2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 354 The Big Fat Meat Plan

In October, after the peak season, the sales of the Flash Series electric vehicles, which were no longer being promoted, dropped to 4.2 units for the month.

Flash and its general distributor were not unhappy; in fact, they were quite relieved, as they finally had some inventory.

"We will continue to control shipments in November and December, and try to build up some inventory."

With a monthly production capacity of over 4 units, it's simply not enough to meet demand; it's genuinely not enough.

All the leading manufacturers and their distributors anticipated a market boom, but none of them actually calculated the speed of that boom. These days, there are no big data models, and older generations of entrepreneurs and business people don't really trust the experts; they only trust their own judgment.

Moreover, even experts didn't predict this explosive growth rate; it's almost the same as the increase in the number of computer users.

Fortunately, the production line at the Beicang factory has entered the commissioning phase. Once the commissioning is complete and the workers are trained, a group of experienced employees can be transferred from the existing factory.

The approach is to have experienced staff mentor new ones, and to start production as early as possible, without being bound by an opening ceremony.

"Others are eager to ship more goods, but we're thinking of shipping as little as possible," Lin Yumin said with a wry smile.

Limited production capacity has always been the biggest factor troubling Flash. As the person in charge of domestic sales, Lin Yumin is like a poor housewife, trying every possible way to allocate market share.

The saying "Even a clever housewife can't cook without rice" is quite fitting for him.

Over the past year, besides Tan Jincheng, Lin Yumin was probably the one who most hoped that the Beicang factory's progress would be accelerated, so that his work would be much easier.

"Uncle Lin and Uncle Wu, you two have had a tough year, traveling all over the country on business. Let's give you a few extra days off during the Spring Festival so you can go home and get some rest."

There were only the three of them in the office. They mainly summarized the problems that arose in sales over the past year, and combined these problems with a summary of gains and losses, so they were relatively relaxed.

The three of them hadn't sat down and chatted for a long time. Lin and Wu were both major contributors to the development of Flash Motors to where it is today. They were the ones who helped Tan Jincheng establish the sales channels in the early stages.

Without these two, it would have been impossible for Tan Jincheng to establish sales channels so quickly, and Flash could not have saved so much time by traveling all over the country alone.

The term "uncle" reflects not only that the two men and the father were once colleagues and of the same generation, but also a sense of respect for each other's contributions to the company's development.

A thousand troops are easy to get, but a general is hard to find.

“That’s great! The last few times your father came over, Mr. Tan, we weren’t in Beicang and didn’t have a chance to get together. Going home earlier will allow us to get together,” Lin Yumin said with a smile.

The couple actually wanted to buy a house here and bring their families over, but their children were at a crucial stage of their education and their academic performance wasn't as poor as Zhang Wenzuo's, so they had to give up on that idea for the time being.

It seems that the whole family will have to wait until the child graduates from high school and enters university before they can be reunited.

"Old Lin is quite busy, but I handle overseas channels, so it's not too bad," Wu Zhenping said modestly.

"You can't say that. Uncle Wu, you still have to go abroad. Everyone is working hard. Let's hang in there. Once our channels and production capacity are stable, everyone will be able to relax."

Then, Tan Jincheng added with a smile, "If nothing unexpected happens, both of you uncles will be able to retire within five years, and then you won't have any work pressure anymore."

Within five years, Wu Zhenping was just 40 years old, and Lin Yumin was only 41.

At 40 years old, he no longer has to worry about money. It has to be said that Tan Jincheng's promise is very tempting, giving him motivation even when he's exhausted.

Actually, this is the best outcome they could have imagined. Flash's sales team can't be controlled by them forever. They will definitely be rotated to other positions after a few years. Otherwise, Flash might face a situation similar to what happened when Yu Lin left.

Both of them came from state-owned enterprises, so they naturally understood the art of conversation. From Tan Jincheng's words, they could tell that the sales department could only be managed by them for a maximum of five years.

But so what? Flashcart is aiming for an IPO within five years, and they have stock options. If the IPO is successful, they can really retire at 40.

It doesn't matter if I don't succeed; I can just change jobs. The pay is there, and I'm not short of money.

"Haha, then we'll have to work hard, President Tan. Only when the company progresses under your leadership can we enjoy a good life."

"Haha, retiring within five years, that's even more comfortable than your father, Mr. Tan. We never even thought about it before we came out."

Indeed, they hadn't dared to imagine it. Before leaving the petrochemical industry, they simply didn't want to waste their youth and wanted to take a chance while they were still young. However, the vitality of the private economy in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions and its rapid development kept them busy. People here seemed to never know how to rest. Business negotiations and social interactions were very simple, with no formalities between the parties. Boss Tan often entertained clients in the company cafeteria, or even with fast food. If this happened in Yicheng, the business deal would definitely fall through.

