2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 115 Technology and Channels
People without thought, he must worry about.

Tan Lihua couldn't offer much help with how to do business or how much capital to invest, but he believed he knew a thing or two about certain social situations.

If you encounter certain people during your Chinese New Year trip who try to persuade you to invest in your hometown under various pretexts, how should you respond?

You don't have the capability for a factory worth tens of millions right now? How about a factory worth millions?
With your wealth, it shouldn't be difficult for you to contribute a million or so to employment in your hometown, right?
Clearly, Tan Jincheng and even Zhang Xupeng will encounter these issues as early as this year's Chinese New Year or early next year. There's no way to avoid them, so they should start thinking about how to resolve these problems.

Emotionally, Tan Lihua hoped that his son could contribute to the development of his hometown, which would not only solve the employment problem for some villagers but also bring him prestige. However, rationally, Tan Lihua did not want such a thing to happen.

Tan Lihua knew how much hardship Linong, his cousin, had endured in his business over the years. He himself had helped him pull strings and endured a lot of disdain.

If my son really has hundreds of millions in assets, it wouldn't matter if he threw a few million into starting a factory. But the problem is that this is just the beginning. If he gets caught up in this kind of thing and the young man is fooled into acting impulsively, then he'll be in big trouble.

"It's simple. Either you won't have time to go home for the New Year, or you can just build two roads then," Tan Jincheng said with a smile.

If you're too busy with business to go home, you'll lose yourself. But then your parents will suffer. That's just a figure of speech; you can't stay away from your hometown forever. So, the road construction that Tan Jincheng suggested is the best solution.

This is a common tactic used by rural entrepreneurs returning to their hometowns: "If you want to get rich, build roads first. How can I invest if the roads aren't even built yet?" They'll first spend 100,000 to 200,000 yuan to build a cement road in their hometown, and if that's not enough, they can pool their money together.

You all use this road regularly, so it's not fair that I have to pay for it all myself. It's reasonable for everyone to chip in and feel a sense of participation, right?
"Huh? Road construction?" Tan Lihua stared at his son with some surprise.

Seeing his father's expression, Tan Jincheng smiled and said, "Dad, I know what you're worried about. You're just worried that if you achieve some success, you'll get carried away and be easily swayed by others, expanding your investments everywhere without considering the investment environment, and eventually being dragged down, right?"

Don't worry, that definitely won't happen. I know more about the investment environment in our hometown than you do. Before the completion of the first five-year plan for Flash Motors, Tan Jincheng is determined to stay in Ningbo and won't go anywhere else.

Once we've established a firm foothold in Ningbo and our production capacity has reached the top of the industry, there'll be no need to be afraid.

"Where did you learn all this from?" Tan Lihua asked with some surprise. This method is good; it saves face without being too passive, and it also makes one look good.

"Many business people do this; just listen to what they have to say and you'll understand."

Of course I won't tell you that I learned it from my Uncle Linong, because a few years later, his steel business grew bigger and bigger, and the village asked him to return to the village to set up a factory. He didn't want to do it at the time, so he did it this way: he paid for road repairs and funded the renovation of the ancestral hall.

I remember he contributed 10 yuan or something? Tan Jincheng, who already had some wealth, also "voluntarily" contributed 1 yuan in the name of Tan Lihua.

After the road construction started, no one contacted him about setting up a factory anymore.

As for the next level, we can't worry about that for now. These days, the county where my hometown is located is still considered a poverty-stricken county, so it's not very proactive in attracting investment. You'd be more likely to have to go to their door to ask for help.

"Hmm, that makes sense. Then you don't need to worry about it. I don't have much to teach you. You can handle the business yourself. It's good to have ideals, but don't expand blindly."

It's not surprising that Tan Lihua didn't know about road repairs. In fact, the conditions of each household have improved a lot in recent years compared to before the millennium, but they are not so rich that any family is willing to spend money to repair roads in the village. It's understandable that Tan Lihua didn't know this.

It took several years, whether by choice or by force, for this trend to gradually emerge; but in any case, it did greatly improve the living conditions in the village.

It was late at night, but the conversation between the father and son continued. Tan Lihua asked some more questions about the loan and the electric scooter's location tracking.

When Tan Jincheng showed him his account and explained his current situation, Old Tan was finally completely relieved.

"So, you mean your current financial situation is enough to last until the end of the year, even without taking out a loan?"

"It would be a bit of an exaggeration to say that we can support ourselves entirely by the end of the year, but it should be enough to support the first batch of electric scooters into production. We can't easily use the dividends from Jinpeng Trading, but we can borrow from each other through the relationship between the two companies."

"In addition, once it is officially launched on the market, loans will be much more convenient, and you won't need to spend your own money."

"So Dad doesn't need to worry about me going bankrupt and owing a lot of money. Even if I do go bankrupt, as a limited liability company, my personal assets won't be affected too much."

"Besides, my Taobao stores are registered under your and Mom's names, right? Now that Taobao stores are making money, you don't doubt it anymore, do you? Even if they go bankrupt, our family won't be too upset, don't worry."

Tan Lihua couldn't help but smile. At such a young age, he had quite a few ideas. This was probably what they meant by "a cunning rabbit has three burrows." The house in Yicheng was registered under his parents' names, as were the four Taobao stores, and the car was registered under the company's name.

Despite his frequenting of BMWs and fancy hotels, this guy's only real property seems to be a house in Beicang.

