2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 160 Urgent Need for Production Capacity
Monday, April 9th.

"Old Zhang, how's it going on your end? Should I come over?"

"There are no major problems, but you can come and visit if you're not too busy."

"Oh, by the way, I bought an apartment here, a fully furnished three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment, hehe."

Tan Jincheng was taken aback: "What's going on? Last time I mentioned buying a house, you called me an idiot, but now you've bought one yourself?"

Zhang Xupeng glanced at the busy employees, walked out a bit, and said, "Hey, we came too early. Staying in a hotel for two months is too much to handle. So, not long after we started staying, I was thinking about buying a house. I'll tell you when I get the keys."

"Haha, at least you have some brains. I'll see after the National Day holiday. I'll go over if I have time," Tan Jincheng laughed.

Zhang Xupeng sighed, "Hey, today marks the one-year anniversary of our buddy's return to shore. A year ago, I never imagined I'd be in this situation. Back then, I just wanted to open a small restaurant."

A year ago, Zhang Xupeng never even considered buying a house in Guangzhou, but a year later he could buy one with ease, and even the reason was so casual.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhang Xupeng also went to Hong Kong on the other side of the strait. It was much more luxurious than the mainland and a place suitable for spending money.

Zhang Xupeng spent a lot of money buying gifts for his parents and himself, planning to take them home sometime, something he never dared to dream of before.

"You know that's good. As long as you don't touch anything other than porn, you're set for life. Just focus on doing business and living a good life."

Then Tan Jincheng added, "By the way, I found a girlfriend, you should find one too."

"Is it Gu Qingqing?" Zhang Xupeng asked without any surprise.

"Yeah, it's her. You'd better hurry up, your mom will definitely urge you to find a girlfriend next time you go home."

“They’re already urging me. You know, my parents are really something else. They were so strict when I was in high school. They would interrogate me if I said two words to a girl. Now they’re always urging me. What’s the point of urging me?”

"Alright, I'm going to get back to work now, I'm hanging up."

After hanging up the phone, Tan Jincheng couldn't help but smile.

That's good. Zhang Xupeng can stand on his own now and knows how to be flexible when things happen. As long as he doesn't get involved in things he shouldn't, and he does his business honestly for a few years, he can achieve financial freedom and won't have to worry about anything for the rest of his life.

It looks like it's time to find an opportunity to transfer the shares to him. Let's wait until the end of this fiscal year.

As for the money from the share transfer, Tan Jincheng has already planned it out: in addition to buying QQ and Moutai, he will establish or acquire a small battery company, and make a move in the battery sector.

Whether it's electric scooters or future new energy vehicles, battery costs have always been a significant portion of the overall cost. Currently, battery procurement accounts for about 30% of Flash's costs. If they could use their own batteries, even if they started with lead-acid batteries, the cost would be reduced considerably.

"Oh, what a pity, it's still a little too late."

If I had been reborn a few years earlier and established my own battery factory and assembly workshop, then electric scooters would have been just like foreign trade, and I would have captured the entire era of the highest profit margins.

"Knock, knock, knock." A knocking sound came from the door.

"Come in."

Zhang Xuhui pushed open the door and entered, holding several reports in his hand.

"Boss, this is last month's payroll report. I need your signature. Also, there's something else. A terminal supplier in Yingzhou has called several times, hoping we can supply them with 200 units next month. Team Leader Wu asked me to let you know."

"Give me the payroll statement first. I'll sign this first, and you can explain the rest later."

Jinpeng Trading and Jinyi Industry have relatively few employees, and their salaries are paid on the 15th of the following month. Shanchi's salaries are paid at the end of the following month. Currently, there are more than 200 people in total on the two production lines, and the monthly salary is not a small amount.

If we can delay payment for another half a month, we should delay it for another half month. Besides relieving the tight cash flow, we can also earn some interest.

"That's right, that company sold out of this month's 100 units yesterday. They've been out of stock lately, so they're in a hurry."

Zhang Xuhui explained in detail, and Tan Jincheng finally understood the reason. The owner of this store called Xiao Zhao Electric Vehicle Specialty Store actually thought of adding store promotions on top of the promotions provided by the manufacturer during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, such as giving away rice, flour, oil and the like.

As a result, sales surged during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday and the following days, and by last weekend all of the store's Flashcart inventory had been sold out ahead of schedule. Clearing out the inventory should have been a happy thing, but Zhao Chuanbing was also dumbfounded.

I just wanted to try out a new promotional method, but I didn't expect it to be so popular. There's less than a week until National Day, what should I do if the store runs out of stock?
So early this morning, Zhao Chuanbing made several calls, eagerly hoping that Flash could immediately arrange to send him next month's goods, and also increase the order quantity from 100 units to 200 units.

"Haha, that's interesting. This boss is quite good at business, offering double promotions."

