Chapter 156, Section 155: The Father-in-Law's Test
The aroma of food wafted from the kitchen.
After Jiang Xia's infuriating joke, Lin Gaoyuan originally wanted to apologize to his future son-in-law, but now... well, never mind.
I don't know why, but it inexplicably looks a little more pleasing to the eye.
Jiang Xia, carrying Yu Yuan'er, shuffled his bottom little by little toward his father-in-law. Lin Gaoyuan glanced at him sideways, thinking that this kid was clearly not afraid of him, yet he was still pretending.
"I heard from Yanwan that your father drives a taxi?" Lin Gaoyuan asked casually.
"Yes, I've been driving for about twenty years. Driving a big truck used to be too tiring, but driving a taxi was easier," Jiang Xia replied.
Lin Gaoyuan nodded. He didn't have any occupational discrimination. Everyone was just trying to make a living. Before he became rich, he was a carpenter. Later, he opened a toy factory, and life gradually became better.
Now, with the global financial crisis and economic downturn, the factory is on the verge of collapse, and we might even have to give up all the profits we've made.
Therefore, in a person's life, fortunes can change drastically over time. The fishmonger who is now might just become the big boss of some corporation in the future.
Fate is a mysterious and unpredictable thing.
"Driving a taxi is pretty good," Lin Gaoyuan sighed softly.
If possible, he would like to find a stable job right now, but he can't help it, he can't get rid of his current job.
"It's really good."
Jiang Xia wholeheartedly agreed. These days, there are few private cars, the roads are unobstructed, and the starting fare is only five yuan. Over the course of a month, one can earn a considerable amount of money.
"What are your thoughts on the toy industry?" he suddenly asked.
Although I don't think a recent graduate can offer any profound insights, I'd still like to hear the perspective of a top student from Tsinghua University.
Jiang Xia raised an eyebrow slightly, thinking that his father-in-law's test had finally arrived.
"Throughout history, the market potential for toys has always been enormous."
Jiang Xia thought for a couple of seconds and continued, "In ancient times, toys included rattles, bamboo dragonflies, tangrams, and Luban locks. In modern times, the development of information technology has broadened people's horizons, toy factories have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and all kinds of toys are emerging one after another."
Lin Gaoyuan frowned slightly. Although Jiang Xia's words made sense, they weren't what he wanted to hear. Everyone understands this kind of big truth.
"What about the current environment?"
"Disaster."
"Oh? Tell me about it."
"Modern development means the liberation of productive forces. Although there are many types of toys on the market, there are also many competing products. When the quality and appearance of all toys are similar, consumers will naturally choose the cheaper ones. Not to mention that the current economic downturn has saturated the lower-end toy market, with huge inventory. It is difficult to make money. It is already good if you can break even."
Jiang Xia deliberately referred to the low-end toy market, where toys are easy to imitate and have little technical content. The barrier to entry is extremely low; anyone with a little money can enter the market by buying a production line.
My father-in-law's toy factory is one such example. It mainly produces children's toys, and its sales have been good over the years, earning it some money. However, when the financial crisis hit, its drawbacks became apparent.
Lin Gaoyuan remained silent. Jiang Xia's words had struck a chord with him. Wasn't this exactly the predicament he was facing? He couldn't get any orders, and his inventory was unsellable. Even if they were to engage in a price war, his small factory simply didn't have the qualifications.
"Hmm... So what brilliant ideas do you have? I mean, how to get out of our current predicament."
Jiangxia stopped kneading the taro ball's belly and tapped her fingers habitually.
If we're talking about ways to salvage the situation, he does have some ideas, such as live-streaming e-commerce. By creating some trendy toys based on current internet memes, he might be able to boost sales.
If he remembers correctly, the first Singles' Day event was held in 2009. Back then, computers were not yet widespread, and online shopping was still a very novel concept in China. Many brick-and-mortar stores were still taking a wait-and-see approach.
As a reborn individual, Jiang Xia is well aware that e-commerce, riding the wave of 4G and 5G, will enter a period of rapid growth in the next decade. If he can enter the market early and reap the benefits of this era, he will make a fortune.
"Uncle Lin, have you ever considered selling your own toys on online shopping platforms? You wouldn't need to contact distributors; you could sell directly to consumers," Jiang Xia said.
"You mean Taobao?" Lin Gaoyuan thought for a moment and said, "Yanwan told me about it a long time ago. I'm usually busy and don't have time, so she's the one who's handling it."
"How are the results?"
"The profits are so-so. We can make some money, but not much," Lin Gaoyuan said, shaking his head.
He didn't care about that little bit of money; it wasn't even enough to cover Yanwan's tuition. If it weren't for his daughter's insistence, he wouldn't want to do it anymore; sending packages every day was really troublesome.
Jiang Xia frowned. Why was the result different from what he had expected? Moreover, Lin Yanwan had never mentioned this to him. Could it be because he hadn't earned much money?
He had no doubt about his wife's intelligence. Since she had started working on it well in advance and was familiar with various marketing strategies from their previous life, the result should not have been like this.
If Lin Yanwan's operation was correct, then where could the problem lie?
In fact, Jiang Xia had a preconceived notion that he could make money simply by opening an online store at this juncture, ignoring the current e-commerce environment.
However, he forgot that in 2009, the entire domestic e-commerce market was only worth over 200 billion yuan, and that included the Double Eleven shopping festival.
The estimated revenue for the first half of the year was only a few hundred billion yuan, and when distributed across the national market, it becomes very small.
Later, Taobao alone achieved a transaction volume exceeding 500 billion yuan on Singles' Day. This gives you an idea of how bleak the domestic e-commerce environment is now.
However, if you open your own online store to sell toys and contact the manufacturer directly to get the goods and ship them, you don't need to spend a penny. You only earn the price difference, and you can still earn some pocket money every month.
However, this amount of money is negligible compared to the daily expenses of a toy factory. Various labor costs, material costs, maintenance costs, water and electricity, and rent, etc., can easily amount to more than 100,000 yuan per month.
After figuring out the key to the problem, Jiang Xia suddenly realized that the overall e-commerce market was not doing well, and it was indeed difficult to maintain the factory's operation through online shopping.
“Uncle Lin, if I’m not mistaken, Yanwan currently only operates one online store, right?” Jiang Xia suddenly said.
Lin Gaoyuan thought for a few seconds and nodded slightly: "Yes."
"What if you open several or even a dozen such online stores, or hire some people to help you promote them and sell your goods with zero cost? For every toy sold, you give up a small profit. If they can sell it at a high price, that's their skill; if they can't sell it, you won't lose money. You're just transferring the traditional brick-and-mortar business model to the internet—the so-called 'small profits but quick turnover.' What if it works well?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Gaoyuan's eyes gradually brightened.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
