Back to the prime of life

Chapter 149 Small Group Sets Sail

With the benefits, Lu Changge suddenly began to "unwelcome" his friends. If he had known this, why would he have asked them to come today?

When he met An Yihuan in the kitchen, he urged her to work faster and even asked Li Ming and Qin Jun to help.

He also said: "A few grown men, are you just sitting there watching young girls do their work? Hurry up and do whatever work you see."

So Li Ming went to get the bowls and chopsticks to set the table, and Qin Jun started peeling and chopping garlic.

Lu Changge himself was not idle either. He had a good knife skill inherited from his previous life, so cutting potatoes into shreds was not a problem. In short, everything was ready, and An Yihuan only had to turn on the fire and stir-fry.

Unfortunately, the kitchen wasn't big enough for Ai Mai to squeeze in, so she said at the door, "Lu Changge, come out. Let me go and get busy."

"No, no, go pick up some garbage bags and throw them away, then put on new ones."

Qin Jun said from the side, "Didn't you just throw it?"

"In the summer, you have to throw away garbage bags more frequently, otherwise there will be surprises."

This isn't Lu Changge's experience. Let's be clear, it was a former roommate of his who didn't like to throw away garbage bags in the summer. These things really will get maggots if left in for a long time. If you don't believe me, try it.

An Yihuan didn't forget to laugh at him, "It seems like you have a life. Didn't you throw it away before?"

"That's right, I just happened to have someone to use me for today."

"Aimee, did you hear that?"

An Yihuan was interested in watching the fun and was not afraid of trouble, but Ai Mai didn't care. She smiled and did it obediently.

She is the person in dormitory 407 who treats Lu Changge the best.

In fact, it was during her illness that Lu Changge helped her. However, Ai Mai took this very seriously and was always grateful.

In this way, with everyone's efforts, a table full of delicious dishes was on the table in just half an hour.

In addition to several cooked dishes such as dried bean curd sheets, tiger skin chicken feet, and hot and sour kelp, there are also several hot dishes such as scrambled eggs with tomatoes, shredded potatoes with vinegar, Kung Pao chicken, and braised spare ribs.

"It's almost done." Lu Changge said as if he was asking for her life.

An Yihuan said, "There's also seaweed egg drop soup, it'll be ready soon."

"I'll go help." Ai Mai couldn't sit down either.

The others were motionless. Li Ming asked, "How about drinking today?"

Qin Jun scolded: "There's an exam tomorrow, are you a tiger?"

"We won't drink too much, just three taels each to keep us entertained."

Lu Changge didn't care anyway. Tomorrow's database management exam was a piece of cake for him.

Seeing that Qin Jun did not continue to object, he stood up and said, "I'll get it."

Li Ming wants to drink to liven up the atmosphere.

The same goes for Lu Changge, he also needs to drink to boost his libido.

Different paths lead to the same destination, or it can be called the tacit understanding between brothers.

"Here I come, here I come." An Yihuan came out of the kitchen carrying a big bowl.

This girl is quite interesting. She looks like a cool motorcycle girl, but she is actually very down-to-earth and her cooking skills are amazing.

In her words, I am really good at both housework and housework.

"Wow, there's soup and wine. If you didn't know, you'd think today was some big day."

Yin Anyan said, "Aimai's birthday is in two days."

Lu Changge came out and heard this, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? We bought a cake to celebrate for Ai Mai."

"No, no, I rarely celebrate my birthday."

"Don't bother with these empty formalities." An Yihuan rubbed his hands. "If they can invite your boss, Mr. Lu, over this semester, there must be something going on. You guys can talk about yourselves, and we'll pick out what we like to hear and filter out what we don't like."

"Talking while eating."

Lu Changge has thought about it carefully this afternoon, especially combining it with some experience he has had running a small Taobao store in the past two years, so it's a good opportunity to talk about it today.

"Let's raise our glasses first. You girls can just drink the beverages." Qin Jun said this to Lu Changge.

Li Ming also agreed, "Today is a small group, just drink a little, we can open up next time when everyone is together."

To be honest, I don’t know why Cheng Yongyi didn’t come.

But no one else asked, not even An Yihuan, so Lu Changge naturally didn't ask either. He just thought that since Qin Jun asked Cheng Yongyi for help, he should come along today.

After eating.

Ai Mai asked curiously, "What do you want to talk about?"

Qin Jun said, "Old Lu and I were the first to bring it up. You can tell me yourself."

"It's not entirely because of you. I have my own considerations." Lu Changge also spoke the truth. If the Taobao store selling clothes can be successful, he and Xu Weiguo will still have a show to perform.

Thinking about it this way, the potential gains might be greater than the money earned.

