2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 319 A Sense of Crisis?
The combination of offline and online interaction, along with generous promotional policies, greatly boosted Flash's sales.

The actual sales figures are unknown, but dealers report that many retail stores have already started pre-ordering the next batch of electric vehicle quotas, and some have even made direct payments, demanding immediate delivery.

Sales are booming, but unfortunately, Flash's current production capacity still limits its performance. However, the entire Flash team has become accustomed to this situation where production capacity cannot keep up with sales, so it is not a difficult problem to deal with.

Not only the staff at FlashCar, but even the earliest terminal stores have gotten used to it and know to pay in cash directly for the car.

They're used to dealing with customers, and customers buy into it—good things are hard to buy, after all. The insufficient production capacity has inadvertently created a good image for Flash, one of supply falling short of demand.

"This is an Olympic Games partner brand, and it's even advertised on CCTV, so it's normal that it's a little hard to buy."

"The magazine also said that Flash's quality is among the best in performance reviews, and that its service is good and inexpensive."

In 2006, magazines were definitely a hot commodity. There were all kinds of magazines, each priced between 5 and 10 yuan. They were available in weekly or monthly formats, and everyone could afford them. In his previous life, Tan Jincheng's favorite magazine during this period was a football weekly.

FlashTech also subscribes to several magazines. Some consumers who like to read professional reviews usually have the habit of buying magazines, and FlashTech's main print media advertising is also placed in these kinds of magazines.

Unlike pure advertising, this type of advertorial in the form of reviews is easily accepted by consumers, and many consumers even trust it because of their perception.

The sales department receives orders from distributors every day. Some anxious shop owners near Ningbo even go directly to the Flash factory to place orders without going through the distributors.

FlashTech's sales are booming during the peak season, but office staff are still able to work normally, and even if they work overtime, it's usually until around 9:30 pm.

However, Gu Qingqing, the CEO of Orange Technology, has not been so lucky recently.

"Now I finally understand why he was so busy before. Starting a company is not as easy as you might think."

At 11:30 p.m., the office area of ​​Orange Technology in the Financial Building was still brightly lit.

Gu Qingqing lay half-reclined on the chair and complained to her cousin Gu Yanning that in her office, it was just the two of them, so Gu Qingqing didn't need to worry about her image.

After the summer vacation started, Gu Qingqing officially took over the job of CEO of Orange Technology. After the website was officially launched, she stayed until after midnight every day so that she could know the website's data as soon as possible.

To avoid disturbing Zhang Suzhi's rest, she has been staying with her cousin for the past few days in the Golden Coast apartment that Tan Jincheng used to share with Zhang Xupeng.

After Tan Jincheng moved out, the second-hand house had been vacant. After Gu Yanning came, it was lent to her after some simple renovations.

"Actually, you don't need to wait for the data. Just have the staff on duty report the data on Dingding tonight, and you can check it when you wake up tomorrow morning," Gu Yanning said with a smile.

Dingding is the internal management software that Tan Jincheng developed before. Tan Jincheng gave it this name with a rather wicked sense of humor.

It's also worth mentioning that, being a software company, it has little to do with the electric vehicle business. When FlashDrive underwent restructuring last time, Dingding's ownership was also transferred to Orange Technology.

As for the development costs, Orange Technology did not take advantage of Flash Technology and paid Flash Technology the full amount.

At the time, FlashTech only had one shareholder, Beicang City Investment. Beicang City Investment had no interest in this kind of internet business. They paid for it and divested it. It was just a customized internal management software.

Besides, it's being given to Flash Group for free right now, so there's no loss for them.

"I can't sleep well if I don't get the data as soon as possible. Zhang Xupeng told me before that he slept in the office for half a month, and I didn't believe him. If I weren't a woman, I would want to sleep in the office too."

"Haha, I've heard my family say that when our dad's generation first started their businesses, it was the same. There's nothing special about it. But my brother-in-law is really amazing. He's hardworking and quick-witted. He can run a real business and also work in the internet industry. It's just that if you two are dating, you won't have much time to spend together."

"Yes, he said he wouldn't be traveling much after June, but he's going to be traveling twice in July."

"Only twice, that's already pretty good. Before, Boss Tan was always on business trips. But he's really carefree. Orange Technology has already invested tens of millions, and he just handed over such a large company to you and doesn't care about anything else."

"No, we didn't ignore it. Wasn't it his idea to come up with the marketing plan? And using live text and image broadcasts of celebrity endorsement events to boost popularity is pretty impressive. The traffic today is significantly higher."

"That's true, but it seems that Mr. Tan's focus is not on Orange Technology. He hasn't been here many times before, and he's been left to his own devices."

