With the business opening imminent, Yu Fan's private life did not attract Xu Haizhou and his wife's constant attention.
The factory now has more than 40 employees to support. If it does not find orders quickly, it will be difficult to guarantee that the loan it has will last for a few months.
Learning from the lessons of Red Star Garment Factory, Anqiao focuses on product innovation and keeps a close eye on market trends.
They produce what consumers like. If consumers don’t know what they like, they create it and actively market it so that consumers can choose to buy it.
In the past, the Red Star Garment Factory actually had a fixed customer base, but later on, because it could not keep up with the market, after it closed down, its former customers defected to other factories.
The new Anqiao factory opened for business, and two old customers from the original Red Star Garment Factory also came to visit.
They thought the new factory manager was a fool with a lot of money and was just doing small things to defraud government subsidies.
But when he saw the neat factory, the white walls painted with clean paint, and all kinds of new equipment... he realized that some of them were serious about it.
After inviting the guests to sit in the office for a while, Xu Haizhou's newly hired male assistant Comrade Xiao Zhao made tea for the two customers. After chatting for about a cup of tea, Xu Haizhou took the two to the workshop for a tour.
"These are the products that our workers just made two days ago, and we plan to deliver them to the two Purple Dragonfly stores. There are still some left, which is probably enough to supply two or three stores. There are no big orders from the new factory, but there are quite a few orders from small merchants, which can be counted as one big order when combined.
The main reason is that the shipping cost is a bit higher.
Therefore, in the first half month after the factory opened, all the workers had enough work to do, but they didn't know whether they could successfully get other orders after half a month.
"Well, it's good. The workmanship is very fine and the style is not seen on the market."
"These are all styles developed by our Anqiao Design Department. The prices are a little higher." Led by Xu Haizhou, several former customers of Red Star Garment Factory came to the production workshop: "These are common styles on the market. The prices will be cheaper. We have strict requirements on quality. Take a look."
With the experience of Red Star Garment Factory, Anqiao established a new product design department to design new styles that are not available on the market. When the company becomes bigger and stronger in the future, it will be able to participate in some trade fairs in Shanghai and promote Anqiao across the country.
The customer took the clothes, rubbed them carefully, and couldn't help but praise them: "The quality is impeccable, but what about the price?"
If the price of goods from Anqiao is cheap and the quality is acceptable, we can consider long-term cooperation, which can also help these new young entrepreneurs.
The older generation of this generation always has an inexplicable care for the younger generation.
"You are an old customer of Red Star. If you are willing to buy it at our Anqiao, we will definitely give you a friendly price." Xu Haizhou stretched out his hand and made a three sign. The customer understood, put down her dress, put her hands behind her back and walked around the workshop.
After a long pause, he said, "Well, that's fine. I don't want the regular ones for now. I want the ones your design department has developed. Give me 30 of each. Will it be in time for delivery in two days?"
After a lot of effort, a slightly larger order came in. How could Xu Haizhou say no? Even if the supply to his own store had to be temporarily stopped, he still had to supply the goods to the old customers.
"Can."
When new orders are received, the workers prepare the goods in an orderly manner.
Xu Haizhou was discussing a few small orders, and Qiao Lu was also busy.
I played mahjong with Mrs. Li for a few days, which brought us closer and made our relationship go very smoothly.
After hearing that Qiao Lu and her husband had taken out a loan to open a clothing factory, Mrs. Li went home and directly asked her husband to introduce orders to Qiao Lu's factory.
It's not a negotiating tone, it's a commanding tone.
"I finally made a nice friend. You must do me a small favor."
Li Guofu didn't say he wouldn't help, but his wife's commanding tone right from the start made him speechless.
Seeing the silence in her husband's eyes, Wang Qi burst out laughing and took a wooden chair to sit next to him: "Hey, Guofu, do you know how much money their store makes a month?"
Li Guofu certainly didn't know. He shook his head, took a sip of tea, sighed, and looked at his wife, signaling her to speak quickly.
Wang Qi stretched out his hand and made the number four.
Then he smiled and said happily, "I have discussed it with her. After I take care of this group of children who have passed the high school entrance examination, I will quit my job and open a clothing store to sell purple dragonfly clothes. Oh, by the way, Qiao Lu said that this is called franchising, which means that the store will be designed for me, and I only need to pay the money. She will arrange the rest for me. When the decoration is completed, I will go in directly as the store manager. If the business is good, I can also hire two employees. I can earn at least two or three thousand a month, right? Oh, I am not worse than you, Director Li!"
As she was talking, she started teasing her man.
"What? Quit your job to start a business?" Li Guofu frowned disapprovingly: "Can you do it? You went to work at a university right after graduating from college. Do you know what it's like to do business? It's not something you can just do as you say."
He totally doesn't believe his wife has the ability to do business. This is nonsense.
How could a teacher quit his stable job to go into business?
He had gotten to know Qiao Lu and his wife. They did not come from good backgrounds. They were both from poor families, so there was no way they could do business.
