Zhang Xiaoqiao, from Hubei province, launched the service in Shenzhen under the brand Suma. Customers lie on beds in a setting similar to a massage parlour while trained staff use specially designed pointed nails to gently scratch different parts of their bodies, South China Morning Post reported. A 32-year-old entrepreneur in China has turned a surprisingly simple idea into an unusual business: people can now pay someone to scratch their backs and other itchy spots for them.
After graduating from university, he tried seven different jobs in one year. He later founded two cross-border e-commerce companies before turning to the social media industry, but neither venture achieved the success he had hoped for. The business has also prompted a fair amount of curiosity and humour online, with people debating whether professional itch-scratching could really become a recognised occupation. Zhang certainly thinks it can.
He hopes to eventually expand Suma to 100 outlets across China and turn itch-scratching into a more widely recognised service profession.
Since there was little precedent for a professional itch-scratching business in China, Zhang said he had to develop the service himself, experimenting with different techniques and figuring out how to make the experience comfortable for customers.
The business is a significant departure from Zhang’s earlier ventures.