"To put it simply, Lao Qin suggested that I transform my 6 million yuan Taobao store and expand some product categories. There are two reasons for this: first, there are already many imitators of vocational training, and second, we have a unique advantage because we are located in Jiangzhou, a clothing production base. Of course, he didn't say everything, and the other reason is that e-commerce is booming right now."

In 08, there were only about 2 million Internet users in our country, and the number of people who actually shopped online was even smaller.

So there was a so-called Internet dividend for many years to come.

The benefit is that new netizens are constantly joining, so the performance of companies in this industry can grow along with the crowd.

"Boss Lu meant that if we were going to do this, we had to do it seriously. We couldn't just shout about it today and stop tomorrow. That's why he called me and Li Ming over here."

An Yihuan said, "I see. Ai Mai and I just had a free meal today."

"If you pay for the food, it's not freeloading."

"Then I won't go out. We're both broke, and you still expect us to pay. An Yan, you have to see clearly. This is the face of a capitalist."

Yin Anyan knew she was joking and didn't care, so he asked, "What do you mean by doing it seriously?"

Lu Changge said, "We need to clarify the structure, define responsibilities, and set clear directions, goals, and strategies. Also, we need to move out of the garage and rent a proper storefront. Previously, we were just a small workshop, just doing our own business, and no one cared about us. But when we have to work with manufacturers, they'll see our makeshift team, and ninety-nine percent of them will turn away. In short, we need to run a serious company."

"Isn't that great?" All five people present looked very supportive.

Yin Anyan even raised his hand, "Can I join this?"

"can."

Qin Jun said, "Old Lu, I know some of your concerns. Anyway, there are no outsiders here. Just tell me what you have planned. Li Ming and I will basically listen to you."

"Yes, yes, if you ask me to decide, there are many things I don't know how to do."

Lu Changge glanced at them and said, "Seriously, if you don't do your job well, I'm going to fire you."

"no problem."

They both said so.

Fine.

"Lao Qin, the money needed to expand our product range is not the tens of thousands you told me last time. If it's less, you have to add a zero."

"So much?" "If you're not a Buddhist and want to run a Taobao store, there are a lot of expenses. For example, you need to find real people to take photos, you need models, and the photographer can't just make do. The photos need to beautify, the store needs to be decorated, you need to find ways to attract traffic, and even pay for promotion... What can you do with tens of thousands of yuan?"

After all, if you want to do something well, you have to spend money.

No one is omnipotent and knows everything.

Qin Jun now understood the profit distribution issue they had discussed at noon. "Then why are you being so polite to me? There's no profit to distribute. Just be the boss."

Li Ming looked at him and said, "Do I need to say this? Old Lu is the boss anyway."

"I can only say that I own this shop. I've never thought of being the boss. We must work together, otherwise nothing can be done. At the swimming pool, I will divide up the work among everyone.

But it's probably not suitable for us here. I'm not sure what you're suited to, even if you're the ones who know for sure. So I think you can go through a period of initial confusion and then find your own work."

This approach is suitable for small teams of acquaintances, as it can increase flexibility and higher motivation.

Qin Jun agreed, "Then tell me what kind of work you have."

"Talk while we drink." Li Ming had been holding it in for a long time. "It's not that I have a problem with you guys, but we finally have a drink together and we can't even raise a few glasses."

Li Ming's mouth is sometimes very useful and can liven up the atmosphere.

"Try my cooking too. If you like it, I'll take on the job of chef later."

"No problem, Ai Mai will be our model, and we can save the money." Lu Changge had been eyeing her for a long time.

Ai Mai's facial features are more three-dimensional than others, which makes her look better on camera.

Yin Anyan is of course beautiful, but Lu Changge has automatically excluded her.

When it comes to the main tasks that follow, he already has an idea in mind. After all, it is not his first time to run a Taobao store, and he has also summarized it.

After another glass of wine, he began to talk.

"Business is essentially buying and selling, but it has evolved into much more. From the perspective of opening a Taobao store, I've summarized five key points. If we do these five things well, our store will be competitive."

Li Ming interrupted, "Five is so much?"

“Tsk, tsk.”

Several people began to smack their lips.

Li Ming surrendered immediately, "My fault, my fault, Boss Lu, please continue."

"The first and foremost thing is product positioning and selection. To put it bluntly, it's about what we sell in our store. This is a very complex subject. Fashion is an industry where trends change very quickly. If you can't keep up, your products will immediately become unsalable.

Lao Qin has already done this, but it's just the beginning. Optimistically speaking, if our white-collar shirts sell well, what types and styles of clothing will we add later?

This can’t be decided on a whim, and it also involves avoiding duplicates from big brands and stratifying prices. If you don’t do careful research, you’ll definitely be at a disadvantage.”

In the past two years, Korean and Japanese styles with strong design sense are still more popular.

