Chapter 312 Embroidery Workshop
Lin Changning remained silent for a long time, feeling that in all the vast world there were hardly any places that could accommodate these little children.
This region has experienced consecutive years of disasters, leading to rising food prices and increased childcare costs. Given the extent of the disasters, it's truly remarkable that they've managed to achieve this level of success.
Thinking of this, Lin Changning couldn't help but wonder about the future of these girls. Without the help of their fathers and relatives, and being girls, marriage seemed like a good option at first glance. However, without a strong maternal family to support them, they would likely end up with farmers who would give them a few coins and a small dowry, essentially providing them with free labor. Was this really good for these girls?
Lin Changning pondered carefully, but the commander was right. Whether they went to the wine shop or the embroidery shop, they needed to have a skill. If they had a skill, they would not starve no matter where they went.
When the topic of technology came up, Lin Changning pondered again. The gorgeous dresses he sold in the capital last time were quite popular with the young ladies and wives of various families.
If he had a fabric workshop, and did everything from drawing to making clothes himself, he could provide a lot of jobs. However, the difficulty lies in the fact that the materials used in those beautiful dresses are very expensive. He is not a professional fabric researcher. Most ordinary people still wear linen and cotton clothes, while the nobles use various brocades and silks.
If you really want to open a fabric shop, you have to put in some effort in the early stages. If these girls could learn embroidery and open a few ready-made clothing shops, targeting the high-end market and selling exclusively to wealthy ladies, it should provide a lot of jobs.
Lin Changning calculated in his mind that with the money he had now, plus the reward from the prince, the dividends from the He family, and his own salary, opening a cloth shop shouldn't be a problem.
However, it's not entirely cost-effective, because you need to research the technology in the early stages, which will definitely cost money. Although she has enough money, if she spends it all, she will be in a bit of a bind.
It would be better to open an embroidery workshop, import some brocade from the cloth shop, provide some patterns and designs, select a few skilled embroiderers and pay them a monthly salary, and find some teenage girls from the orphanage to train, sign some contracts, provide them with jobs and room and board. There shouldn't be any major problems, and it can also solve the problem of these young girls not being able to find work.
Qi Rong looked at Lin Changning, who was propping his head up in a daze, seemingly lost in thought, and waved his hand: "What are you thinking about, Xiao Liu?"
Lin Changning came to his senses and cleared his throat: "I have an idea that might solve the problem of these girls not being able to find work after they turn twelve."
Qi Rong raised an eyebrow: "Tell me about it?"
Lin Changning's eyes sparkled: "This time when I went to the capital, I drew some patterns myself and made some novel dresses. They were quite popular among ladies in the capital. I also inquired in the capital. A small embroidery workshop has about 10 to 30 people, a slightly larger one has about 100 people, and government-run embroidery workshops and large privately-run workshops have about 100 people."
Lin Changning looked at Qi Rong and smiled, “I want to try to set up an embroidery workshop, and invite some highly skilled embroiderers to teach these girls embroidery skills. I will provide the patterns, import some fabrics from other places, cut them into garments, and ask the embroiderers to embroider various patterns on them, and then sell them to various places.”
Lin Changning thought about it more and more and felt that it was very likely to be implemented. He had no problem buying some fabric with his money. He could hire a few master tailors to make the patterns and cut them out. Embroiderers would then embroider various patterns on the clothes. The He family owned a caravan.
He also receives dividends from the He family. Now that his second brother is at home, he is in charge of the He family's affairs and can cooperate directly with the He family to sell the manufactured clothing to various places. The clothing styles are novel and beautiful, so there will definitely be no shortage of sales.
Once the market is opened up, Lin Changning and his team can consider opening their own clothing stores in various locations.
Thinking about this, Lin Changning's mind wandered. Perhaps opening a jewelry store would be a good idea. Nowadays, jewelry comes in various forms, including jade, silk, gold, silver, and copper, in addition to jade and silk. It could be made into matching sets with clothes, using precious stones and agates. That might be a viable option.
The cost of a set of clothes, no matter how exquisite, is only around 100 taels. However, the highest price sold in the capital last time was several thousand taels, and even then, there was still a shortage.
By creating a scarcity marketing strategy, the high-end models will only be released in one set per year, the mid-range models will be custom-made and pre-sold, and the low-end models will use lower-grade fabrics but will not be limited in quantity. Compared to the mid-range and high-end models, the styles will be slightly inferior, which should make a lot of money.
After listening, Qi Rong pondered for a while and also felt that Changning's method was feasible. However, he really didn't know what he had done in the capital or what drawings he had made.
"The idea is good, and it can indeed provide some jobs. However, if we want to achieve the same scale as the government-run ones, not to mention how much money we'll have to invest upfront, I'm afraid we'll have to sell them off later..."
Qi Rong was worried that Lin Changning would lose money. Xiao Liu was different from him; he had earned all his military merits through his own hard work, and most of his current wealth was also accumulated by himself.
Doing business isn't a big problem, but the fear is losing all your capital because your foundation is too weak.
However, it's good to have such thoughts, as it shows that Xiao Liu is a kind and sincere person.
Feeling somewhat guilty for concealing important information a few days ago, Qi Rong sighed and continued, "To put it bluntly, this matter concerns the Prince's Mansion. How could I possibly let you spend so much money? I'll contribute 10,000 taels, taking one-third of your share. If we make a profit, just give me a share of the profits each year. If we lose money, then it's all mine."
Hearing Qi Rong say this, Lin Changning looked at him intently and said, "If you trust my command, you definitely won't lose money."
Qi Rong looked at Lin Changning with a smile, shook his head and chuckled: "Alright, I'll just sit here and wait for Xiao Liu to send me money every day."
Lin Changning acted immediately, grabbing paper and pen from the table and starting to sketch the design.
"Look, Commander, a set of clothes like this sells for several thousand taels in the capital. Including the cost of the embroiderers, the fabric, and transportation, the cost of this set is around six hundred taels. The cost of the clothes is secondary; the expensive part is those beads. We won't need to use these sea pearls next time, so after deducting the beads, the cost of a set is about 200 taels. The profit is more than ten times, so it's definitely profitable."
Qi Rong took the design, raised an eyebrow, and found it to be novel and exquisite. No wonder the ladies in the capital who were used to seeing good things would buy it; it was indeed quite good.
"Yes, it's really beautiful."
So, Xiao Liu's business deal might not necessarily be a loss; in fact, he might have even benefited.
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