industrial overlord

Chapter 116 Exploring the Shanghai Market

While Lin Zhenhua was busy settling various relationships in the factory, Xiong Lijun had already arrived in Shanghai with his wife Tao Hui, and began to build a Shanghai distribution office according to Lin Zhenhua's arrangement.

Tao Hui has officially gone through the formalities of staying without pay at the unit, becoming the first person in the whole unit to go to sea.At this time, the situation of going into the sea has appeared, but not many people dare to do so.Tao Hui has Xiong Lijun's deposit of tens of thousands of yuan as a guarantee, so he has no pressure on going to sea.

The Shanghai distribution office is under the banner of Hanhua Industrial Company, but the account number belongs to Xinxin Store, which is independent from Hanhua Industrial Company in terms of property rights, and it can be regarded as a strategic partnership at best.Xinxin Store owns half of Lin Zhenhua's equity, which is actually rotten in the pot.

Lin Zhenhua still has some doubts about the variability of the policy. Although the ultimate policy direction must be to encourage the development of private enterprises, he cannot guarantee whether there will be any twists and turns in the middle.Under such circumstances, it is very important to put eggs in several baskets.

As for how much benefit he would get from cooperating with Xiong Lijun, Lin Zhenhua didn't think too much about it.Lin Zhenhua's vision is not limited to such a small dealership. What he wants to do is much bigger than this.People who care about petty profits cannot accomplish great things.

After Xiong Lijun arrived in Shanghai, he rented an office building in a lane on Huaihai Road. There was a small frontage in the front and a warehouse in the back. The rent was only 400 yuan for a total of 400 to [-] square meters.Of course, more than [-] yuan was a sky-high price for people at the time, but Lin Zhenhua felt that it was so cheap that it seemed like a white pick.

After learning the rental price, Lin Zhenhua instructed Xiong Lijun to ask the landlord if he wanted to sell it.In his mind, if he could buy it directly for tens of thousands of dollars and put it aside for 30 years, the property would be worth at least tens of millions.Unfortunately, after Xiong Lijun went to ask, he got a negative answer. They said that there is no problem with renting out, and the sale needs to be approved by the superiors, and the superiors will definitely not approve it.

Xiong Lijun hung up a big sign of "Jiangnan Hanhua Industrial Company Shanghai Distribution Office" in front of the office door, and applied for the installation of telephones. This distribution office was officially established.

According to Lin Zhenhua's request, the distribution office hired four workers, all of whom were brought by Xiong Lijun from Fenghua County, with food and housing included, and a monthly salary of 30 yuan.Just for these four places, many people fought over their heads. You know, this is going to work in Shanghai. There are still many people in Fenghua County who have never been to the southern city of the provincial capital. They can go to work in Shanghai right away. , This is simply the feeling of reaching the sky in one step.

Tao Hui's family belongs to a power transmission and transformation construction company, and there are quite a few children in the neighborhood.Knowing that Tao Hui's husband was in charge of recruiting workers, many people went to her home to intercede, asking her to blow pillow wind to Xiong Lijun and recruit their children.Tao Hui finally got the feeling of an official's wife, so he naturally agreed to this kind of pleading person.But when Xiong Lijun told Lin Zhenhua about this matter, Lin Zhenhua vetoed it.

"Zhenhua, why don't you agree?" Tao Hui complained to Lin Zhenhua, "I know these people. Isn't it more reassuring to use them than those who don't know?"

Lin Zhenhua said: "Little Tao, it's not that I don't give you face, but I'm thinking of you. Have you ever thought about what you plan to do if these people don't listen to Old Xiong and your command after they arrive in Shanghai?"

"We agreed before we left, if they don't obey, then we have no choice but to let them come back." Tao Hui said as a matter of course.

Lin Zhenhua said: "Do you think you can do it? They are all acquaintances of mine, can you be ashamed? Even if you can be ashamed and drive them all back, are you not afraid that their parents will sue your parents? Then you will be in more trouble."

"Yeah, why didn't I think of that." Tao Hui realized that his thinking was too simple, "Okay, I'll go and reject them right away."

