Qian Qing originally thought that after she said she wanted to hold back payment for the goods, the OEM factories would hesitate, but it turned out that they were not surprised at all and just said that the payment would be in full within a month.
Qian Qing understood that if she hadn't paid half of the deposit, the other party would definitely not agree now. But now these factories have basically no external orders and rely on Qingyue for their livelihood. Naturally, they are unwilling to tear their faces apart because of the delay in payment.
However, this also put a lot of pressure on Qian Qing.
In the past, she owned her own shop. If she failed, she could comfort herself by renting it out and earning some rent. She could buy houses and land, open shops, and renovate them without any scruples. But now, she is responsible for not only the family livelihoods of Qingyue’s employees, but also the downstream factories. If Qingyue suffers a setback, hundreds of families will be affected.
Wen Lan noticed Qian Qing's mood change: "Why do you feel more and more stressed?"
Qian Qing smiled bitterly: "I used to think I was just an ordinary person, and I didn't have to worry about the consequences of doing things. But now it seems that it is not the case anymore."
Wen Lan understood Qian Qing's implication and was silent for a moment before she said, "You can't say that. If you always look ahead and behind, isn't that just another way to kill time? Things have changed so much in the past few years. If you don't catch the opportunity, you will fall behind... I would rather you trust your intuition and move forward, and leave the backward thinking to us. In a modern enterprise, the people at the forefront should be aggressive."
Although she has only joined Qingyue not long ago, Wen Lan has already deeply recognized Qian Qing's talent. Although Qian Qing is only a high school graduate and has not received any orthodox economics education or a diploma, his sensitivity to timing and talent in fashion design are enough to make Wen Lan willing to tie the rest of her career to Qingyue.
In her opinion, Qian Qing's current inability to adapt is simply because she does not fully understand Qingyue's potential.
But Wenlan is different. She has been exposed to many classic business cases when she was in school. She knows how important it is for a company to have a wise leader who can grasp the direction in its early stages. For Qingyue, only Qianqing can do this. She seems to have helped Qianqing to regulate Qingyue, but there are some things she can't think of or do.
After hearing what Wen Lan said, Qian Qing gradually calmed down: "That's right."
What's the point of looking ahead and behind now? It's better to just keep going forward and deal with the problems later. After all, she still has Zhou Hao to back her up.
Tens of thousands of clothes were piled up in the warehouses of three factories. Qian Qing inspected them one by one. It must be said that the state-owned factories still have their own insistence on product quality. There are very few thread ends in these tens of thousands of clothes. So the inspection process was very smooth. After Qian Qing finished the inspection, he did not rush to take the goods away. Instead, he took 100 pieces of each style, packed them and took them back to the hotel. The inventory at the back is still placed in the factory, waiting to be shipped directly from the factory if the exhibition goes well.
Ding Jie took out a big, thick iron from his suitcase, and stood aside, stretching the clothes, while Wu Pandi and the others ironed the samples one by one. These clothes were the face of Qingyue, so of course they deserved to be taken care of in any way.
Qian Qing also brought a suitcase of clothes hangers. These clothes hangers were all rattan clothes hangers from Qingyue’s store. Qian Qing planned to use this as the symbol of Qingyue. She herself liked this kind of rattan clothes hanger very much. It looked natural and simple.
There is another suitcase filled with Qingyue hangtags. Time was too tight, so Qian Qing only had time to ask a few OEM factories to make small labels on the clothes. Nowadays, not many people care about hangtags, and Qian Qing only made a few thousand. She plans to add these hangtags to this batch of samples first. The ones in stock will have to wait until the next batch.
There are still two or three days before the trade fair begins. During these days, Qian Qing and her friends have no time to rest. They are busy ironing clothes, checking items, and putting tags on samples...
When everything was finally ready, it was time to go see the venue.
Qian Qing took Ding Jie and Wen Lan to see the venue one day in advance. This trade fair was quite large and was held in a conference hall in the provincial capital. The two-story venue was occupied by hundreds of manufacturers and companies from all over the country.
Qingyue’s stall is on the first floor, but the bad thing is, it is at the very back of the first floor.
Merchants had to walk through dozens of booths and go all the way to the innermost part before they could see Qingyue’s booth.
