Chapter 495: Actions Must Consider the World Situation
Before I started, I took a sip of tea and said:
"Why are your small rice mills becoming less and less popular? Because the world is changing.
In the past, every household had to buy a rice mill because transportation was inconvenient. Now, many places have roads that connect their villages and households, and farmers can go to the rice mill with just two bags of millet on their motorcycles.
In the past, houses were dilapidated and old, but now many people's homes are better built than those in the city. Who would want to put a rice mill at home, with all the dust and noise?
This is an irreversible trend in the world. Therefore, your future direction is to produce large-scale rice mills and strive to build only one rice mill in each village.
The more sophisticated and environmentally friendly you are, the better. Small machines for individual households can be produced, but they are not mainstream.
Since the advent of pump trucks, farmers no longer need prefabricated panels when building houses. This is why "concrete stations" have emerged, and there is no market for small concrete mixers.
Your small rice mill will have the same fate as your small blender. Don't just look at whether there's a market for it now; we need to see if there will be a market for it in the future."
Li Xiushi stared at me with wide eyes, slapped his thigh and said:
"You have a point. Sales of small rice mills started to decline last year. We held a meeting to analyze the situation and attributed the main reason to farmers not farming but buying rice to eat."
"That factor also exists. But the factors I mentioned are dominant. After all, most farmers still farm."
Li Xiuli gave a thumbs-up: "Teacher Wan really knows everything."
I shook my head and said, "Although I don't know much about the industry and many sectors are unfamiliar to me, I do understand the general trend."
Li Xiuli asked, "What is the general trend?"
"The so-called general trend is the momentum of the times. The more technological advancements there are, the more specialized the division of labor becomes. New industries will emerge.
For example, this afternoon, someone came to consult me, saying that her mother-in-law's fruit was not selling well. I gave her an idea."
They both asked at the same time, "What's the idea?"
I told Yu Fang again about the advice I gave her.
They both said, "That's a great idea."
I said, "The higher the level of economic development in society, the more your company needs to introduce a modern enterprise system if it wants to grow."
"How to introduce it?" Li Xiuli leaned forward.
"You need to separate the three departments of R&D, production, and sales. If this is not possible at the moment, at least separate R&D, production, and sales. The sales department will put pressure on the production department.
If the sales department says that small rice mills are not selling well, the company's top management should promptly investigate why and adjust the direction.
When the sales department reports problems with the machine, the R&D and production departments must make timely improvements.
If it's still the same as it is now, when there's a problem with the machinery, each sales outlet will send a mechanic to fix it. Then you should change your name to mine, and call yourself Wan Xiuxi. You're busy all day.
The sales department doesn't exaggerate the product's merits to customers. Instead, it gathers customer complaints, creating an antagonistic relationship with the R&D and production departments. The sales department's sole purpose is to find fault with the production department.
Many companies now have it the other way around, with the sales department acting as a cover for the production department, rather than being a loyal representative of the customer. This way, no matter how many "top sellers" a company produces, it won't last long.
If the sales department ensures a good first pass and the production department continuously improves product quality, the repair workload will become easier and easier, and customer satisfaction will increase.
In short, if you want to grow and become a strong company, you can't be the inventor yourself. You need to think about the direction of your company's development. Or you can hire a CEO and become the inventor yourself.
The times are changing rapidly, so you should be willing to let go and let people with new knowledge take over management. If you want to be content with a small fortune, sell the factory to someone else as soon as possible.
If you want to achieve great things, don't just think about Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, or just China. Sell your products abroad. Otherwise, your factory will cease production within ten years."
Li Xiuli broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this.
Kong Haoran sighed: "Business is difficult."
I said, "You need to narrow your focus. You can't try to do all kinds of agricultural machinery. Just focus on one thing."
During the early years of the color TV war, Sichuan Changhong was as fierce as a tiger. In its eagerness to expand, it bought out all the color cathode ray tubes from upstream companies.
As a result, LCD monitors came out, and no one watched color CRT TVs, and the Changhong era ended.
You've expanded your business so much. You should immediately scale it back and focus on one or two products. Only when you become unrivaled will you have a future. I'm just a scholar, and this is just for Mr. Li's reference."
He stared at me for a long time and asked, "Isn't your main job fortune-telling?"
I nodded and said, “It’s calculating the fate of people and the fate of enterprises, and it’s also studying the general trend of the world.
After 1949, it's impossible that all landlords suffered a bad fate; that was simply the result of the general trend of the world. The fate of anyone, including businesses, cannot escape the general trend of the world."
As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent.
After a long pause, Li Xiuli let out a long sigh and said, "Mr. Wan, it's a good opportunity to come tonight. A conversation with you is worth ten years of study. Let me tell you the truth now."
"you say."
"I wanted to hand over the business to my son, who studied business administration abroad and has worked in the company for five or six years.
Everyone in my family was against it. Including my wife. They said he had studied abroad for several years, and now as a vice president, he was starting to lay off relatives. If he really became chairman and general manager, the company would become owned by outsiders.
But I thought, since it will be his in the future anyway, I might as well give it to him as soon as possible. Let him practice, and if he fails to do well, I have a way to take back the power in time.
I came here for this very reason. It's a major decision. Just now, many of the things you said were almost identical to what he said to me.
I said, "Then move the teacup away and open the words you wrote. It's the character 交 (交) as in 交權 (交權)."
Li and Kong had become wooden men, sitting there, neither moving the teacups nor speaking.
After a while, Li Xiuli asked, "Why? You must have guessed it was the word '交'?"
I said, "The original meaning of the word '交' is to cross one's legs. Crossing means sitting down. Sitting down to talk is a serious matter and implies entrusting someone.
The character below looks like a yao. You asked me to draw a yao. You want to hand over power.
Secondly, when people make decisions on major issues, they usually get straight to the point when fortune-telling.
For example, if someone is sick, they would write the characters "好" (good) or "恢" (healing). If someone is going to get things done, they would write the characters "成" (success) or "吉" (good luck). Alternatively, they would choose a character from their own name to predict their fortune.
People always think that if these words have good meanings or are related to themselves, the results will be more accurate.
Li Xiuli said, "Teacher Wan, whether it's me or my son who's in charge, you must be a consultant for our company. How much will it cost? Just tell me the price."
I laughed heartily. "Mr. Li, what I care about is the Dao. As for money, I'm really not interested. I believe that with my abilities, supporting my family won't be a problem."
Li Xiuli said, "I completely believe it. But I really need your advice. My son is still young."
Kong Haoran said, "Teacher Wan, be his advisor. It's not easy for him either. He worked his way up from a high school student, just like you."
I said, “Okay, let’s be friends. Let’s add each other on WeChat. I need to keep learning, too.”
Li Xiuli must pay for the repair, but I won’t accept it.
Kong Haoran said to Li Xiuli, "Pay the consulting fee in one lump sum at the end of the year. Teacher Wan is not doing business with you."
Li Xiuli said, "Okay, I'll invite you to visit my company some other day."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