But Wang Qi, born into a scholarly family, was a good girl who was raised by her parents. She successfully studied all the way to a teacher's college. She was simple-minded and had no scheming. After marrying Li Guofu, she had his protection and did not suffer any loss. Now she suddenly said that she wanted to resign to do business. Who could agree to this?
"Why not? I've had an in-depth discussion with Qiao Lu, and it doesn't sound that difficult. Besides, it's only been a few years since it was opened. Qiao Lu said that there's a huge market vacancy, and as long as you're persistent, you can make money doing anything."
"That's true..." Having dealt with businessmen for many years, Li Guofu deeply agrees with this point of view.
It's a bit blunt, but it does make sense.
China is a vast country with abundant resources. Now it is catching up with the best years. As long as you are diligent and hardworking, according to the current prices, it is not a problem to buy a house a year.
"But your little money is not needed at home, as for ..."
"As for that, I'm making 40 yuan a month now, but Qiaolu, even though we have a joint venture store, can get thousands of yuan a month!" He was sad when he spoke, and sighed: "Before Qiaolu came, I always thought that few families could compare to ours. But you see, those who sell clothes make more money than us, and now they have started a factory. You have to make this relationship work for me!"
"What do you mean more than us? I make much more than their family." When it comes to earning ability, Li Guofu is not willing to admit it.
He started working right after graduating from junior high school and has managed to get to his current position. It cannot be said that he is just lucky.
And only he himself could understand the hardships involved, so he didn't want his wife to quit her stable job and go into business.
It is easy to make money by doing business, but it is also tiring.
"I can ask a few of my friends about the order, but don't be impulsive about your resignation. Think about it later." In a society where favors are important, one more friend means more ways to go. Now Li Guofu is helping Xu Haizhou, but if the other person becomes really big in the future, who knows who will help whom.
No one would think one more friend is too many, and they are all neighbors. Even if Wang Qi doesn't say it, he will consider helping him.
At least her man didn't completely deny her proposal. Even though Wang Qi felt a little unhappy, she still nodded in agreement.
"Okay, I'll learn more about it."
…
With the introduction of Li Guofu, Anqiao Factory successfully obtained the cooperation of a large textile factory, which provided Anqiao with fabrics at 20% lower than the market price.
Although it is not a lot, at least you don’t have to worry about the purchasing channels, and if the quantity is large, you can save a lot.
And because it was Li Guofu who introduced the friends, the friends introduced the friends.
Not long after, the factory received the first large order introduced by the director of the textile factory!
The order quantity is large, so we need to hire a separate truck to transport the goods. Time is not too tight, so we can pay a deposit first to make a batch to test the waters. If it sells well, we can increase the quantity. We can let the workers make a whole week's worth of goods at a time!
The first urgent issue in opening the factory was temporarily solved, and Xu Haizhou and his wife quickly invited Li Guofu and his wife to their home for a quick meal.
There was a lively conversation at the dinner table. The two men talked about the factory, the two women talked about opening a shop, and the methods and tips for selling clothes. Wang Qi's eight-year-old son talked to six-year-old Qiao An about interesting things that happened at school.
Only the cute little baby was lying in the small rocking basket, playing with the stuffed doll her father bought for her. The doll had two small bells around its neck, which made crisp sounds when it swung. It was so funny that it made her giggle.
The four-month-old baby has now learned to roll over and crawl, so Xu Haizhou had to buy a bigger crib with higher fences to prevent the child from falling while rolling over and crawling.
After the meal, the atmosphere was so good that when leaving, little Li Jiahao stood at the door, holding Qiao Ann's hand reluctantly and not wanting to let go.
"It would be nice if we went to the same primary school so we could go to school together."
Qiao An sighed and said to Li Jiahao with regret: "My mother said that the first primary school is too far from our home, so I went to the third primary school. The third primary school is close and can be reached in a short time by bike."
"It doesn't matter. It's a long way. My father has a car and can take me there." Li Jiahao said as a matter of course.
"But my dad doesn't have a car." Qiao An shook his head in frustration.
"Why don't you ask your father to buy it? Isn't your father also a factory manager?" In Li Jiahao's mind, factory managers are all rich people, like his father, rich people who drive cars.
In the entire primary school, it is almost impossible to find someone richer than his father. Li Jiahao is absolutely confident about this.
The two kids immediately turned their heads towards Xu Haizhou.
Meeting his son's eager gaze, Xu Haizhou found it funny. He picked him up and pinched his face: "Wait until Dad saves some more money and buys a car to take An An to school, okay?"
Her eyes lit up immediately, and she held Xu Haizhou's head and gave him a kiss on the side of his face: "Okay, I like cars."
I like dad more!
…
The first batch of orders officially started, and Xu Haizhou issued an order that the quality must be strictly guaranteed. It doesn't matter if the speed is a little slower. Quality is the most important thing in the first year of the factory's opening.
After finally arranging all the affairs at the factory, Xu Haizhou had no time to rest as he had to go to the other side to help his wife arrange the opening of a branch store.
I plan to open a larger clothing store near a department store. This time I will run the store on my own, and the supplier will of course be my own Anqiao Clothing Factory.
