How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 39 Mr. Yao, I want to work for you for life!

For actors, a strong sense of conviction is very important.

From Ni Ni, Wang Yao saw what it meant to have a strong sense of conviction, regardless of the life or death of others.

It must be said, he is quite talented.

In contrast, Gulnazar's mental fortitude is far too weak. No wonder she has never had any representative works in acting and can only rely on public opinion and her looks to make a living, becoming just a pretty face.

The teaching methods still need to be adjusted.

"Mr. Yao, how is it? Does it give you the feeling of a high-achieving professional in a foreign company?" Ni Ni asked with a smile after ordering the food.

"Yes, we'll be counting on you to handle the upcoming cooperation meeting with foreign companies," Wang Yao praised.

"Sister, don't you care at all what other people are thinking?" Naza asked softly.

"It's alright, and we didn't do anything strange, so what's there to worry about?" Ni Ni asked, puzzled.

“Nazha’s English probably isn’t very good,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Hehe, it's so-so," Naza chuckled dryly.

"People feel embarrassed mainly because they care too much about what others think, worry that their behavior will affect others, and are thus forced to limit their exploration of the unknown."

It's hard to grow if you confine yourself to your comfort zone and don't try new things. You feel embarrassed because your English is not good, and you have a strong resistance or even fear of English itself.

In other words, you've 'specialized' English. Even if you don't speak it, you'll subconsciously adopt that resistance and feel awkward when you see others speaking it.

"But Ni Ni speaks English very well. Speaking English is a very normal and ordinary thing for her, and she doesn't feel embarrassed at all," Wang Yao explained.

"So, if my English is good, I can do what Sister Ni just did without feeling embarrassed?" Naza's eyes lit up.

"Just like when you're dancing or taking photos, do you care how many people are watching?" Wang Yao asked rhetorically.

"No." Naza shook her head.

"The same principle applies. Because you have confidence in dancing and taking photos, you have the same conviction that an actor needs—that is, confidence. These are things that can be learned and practiced." Wang Yao smiled.

"Sis, can you tutor me in English? I think you looked pretty cool speaking English just now," Nazha said, clinging to Ni Ni in a coquettish tone.

“Teaching you is no problem, but I can be very strict,” Ni Ni teased.

"By the way, aren't you going to have your audition for the Shanghai Theatre Academy soon?" Wang Yao suddenly remembered.

"I'm quite nervous about the 26th, even more nervous than when I participated in the model competition last year." Nazha's face fell upon hearing this.

Wang Yao calculated that it was next Monday, so there was still time to prepare.

"What's there to be nervous about? The art exam only has four parts: recitation, vocal music, physical training, and acting. They say it looks at your skills and talent, but actually, being good-looking is the biggest advantage." Ni Ni sighed, pinching Nazha's cheek.

"With your face, you'd pass just by standing there. And since you can dance, you're practically guaranteed a spot."

Ni Ni has gone through the art exam process, so she is quite experienced.

Wang Yao wasn't quite sure, but he felt that Nazha's art exam wouldn't be a problem, not only because of her physical appearance, but also because of her household registration advantage.

"Relax, just perform normally, the company will help you find a solution," Wang Yao reassured him.

The meal, which cost over 800 yuan per person, left Ni Ni and Gulnazar greatly disappointed. On the way back, they complained the whole way and vowed never to waste money like that again.

Wang Yao remained noncommittal, waiting for the two to become successful and forget their roots.

"Mr. Yao, our men's clothing store has nearly 40 in sales this week, and the women's clothing store has over 10 in sales. Should we continue to open more stores to expand sales?"

After dropping Nazha off at her hotel, only Ni Ni and Wang Yao remained in the car.

"Have you calculated how much net profit we would have with a turnover of 50?" Wang Yao asked.

"The store's overall gross profit margin is 60%. After deducting rent, labor, utilities, taxes, etc., there's still about 40% net profit." Ni Ni is a money-grubber and has naturally done the math in secret.

Wang Yao agreed to give 20% of the project's net profit, which adds up to 4 yuan!

It's only been a week, and she already feels like she's getting carried away.

"In just one week, we only earned 200,000 yuan, right? But our initial investment was close to 400,000 yuan. Although part of that was inventory, the cost of that inventory is still there."
"Actually, we invested 40 to achieve 50 in sales. So, does that mean our actual profit is less than 20?" Wang Yao chuckled.