Tan Jincheng hadn't mentioned stocks to his parents. Currently, besides Tan Jincheng himself, only Mr. Lin, the stockbroker in Hong Kong who helped introduce him to stocks, knew about it. This kind of thing is generally unacceptable to parents.

Regardless of the era, in the eyes of ordinary people, stock trading is not a good thing.

"By the way, speaking of Taobao stores, how come you're selling QQ underwear? That stuff is so shabby, and the store is even registered under my name. How am I supposed to face people now?" "What's wrong with that? What's shameful about making money? I'm doing legitimate business. Dad, don't underestimate this store. If a store selling men's and women's clothing can stay open for 5 years, this store can stay open for at least 15 years."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll understand what I mean later. You can also keep an eye on these three Taobao shops when you have time. I don't have time to manage them. If you retire early someday, you can manage these three shops and make a good living."

Old Tan is 45 years old this year. Normally, he could retire in 2020. But if he develops quickly and becomes strong enough, it would be easy to arrange for him to take early retirement after he turns 50. At the latest, he can reach that threshold at 55.

We'll leave this QQ lingerie shop to him to manage, which will be a way for him to make the most of his remaining years. I just don't know if he can accept it, since this is something that's a bit beyond what someone his age should be doing.

"So what are you planning to do next?"

"Next, of course, we need to set up a technical R&D team for the exterior parts of electric scooters. In addition, we also need to build some connections with Jinyi Industrial to prepare for the export of electronic products."

Is there anything I can do to help you?

"If you know any good salespeople, Dad, could you help me find some? I'm going to build a sales team. Initially, I'll use them at Jinyi Industrial Electronics to practice, and once they're ready, I'll have them work with me to promote electric scooters."

In the days before the internet was widespread, distribution channels were king, especially for products like electric scooters that relied primarily on offline sales. A good sales team was indispensable, and both technology and sales were equally important.

The formation of the technical team is the top priority at present. Next, Tan Jincheng plans to go to Wenzhou, directly to the hometown of ChipRi, to poach people!
Top salespeople are hard to poach, but technical staff are a different story. Many technical staff are not really valued, but if you offer them better compensation than they expect, the chances of winning them over are very high.

We also need to recruit in Ningbo. We plan to cooperate with the district's human resources department and Ningbo Vocational College in this regard. In addition, we will poach a few technical supervisors from Xinri. In this way, a technical team will be able to handle the initial stage of Flash Auto.

As for distribution channels, it would be great to find top-tier sellers, but it's okay if you can't find ordinary salespeople. At worst, you can lead the way yourself and conquer each small electric scooter dealer one by one.

From production and technology to sales and initial funding, Tan Jincheng had carefully considered all of these aspects. The remaining tasks were to improve the factory's personnel structure, coordinate with suppliers for procurement, and ensure smooth production.

Unfortunately, Tan Jincheng doesn't have anyone he can trust right now. The only person he can use is Sun Yuming, but even he can't be completely trusted. He can't be entrusted with procurement either, because electric scooter parts require a certain level of technical expertise, and he doesn't understand those things.

As for Zhang Xupeng, he has his own things to do. It's fine to ask him for help occasionally, but it's not possible for him to stay here long-term.

"Where can we find a purchasing manager who is trustworthy and also knows a bit about parts standards?"

Seeing his son's furrowed brows, Tan Lihua felt sorry for him. Setting up a factory was not as simple as he made it sound. He made it sound so easy just to reassure him.

"Alright, stop thinking about it; go to sleep. Didn't you say you'd take us back tomorrow? So go to sleep early."

As for the sales staff, well, I could ask them when I get back. There are plenty of talented people in state-owned enterprises, some of whom are frustrated and unfulfilled. It's not that we can't try to poach them. Also, it would be good for my son to go back and let his mother meet him. Some things are more effective when said in person than when said by others.

The next morning, after saying goodbye to Zhang Qingliang, Tan Lihua and Zhang Guolong took their luggage and got into Tan Jincheng's car. The two were quite open-minded; having someone drive them was much better than squeezing onto a minibus and eating cheap instant noodles for 30 yuan a cup halfway there.

"Here, this is the gift I told you about yesterday." Through the car window, Tan Jincheng handed a tote bag to Zhang Xupeng.

"Wow, you really bought it? I thought you were joking." Zhang Xupeng took it and looked at it: "Wow, a watch? You didn't buy it in Guangzhou, did you?"

"Bullshit, I bought it for you in Hong Kong, it's a genuine product from the official store, okay?" Then, Tan Jincheng shook his wrist and said, "Look, I have one too."

"Longines, right? What style is this? It looks pretty good." Zhang Xupeng said, taking apart his own while curiously examining Tan Jincheng's wrist.

"The new Master Craftsman series that came out this year looks pretty good. I bought one for myself and also got one for you. Pretty good buddy, huh? Even my dad doesn't have one."

"How much? It must be very expensive, right? Should I give it to Uncle Tan first, and you can buy me one next time?" Zhang Xupeng chuckled, glancing at Tan Lihua and Zhang Guolong in the back row.

"Whether it's expensive or not, you can check it yourself when you get back. We're leaving now, we're in a hurry to get home for lunch."

"Okay, have a safe trip. Oh, and remember to bring me some of Aunt Zhang's pickled green beans."

"You think I'd use my BMW to deliver salted green beans to you? You're dreaming."

"Come on, so what if it's a BMW? You've hauled plenty of lime and cement too."

Chapter 3, seven consecutive days of 10,000-word updates.

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(End of this chapter)