Ding Jie was a little panicked. No one knew better than him how much effort and energy his sister had invested in this trade fair. How could they attract any customers with a booth in such a remote place?
Wen Lan also suggested that Qian Qing should find the leaders of the relevant units to see if they could change the location. The location in front of and behind the booth made a huge difference to Qingyue.
Qian Qing shook her head: "It won't be of much use if we go there. Look at the backgrounds of those manufacturers in front of us."
Wen Lan and Ding Jie then looked over one by one, and they understood why Qian Qing said that. It turned out that the booths in front were all state-owned factories.
Yiyi, white clouds, red plums...
Either they are well-known manufacturers from other places, or they are relatively well-known manufacturers in the provincial capital. There is not a single private brand.
Qian Qing smiled bitterly and said, "I just looked at the arrangement of the booths in front of the venue. Many private brands have been placed on the second floor. We are already being given a face by others for being able to occupy a booth on the first floor. I'm afraid it will be useless to look for one now."
Ding Jie still didn't give up: "The second floor is fine too. We want the location near the staircase on the second floor. Isn't that a good place too?"
Qian Qing took Ding Jie to the booth in front and explained: "Did you see it? Hongxing Garment Factory!"
The organizers of the conference also racked their brains to arrange all the large and famous garment factories on the first floor, and all the small state-owned factories on the second floor. Other corners were allocated to the few private brands and factories.
Ding Jie stared at the words "Hongxing" on it, his eyes almost flaming with anger. When he came back, he heard from his sister that it was Director Li of Hongxing who released his sister's pigeon, and now the position he had his eyes on was taken away by Hongxing, and he was extremely angry.
Qian Qing dragged Wen Lan and Ding Jie to see Qingyue's stall: "Since we can't change it, let's think about how to make the most of this place."
The reality was that at that time, state-owned factories were still the mainstream. Although she helped solve the orders of three garment factories, her capital was not large after all, and it could only be considered as a medium-to-low scale in the venue. Being able to be allocated a first floor was already a face given by others, so why bother to make them unhappy?
Qian Qing was sizing up her own booth. The length of the booth was not bad. It was five meters long, and there was about ten square meters of space left at the back to place samples. This size was acceptable to Qian Qing, but there was a problem. The booth was concave at the back because there were several switches blocking it. People standing at the outermost part of the row could not see what was going on inside.
Qian Qing made a prompt decision: "Ding Jie, come over and move this row of tables away."
Since she is at the innermost part, next to the wall, why should she care about blocking other people's way? Just circle the innermost area! Use the picture to block the power switch, so no one can see it!
Qian Qing asked Ding Jie to move the table half a meter forward, to a position similar to the other stalls. Then he hung the poster Zhou Hao had drawn, and placed it directly on one end of the wall, so that people standing outside the alley could see the poster at the back.
Qian Qing even lifted up the clothes rack and waited until tomorrow to hang up the clothes. Hers would be the highest rack, so that others could see it at a glance.
This was not enough, Qian Qing removed all the hangers on the booth and asked Ding Jie to buy a few large mirrors and put them facing the booth. This made the originally cramped booth look much brighter.
Qian Qing was still not satisfied, and said to Ding Jie: "Remember to bring two sockets tomorrow and hang up two lamps. We are at the innermost part, and the light is a little dim."
After all these were taken care of, Wen Lan felt that the stall looked much better. At least while everyone else was setting up their stalls in the same way, Qingyue's stall was still more eye-catching.
But Qian Qing still couldn't feel at ease after she went back. No matter how well the stall was built, what if people were blocked outside and refused to go in?
After tossing and turning for half the night, Qian Qing finally made up her mind when she got up the next day. She called Wu Pandi and Yang Hua over and said, "We'll go to the booth today, so you two don't have to go."
Such a large-scale exhibition has a large square at the entrance. Qian Qing didn’t believe that no one would stay outside.
"I'll equip you with a loud speaker, our brochure, and some samples. If someone is setting up a stall outside, you can follow suit. If no one is setting up a stall, you can hand out brochures to people. Remember, give them to those who have a sign around their neck."
Those with signs around their necks are all merchants, so Qian Qing is asking people to promote their products. Otherwise, you just have to wait for people to come to your door. That's not how business is done.
