2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 143 Harvest Season

Yingzhou City.

Located in northwestern Anhui Province, it is the most populous city in the province. As of 2004, the city had a registered population of 918.7 million and a resident population of 869 million.

Zhao Chuanbing directed the workers to carefully unload the goods: "Slow down, slow down, don't bump it, that's it, just like that."

Zhao Chuanbing, 27, went out to make a living after graduating from high school. He wandered between major cities, did many low-level jobs, and saved up some money. A few years later, he chose to return to his hometown and open a motorcycle repair shop.

From a small motorcycle repair shop of just over ten square meters to a motorcycle parts store, and now to owning this small electric scooter specialty store, it has been a long and arduous journey.

Standing beside him was his wife, who was also smiling as she watched the workers unload the goods, holding their two-year-old son in her arms.

In northern Anhui, where the average age of marriage is relatively young, Zhao Chuanbing, born in 1978, had a first child who was only 2 years old. This gives a good indication of how difficult his life had been before.

This electric scooter specialty store has been operating for two years, growing from a few dozen square meters to nearly 300 square meters now. It is the source of hope for their family's livelihood.

This time they ordered a batch of electric scooters from a brand new brand called Flash, and the order quantity was 100 units.

The 16.1 yuan payment and the 6.44 yuan prepayment were a considerable sum for Zhao Chuanbing. The reason he made this seemingly risky decision was because he was attracted by the retail price of the Flash and the deluxe lucky draw promotional package that the manufacturer would give away with a one-time order of 100 units.

Although the Flash has not been market-tested, its configuration is almost impeccable. The 60V high-powered model is priced at only 2299, while the 48V model commonly found in the market is priced at an outrageously low 1999!
As Flash's TV commercials were repeatedly broadcast on Anhui Satellite TV and Yingzhou local TV station, and as Flash's brand ambassador successfully entered the top three of Super Girl, Flash's fame grew.

If we're talking about which electric scooter brand has been the hottest since August, it has to be FlashDrive, which hasn't even officially gone on sale yet. Its subtle and gradual promotional efforts in August even overshadowed the industry leader, ChipRest.

Zhao Chuanbing's shop also sells the Xinri brand. However, although Xinri is a big brand and sells well, the high cost of purchasing goods in full is very unfriendly to stores like his that do not have sufficient funds.

This is one of the reasons why Zhao Chuanbing was willing to take the risk. Compared to the payment from Xinri, FlashCheer was much more acceptable. Even if it was a full payment for 100 electric scooters, it would be much less of a burden than with Xinri.

As Flash's brand awareness grew, Zhao Chuanbing became even more convinced that his gamble was worthwhile. With 100 Flash units, each unit would yield a gross profit of 450 yuan. If they could be sold out within a month, the gross profit would be 4.5 yuan.

Moreover, I can manipulate those lottery events myself, and I believe I can earn even more.

"I'll focus on selling these 100 cars this month, but I need to get one first to test its performance. If it's really as good as Team Leader Wu said, it'll definitely sell well. But putting that aside for now, this design is really beautiful."

Although there are some differences between the actual product and the advertising pictures, the design of this car is indeed eye-catching. The black version is cool and glamorous, while the white version is relatively softer. From Zhao Chuanbing's perspective, the black version is more likely to appeal to men, while the white version is more geared towards women.

After the last electric scooter was unloaded and inspected to ensure there were no problems, Zhao Chuanbing breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Zhao, is everything alright? If not, please sign the delivery receipt." The driver said to Zhao Chuanbing, who had a smile on his face.

"Thank you for your hard work, sir. Have a smoke, I'll sign right away," Zhao Chuanbing said with a smile.

Then, Zhao Chuanbing said to the driver, "When you get back, please tell the FlashCheer manufacturer that I will definitely transfer the final payment within the contract period, so that they can rest assured."

The driver took the delivery receipt, checked it, and said, "Okay, no problem. I'll be going now. I wish Mr. Zhao good fortune."

Watching the delivery truck drive away, Zhao Chuanbing smiled and said to his wife, "I'm now hoping that the blond guy can win the championship next week. That way, the brand awareness of Flash will increase even more, and maybe we can really sell all 100 units in a month."

"Watch your mouth. Don't use that yellow-haired guy. What if you accidentally say something like, 'Corn people, come buy a car?' You'll offend people."

"Ah, right, right, I'll definitely pay attention; by the way, the manufacturer also gave us a few autographed photos of Chris Lee, should we make something out of that?"

“I think it’s a good idea. Chris Lee’s fan base is huge. Let’s figure out how to make use of these autographed photos.”

Because Zhao Chuanbing's wife needs to take care of the children and is not very old, she likes to watch Hunan TV idol dramas when she has nothing to do at home. She also watches the Super Girl live broadcast and surfs the Internet. Her understanding of Chun Ge's popularity is much higher than her husband's.

