. The GX7 get-together event is part of the carmaker's series of activities to support domestic SME owners.

To date, Geely has held several forums in Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Qingdao to invite economists and scholars to give speeches to customers and offer them practical solutions to problems.

The company is offering its suppor to SMEs as they answer the central government's call to innovate, according to Geely.

"Geely has realized that just focusing on products can no longer raise competitiveness in the current market. We should understand the inner demands of customers and help our enterprise grow with them," said Sun Xiaodong, vice-president of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co and general manager of Geely Sales Co.