This is the difference between old and new concepts.Before the market economy, the relationship between people was mainly based on human feelings, and there must be some benefits to take care of their own people.However, after the development of the market economy, the relationship between people has become complicated. There are favors and interests. At this time, if favors and interests are intertwined, conflicts will inevitably arise.Lin Zhenhua's understanding of this point is much deeper than Tao Hui's.

In the end, four young people who had nothing to do with them came to Shanghai with Xiong Lijun and his wife.Two of them were from Hanhua Machinery Factory, named Qi Qinghui and Cai Yanfang; the other two were recruited from Fenghua County, named Zhang Wencheng and Ren Yunzhu.These four people happen to be two men and two women. The two boys are responsible for managing the warehouse, delivering goods and maintenance services. The two girls are mainly responsible for customer service, cleaning and receiving guests.

Houses in Shanghai are not big. The house that Xiong Lijun rented had eight rooms besides the warehouse and facade, of which he and Tao Hui occupied one room, four employees occupied two rooms, and The five houses serve as offices, reception rooms and guest rooms respectively.Just in response to that sentence, it is called that although a sparrow is small, it has all internal organs.

It was already November when the first batch of water lily electric fans arrived in Shanghai. This is really not a good time to sell electric fans.Xiong Lijun carried a cardboard box containing an electric fan, and began door-to-door sales.

"Water lily electric fan... I've never heard of it."

In Shanghai Red Star Department Store, manager Le Chuan frowned and said to Xiong Lijun.He is a short and fat man, and he looks like a person who is used to being pampered. However, a fat man also has the advantages of being a fat man, that is, he usually has a better temper.

"Hehe, Manager Le, this is a new product of ours, which has just been put into production. So we haven't seen it on the market yet."

"Where is your factory?"

"We are from Jiangnan Province."

"Jiangnan Province, it's a small place." Le Chuan muttered softly, "What's the price of your electric fans?"

"The wholesale price is 221, and the retail price is 248."

"248?" Le Chuan grinned in an exaggerated arc, "Your electric fan is not imported, is it? Do you know our Watson brand in Shanghai? It's an old brand, 400mm capacitive, four-speed keyboard The oscillating head timing table fan was just lowered two days ago, and now it only sells for 210 yuan. How dare you sell it for 248 yuan when your brand just came out?"

Xiong Lijun said: "Manager Le, of course we know that Watson is an old brand, and we dare not compare. However, our electric fans have some special designs, and their appearance and functions are not quite as good as those on the market. Same, so it is normal for the price to be higher.”

Le Chuan shook his head: "If you make any special design, isn't the electric fan still used to blow cool air? Besides, it is already November, which is the off-season for electric fan sales. You can set such a high price again." How can they be sold at such a low price? You don’t know, there are not too many brands of electric fans on the market, and many of them are out of stock.”

Xiong Lijun said: "Manager Le, it's useless for me to tell you empty words. Look, I brought one of our electric fans over here. I'll unbox it for you to have a look. You are an old department store. This thing Whether it is worth the price or not, and whether it can be sold, you can tell at a glance.”

Le Chuan reluctantly nodded: "You should move faster, I still have a lot of things to do here."

"Soon, very soon." Xiong Lijun said repeatedly.

After all, Xiong Lijun pulled the box he had brought over from behind, opened the lid quickly with his hands and feet, lifted out a water lily brand electric fan from inside, and put it on Lechuan's table.

Le Chuan was originally a little impatient with Xiong Lijun, but because of face, he couldn't refuse directly.But when he saw this electric fan at this time, his eyes straightened, and he couldn't help standing up from the chair, reaching out to touch the base and bracket of the electric fan.

"Can such a small base stand firmly?" Le Chuan asked in surprise.

"Manager Le, take a look." Xiong Lijun said confidently.

Le Chuan really weighed it. At first, he didn't push it hard enough, so he didn't lift it up. At this moment, he got excited: "Manager Xiong, is this your new electric fan?"

"Yeah, how about it, can it still enter your eyes?"

"Not bad, not bad." Le Chuan praised, "The material alone is very good. You don't know, some small factories in towns and villages don't use too much material. The iron skin is so thin that you can pierce it with a cigarette butt. It's not durable. Yes. We Shanghainese are very practical. If you buy an electric fan, it will take at least 20 years. If the material is not good, who will buy it from you? Yours is very good, what is your base made of?"