"What? You feel you've been treated unfairly? You're not happy having me as your boss?"

Gu Yanning chuckled and said, "How could I dare? We're just chatting. But even if Boss Tan doesn't value Orange Technology, my classmates and I are still very grateful. It's a rare opportunity for us to participate in real project development right after graduation." These past few months have been tough and stressful for Gu Yanning and her friends, but they've really been good training.

Including herself, everyone has made tremendous progress in the past few months, both in terms of skills and professional experience. Without Tan Jincheng, they would have had to start from the very bottom and wouldn't have had such a great opportunity.

Gu Qingqing also laughed and said, "He's always been quite bold in hiring people. We were initially introduced by one of my senior classmates. Putting aside the fact that I had absolutely no experience as a fashion model, and that senior classmate was only working part-time, he still dared to hire me."

“Back when Jinpeng Trading first started, they were quite casual about hiring people. I remember there was an employee named Li Jinglan back then? She didn’t know anything when she first joined the company, but after a few months, they dared to train her to be a merchandiser.”

"And the current head of Flash Technology's Tianjin branch was just a salesman who couldn't even run a business properly at the beginning."

In Gu Qingqing's opinion, Tan Jincheng's boldest choice in personnel was the spokesperson for Flash Technology. When the Super Girl competition first came out last year, he dared to bet directly on Chun Ge, and then he dared to sign a ten-year contract with Liu Yifei.

Jay Chou's endorsement was finalized in a flash, more like a spokesperson for the "Chip Day" campaign, and it seems that who he is doesn't really matter.

Choosing a spokesperson for a company's products should be a very serious matter. Signing three contracts seems extremely casual and bold, as if it was done without any consideration.

Gu Yanning obviously thought of this as well: "The same goes for spokespeople, right? The rumors about Flash signing spokespeople are almost like a fantasy script online, each one more outlandish than the last."

The process of signing Chun Ge was quite surreal; he bet on the most popular Super Girl champion in one go.

Liu Yifei went even further, daring to sign a ten-year contract. Wasn't she afraid that the star would disappear from the public eye in a few years? Wouldn't that mean all that money was wasted?

"Huh? Boss Tan, you're not really a fan of Liu Yifei, are you? Their relationship doesn't seem as simple as that of a boss and a spokesperson, does it? Aren't you worried? After all, she's a big star."

He even brought her to the company before, and when discussing marketing plans, he didn't shy away from her. They seemed to have a good relationship. When he asked Liu Yifei to register on Kaixin.com, she actually did it. Usually, celebrities have to pay money to invite them to join, right?

Gu Yanning was quite curious about the relationship between Tan Jincheng and Liu Yifei. She had been wanting to ask her cousin about it, but felt it wasn't appropriate. During a casual chat tonight, she finally asked.

Gu Qingqing remained silent for a while when asked about her cousin's question.

It's not that I don't know how to answer, but I'm considering whether to tell my cousin. After all, it involves the privacy of both of us, especially since it's a celebrity's privacy. It wouldn't be good if it got out.

"If it's inconvenient to talk about it, then don't." Gu Yanning also noticed her cousin's silence.

However, she assumed that her cousin's silence was due to the problem itself.

"It's definitely not just a relationship between the boss and the spokesperson. They should be considered friends. He often says that Liu Yifei's Jiji Company is a complete idiot, and their marketing and persona are terrible."

“Like last time when she went to Xiao Rizi to release her album, her management company didn’t handle it well. In the end, he helped to resolve the online public opinion. It was for this reason that Liu Yifei agreed to return to China to help with the promotion.”

"As for the sense of crisis you mentioned? I guess so. With the aura of a celebrity and his good looks, it would be a lie to say he doesn't feel any crisis. But what can he do? Unless they break up, given his current wealth, there must be a lot of girls who want to throw themselves at him, right?"

Gu Yanning nodded in agreement. With Tan Jincheng's current wealth, he could have any kind of woman he wanted, not to mention he was so young and handsome enough.

"So how did you deal with this sense of crisis?"

"Trust and support each other, there's no other way."

This is what Tan Jincheng told her. Based on his experience of dating and marriage in his previous life, Tan Jincheng also realized some truths. In the process of dating for several years and finally getting married in his previous life, no matter what the outcome was, trust and mutual support were the key to the two of them going on together.

The foundation of any relationship is not how deeply the two people love each other, but trust.

"Trust? Mutual support?"

"Mmm," Gu Qingqing said suddenly, blushing.

There was another reason that Gu Qingqing was too embarrassed to say, nor could she say it. She lowered her head and glanced at her chest, which was indeed much more vicious than Xiao Liu's.

(End of this chapter)