2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 155 "He's so amazing!"

Yingzhou City.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the nights in the north are already a bit chilly.

After putting their child to sleep, Zhao Chuanbing and his wife were reviewing last month's accounts. Sales were good last month; all 100 Flash Motorbike electric scooters were sold out, and they also sold 20 or 30 scooters from other brands.

They are a married couple. Zhao Chuanbing is in charge of purchasing and selling goods and all the miscellaneous tasks in the store, while his wife mainly takes care of the children and manages the accounts. Their plan is to bring their parents over to help take care of the children's schooling when the children are older.

Then the couple can work together to run the shop.

After finishing the calculations, the wife excitedly said to Zhao Chuanbing, "Honey, after deducting rent, utilities, and some miscellaneous taxes, we made a net profit of about 5 yuan last month."

This is their highest monthly income since they opened. Normally, they earn around 30,000 yuan a month, and even less than 20,000 yuan during the off-season.

“If we can earn 5 yuan every month, we can earn 60 yuan a year. Then we can not only buy a house in the city, but maybe even a shop,” Gao Huirong said with a look of anticipation.

"Hehe, speaking of which, it's all thanks to the sales of the Flash. This car has great discounts and a reasonable price, so it sells very well. We basically don't need to promote it much. I originally thought it would take about a month and a half to sell 100 units, but it sold out in less than a month."

"Yes, this car is selling so well. We used to think 100 units was a bit too many, but now it seems like it's not enough."

Then Gao Huirong continued, "The second batch has arrived. The Mid-Autumn Festival is in a couple of days. Should we do something like the manufacturers and have a promotional event, like giving away bags of rice or flour? What do you think, honey?"

Gao Huirong found the promotional tactic increasingly effective. In fact, she also wanted to organize a lucky draw like the manufacturer, but she couldn't afford it due to limited funds. So, she decided to give away bags of rice or noodles instead, which would be more affordable for car buyers and reduce promotional costs significantly.

Zhao Chuanbing looked at his wife with some doubt: "Why do we need to do promotions when sales are going so well? Even if we don't do promotions, the manufacturer's promotional plans will sell just as well."

"Are you stupid? You want to take over the Yingzhou agency, right? Although the manufacturer says they're not doing any agency business now, they definitely will in the future. We need to leave an impression on the manufacturer now, so that it might be beneficial for us to take over the Yingzhou agency in the future."

The logic was immediately clear to Zhao Chuanbing. As soon as his wife said that, he understood. "My monthly quota is 100 units. So if I sell them all in less than half a month, it's like being a top salesperson."

This not only allows for more inventory and generates more profit, but also leaves a lasting impression on the manufacturer. When the manufacturer opens up secondary agency rights, they will inevitably remember that there was such a high-volume store owner.

“That makes sense. I’ll go buy some rice and flour tomorrow. I’ll buy the 10-jin (5 catties) kind, it’s only a few dozen yuan a bag. If I buy more, it’ll be cheaper. We can eat the leftovers ourselves.”

"Okay, you can go to the wholesale market tomorrow. It should be cheaper there. How about buying 100 bags each of rice and flour?"

Zhao Chuanbing pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, let's get 100 bags of each first. We also need to buy some gifts to take back to our hometown for the Mid-Autumn Festival. We can do it all together tomorrow, and you can deliver them then."

For office workers, holidays are a rare time to rest, but for businesses, holidays are a time when they dare not relax at all, because they are the golden time for them to do business.

Reuniting with family during holidays is a luxury.

"Okay, after we pay off the debt in two years, we'll buy a house. Then you can hire someone to help you run the shop, and you won't have to work so hard anymore."

"It's alright, things are fine now. At least there's something to look forward to. I'm thinking that if Flash can supply us with a larger quantity of goods, even if we can't get the agency rights in Yingzhou, we should still try to get a franchise store. That would be beneficial for me too."

"Yeah, this car is selling so well. What was the owner thinking, investing so much but selling it so cheaply?"

"Hey, what else can we think of but to grab market share? Otherwise, how can he compete with big brands like ChipRI?"

"I heard that the owner of this company is also from our Wancheng."

“Yes, he’s from Yicheng. I heard he’s only 20 years old. I don’t know if it’s true, but if it is, that would be amazing,” Zhao Chuanbing sighed.

Other people can achieve so much at the age of 20, while what about me? Men are all competitive.

Seeing this, his wife got up and put her arm around Zhao Chuanbing's waist, saying, "What's the point of comparing? Everyone has their own fate. Besides, you're very capable, honey. Aren't we getting better and better off now?"

"Hehe, that's right. What's the point of comparing yourself to someone like that? No matter how capable he is, he still can't marry someone like my wife. Speaking of which, I'm pretty capable too."

