2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 327 Listing Plan
"That kid has a thick skin. I even recommended him to study at Ningbo University," Ni Jie said with a laugh.

Today's Qianjiang Evening News published an interview with the chairman of Flash Group. In the article, Tan Jincheng praised Greenfield's new consumer service initiatives, showering Greenfield with compliments.

Furthermore, it was stated that as a latecomer, FlashDrive will not only fully follow Green Source's services but also add a waste battery recycling program to support environmental protection.

"Learning from our predecessors, FlashCheer is committed to serving our consumers well."

This is the title of the article. Ni Jie is not sure, but this kind of thing is called "riding the coattails" more than 10 years later, and it is the most common tactic in business warfare.

Tan Jincheng's interview press release was not only published in Qianjiang Evening News, which Ni Jie was reading at the moment; influential print media in 11 prefecture-level cities in Zhejiang Province also published and reprinted this interview.

Xu Qihua's post-poaching analysis after the failure was correct. Zhou Ao and Tan Jincheng were not related, so his rapid rise to power was naturally due to his abilities. This follow-up promotion plan for Green Plains Service was his idea.

The interview with Qianjiang Evening News was also arranged by Zhou Ao. Compared to Tan Jincheng's preference for the internet and his tendency to unintentionally overlook print media, Zhou Ao, as a person of this era, is well aware of the current status of print media among consumers.

Tan Jincheng provided the publicity plan, and Zhou Ao cooperated by adding details. Zhou Ao would also fill in any gaps that Tan Jincheng hadn't considered due to his habitual thinking.

In the Zhejiang market, wherever Luyuan advertises, Shanchi follows suit. Consumers see Luyuan's optimized services, and they also see Shanchi's follow-up and further optimization strategy.

This persistent, insidious marketing approach made Lüyuan, who was not particularly adept at marketing, extremely uncomfortable.

Prior to this summer, Flashcar had not engaged in much advertising in the Zhejiang market, which resulted in a relatively mild competitive relationship with Luyuan. This time, however, it is considered direct competition.

Ni Jie had previously learned about the competition between Flashpoint and Chipstar for Olympic sponsorship, and had also heard Zhang Congxun criticize Tan Jincheng's playing style, but since he had no personal experience, his impressions were not strong.

This time I've truly learned my lesson.

Meanwhile, Tan Jincheng made a low-key appearance in Changzhou and had a private talk with the company's senior executives. After stabilizing the rear, Flashcar's expansion will continue.

The high-profile launch of Hermes made Tan Jincheng realize that the inertia of history is unstoppable. As a well-known brand in its previous life with a deep family background, Hermes' development should not be too bad even without Jay Chou's support. It is still a strong competitor.

Based on this year's sales situation, the total sales volume of the Flash is very likely to exceed 40 units, which is more than double the previous expectation. Like last year's total sales volume of 3.8 units, this sales expectation of 40 units is still based on insufficient production capacity.

The electric vehicle market has entered a stage of rapid development.

By 2008, the Tianjin base will be fully completed, and the combined production capacity of the two major industrial bases, Beicang and Tianjin, will reach a maximum annual output of around 220 million vehicles, but this is clearly not enough.

Since 2007, the rapidly growing market has meant that insufficient production capacity can no longer affect sales.

Tan Jincheng's plan was that before the new national standard was officially announced in 2009, the annual production of the Flash must reach 500 million vehicles and the annual sales must reach more than 100 million vehicles.

After the new national standard is announced, a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises will be eliminated. It is only natural for Flash, which has been preparing for the new national standard, to seize the market during the period of industry policy change.

Expanding production capacity and aiming for the number one market share in electric vehicles will be FlashTech's new five-year plan!

Once sales reach over 100 million units, the Flash can then pursue a listing plan.

The timing was perfect. The stock market had been booming for the past two years, and it was even expected to reach a historical high of 6124 points next year. However, Tan Jincheng knew that with the arrival of the 08 global financial crisis, the stock market would fall to an extremely low level.

With IPOs suspended, FlashCar can seek a backdoor listing. In the midst of the stock market crash, the market value of many companies will also fall to the bottom, and the cost of a backdoor listing is not high.

From 05 to 09, exactly five years, Tan Jincheng fulfilled his promise to Beicang District, adding another listed company to the district.

Tan Jincheng used the promise of an IPO to lure the company's management.

Unlike frontline employees, salary increases are no longer as tempting for management. The extra tens of thousands of yuan in income per year is clearly less appealing than the deep pockets that Aima uses to poach talent.

Take Lin Yumin and Wu Zhenping for example. Even though they have an extraordinary relationship with Tan Jincheng, Tan Jincheng really doesn't believe they wouldn't be tempted if Aima really offered them a million-dollar annual salary.

