Reborn in 1999: Starting as a black marketeer

"You two... don't you think it's a waste of your talents to be warehouse managers? The job is very simple, you just need to be careful, there's a little physical work occasionally, but that's about it," Wang Feiyang said thoughtfully.

To be honest, if his company were big enough, he would have just hired Anton and Sergei as security guards. With their height and build, they would definitely look intimidating in security uniforms.

Of course, these two are not just good at bluffing; they are also really good fighters!

"Don't worry, boss, Sergei and I will definitely work hard. We're not afraid of hardship. Back in... hehe." Anton stopped halfway through his sentence, scratched his head, and chuckled awkwardly. He probably didn't want to say the rest of the sentence, as it might involve some military secrets.

Wang Feiyang smiled and nodded, telling the two of them to follow Anna to learn about the job duties and start working immediately, since the company was only hiring two warehouse managers anyway.

With the addition of four new sales staff and two warehouse managers, the company became much busier, bringing the total number of employees to ten.

Aside from renting an additional warehouse, the company doesn't need to increase its space for the time being; a 100-square-meter office is more than enough for eight people.

Anna also began actively contacting customers, preparing to send people to the stores to provide training.

Because the company's product structure is too simple, with only a few styles of jeans, and all the employees come from large chain clothing companies and have a wealth of relevant experience, they don't need much preparation and can get started right away.

With continuous shipments over this period, the warehouse inventory is running low, with only about four thousand pairs of jeans left. At Wang Feiyang's repeated urging, a new batch of goods has been expedited for production and shipped out through a freight company.

Fearing a long delay, we opted for express freight this time, guaranteeing delivery to Moscow within half a month. Naturally, the price was significantly higher than regular shipping.

However, it's worth spending this extra money, since the company's profit margin is high enough!

The cost of the new batch of goods has been reduced again, costing only 35 RMB per piece, which is about 100 rubles, while the company's wholesale price is 600 rubles, resulting in a profit margin of 500%!

Even with the costs of freight and customs clearance, plus labor expenses, office space, and advertising, the net profit is still 400%, which is quite astonishing...

However, this is normal in the apparel industry. Many big brands have much higher gross profit margins than this. They can sell items that cost 100 yuan to produce for thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan!

Of course, the marketing costs for big brands are also much higher, including labor costs, GG fees, and hiring various celebrities as spokespeople.

Wang Feiyang has essentially found a loophole. His products are just counterfeit versions of big brands like Levi's, without incurring the high advertising costs of major brands, yet his profits are at the level of ordinary brands.

This kind of opportunistic business is bound to fail in the long run. It's just a quick way to make some money while Russia is in chaos from top to bottom these past few years and nobody has time to deal with this kind of thing.

Why was he so determined to create his own brand chain? It was because he was planning ahead, so that when he could no longer sell counterfeit goods, or when selling counterfeit goods was no longer profitable, he would have another way to go.

…………

After transferring 2.1 million rubles (700,000 RMB) to his domestic account last time, Wang Feiyang didn't rush to transfer subsequent payments to China. Instead, he kept the money in a safe in his office, and recently accumulated another 1.5 million rubles.

Fortunately, the company is located inside the Alpha Hotel, which is relatively safe. Otherwise, I wouldn't feel at ease sleeping with so much money next to me.

The company didn't have any immediate cash needs, so Wang Feiyang decided to pay back the rent he owed Liu Jianjun for the company premises. After the company opened, Liu Jianjun came by once and gave Wang Feiyang a pure gold lucky charm, which was quite a thoughtful gesture.

"Brother Liu, have you been busy lately? Come over for a meal. I can also calculate the office rent for you. It's not good to keep owing people money, haha." Wang Feiyang called Liu Jianjun with a smile.

"Have you been making good money lately? You sound pretty cocky. Alright, I'll come over at noon. I'll treat you to a big meal this time," Liu Jianjun said with a hearty laugh.

"I only make a little money, nothing compared to you big bosses," Wang Feiyang said modestly.

However, this is the truth. With his company's current size, it is indeed incomparable to the big bosses in ACT and the Sun Zone. Those big bosses in the shoe and leather goods sections can sell hundreds of thousands of dollars a day when business is good!

Wang Feiyang's company has been struggling for so long, and it has only made a few hundred thousand US dollars, which is less than the daily turnover of others.

Even a small-time boss like Liu Jianjun, having two shops, must be making a considerable profit each month.

Of course, although their turnover is high, their profit margin is definitely not as high as Wang Feiyang's, after all, the prices in the big market are too drastically inflated.

…………

At noon, Liu Jianjun drove over, still looking as unkempt as ever. Judging from his clothes and appearance, you would never guess that he was a multi-millionaire boss. But that's how bosses in the market are, so it's not surprising.

Upon arriving at the company, Liu Jianjun glanced around, his gaze lingering on several female employees for a moment. Only after entering Wang Feiyang's office did he say with an envious tone, "You've got some good looks, kid. You've hired a whole bunch of beautiful women. Honestly, after seeing your side of the business, I don't even want to work at the market anymore. Over there, it's just Russians and us Chinese, all looking so disheveled."

"Brother Liu, don't joke around. No matter how bad the market is, you can still make money! Want to live a carefree life? It's easy. As long as you're willing to spend money, you can live a carefree life anywhere," Wang Feiyang said casually.

He knew that Liu Jianjun was just saying it casually and shouldn't be taken seriously.

Sure enough, after a couple of jokes, Liu Jianjun got down to business, saying seriously, "My rent isn't urgent. You should keep your money for working capital. The company has only been open for a short time, and there are many things that require funds. You need to pay your employees' salaries; you've hired so many people, so their wages probably won't be low. You also need to order more goods soon, and those are all things that require money."

He was genuinely thinking of Wang Feiyang's best interests. After all, the rent wasn't much, and for someone like Liu Jianjun, having a capable friend like Wang Feiyang was far more important than that small amount of rent.

Once Wang Feiyang's business takes off, the two might have another chance to collaborate in the future.

However, Wang Feiyang still paid him the rent in full at once, since the money was useless to him now, so he might as well pay the rent first.