THEY had jobs as an architect, a lawyer and a teacher before quitting to start their own business. Now they are professional love mentors who advise people on their romantic relationships. Having overcome doubts from family and friends, and other obstacles, their business is booming.

In two and half years, three young men who grew up in Shenzhen named Li Ziqi, Li Wei and Wu Jian have expanded their love consulting startup into a professional agency that sells advice and courses on dating and other romantic skills.

The business idea came to them after Li Ziqi had a few failed intimate relationships. They realized that love requires not only instincts, but also techniques and psychological knowledge, which a lot of people did not know.

They decided to use their spare time to teach people how to handle intimate relationships by sharing their experiences and communication skills.

They began making a profit in the second month and were attracting more clients. By the end of 2014, they had quit their day jobs and were devoted to the love consulting business.

They named their startup Wu Nian, which means “mindlessness” in Chinese, referring to the Buddhist philosophy of keeping focus and not being distracted.

The startup encountered setbacks and challenges in the beginning. It was hard to earn the trust of their clients since they were young and not married.

According to Wu, it would normally take three to six months for a new client to accept their ideas — for instance, how to dress on a date or how to handle certain difficult circumstances — and purchase their training course.

Their business expanded in June 2015 with many of their new staff having been clients.

Now they have over 8,000 clients seeking love advice and have inked cooperative deals with an array of large-scale online dating agencies. (Zhang Qian)