"Boss, these street vendors, can they really accomplish anything? They probably can't even scrape together enough to buy ten TVs at wholesale price, can they?"
After listening to the conversation between Chen Yang and those Wenzhou businessmen, Lei Baoguo couldn't help but feel a little doubtful. These people were dressed shabbily, and though they were doing business, it was clearly not on a large scale.
"Baoguo, you shouldn't underestimate them."
"You have to know that Wenzhou is a place surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on one, and it's not much better than some places in the west."
"This place is poor, so these people have a built-in idea of adaptation. When the poor think of change, though they may look ordinary, you must know that when they first came out, they might not have had five yuan in their hands."
"But now, when you see them, don't they each have goods worth a hundred or eighty yuan? I ask you, if you hadn't met me back then, would you have had this much money on hand now?"
Chen Yang looked at Lei Baoguo. Following him, Lei Baoguo had seen some of the world, often dealing with orders worth hundreds of thousands or millions. It was normal for him to look down on the small businesses of these Wenzhou people.
But Chen Yang was a重生者 (reborn person). His success in this era was impossible to replicate, and these Wenzhou people were the true chosen ones of this era.
In China today, how many people could casually come up with over a hundred yuan to buy goods and do business? They were destined to be the first to take the plunge and would eat heartily.
"Boss, I understand."
"Individually, they might not be able to handle it, but they are very united and courageous. Once they decide on something, they will go all out to achieve it."
"If one person can't do it, they'll probably go back and find help. There are quite a few Wenzhou people just in Shanghai, and even more in other places. This fits our sales strategy."
Lei Baoguo wasn't stupid. With a little guidance from Chen Yang, he began to understand.
"This is just one aspect. Didn't you notice that although they had ideas after listening to me, none of them immediately agreed? Instead, they said they needed to go back and discuss it?"
"This also indicates something: they want to make money, but they also consider the risks. They won't act without absolute certainty, even if they can make a lot of money."
"Another point, you can inquire about the reputation of Wenzhou people. When doing business with them, do they all abide by good faith? They wouldn't do anything disloyal."
"Just wait. With the intelligence of these Wenzhou people, they will probably come to us soon. Things that no one else is selling in the market are the most profitable.
The production of televisions is so low, and they are basically in short supply. Without coupons, I don't believe they would be unwilling to share in this initial success."
Chen Yang had a good grasp of these Wenzhou people's mindset, and he also valued their capabilities.
Of course, this was only for initial cooperation. If Chen Yang couldn't utilize these people in the future, he would still need to develop his own sales channels.
Although Wenzhou merchants were good at doing business and also valued integrity, once they expanded their market share, they would directly monopolize an entire industry.
Unity was a good thing. If there was money to be made, they would bring in friends and relatives to share, and slowly they would monopolize an industry, even going as far as to produce their own goods in the future and take over the suppliers' share as well.
This was also a fact. Who wouldn't want to make all the profit if there was money to be made? In the beginning, they would share because they lacked the strength. Once they became truly powerful, they would want to keep most of the profits for themselves, excluding what they didn't consider worth their while. This was human nature.
It was precisely because human nature could not withstand the test in the face of money that Chen Yang had initially thought about establishing his own sales channels. This way, he could use the model of direct-sale stores to firmly hold the market in his hands.
This model would only gradually recede from the mainstream market after ten years or more, with the rise of online e-commerce. Of course, even so, it would still occupy half of the home appliance sales market.
However, with Matsushita's aggressive advancement, Chen Yang felt the pressure and couldn't wait to slowly expand his sales channels. He would first let the Wenzhou people sell Zhenhua televisions nationwide and establish the brand.
With capital, there would be factories, and with factories, there would be production lines. By then, even if Matsushita advanced, Chen Yang could defeat them with a price war.
After cutting off the hands that Matsushita was preparing to extend into China, he would focus on investment and research and development in the television industry. Simply buying production lines from others was useless; he had to master core technology.
In later generations, domestic home appliances could overwhelm foreign products. Price wars were one aspect, but the improvement in product quality was also a reason.
If the quality couldn't keep up, no matter how cheap, they would eventually be eliminated by the market. This was because China's economy was developing rapidly, and by the 21st century, people's incomes would gradually increase, and they would begin to pursue enjoyment.
Home appliances, as essential electrical appliances for every household, who wouldn't want to buy them and use them steadily for ten or twenty years? If they broke after only a short time, no one would buy them, even if the price was cheap.
Chen Yang's guess was not wrong. Three days later, eight representatives of the Wenzhou businessmen arrived at Zhenhua Electrical Appliance Factory. Chen Yang truly understood the number of Wenzhou businessmen doing business in Shanghai.
There were two hundred and seventy-three of them. These eight were essentially the leaders, all people with high seniority and influence within their clans.
"Boss Chen, we, a few of us, will each take ten televisions first. However, we can only pay half of the deposit. After we sell them, we will pay the remaining amount and then continue to place orders."
The oldest among them spoke. Taking goods with half the deposit was within Chen Yang's expectations. Although Chen Yang's terms were tempting,
these Wenzhou people were also afraid. What if the televisions didn't sell? Each one cost several hundred yuan. Eighty televisions would be a huge loss if they couldn't be sold, even if their two hundred-plus people split the cost.
"Yes, I will have the finance department draft a contract. You can come to pick up goods once a month and settle accounts. You are allowed to pay half the deposit each time."
"Remember, the televisions sold by our Zhenhua come with a one-year warranty and three years of free maintenance. If they break, we will repair them if you send them back. Of course, for parts damaged by the original owner or physical destruction, they will have to pay."
"You should also create your own sales stamp. For repair equipment, we have a list of equipment. You need to issue sales receipts and warranty cards, based on the time of sale."
At this time, invoices didn't exist yet, and Chen Yang couldn't give his company's stamp to others, so this was the best he could do for now.
These Wenzhou businessmen had originally thought that Chen Yang would not agree to them paying only half the deposit and had prepared how to negotiate. But they never expected Chen Yang to agree so readily. This rendered all their prepared arguments useless.
"Do you know why I dared to trust you after only one meeting? Because I have absolute confidence in my products. As long as you are willing to work hard to promote them, they will definitely sell. I guarantee the quality."
"And I also believe that you are not narrow-minded people. If you were to embezzle these televisions, then I would admit I was blind to have trusted a group of narrow-minded people."
"A chance to continuously get goods from the factory and get rich, versus a little petty profit, which one would you choose? I don't think I need to say more."
Chen Yang seemed to see through their doubts and smiled faintly.