“But we still have half the goods left, which should be enough to sell for at least 40 yuan. That’s all pure profit.” Ni Ni scratched her head.

"What if it can't be sold? It's best to secure your profits. Only what you have in your own hands is real money; everything else is risky assets."

You probably know what the saying "wealthy beyond measure, but not including livestock" means. While the clothing industry isn't as dire as animal husbandry, excess inventory is still a significant cost.
And was our success this week thanks to the traffic from Ma Ruo? Without that traffic, it would have taken us at least one or two months to achieve stable profitability in the initial stages.

However, if you blindly expand and saturate the market with all your cash flow, any unexpected losses could lead to total failure.

Wang Yao shook his head. "Doing business is not as simple as just calculating numbers."

Ni Ni was a little dumbfounded. Even if they really couldn't sell them, they could still make 20 yuan and a warehouse full of goods, so it wouldn't be a loss, right?
Isn't Mr. Yao being a little too cautious?

“Making small money relies on hard work, making medium money relies on mindset, and making big money relies on a business model. Right now, we are only making hard-earned money, and we cannot expand blindly,” Wang Yao said with a light laugh.

Is earning 200,000 a week still hard-earned money?

Many people can't earn that much money in a year.

"Man, your name is greed." "Mr. Yao, what's our next step?" Ni Ni naturally understood the unspoken meaning.

"Let me test you. What would you do if you were in this situation?" Wang Yao asked in return.

"Yes, although the men's clothing store benefited from the increased traffic, the women's clothing store is making real profits. Based on ROI, the net profit this week should be around 40,000 yuan."
If it were me, I would definitely continue selecting products, opening stores, and expanding the categories. One store can generate a stable 40,000, so ten stores would be 400,000! A hundred stores, hehe, slurp. Ni Ni drooled as she calculated.

"The cost of opening one store is 20 yuan, and ten stores would cost 200 million yuan. Inventory pressure accounts for at least 100 million yuan. If there is any risk, then that 100 million yuan will be lost, and four or five months of work will be for nothing."

Moreover, our current high profits are due to the inventory we're dealing with, but the market for this category is limited. It's easy to do business now because we're the only ones doing it, but as others start competing, profits will inevitably drop to normal levels, and then the inventory will crush us.

"We can accumulate initial capital using this in the early stages, but it's difficult to make money from it indefinitely. Once we start making our own products, the inventory costs will be even more frightening." Wang Yao smirked.

"Mr. Yao, you're really discouraging!" Ni Ni pouted. "Then what should we do? Is there some way to make money without any cost or risk?"

"Your previous thinking was a typical small-money-making mentality, which capitalists call the honest man's mentality."

"Then let me ask you, isn't our men's clothing store now ranked number one in its category? And our women's clothing is also ranking high in its sub-category?" Wang Yao chuckled.

“Yes, but besides providing some organic traffic, this ranking doesn’t seem to do anything, right?” Ni Ni asked doubtfully.

"It's very important. This data can help you present yourself as an online store owner with a successful profit model." Wang Yao waved his hand. "Did the merchants' attitudes towards you change this time when you went to pick up the goods?"

Ni Ni recently replenished her inventory of men's clothing by 10 yuan. In less than a week, she placed an order for 20 yuan worth of clothing, making her a potential major client.

“Of course, their attitude was much better, and they even gave us quite a lot.” Ni Ni nodded.

"Next time you go, tell them you can change the cooperation method, using our online store, with the same prices and the same profit margin."

"They're in charge of the products, we're in charge of the store operations, and then we want 60% of the store's after-tax sales as commission. Do you think they'd be willing to do that?" Wang Yao asked again.

“Of course I’d be willing. They probably don’t earn as much as they do by cooperating with us,” Ni Ni said instinctively.

Currently, a men's clothing store has a SKU that costs 60 yuan, which includes 2 men's T-shirts and 5 pairs of socks. Wang Yao's wholesale price is 15 yuan, and the merchant's own cost is probably less than 10 yuan.

However, with a sales volume of 60 yuan, the merchant would still earn more than 20 yuan after tax, which is 40% of the sales revenue. This is 10 yuan more than when the merchant supplied goods to Wang Yao!

Only a fool would disagree.