"Makes sense."

"The second key point is to optimize visual presentation. When shopping online, consumers don't see anything other than your store and the clothes themselves. To attract them, you have to make the presentation aesthetically pleasing. This is different from selling professional training videos; aesthetics aren't a factor there.

So we have to do real-life shooting, using the models I just mentioned, to capture the beauty of the real person wearing the clothes and capture the details to show the texture of the fabric.

Another thing is that the store needs to be decorated. You can use the Wangpu template, but you can't just use the template. The store's color tone, copywriting style, etc. must also be carefully optimized."

All of the above belong to visual presentation content.

This is a very complex subject, and some people even released various paid tutorials.

It costs a lot of money to decorate a store.

Of course, in 08, the overall competition intensity between Taobao stores was not high, and there was no competition between stores, so the pressure was not that great.

Lu Changge then quickened his pace, "The third is traffic acquisition and promotion, which mainly involves three aspects. The first is acquiring free traffic within the site, which requires title optimization, keyword stacking, and grabbing long-tail keywords. The second is paid promotion, which is buying traffic. The third is doing some marketing and traffic generation online, such as through QQ groups and Tieba forums."

"The fourth major aspect is customer operation and retention. One method I know of is cashback for positive reviews, and other methods can be considered."

Since rewards for positive reviews have not been banned in 2008, you must use it. After all, getting positive reviews is very important and very useful.

"The fifth major aspect is supply chain and inventory management. Taobao stores are definitely asset-light. They don't stockpile goods or set up storage warehouses. They work directly with manufacturers. I know some small factories can ship goods within a few days. Of course, this is a bit of a challenge."

After Lu Changge finished speaking, he noticed that their faces were a little dull.

Li Ming murmured, "No wonder Brother Lu can be the boss. Qin Jun just mentioned it to you, and you can come up with so many things?"

Qin Jun spoke honestly, "I've considered this myself, but it was more of a vague concept. I couldn't really refine it into points like this. Now that I've listened to it, I feel more clear-headed and have a clearer understanding of what I need to do next."

This is actually the key point.

Some large companies have this problem: there are too many people and too many departments, with hundreds of middle-level managers. The division of responsibilities between departments is too fragmented, and many people are trapped in their own small circles and do not understand what the company is actually doing.

He must have heard enough of those propaganda slogans and speeches by leaders, but when it comes to the work at hand, he will have questions.
What does that have to do with me?

This will lead to a mismatch between the company's overall goals and individual goals.

If you don’t understand, you can replace the big companies here with countries.

"Enough of the boasting. Don't you think you have a lot of work to do? Now, take on your own tasks."

Qin Jun himself is the most motivated. "I was originally responsible for the first item, so I'll do it. You said the fifth item is difficult, so I'll do it too. Anyway, they are all good factories."

Li Ming followed closely behind, "Then I'll take care of the third point, the data traffic. I like surfing the Internet."

This leaves two things: visual optimization and customer operations.

"Changge, how about leaving the visual optimization to me and Ai Mai? Ai Mai can even act as a guest model."

Lu Changge had no objection. Sometimes, it cannot be said that only outside talents are good. In fact, as long as the people around you are dedicated and have the right direction, they will also grow. Even if some of them don’t know how to do something, they can still learn and explore.

Such a small county like Pei has produced so many talented people.

In this atmosphere, An Yihuan also got excited. "You all have chosen, so give the last one to me. I also like interacting with people."

Yeah, it's inexplicably suitable.

Lu Changge made the final decision. "Then I'll rent a proper studio off-campus tomorrow. You should all focus on your assigned tasks whenever you have free time. If you don't do a good job, not only will I lose money, but more importantly, the rest of us are working hard, so you'll be holding everyone back."

Qin Jun secretly gave a thumbs up, this pressure was acceptable.

"As for the question of returns, although all of this is my investment, you are all considered founding members after all. Here's what I'm thinking: for the next six months, you'll each receive 3% of the monthly profits."

In fact, Qin Junling would do more work in both projects, but in the initial stage, it is difficult to fully distinguish the amount of work. In comparison, if the income is not equal, there is a greater possibility of conflicts.

Anyway, Qin Jun is the most energetic, so it doesn’t matter if he does more.

At this stage, it is easy to discuss whether to do more or less, after all, we are all friends. We will have to make a serious agreement later.

There is nothing now, so it is actually impossible to have rules.

"What about six months later?"

Lu Changge said, "If the store doesn't take off in half a year, I won't invest anymore. If it does, we'll convert it into your shares according to the corresponding ratio, and you'll also get a salary."

Qin Jun thought to himself, oh no, the pressure is on him!

He has placed a lot of hope in this, he can't just give up after half a year!

(End of this chapter)