"I've already laid out the plan for the electric vehicle business within the next five years. Next, besides the construction progress, it's about controlling sales and production. As for myself, I'll probably have to shift my focus to lithium batteries, so the company will have to work hard for my two uncles."

By the end of 2010, the production capacity of the Flash may reach 700 million to 750 million vehicles per year. This capacity should be sufficient to ensure that the Flash's sales will not be limited before 2016.

In other words, Tan Jincheng has already planned out 10 years of production capacity, and he has also taken into account the electric vehicle standards after the implementation of the new national standard in 2009, which can firmly guarantee Shanchi's position among the top three in the electric vehicle industry.

Being the top dog is certainly good, but if you can't be the top dog, being in the top three is fine. Tan Jincheng is quite Zen. Not all reborn people dream of becoming the richest person. At least Tan Jincheng has never thought about it.

Lin Yumin nodded: "This is what we should do, President Tan doesn't need to give any special instructions."

The same applies to Wu Zhenping.

However, both of them were a little curious. Orange Technology's valuation had now exceeded 2 million, and Zhang Xupeng's clothing business was also thriving. They had bought factories and stores and were renovating them, and they had also found OEM manufacturers.

However, Mr. Tan seems to have no interest in these two industries at all, but is very concerned about the lithium battery industry, which requires huge investment and has an unclear market prospect.

They had heard that ByteDance had established a securities department specifically to support lithium battery factories, and that President Tan was also looking for talent in the field of lithium batteries.

The factory in Chunxiao is also under construction, although progress is slow.

Judging from Mr. Tan's actions in various aspects, whether it is electric vehicles, clothing or the Internet, he will stop expanding after investing to a certain extent. As for the lithium battery sector, he is really losing money bit by bit.

It seems they intend to invest all their earnings in lithium batteries.

Unfortunately, they don't understand lithium batteries either, so they're destined to have nothing to do with that area in the future.

It's not surprising that subordinates, especially close ones, can guess some of their boss's thoughts. Although Tan Jincheng sometimes seems petty, he's not the kind of cunning old fox.

Tan Jincheng has indeed been investing in lithium batteries little by little. When he didn't have much money, he would buy stocks in this field, even if it was only a few hundred thousand yuan, accumulating it bit by bit.

The headquarters building also reserved a floor for Hangxin New Energy. Anyone willing to come can be placed there, and the research results from the research institute can be used for market promotion.

Currently, the research direction of the Imperial Capital Research Institute on lithium batteries mainly focuses on two-wheeled electric vehicles and mobile phone applications.

Since they've already entered the lithium battery business, they naturally can't let go of the mobile phone battery business. Besides accumulating technology for automotive batteries, it can also improve Hangxin New Energy's financial situation, preventing it from remaining in a loss-making state.

Flash Group doesn't have the capability or the energy to handle the complete smartphone business. However, it's feasible to engage in the business of key components while adhering to Flash's development plan.

There are still 3 years until 2009, the year of the smartphone's inception, and the era of its widespread popularity should be 2011, which means there are still 5 years to go.

Hehe, when Orange Technology develops its APP plans and creates various apps, and Hang New Energy focuses on the mobile phone battery business, who dares to say that these two businesses will not be profitable, except for not having their own mobile phone brand?

As an Android enthusiast back in the day, Tan Jincheng remembers many of the most popular apps in their early days, such as Kaixin.com and Happy Farm, which weren't too difficult to develop.

The installation volume is terrifying, and then it can be sold at a good price. As for mobile phone batteries, it goes without saying that it would be best to enter Apple's supply chain. If that's not possible, it's still possible to get battery orders for domestic mobile phone manufacturers.

In the early days, Zhonghua Coolpad, Meizu, Lei Jun's Xiaomi, and even Apple were all potential customers of Hangxin Energy.

It could even be said that before Xiaomi emerged, Huaqiangbei could have been a potential customer for Hangxin Energy's counterfeit mobile phones. This was a huge market, a very lucrative one.

It must be said that Tan Jincheng's advantage lies in having more than 10 years of experience compared to other entrepreneurs. This combination of the Internet and physical businesses, walking on two legs, is further aided by the powerful tool of memory management.

If we consider the electric vehicle industry as a whole, in a few years, Tan Jincheng will truly be able to crush his competitors.

Putting everything else aside, if Tan Jincheng hadn't been so focused on lithium batteries, he could have easily reduced FlashTech's debt ratio to below 20% using the cash flow of these companies, plus financing, IPOs, and other capital means.

For example, with the previous investment in the Tianjin factory, FlashTech didn't even need a loan; they could raise all the funds themselves.

(End of this chapter)