"Does this mean we're only left with operational and shipping labor costs? But in reality, our real hard operational cost is just traffic acquisition."

The main image and shipping logistics account for at most 20% of the cost, so our actual net profit is still 40%. But does that mean our product inventory cost is eliminated?
"If this cash is used for traffic generation, won't the scale and sales volume expand immediately, ensuring that the site's ranking attracts organic traffic and drives sales?" Wang Yao curled the corners of his mouth.

"Huh? Oh? Huh?" Ni Ni felt like her brain wasn't working properly.

Yes, merchants are making more money, we have no product costs, and with the product support from merchants, we can quickly expand to more stores by investing in traffic.

Wow, that's like having unlimited bullets?!

"Only when there are no inventory costs can we call it net profit," Wang Yao added. "Moreover, as our shipment volume increases, logistics costs will actually become cheaper."

Currently, it costs 12 yuan per item within the province. When we produce 1 items a month, the price may drop to below 10 yuan.
There's also the matter of human resources. As the scale of operations increases, the workers become more skilled, and their efficiency rises accordingly.
In addition, traffic rebates and online image shooting operations have become a large-scale system, and the costs of this part will become lower and lower in the future. These are all intangible profits.

Moreover, if we cooperate with one supplier for each product category, their competitors will try their best to cooperate with us and even increase our commission rate.

Most importantly, when we become the supplier's main sales channel, we can negotiate payment terms, at least one month.

In other words, we can hold onto suppliers' payments as cash flow and use that capital for expansion; that's true expansion.

Wang Yao's words resonated in Ni Ni's mind; this was a field she had never explored before.

The biggest costs are passed on to the merchants, and they can also increase their profits by relying on competition among merchants.

They can even use merchants' money to expand, and do business with other people's money?!

"This, this is how you make money through thinking?" Ni Ni swallowed hard.

She couldn't even process this kind of money-making mentality, let alone imagine what kind of outrageous operation it would be to make money based on a model.

"That's right. In the capital market, honest people make money by discovering a business opportunity and then honestly earning a hard-earned living."
For example, a child from an honest family opened a barbecue shop and sold 1000 skewers a day, earning 500 yuan. He was thinking about how to bring his parents along and sell 3000 skewers a day, earning 1500 yuan.

However, those with a capitalist mindset, upon discovering that they can earn 500 yuan a day by selling 1000 skewers, will try to share their money-making methods with more honest people who want to make money, encouraging them to open their own shops.
They only need to control the core barbecue seasoning/sourcing channels and operating model, package it themselves, and then find an OEM factory to process the barbecue seasoning into a product. The cost is 1 yuan, and they sell it for 2 yuan.

"By selling just 250 orders to honest customers every day, I can easily earn 1000 yuan, minimizing the costs and risks of opening a store while increasing profits several times over," Wang Yao chuckled.

“But we can’t guarantee that every downstream customer will make money, can we?” Ni Ni asked, frowning.

"So the poor stay poor, and the rich stay rich." Wang Yao chuckled and glanced at her.

Ni Ni shivered involuntarily, and from that casual glance, she gleaned a great deal.

Her recent online store boom has made her quite proud, and she feels that she really has the ability to make a lot of money.

But Wang Yao's words made her realize...

He was just an honest man, and in the eyes of a smart man like Wang Yao, he was probably no different from a lamb to the slaughter.

"President Yao, I'll obediently work by your side, please don't make me do anything alone." Ni Ni swallowed and said pitifully.

"Mr. Yao, I want to work for you for the rest of my life!"

　Thanks to "A Flip-Flops" and "abcdefgg" for the donations!
　　感谢qri21、佛魔佛魔、ljh1973、烟92圈、小小888、神之昵称、懵逼的啊尔、上城归藏、胖子爱吃黑胡椒、萧落枫、到天上看猩猩、亦656、青藤弥白、星爷今晚打老虎、苍生竟何罪、葱蘸酱卷煎饼、孙观鱼、方舟007、低调进行曲、两块大木头、叔本滑、妖猫咪、日月星幸运星、金&乾、水粉誓言、隐士2016、书友20211121094658725、书友161109025956543、书友2020021553351648、书友151012163608556、书友20230507248_Be、书友20190522091626772、书友20190719154518263、书友20181115204655148、书友20211130224133291、书友20231013406880的推荐票，月票支持~
　　Please read it!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)