In 2005, many individual business owners in second- and third-tier cities still operated with mindset from the 90s: customers would come to the store, haggle over prices, and at most receive a small gift. They didn't plan much for specific promotional methods. Even in 2023, some individual business owners in small counties and rural areas still operated this way.

It's not that they don't think of these things, but they are reluctant to give them up. Most individual business owners pay great attention to profit margins. They can earn 10 yuan per item and sell it to 10 people; but if they are asked to earn 8 yuan and sell it to 20 people, they are somewhat unwilling.

This is often their business mindset: they'd rather have fewer customers than less profit. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that. Zhao Chuanbing's ability to come up with a double promotion strategy, sacrificing some profit to increase sales, shows considerable courage.

"The credit rating is pretty good. Let's give them 200 units. We'll send them in two batches. Let's send them 100 units this time, and the rest after the 15th of next month."

"Also, have Team Leader Wu keep an eye on this store, since it's the first store to sell out."

Just over a month after its official launch, Flashy has already sold out at some retailers, which is a very good sign. It shows that this electric scooter, with its price and quality, is very popular in the market.

It's a pity that the current factory area is only enough for two production lines. Adding more would make it a bit crowded. Production capacity is the most critical factor for Flashcar right now, and we must solve this problem as soon as possible and make money quickly.

"Is there anything else?"

"temporarily unavailable."

Tan Jincheng nodded and said, "Okay, print out a copy of the sales reports for August and September for me."

It's time to go to the district office and see if we can secure the land as soon as possible. If not, we should at least get ourselves a larger factory. In any case, we need to add a few more production lines early next year.

Currently, FlashCar is sold in four cities across two provinces, with a total of 120 stores selling the FlashCar brand. However, the maximum monthly production capacity is only 7500 units, which is clearly insufficient to guarantee the 100 units per store per month.

The factory's orders are already booked until November, and now some stores are experiencing stockouts within the month, which is something we need to take seriously.

Based on the current sales volume of 100 units per month from 120 dealers, the monthly production capacity needs to reach at least 12000 units, which is still a significant shortfall. If Flash Auto wants to continue expanding, its annual production capacity next year needs to reach at least 20 units.

In addition, Tan Jincheng also plans to launch the Fengchi series next year. This product, positioned for urban white-collar workers, is what Tan Jincheng wants to use to open up the door to first- and second-tier cities and further enhance the brand's awareness.

In addition, derivative products of electric scooters, such as electric tricycles, electric golf carts, electric patrol vehicles, and sightseeing vehicles, should also be developed as soon as possible. The sales of these peripheral products may not be able to match those of electric scooters, but they are equally indispensable.

This is the product matrix. By establishing a product matrix, FlashCheer can truly upgrade from a factory to a company.
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"Boss, you have to think of a solution for us. Look at our sales volume, our current production capacity can't keep up at all. Please approve a piece of land for us as soon as possible so that we can build a factory quickly. This is also a contribution to the district."

Taking advantage of his youth, Tan Jincheng felt he didn't need to be so careful with his words and had been pestering him for over ten minutes.

It's always the same few lines: we want to contribute to the district's fiscal revenue and employment, but we also urgently need the support of the leaders. In short, it's like a persistent, persistent pest.

He would laugh even when being scolded, and with his still somewhat immature face, it was truly both funny and exasperating.

The leader surnamed Gu looked at Tan Jincheng helplessly and said, "You kid, there are procedures to follow, okay? You can't just ask for it and expect it to happen. Do you think I don't want to approve it for you as soon as possible?"

"Even if we approve it for you today, it will take you at least six months to build the factory, which is still too late."

Tan Jincheng said with a smile, "Every day earlier is a day earlier, so we can produce one more batch."

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Here's what we'll do: there's a factory building of over 3000 square meters in the bonded zone. We'll approve it for you to use for now. Go and go through the procedures with the secretary in a bit. Make sure you pay every penny of the rent."

"Oh? That's great, thank you so much, boss. You've solved our urgent problem. Also, rest assured, we operate absolutely legally and compliantly, and will not cause you any trouble," Tan Jincheng said, patting his chest.

That's exactly what I was waiting for. If I hadn't received the news, why would I be making plasters here? A factory of over 3000 square meters is actually not enough, but we'll make do for now and get through next year first.

"Get lost, I have things to do."

Leader Gu waved his hand, then said, "Let me make this clear first, you can't postpone it like last time when we need you."

"Don't worry, boss, I definitely won't refuse next time," Tan Jincheng said with a grin.

This refers to a previous publicity campaign organized by the relevant authorities, which they wanted Tan Jincheng to participate in and cooperate with. However, Tan Jincheng refused, saying that he was just starting out and his small, run-down factory did not deserve such treatment.

Just kidding. Although the annual production capacity is over 1 million, it's nothing compared to Tan Jincheng's ambition. At this point, playing it safe and developing is the most useful strategy.

As for now, let's get the factory building first and agree to it first. We'll think of other ways to proceed later.

Next time, definitely.

(End of this chapter)