Volume 7 I've Been Here Chapter 0996 The Man Standing on the Wind
"Colleagues were also surprised and confused by Sun Yuefeng's choice. They all asked what was wrong with him. He didn't want to do a good job, give up his public office, and lose his iron rice bowl. What would he do when he got old and died? He didn't even want labor insurance?
The leader first tried to persuade them, but when they refused to listen, he delayed the implementation.
The leaders probably had good intentions, thinking that Sun Yuefeng was just possessed by a ghost for a while, and that he would thank them after some time when he came to his senses.
But Sun Yuefeng was very determined. In the end, he left the hardware and electrical appliance company, threw away a good iron rice bowl, and started his own struggle.
Sun Yuefeng had only a small amount of money in his hand, which he had saved over the years. This little money was not even enough to pay the rent for the counter, so he had to borrow some from others. After borrowing from everywhere, he finally had a capital of 4,000 yuan.
There is no need to worry about manpower. There are many units in Fengtian and many unemployed young people. Sun Yuefeng selected five young people from the applicants. They all seemed capable of doing things. In this way, he gathered the first team.
With a few thousand yuan and five helpers, Sun Yuefeng got to work. To do business, you need a place and a storefront. A few thousand yuan is not enough to set up a store sign, so he had to learn from others and rent a counter.
The first two counters were rented from a glass shop on Taiyuan Street. At first, it was a small glass-related business. It was in a not-so-bustling area, so the business was not very hot.
At the end of the year, I earned a few thousand dollars, which seems good, but it is still far from getting rich.
At that time, Sun Yuefeng just saw that being an individual was unpopular and could change his stable life, but he could not say that he had found a way to make a lot of money.
He needs to wait for the opportunity, that is, the opportunity to make big money.
At that time, the economy was in the process of transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy, and there were many opportunities of all kinds. It all depended on whether you had the vision to spot the opportunities and the courage to act upon them. This was the most critical factor in becoming a successful entrepreneur.
An excellent entrepreneur is often able to assess the situation, seize opportunities, remain calm when faced with danger, respond at any time, plan strategies, and always remain invincible.
At that time, Sun Yuefeng already possessed these qualities, I mean seemingly.”
Nan Yi paused and took another sip of tea. "In the initial period, Sun Yuefeng just lacked the most favorable opportunity. He was calm and believed that this opportunity was like a rapid current hidden under the calm river surface. It would not be so obvious and eye-catching. He needed to find ways to catch it. He was like a well-trained hound, waiting for the key blow and pounce at any time and anywhere.
He waited for a long time before the opportunity finally came.
It was the beginning of 1987. Factories in Yangcheng and Shenzhen produced a large number of tape recorders. Due to overproduction, they could not be sold and the products were piled up in warehouses. As a result, many manufacturers suffered from a large backlog of funds and found it difficult to maintain production.
The reason for this situation is, firstly, shoddy products. In 1985 and 1986, tape recorders were very popular and there was no worry about sales as long as there was stock. This attracted many people to invest in building factories. Many businessmen at that time had courage and insight, but poor professional knowledge and knowledge of production management. It can be said that they just worked blindly, and it would be strange if they could make good products.
Second, at the end of 1986, someone opened up a good smuggling channel, and tape recorders from Japan and South Korea were shipped into the country in large quantities. A tape recorder cost hundreds of dollars, which was not cheap. Many people would rather pay a little more to buy imported ones, which naturally impacted the tape recorder market.
There was a backlog of tape recorders in the south, but in the northeast, there were only a few outdated models from state-owned factories that no one was interested in. Young people would specifically ask someone to help them or go to the south themselves to buy tape recorders and tapes.
The scheming Sun Yuefeng saw this scene with sharp contrast and knew that this was the opportunity he had been waiting for. When others were still unaware of it, he was the first to see the business opportunity, and thus he came up with the idea of making his business bigger.
He was keenly aware that he could take advantage of this God-given opportunity to accomplish something earth-shattering.
As Sun Tzu's Art of War says, speed is the essence of war. As a former soldier, Sun Yuefeng naturally understands this truth. He must seize any business opportunity that catches his eye and take advantage of it to occupy the commanding heights of the market.
Sun Yuefeng analyzed at the time: I am probably not the only one who knows about the current situation. The purchasing and sales staff of state-owned stores will also get this information. Then it depends on who will seize this market gap first.