Xiong Lijun said: "This is a whole piece of cast iron, which came out of our own foundry furnace."

"Do you still have a foundry stove?"

"That's right, our Hanhua Industrial Company is above the Hanhua Machinery Factory, which is a medium-sized provincial enterprise. The things we make are better than those made by Japan." Xiong Lijun blew up casually. He is Hanhua anyway. Those who came out of the factory knew a lot about the affairs of Hanhua Factory, so they also had the capital to brag about.He told Le Chuan about Hanhua Factory's research on the main shaft of the ice machine, and Le Chuan was fascinated by it.

"It turned out to be something produced by a formal enterprise, no wonder, no wonder." Le Chuan said, he touched the electric fan back and forth with his hand, and found a new advantage: "Manager Xiong, I found that your fan looks very good. It looks good, and the workmanship is quite exquisite, there is no burr on it."

"That's not enough." Xiong Lijun said, "I'll plug in the electricity and demonstrate it to you, and you'll be pleasantly surprised."

"Okay, okay, I have an outlet here." Le Chuan hurriedly helped Xiong Lijun find the location of the outlet. He seemed to have forgotten that he just said that this fan has no future.

After plugging in the power supply, Le Chuan stepped forward to press the switch without waiting for Xiong Lijun to do it, and commented as he pressed it: "The switch is also pretty good, very light. The sound of turning the leaves is very small, and the motor you use is also pretty good." Well. There are two lights here, oops, is this light a defective product?

Xiong Lijun explained proudly: "Manager Le, this is not a defective product. This is a modern breathing lamp developed by us. Take a closer look, it turns on and off in a regular way."

"Oh, it's designed like this on purpose, isn't it?" Le Chuan understood. He stared at the two breathing lamps carefully for two or three minutes, and then suddenly laughed: "It's very interesting, quite Interesting. It’s called a breathing light, right? It’s really similar to human breathing. Put this in your room and watch it when you sleep at night. It can hypnotize you, right?”

Xiong Lijun flattered and said, "Manager Le really has a unique vision. He can see the beauty of the breathing light at a glance. This light is equipped with a separate switch. If the user doesn't like it, he can turn it off at any time."

"Okay, okay!" Le Chuan said full of praise, "By the way, Manager Xiong, what did you just say about the price of this electric fan?"

"The wholesale price is 221, and the retail price is 248."

"It's not expensive, it's not expensive!" Le Chuan said, "Watson will sell it at 237 before the price is reduced. Its functions are not as complete as yours. Now people in Shanghai have money, and they don't care about money when they buy things."

Xiong Lijun was elated: "So, Manager Le, is your store willing to underwrite our electric fans?"

"Yes, we can sign the contract right away. However, let's put our ugly words first, and the quality of your later products must be the same as your sample. If the quality does not meet the requirements of the sample, I can refuse to accept the goods. "

Xiong Lijun patted his chest and said: "There is no problem at all. Our company has introduced Japanese total quality management technology, and every link has quality assurance."

"Okay, we want 500 units for the first batch. Let's sell them to see how the market responds. If the response is good, we'll order the next batch. Manager Xiong, what do you think?"

"Want 500?" Xiong Lijun was a little surprised, he asked cautiously: "Manager Le, it's winter now, I'm afraid there won't be too many people buying electric fans, can these 500 be sold? "

Le Chuan said disapprovingly: "Winter is winter, and there are people who want to get married in winter, right? You have such a beautiful electric fan, and it would be good for someone to buy it as a dowry. Brother, Shanghai is very big, with more than 500 million people in the city , can’t digest your 500 electric fans?”

"That would be great." Xiong Lijun said, "Our first shipment has already arrived in Shanghai, and I will arrange for someone to deliver it to you tomorrow."

"Let's send 100 units to the first batch first, and then we will send the later ones depending on the situation." Le Chuan said.

"No problem, 100 units is 100 units."

"There is one more thing. Your electric fan is a new brand after all. It's good, but if others don't know about it, you can't do anything about it. So, my suggestion is, you'd better do some publicity. What do you think?" Le Chuan gave Xiong Lijun an idea.

Xiong Lijun said confidently: "Manager Le, don't worry, before I come out, our boss has already designed a whole set of advertising plan for me, and we can start it at any time."

(End of this chapter)