I calculated how much I had left on my loan and thought that if I spent it frugally, I could still rent a store and renovate it at the same time.
"We should look for the best, such as two stores connected together, or the landlord is willing to let us connect them into one big store."
"Why?" Li Hongjun didn't understand Qiao Lu's idea, but he still had some money left, so renting another room wouldn't be a heavy burden. At most, the renovation fee would be a little higher.
"I plan to renovate it properly. A small store is not enough. Besides, our Purple Dragonfly is now a well-known brand in Li'an, right? Two stores would be more impressive. The one on Baiyun Street is called a store, but its style is not on the same level as ours, so we must do a good job in our new store."
Li An currently has no clothing brand that is truly famous, and Purple Dragonfly is the first one.
If it is done well, it may become a household name clothing brand like Li Ning and Metersbonwe in 20 or 30 years.
See the big picture from the small, and start planning now.
"Haizhou, sister-in-law, you guys go ahead and do it first. If you do well, I'll find a store and decorate it like yours. It will be like a second branch, right?"
"Okay, then it's like joining us, but I won't charge you a franchise fee."
"Hahaha, sister-in-law, you are so nice! Haizhou is blessed, so blessed, hahaha——"
Qiao Lu was not confident in letting Xu Haizhou search for a store alone, so she went with him, determined to find the most suitable and best location.
After much searching, we finally chose the busiest commercial street in Li'an City.
There are state-owned hotels and the largest department store here. There is also a friendship hotel and a guest house at the end of the street. No other street has a larger flow of people than this one.
It took two days to find the place. The landlady was very easy to talk to. It was no problem to break through her wall as long as I paid her an extra twenty dollars.
There is no problem with this, Xu Haizhou and his wife are prepared to pay more money.
Especially for such a good location, located 80 meters diagonally opposite the main entrance of the department store, with no residential houses blocking the view around, and the land is open, it is quite worth it.
The rent is 50 yuan a month, and the temporary lease is for five years. The two rooms have a total area of 150 square meters, which is the largest private clothing store in the whole of Li'an.
After the store was selected, we started looking for a decoration team. Qiao Lu was responsible for drawing the design drawings. It didn't need to be very detailed, just a rough draft and then some coloring so that the workers could understand what it meant.
Work started in full swing, with the workers first clearing out the clutter in the store, then laying the floor tiles, painting it white, and doing waterproofing and moisture-proofing work, then leaving it to dry for a week.
During this period, the workers had to continue their work and make customized tables, chairs, and storage cabinets for Qiao Lu.
The cabinet is made of light wood with a unified color scheme. The paint is white and light yellow as the main colors, making the space open and bright. Even if the lights are not turned on, the indoor light is bright enough.
Of course, the lights must be turned on, no matter day or night, and you should buy more lamps, such as spotlights and downlights, and install a circle of light strips around.
These things are hard to buy in the market, so I had to ask Yu Fan’s ex-boyfriend for help, and it took him a week to “buy” them for me from Hong Kong-style stores.
The price was not cheap, and it made Qiao Lu feel painful for a while.
The cashier counter is opposite to the main entrance, on the inner side of the wall. On the white wall behind the counter, a huge purple dragonfly logo was customized by a plastic factory. After it was installed on the wall, a circle of light strips was pasted on the back edge of the logo.
After it was turned on, the entire background was glowing, and anyone who saw it would say, "Awesome!"
The fitting room is the second most important design after the goods. In order to save costs, there are no doors installed. Curtains are used instead. Hooks are nailed on both sides of the door frame. After the customers enter, they can just hook the curtains themselves.
Finally, I spent a lot of money and asked someone to make a very eye-catching huge sign - "Purple Dragonfly Clothing"!
The signs are much more eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing than the white background with black letters on most stores in the market today. There are also lights behind the five big characters. At night, these two stores will become the most dazzling glowing objects in the darkness!
That’s why they say money in the 1980s was really valuable. After all this trouble, I only spent less than 20,000!
In mid-to-late January, after two months of renovation, the store was successfully completed. Seeing the final result, not only Xu Haizhou and his colleagues, but even the workers who personally participated in the renovation felt incredible.
Especially in the evening, when all the lights are suddenly turned on, neighbors nearby and far away are attracted by the lights and there is a sound of gasps in the room.
"What is this, Purple Dragonfly Clothing? A clothing store?"
"Oh my goodness, it's really bright. How many light bulbs are installed here?"
"So beautiful, so beautiful..."
Everyone looked at the glowing white sign and logo, then at the neatly arranged counters, tables and stools inside the store, as well as the eye-catching floral fitting room curtains. They were dazzled and didn't know where to look.
Oh, by the way, there are no roller shutters or wooden doors in the store, only glass doors and a huge floor-to-ceiling window!
In fact, the most expensive thing in this renovation is the floor-to-ceiling window of the store next door. It is a whole wall of floor-to-ceiling glass, which cost a full two thousand dollars in cash!
What a generous move! Qiao Lu felt the pain in her heart and prayed silently in her heart that she would not be ruined.
Fortunately, the final effect was good. Just look at everyone’s reaction and you will know that she succeeded.
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