Sun Yuefeng knew that state-owned stores had the advantage of being wealthy and having the superior conditions of being the main channel, but their fatal weakness caused them to fail. The purchasing and sales method of state-owned stores was too slow, and generally had to go through secondary purchasing and sales stations and three links before it could reach customers.
This not only delays the process, but also causes prices to increase at each wholesale and retail level.
After analyzing the fatal weaknesses of the state-owned stores, Sun Yuefeng had a plan in mind. He immediately went south to Yangcheng, Shencun and other places to find the manufacturers of tape recorders and negotiate purchases and sales directly with them.
The owners and managers of the tape recorder factories were worried about their backlog of products. When they heard that someone was willing to purchase and sell their backlog of products in large quantities, they were all very happy. They said it was like meeting someone who gave them an umbrella when it rained or like a blessing after a long drought.
They all expressed their willingness to cooperate with Sun Yuefeng's proposal to sell their accumulated products through agency sales and joint sales, and the more the better.
Sun Yuefeng signed the agency and joint sales contracts one after another without much negotiation. Then, the manufacturers happily packed up their long-pile of tape recorders and loaded them onto the northbound train to be shipped to Fengtian.
"Wait." Xu Lu interrupted Nan Yi again, "Brother, I know what happened that year. I remember Sun Yuefeng brought back a lot of tape recorders at once, at least three or four thousand. The factory price of the tape recorders was several hundred yuan, right?"
"In 1987, the factory price of a tape recorder was at least five hundred. The overstocked products might be cheaper, but not much cheaper." Nan Yi replied with a smile.
"One trip of cargo costs 2 million. How can Sun Yuefeng come up with so much money in a year?" Xu Lu was very suspicious.
"It probably can't be produced. I have a certain understanding of how he did it back then. I'll continue to talk about it. When I finish, I'll analyze it for you."
The reason why Nan Yi told Xu Lu the story of Sun Yuefeng was to make her think and experience.
"Okay." Xu Lu nodded.
"No one expected that almost overnight, there would be so many new models of tape recorders in Fengtian City. The news spread quickly among young people. Many young people who had always wanted to buy tape recorders but had not found a good one rushed to the glass shop on Taiyuan Street. There they saw all kinds of new models of tape recorders, and several people who looked like salesmen were introducing the characteristics, performance and prices of each brand to everyone.
This is so fresh!
In state-owned stores, high-end products like tape recorders are usually placed on the counter, and customers are not allowed to touch them. But the salespersons here are enthusiastic about letting you try them out, and if you don't know how to use them, they will teach you how to press buttons and play music...
With a wide variety of styles and good service, a lot of tape recorders were sold at once. Sun Yuefeng, standing between two small counters, watched groups of young people happily walk out of the store with tape recorders in their arms. A smile appeared on his face, and he knew that he had made the right move.
The first batch of tape recorders was quickly sold out, and then he went south again, signed contracts with those manufacturers again, and transported a large number of tape recorders to Fengtian and placed them on his two small counters.
He soon discovered that his two counters were too small. In the huge city of Fengtian, there were too many young people who loved music. There were many young workers in Gangxi District, and they all had money. In order to meet the customers' needs, he had to deliver the tape recorder right under their noses.
Sun Yuefeng seized the opportunity to open branches of his tape recorder sales in other districts of Fengtian. In less than a few months, he had built more than a dozen distribution stores, and all of them were doing a booming business, selling a lot of tape recorders every day.
The business was booming, and before he knew it, it was the end of the year. After checking the accounts, he was shocked to find that he had made 40 million in sales and 7 million in profits in the past year. He suddenly became a truly wealthy man and achieved financial freedom.
Nan Yi looked at Xu Lu and said, "Sun Yuefeng seemed to have a nickname at that time. Do you know what it is?"
"The King of Tape Recorders," the young people shouted.
"Heh." Nan Yi chuckled at the word "king" and continued to tell the story, "In the middle of the year, when Sun Yuefeng heard people calling him the 'tape recorder king ', he felt warm inside and dizzy. He was in a daze for several days, but he quickly calmed down and thought carefully about how to run the business in the future.