Yang Hua was originally afraid of communicating with others, and Qian Qing promised to subsidize them with a few months' salary for each business trip, so she would naturally work hard to promote the product.
As for Wu Pandi, although she is always shy, Qian Qing is most optimistic about Wu Pandi's heart. Other employees regard Qingyue as a job, but Wu Pandi regards Qingyue as a lifeline. In this case, she should seize the opportunity.
Qian Qing was also unambiguous: "This time we will go by the tips. Whoever opens the most orders will be awarded a bonus based on the amount."
A certain degree of employee motivation is very necessary, and Qian Qing is now gradually turning his attention to the modern management methods mentioned by Wen Lan.
Wu Pandi's eyes lit up instantly. Qian Qing said she would give her a bonus, so she must be clear about it. Her younger sister is in the third year of junior high school, and Wu Pandi is under a lot of pressure now.
After getting up early, Qian Qing was still able to match clothes for several employees and put some makeup on everyone. As for herself, she picked out her favorite outfit from the new collection, let her wavy hair down behind her head, carefully drew her eyebrows, and put on bright lipstick.
At eight o'clock, a group of people rushed to the venue with bags of all sizes.
They were divided into two groups. Qian Qing took Ding Jie, Wenlan and the remaining two employees to set up the venue, while Wu Pandi and Yang Hua pushed a box with small wheels covered with black velvet, and a large speaker was placed in the box.
Yang Hua looked at the people coming and going, feeling a little embarrassed: "How...how can you yell like that?"
She wasn't shy, but selling clothes in a store didn't seem to be the same as finding someone to promote them. Look at the people coming and going along the way, they were all dressed like big bosses.
Many of them had greasy hair, and some were even turning car keys in their hands!
Wu Pandi was also a little scared, but thinking of the training Qian Qing had done before and remembering Qian Qing's promise to give her a commission, she immediately said, "Just go up and ask them if they want to see our latest clothes!"
Wu Pandi was quick to pick out one of the women wearing light makeup and approached her with a smile on her face: "Hello, I'm an employee of Qingyue Clothing. Are you interested in seeing our latest clothes? They are the same style I'm wearing. We have five more clothes in the same series, and the remaining two are from new series. They are all here."
The woman with light makeup on had a surprised look on her face, but she didn't sound impatient. She just glanced at her watch and said, "Wait a minute. I have something urgent to do here."
After saying this, he left in a hurry, without even giving Wu Pandi time to stuff the pamphlet into his pocket.
Yang Hua looked sympathetic. Wu Pandi was still young, and being rejected by others would always hurt her self-esteem. But Wu Pandi obviously did not allow herself to indulge in this state of having her self-esteem hit.
There are so many people here! If this one doesn't work, there's always another one!
Wu Pandi greeted the next person: "Hello, I am an employee of Qingyue Clothing..."
Influenced by Wu Pandi, Yang Hua gradually relaxed and started introducing the product to others with a brochure in hand.
…
In the backcourt, Qian Qing, Ding Jie and others were also very busy.
After the booth was set up, Qian Qing sent Ding Jie to the front entrance to hand out brochures. Wen Lan also stood by the aisle with two other employees to solicit customers.
Qian Qing sorted out her thoughts, said a few words, and then began to look at other people's clothes along the booths.
Today was only the morning of the first day, and no customers would place orders at this time. Most of them would just wander around the factory and wait until they understood the situation before placing an order. Qian Qing brought a box of business cards and a delicate small bag with a stack of brochures inside, and pretended to be a customer who came out to check the goods, and began to check the situation everywhere.
Several state-owned factories on the first floor are very powerful. Qian Qing thinks that although the clothes they bring are ordinary in style, the prices are very competitive. This is also the superiority of state-owned factories over private factories. These factories are subsidized by the state. The materials used are all good fabrics. The styles of the clothes they produce are not to be mentioned, but the quality is indeed very good.
However, Qian Qing thought that there were problems with the employees of these state-owned factories. When customers approached them to ask about the prices, they all looked down on him and ignored him.
Qian Qing: "What's the lowest purchase price for this dress? Is it in stock?"
State-owned factory employee: "This is the lowest price, we have it in stock."
If you ask more, the other party will be clueless.
