2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 15 Company Plan
"Xiao Tan, what do we do now? Should we find a hotel first?" The neon-lit street scene made Zhang Xupeng a little panicked.

Although they are full of ambition and high spirits when at home, they are not like that when they are actually in the real world.

Ultimately, Zhang Xupeng is just a young man who is not yet 20 years old and has only graduated a year ago.

Tan Jincheng had anticipated this, just as he had in his previous life, when the two of them were in the same situation after getting off the car.

"Let's find a hotel first, drop off our things, and then go have dinner."

"Yes, yes, let's eat first. I'm starving. The food at noon was awful," Zhang Xupeng nodded quickly.

There are several garment manufacturing bases in Ningbo. The one in Guangtou's hometown and Yushi have geographical advantages in Tan Jincheng's opinion, so he naturally wouldn't consider them.

The remaining options were the Textile City, Wanghu Market, and Xiaxi Village in Beicang. After careful consideration, Tan Jincheng ultimately chose Xiaxi Village in Beicang.

I chose to stay at Tianrunfa in Beicang, near Ningbo Vocational College; it's not far from the three clothing markets, and the 783 bus can easily take you there.

Most importantly, Beicang is the location of Yongcheng Port. In the future, with the merger of Yongcheng Port and the neighboring Putuo Port, it will become the port with the highest annual throughput in the world.

Doing import and export business has a natural advantage of being near a port, at the very least saving a lot on container shipping costs.

In 2004, the area near Tianrunfa was probably one of the most prosperous areas in Beicang. The new district government building was not yet completed, and Yintai City was nowhere to be seen.

Tianrunfa is adjacent to Ningbo Vocational College, so finding a hotel there is very easy.

These days, hotels are quite cheap. Capital hasn't hyped up the concept of Golden Week yet. A decent standard room costs only around 100 yuan, or even less.

They found a hotel and booked it for a week. Within that week, the two of them needed to find a suitable place to live, register the foreign trade company, and set up the most basic framework.

Time waits for no one. The Canton Fair runs from October 15th to October 31st, and Tan Jincheng doesn't want to miss this year's fair.

The most important way for the foreign trade industry to acquire customers is the Canton Fair, which is held twice a year, followed by Alibaba's international platform.

With online and offline channels being two important options, offline channels were relatively more important in 2004 when the internet was not yet very developed, and the Canton Fair was naturally of paramount importance.

The sooner Tan Jincheng completes the company's registration before the Canton Fair ends on the 31st, the better his start will be.

Even in coastal open cities, the procedures for registering a foreign trade company are still quite complicated these days. It would take a lot of time for just the two of them, Zhang Xupeng and I, to handle it.

Tan Jincheng plans to entrust this matter to an agency.

What Zhang Xupeng and I need to do is to get an office space sorted out before that, because without an office space, time will be relatively tight.

Ningbo Vocational College is a junior college; back then, junior colleges were not as despised as they are today. In the era before universities fully expanded their enrollment, getting into a junior college was not an easy thing.

Zhang Xupeng has a college diploma, so he's not exactly a terrible student. It's already a good thing his parents didn't beat him to death.

The fact that the two of them can act so willfully and recklessly in both their past and present lives is actually inseparable from their respective family environments.

Enlightened parents, when conditions permit, are willing to let their children try new things, even if they are different from their own ideas.

"We need to get started tomorrow. Since we're not going to study anymore, we need to work even harder, otherwise we'll be letting our parents down."

At the dinner table, Tan Jincheng said to Zhang Xupeng.

“Of course, if we don’t achieve something, we’ll be too embarrassed to go home in the future,” Zhang Xupeng nodded. Before the two left Yicheng, their parents had a meal together, advising them to listen to their advice this time, but if they were really determined to do it, they should take it seriously.

Even if they fail, they can learn some lessons that will be helpful for their future lives.

After the National Day holiday, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng's classmates and relatives all knew that the two had returned from the sea and had decided to give up their studies and go into business instead.

It's not exactly a do-or-die situation, but it's definitely a do-or-die battle; if we don't achieve something, we'll be a laughing stock for the rest of our lives.

Tan Jincheng was never worried about this, as the two of them had no experience in their previous lives and were still able to do it well.

With the knowledge and accumulation from the previous life, this life is naturally a piece of cake.

However, these words could not be said to Zhang Xupeng. Seeing the boy's uneasy look, Tan Jincheng was quite enjoying it.

After a quick meal at the International Hotel in a certain county, the two returned to their hotel to discuss their next steps.

"Starting tomorrow, we'll first look for a house, then find an agent to register the foreign trade company."

"It costs money to register through an agency, right? We don't have much money, so should we be careful with our spending?"

"Spend where you should, and save where you should; it would be a waste of a lot of time if we went to do it ourselves, especially since the Canton Fair is about to start."

"Huh? The Canton Fair? What's that? Aren't we here to set up a garment factory?" Zhang Xupeng asked, looking completely bewildered.

"Yes, but we need customers. The Canton Fair is currently the largest source of customers for foreign trade, so we can't miss this Canton Fair."

Where did you learn all this from?

"Gather information. Since we're going to do big business, we naturally need to be well-prepared. Otherwise, we won't even make enough money to cover our losses. If you have time, you should also study more."

"The Canton Fair, judging from the name, is held in Guangdong Province. So we have to go to Guangdong Province?" Zhang Xupeng asked curiously, as it was the first time he had heard of the Canton Fair.

"I'll go, but you're not."

Zhang Xupeng was taken aback; Xiao Tan had said this in English, and Zhang Xupeng didn't react for a moment, but he could understand it.

"Why use bird language? Why not just speak normally?"

"What I mean is, can you use English fluently? After all, we need to deal with overseas clients. If you can communicate, then come along. Otherwise, you can stay here and take charge of the factory."

"Oh, I see. Then just say it."

Zhang Xupeng scratched his head and said, "Having spent a year on the ship, I can understand a little English without any problem, but I'd probably have some difficulty communicating with others."

"Okay, let's divide the work like this. I'll contact the clients, and you stay here to take care of the company's setup and contacting the factory."

"Contact a factory? Aren't we planning to open our own factory?"

Tan Jincheng rolled his eyes at Zhang Xupeng and said, "We only have a little over 20 yuan. How can we build a factory? Of course, we should get goods from others first."

"Isn't this what you call getting something for nothing?" Zhang Xupeng asked Tan Jincheng in surprise.

(End of this chapter)