Sun Yuefeng predicted that the temporary cold reception of electrical appliances indicated that there would be a large-scale boom, so he went to the south to purchase a large number of color TVs and refrigerators in advance. Sure enough, color TVs and refrigerators were hot sellers again in the summer.
Having caught the opportunity, Sun Yuefeng has made his own way. He plans to give up the previous piecemeal business and focus on big business. Now he has hundreds of millions of working capital in his hands, so he can go all out.
It was just the Spring Festival of 1988, and he didn't even take time to visit relatives and friends, but started thinking about how to expand his business.
Sun Yuefeng analyzed the market trends across the country and came to a conclusion: people's demand for home appliances is rising sharply. After experiencing a big climax, the market has weakened. Some people think that the appliance craze has passed, but he believes that this is just a temporary lull before a big climax, and there will be a bigger climax in the future. "
Nan Yi stopped the story here and changed the subject, "I have to say that Sun Yuefeng was very lucky. He didn't foresee the price hike at that time, but he still encountered a good opportunity.
Others were fearful, but he was crazy. When others were pessimistic about the electrical appliance business, he was already preparing for the next sales boom. He mobilized large funds and went south again to stock up, and he stocked up in a planned manner.
First, he wanted to be early, that is, to secure the supply of goods as early as possible, go to the manufacturers in the south to contact the purchase and sales business, and sign the supply contract.
After the Spring Festival, he went south to discuss business with new and old manufacturers, and finalized the price, supply method, etc.
Secondly, based on the shopping psychology of consumers at that time and the needs of consumers at different levels, he stocked all models and brands. Furthermore, he not only did business in tape recorders, but also stocked other categories of home appliances, such as color TVs, electric fans, refrigerators, etc., so that consumers could walk into his store and buy all the daily appliances they needed at the same time.
Sun Yuefeng's move was right again. In the first half of 1988, the business of all electrical appliance stores in Fengtian was not very good, and his store was no exception. However, Sun Yuefeng still quietly shipped home appliances from the south to Fengtian.
Various kinds of tape recorders, color TVs, refrigerators, electric fans, etc. were shipped to a temporarily rented warehouse in truckloads.
Money flowed out in large quantities, and a large number of electrical appliances were gathering dust in the warehouse and could not be sold for several months. The funds could not be circulated and the business could not be carried out. Sun Yuefeng's subordinates advised him to sell some of the unused electrical appliances at a reduced price in order to transfer funds.
Sun Yuefeng was not in a hurry at all and refused to lower the price. He just told his subordinates: Don't worry, as long as the goods are good, they will always be sold.
He waited calmly, waiting for the opportunity he believed would come. "
Nan Yi clapped his hands and said with a smile: "I don't need to tell you the rest of the story in 1988, right?"
Xu Lu shook her head. "That year, anything you had could be sold, and it was sold at a very high price. Brother, did you also seize this opportunity?"
"You can say I caught half of it. I stocked up in advance but didn't raise the price until the stock was sold out. I didn't raise the price until the panic buying was over and the wholesale price rose sharply. Then I raised the price slightly."
"Such a good opportunity, why don't you raise the price?"
“That’s my trade-off. Compared to making more profit through that opportunity, I would rather leave a good impression and good reputation on consumers and make the company more socially responsible.
Moreover, real businessmen will only earn limited profits. Huge profits cannot last forever. For non-speculative businesses, don't think about making huge profits that only appear occasionally.
In the future, in Xianlu Capital's business, you must also act on the principles of honesty and making only reasonable profits. Do not raise prices due to a temporary imbalance between supply and demand, and do not feel unbalanced because your partners have higher profits.
For example, if you run a lottery shop and sell lottery tickets, and your price difference is 20 cents, then you just need to earn the 20 cents you deserve, and don't be jealous of the buyers who won the jackpot. You must always remind yourself that you are doing a business with a profit of 20 cents, and don't think about making 50 cents, or even 5 or 50 yuan."
Xu Lu muttered, "Business is all about making money, who doesn't want to make more money?"
"You're right. The purpose of doing business is to make money. Everyone wants to make as much money as possible as quickly as possible, but there is a limit." Nan Yi took out his pen from his pocket. "Let's assume that this is an unusual pen. You can buy it for one dollar, and then sell it to someone else for 200 million and one dollar. Let's assume that the difference of 200 million is your net profit. With 200 million, do you think it's enough for you to retire?"