Qian Qing sighed in her heart, even if it was a state-owned factory, it would go bankrupt in a few years if it kept making products this way.
You come out to win customers, but you are still so arrogant. You know, I heard that Pengcheng has started to cancel all kinds of coupons. Without cloth coupons, ordinary people can buy clothes as long as they spend money. Why do they have to come here to see your face?
Qian Qing shook her head and walked away, then went to the second floor and visited the Hongxing Garment Factory which she had visited before but had not yet explained.
It has to be said that Hongxing Garment Factory really spent a lot of money this time. The prices of the clothes on display made Qian Qing excited.
With such good fabrics sold at such a price, it is obvious that Hongxing only wants to make back the investment. After making back the investment, the only thing they want is to keep the factory open and not go bankrupt.
Qian Qing walked along the Hongxing stall and saw the private factories inside. She felt a sense of crisis. Although the styles were still not very good, these private factories had already been aware of keeping up with the trend. Many of the clothes were old and rigid with new elements added.
Like lace, bows, small lapels, wavy skirts...
Small factories are always better at adjusting if they want to survive than large ones, especially private factories, which are responsible for their own profits and losses, so they can adjust quickly.
After this round of inspection, Qian Qing also gained confidence in her stall. Although Qingyue is not the largest in scale, its designs are indeed among the best. The only ones that can compete with it are a few brands that claim to have hired designers from Hong Kong.
When Qian Qing went to ask questions, the other party's designer was also there. The male designer had a moustache and his introduction was full of English words. It really made people feel that "the other party's brand is very high-end".
Moreover, the other party’s brand name is not like Qingyue. They are named "Stephen" and "Aurora". At first glance, you might think it is a foreign brand.
When I asked about the price, wow, no piece of clothing was less than eighty.
Qian Qing was secretly shocked. What kind of thing was this? Just by giving a foreign name and hiring a fake foreign designer, the value of the clothes doubled?
Qian Qing returned to Qingyue's stall with a lot of doubts in her mind and complained to Wen Lan.
Wen Lan smiled and said, "It's like this now. You know sports shoes, right? A pair costs more than ten dollars, and the expensive ones cost hundreds of dollars. Even so, many parents still buy them for their children. I said that children's feet grow fast, so why buy such expensive ones. But people only recognize brands and insist that this kind of shoes is good. I don't think they are that good. Just because they have a foreign name doesn't mean they are imported from abroad."
Qian Qing touched his chin and said, "If it's really that good, we can register a brand later."
She had it in her head. Since wealthy customers were buying into this, she would just go along with it. As a small brand in its infancy, she didn't need so much moral sense. Her first priority was to survive and grow.
"We'll take turns over the next two days, and you can help me keep an eye on Aurora and Stephanie to see how their products are selling. If possible, we can divide our production lines into two categories, one for Qingyue and the other for this style."
Wen Lan nodded. What she admired most about Qian Qing was that she always approached things from a practical perspective and never underestimated any market.
After Qian Qing finished reading this, she went outside to see Wu Pandi and Yang Hua. As expected, no one gained anything in the morning. However, Wu Pandi and Yang Hua distributed most of the brochures in their hands.
Qian Qing patted the depressed Wu Pandi and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Good things are worth waiting for."
The truth will come in the afternoon.
Qian Qing brought the two people into the venue, went out to buy a few boxed lunches, and had a box of soda delivered to the booth. The boxed lunches tasted pretty good, and maybe it was because they were too hungry, but everyone ate with great praise.
Qian Qing had just finished her lunch box and was drinking a bottle of soda when a woman with heavy makeup came in.
The other party was holding a brochure, seemingly trying hard to identify whether the brand mentioned in the brochure was the same as the stall in front of him.
Qian Qing hurried to the mirror to take a look at herself, and then she straightened her hair before standing out and asking, "Hello, this is Qingyue Clothing. Are you here to learn about our latest autumn clothes?"
The heavily made-up woman's eyes lit up when she saw Qian Qing. She circled around Qian Qing and clapped her hands, "That's right! This is the feeling!"
Then, Qian Qing looked at the other person and took out a business card from his pocket: "Hello, I am the director of the Jingshi Film Studio, my last name is Niu."
"I would like to ask, are you interested in acting in a TV series?"