There are also rumors online that big bosses like Wan Ke watched every single live stream during the finals, and even that some fans spent 50 yuan to support Chun Ge. Given Yingzhou's large population, there's bound to be quite a few of Chun Ge's fans. If these autographed photos can be used effectively, they might produce unexpected results.

Stories like Zhao Chuanbing's continued to unfold in northern Anhui and other populous cities in Henan Province in the following days. Large trucks were coming and going every day at the finished electric scooter warehouse of Beicang Shanchi Vehicle Industry.

A total of 80 retail merchants who signed the first batch of contracts have received their goods one after another. Some shop owners who have already clearly felt the growing influence of the Flash brand have readily paid the final payment after trying out both the high-end and low-end versions.

Just kidding. With this price, this range, and this novel design, this car is bound to sell well. Paying a day in advance will leave a better impression and make it much easier to get stock in the future.

The luxury version is still the luxury version. The low-end version is just an internal name used by Flash Auto. When it is launched to the market, it cannot be called that. Instead, it is called the budget version.

Interestingly, after test-driving the deluxe version, also known as the 60V version, most shop owners unanimously called this model the "Horsepower King".

This describes the high power, long range, and cargo capacity of the luxury version, as well as the front foot pedals and rear seat. These distinctive selling points will surely become its major highlights.

"I feel like this car is going to be a hit, but it's a pity that each store is only allocated 20 of the 60V models. It would be great if there were more."

This time, Flash's distribution was rather rushed. There were no agents; instead, the model was direct supply from the manufacturer to retail outlets. Flash was also responsible for logistics. To avoid not being able to collect the final payment, they had to work on the contract and logistics.

In addition to signing contracts with retail outlets, a series of third-party contracts were also signed with logistics companies. The owner of this logistics company was also from Beicang and was within Tan Jincheng's circle of friends.

Both contracts, using fixed templates, were drafted by a professional law firm commissioned by Tan Jincheng. In addition to protecting the basic rights and interests of Party B (retailers and logistics companies), they did everything possible to ensure the safety of the final payment for Party A, namely Shanchi Auto Industry.

Of course, this does not completely guarantee that every payment will be received safely, but Tan Jincheng believes that as long as the cars sell well, there are no obvious quality problems, and the market feedback is good, not many retailers will maliciously delay the final payment.

As for those retailers who maliciously delay paying the final payment, it depends on Lin Yumin and Wu Zhenping's wisdom. They can either go door-to-door to collect the final payment, transfer the vehicles from the relevant stores to stores with good reputations for sale, or simply bring them back.

Even if it comes to litigation, Tan Jincheng is not afraid. In short, Tan Jincheng and his legal team have basically discussed all the risks that can be thought of. Although there is a saying that there is no business without guile, the market ultimately requires honest operation.

If you really run into someone who won't listen to reason or threats and just wants to rip you off and run away, then there seems to be no other way but to accept your loss.

In addition, Flash Auto has set up a credit system, which has been included in the first batch of 80 terminal dealers. If a defaulter is found, they will be permanently blacklisted. The credit system will continue to be optimized until it is fully systematized.

As for the logistics company, the requirements are also very simple: the personnel and vehicles must be consistent with the platform information. This can minimize the possibility of problems during the logistics and transportation process. This logistics company has cooperated with Tan Jincheng before, and compared with the terminal merchants who cooperated for the first time, the level of trust is much higher.

"Another batch has been taken away. The warehouse is almost empty. We can't keep up with the production speed."

"It's alright, the second production line should be officially put into operation by the end of the month, and the production capacity can be doubled in September."

That day, Zhang Xupeng accompanied Tan Jincheng to check on the shipment again. In a while, he would be going to Guangzhou again. He had been running around to Shanchi Automotive Industry quite frequently lately. In addition to communicating some details with Tan Jincheng, he also had some translation work to coordinate with Gu Qingqing.

Lately, Zhang Xupeng has been like Tan Jincheng's shadow, following him everywhere, making Gu Qingqing too embarrassed to go up to the third floor for lunch break.

After the advance payment for Shanchi Auto Industry was received, it was almost certain that it would become another large-scale enterprise in the district. The subdistrict office, which was closely monitoring the situation of Shanchi Auto Industry, did not dare to neglect it and finally reported the situation to the higher authorities.

Therefore, after a new wave of inspections at a higher level, Flash Auto finally received its first preferential policy, which was that the relevant departments in the district would assist Flash Auto in solving its production capacity problem and help Flash Auto add a new production line as soon as possible on the existing basis.

Just like how you become rich and are surrounded by good people, the same applies to a company once it establishes itself.

Money will be provided, the Human Resources Bureau will assist in hiring employees, and equipment will be procured centrally. This is much more efficient than Tan Jincheng doing it slowly on his own before. The second production line will be ready for commissioning by the end of this month.

In September, both production lines can operate simultaneously, with an expected monthly production capacity of over 7000 units, and a maximum of 7500 units!
Looking at the gradually emptying warehouse, Zhang Xupeng suddenly asked, "When do you plan to sell Flashcart to Yicheng?"

(End of this chapter)