Zhou Ao was the same; his indifference was simply due to too many concerns or insufficient resources.

Going public is different. Listed companies must have 25% publicly traded shares, a portion of which is held by employees before the IPO, typically around 10%. FlashRace's goal of going public within the next three years has obvious implications for management; the employee shareholding will undoubtedly be allocated to management first.

We absolutely have to eat this cake; it's only a three-year period.

Even if you have the opportunity to subscribe to less than 1% of the original shares within three years, once the listing plan is completed, it means you will become rich overnight!
Young managers like Zhao Xinyi and Zeng Jixiang seem unaware of anything. They lack work experience and social experience, and since their current salaries are not bad, they just follow the boss.

But for middle-aged people with rich social experience like Lin Yumin and Wu Zhenping, this opportunity is too tempting. They might be able to retire within three to five years!
Living a retired life in my forties, I never dared to dream of such a big thing!
Those who reach the management level are not brainless. With tangible benefits such as salary increases for all employees, providing cars for management, and improving management benefits, plus the promise of an IPO, no one would want to work for a startup car company.

At this point, FlashDrive's core business was completely stabilized.

The first to notice the company's actions were the middle-level employees below the management. The boss spending the whole day at the company was already quite unusual recently, but the fact that he was calling on senior executives one by one was even more surprising.

Some mid-level employees received calls from Xu Qihua, and quite a few were tempted. They were told that if they went there, they would be given important responsibilities and their salaries would increase significantly. Who wouldn't want to try their abilities?

A year ago, FlashRace was also a startup, and most of its people came to FlashRace in the same way.

The industry is booming, and it's not just the bosses who benefit. Capable employees like them also benefit, as they can get several promotions in salary and benefits if they are poached, making their resumes more impressive.

The electric vehicle industry now, and the internet industry in a few years, will be the same.

However, the boss's unusual behavior, coupled with the fact that the marketing director, Zhou, has been meeting mysteriously with the human resources manager, Chen, and the finance director behind closed doors recently, has made this no secret within the company.

This made some mid-level employees, who had already submitted their resignations, hesitate.

"Could it be that the company is planning something big again? Should we wait and see?"

"It's been a year. I heard last time that they were going to have a one-year anniversary celebration. It shouldn't have much to do with our departure, right?"

"It's normal to have a meeting with finance for the first anniversary celebration, and it's also understandable to have a meeting with HR, but why be so secretive? This doesn't make sense."

"Yes, we always make a big fuss about our publicity, this is the first time we've been so secretive."

The private discussions among the middle-level employees did not escape Tan Jincheng's notice. After the meeting, the senior executives were unusually united. It can be said that Tan Jincheng knew the movements of the office staff better than anyone else since the establishment of FlashDrive.

"Let them talk. You can reveal some details privately, but not the whole story. Just say it's related to the anniversary celebration. It's best to involve the lower-level employees in the discussion as well."

At this time, Tan Jincheng was in Changzhou. Since Changzhou had extended an olive branch, Shanchi, which intended to continue its expansion, naturally accepted it.

After the price war broke out in June and July, the primary goal of the Jiangsu market was to capture market share in Changzhou. As a result, the price war was the most intense in Changzhou, causing great hardship for local small and medium-sized enterprises.

With a price of around 1500 yuan after discounts, the Flash series is almost invincible in the low-end product market. Even brands like Xinri and Yadi can't beat it, let alone small and medium-sized enterprises like those in Changzhou that make low-end products but have average quality control.

In an already fiercely competitive market, some companies are struggling to survive when major manufacturers engage in price wars, hoping to recover some losses after the price wars end. Meanwhile, some more astute companies have already begun to seek transformation.

However, the small manufacturers who were struggling to survive were unaware that Tan Jincheng's idea at the time was that once the cooperation with Changzhou was reached, Flash Motors would continue the price war in the Jiangsu market until the end of the year, in order to completely seize the low-end market share in Changzhou and even the entire Jiangsu market.

I'll give you a good beating once and for all, and the rest are mine.
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After Tan Jincheng met with the management team, Xu Qihua noticed that the attitudes of some of the mid-level managers at Flashpoint who had been contacted earlier had become ambiguous. A few who had said they would consider it further a few days ago were now saying they would wait a little longer.

Zhou Ao stopped answering her calls altogether, and after making some inquiries, Xu Qihua realized that her poaching plan had been exposed.

Things are not going to work out. There's no need to waste any more time in Beicang. What good will it do to poach a few middle managers? How much money can we make from them?

Xu Qihua was very frustrated. In the past, she could easily recruit talents for companies by offering them good treatment and a corresponding position. However, this trip to Beicang taught her a harsh lesson.

Since the first plan has completely failed, we can only seek the second plan.

"Let's go to Wuxi."

(End of this chapter)