"Yes, yes, you're the best, honey." "Really? Come on, let me show you something even better."

"Hey, why are you acting like a hooligan when we were having a perfectly good conversation? Stop it, you'll wake the child up."

"Who cares? That little brat steals my food every day, it makes me so angry."
-
"So Boss Tan is really quite capable, it's only been less than a year," Li Manli exclaimed.

In the dead of night, the girls in the dormitory couldn't sleep either, so they kept pestering Gu Qingqing to tell them how her boss, Tan, started his business. They pretended to be helping Gu Qingqing analyze what kind of person Tan was, so they could give her some advice on how to deal with him.

Everyone has a gossipy nature, especially college students who are full of energy and have nothing to do all day.

According to Gu Qingqing, Tan Jincheng did not fail to get into university, but missed the opportunity due to an accident. This accident also shaped Tan Jincheng into who he is today. Without that accident, Tan Jincheng would be a junior in college now.

Speaking of which, he's my senior from school. But this "senior" is really amazing. He opened three companies in less than a year, including a medium-sized factory. The three companies together have nearly 300 employees.

“That’s really impressive. I’ve ridden Qingqing’s little electric scooter before. Although it’s a bit big, it’s still quite easy to control. They can sell more than 7000 of these scooters a month. How much money do they make?” Zhao Wenjia nodded in agreement.

Zhao Wenjia is petite, less than 1.6 meters tall, so the style of Flashcars doesn't really suit her.

Gu Qingqing smiled and said, "This one is a bit big, but I heard that their company's next product is a smaller one, designed for urban residents, and it should be available in Ningbo then."

"As for how much money he makes, only he and his company's finance department should know. But with monthly sales of over 1000 million, he must be making quite a bit. However, he is currently still operating at a loss because the initial investment costs were too high."

"He even told you this? That's a trade secret, isn't it? He trusts you way too much."

"This wasn't told to me alone. Qin Siyu asked me out of curiosity while watching the Super Girl finals that day. And it shouldn't be considered a trade secret. The factory is there, how many units can be produced a day, and the market retail price are all there. You can easily calculate it."

"That's true. Even if he only sells 10 million a month, that's 1000 million a year. Even if he only makes a 1.2% profit, that's still 1000 million. He became a multi-millionaire in just one year. That's amazing!"

Gu Qingqing exclaimed, "Yes, that's really amazing. Just a year ago, he only had 10 yuan. He partnered with a friend to start a small trading company. I bet his friend never imagined he'd achieve this."

A year is neither a long nor a short time. What can you do if you have a year?
If you're a student like yourself, you might just finish a year of study or get a certificate. If you get good grades, you might get some scholarships, awards, or part-time jobs. If you don't get good grades and don't like studying, you'll just drift through 365 days.

But regardless of the type, they all belong to the ordinary category. Office workers are unlikely to see much change. As for those who do business, there may be a great improvement, but it is still very rare to see someone like Tan Jincheng who has grown from a scale of tens of thousands to a production value of over 10 million.

"Hey Qingqing, what's it like dating a future billionaire?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? We're not even dating yet."

"Hey, it's only a matter of time. Tell me, what's it like to associate with a future billionaire or a current multi-millionaire?"

This question is easy to answer. Gu Qingqing smiled and said, "Actually, you can't see any airs of a multi-millionaire in him. He does have a strong presence at work, but in his personal life, he is very peaceful."

"He can take us to high-end restaurants, and he can also sit with us at roadside barbecue stalls to eat lamb skewers. He also lives in a rented house. Apart from his nice car, you really can't tell that he is a multi-millionaire."

"Still renting an apartment? That's amazing! Are you just seeing things through a filter?"

"No, there really isn't. If you don't believe me, ask Qin Siyu and Zhao Xianbo. They went to his house that day. It's a rented house. He told us before that house prices would definitely go up in the future, and that Qin Siyu should work and save money to buy a house. Qin Siyu even asked him why he didn't buy more houses since he knew prices would go up?"

"How did he say?"

He said he didn't need it and there was no need for it. He wasn't short of money and could buy a house anytime he wanted. He didn't need to fight with ordinary people for the petty gains of a few houses.

Xu Manli's eyes widened as she exclaimed, "Awesome! That's a powerful statement!"

That's pretty impressive. People say men like to brag and make grand pronouncements, but if those boasts can come true, then they're quite charming. Boss Tan is the kind of person who can make his boasts come true.

There is indeed no need to buy and hoard houses, because the land use approval for Flash is very likely to be granted by the beginning of next year. At that time, whether it is building a factory or employee dormitories, it will be a huge project, and the appreciation of the land is not comparable to that of a few houses.

(End of this chapter)