Short, Light, Free

Chapter 97: Smoke and Business III

“Simple? Are you kidding?” Glasses exclaimed, looking like he was at his wits’ end.

I picked up a flashlight from the side and opened the office door.

I knocked it against the railing of the second floor. “Please stop what you’re doing, everybody.”

The workers looked up at me.

I shouted, “The company is experiencing a cash flow problem, but please believe that I’ll make it up to you, double, to compensate for putting your salary on hold for two months. Continue to work hard and look forward to the first of the next month!”

“You’re speaking the truth, Boss?” an employee shouted.

“I mean what I say. You may get back to work,” I finished before turning around.

Glasses looked furious. “What a thoughtless promise! How will you do that?”

I smiled as I overlooked the workshop. “How many cars can we make in a day? And how many do we have in stock?”

“This factory is slightly small, so about 15 a day. There are over 200 cars in storage. It’s hard to even sell a few cars in a day,” he explained.

“Construction cost of a car?” I asked.

“8,000 for material, and we set the selling price at 30,000 to 50,000. Our competitors are minicars from Alto, Suzuki, and others. We also have no fundings to engage in research and development.”

“Are the two stores still selling cars?” I asked.

“Of course! How can we stop? Nine to five every day without fail. We’re even enforcing overtime,” Glasses answered.

“Give the sales managers a call and have them close the shop. Get them over here. I need to talk to them.”

“Close? No way!”

“You’ve already stated that we’ll need 3,650,000 in 20 days so why are you still wasting my time? Hurry up!” I instructed.

At a loss, Glasses nodded and gave his sales managers a call.

Half an hour later, two managers and eight ladies appeared before me.

“These are all that we have?” I asked.

“Two are resting today,” a manager spoke up.

“I’ll give you another half an hour to get them all here,” I said firmly.

Half an hour passed and two sloppily-dressed women entered the workshop.

I smiled. “We’re only selling one model right now, is that right?”

“Roadcat third series,” a manager replied.

“I’m sure you ladies have heard that the department store is like a battlefield?” I asked.

All ten ladies nodded.

“Sales is like the gunsmoke during a battle. I’m about to give you the best weapon. I can promise you it’s the best, but the rest is up to you,” I started.

The team looked at me eagerly.

“From today onward, Roadcat third series will be sold at 250,000 each,” I announced.

Everyone looked at me weirdly and both managers gave a contemptuous smile.

Glasses added urgently, “Sales is tough even at 30,000. How is 250,000 even possible?”

“Let me finish. Get out if you’re going to keep interrupting me,” I ordered.

Everyone was convinced that I was crazy, but I knew better. This was merely the beginning.

Glasses covered his mouth.

I smiled before continuing, “The weapon I’m giving you ladies, is rebate. 250,000 for a Roadcat third series. Tell the customers that from the first month of their purchase, they can get a 500 rebate and subsequently as well. That’s 6,000 a year and 30,000 at the end of five years. After that, we will return the remaining 220,000 to them. Give them a call every month if they don’t believe you. Convince them that we’re not going to run away.”

Silence.

Glasses fished out a calculator and tapped on it furiously.

I put my left hand on his calculator. “There’s no need to calculate. They’ll pay 250,000 for a car and get 250,000 back after 5 years, so they’re essentially getting it for free. This is our weapon.”

No one dared to speak.

I looked at each and every one of them. “How many customers can you secure with this fatal weapon? You’ll get a commission of 1,000 per car so that’s 10,000 for ten cars. From now on, you won’t be getting any basic salary. Those who are not willing to stay may leave. I’ll give you some time to decide.”

The ladies started whispering among themselves.

No one moved a step and their whispers became louder.

“Alright, get to work. Time is money. I’m sure no one here wants to waste even a second, right?” I asked.

The employees started getting up. One of the two ladies who joined us later said to me, “Can we start work now, Boss? We don’t need to rest.”

I waved my hand with a smile. “Sure, but get dressed first. Both managers, stay. The rest may leave.”

Only Glasses and the two managers were left.

“Managers, get the price of Roadcat third series changed. Tell them that all repairs done within the first five years will be free of charge, but the warranty will end after five years. Got it?”

They nodded. One of them asked, “Are we allowed to sell, too? To get the commission?”

“Sure you can. Only the twelve of you are allowed to do sales. We’re no longer recruiting, alright?”

They nodded again.

“Alright, get back to work.”

They dashed out immediately.

Glasses looked at me, confused. “Boss? Is this not a losing business?”

“You’re calling me Boss now?” I smiled. “Use your brains and see if we’re really losing from it.”

“A car for 250,000. Get 250,000 back after five years. Either way, we’re losing 250,000 for nothing? And free repairs? A loss on top of a loss?” Glasses rationalized.

“250,000? Are you really thinking? Have you forgotten about the construction cost?”

After some thought, he broke into a smile. “250,000 but we lose 8,000?”

“I really wonder how you landed this position. To be exact, we’re borrowing 250,000 at a low-interest rate of 8,000, and 250,000 is from just one customer. We’ll take 50,000 out to pay for the cost of construction and workers’ salaries, and the remaining 200,000 to invest in R & D. Even if we just place all of it in safe investments, how much can we earn in five years?”

Glasses typed away at his calculator. “360,000 or so. Repaying them 30,000 a year for five years... that’s about 6,000 per customer. If we get better investment rates, our money stream would be endless.”

“Now you’re exaggerating. We probably won’t get 6,000, but it should be close. At the very least, we can settle our problem once and for all.”

Glasses nodded. “No wonder you’re from Beijing University.”

Before Glasses could add anything, his phone rang. After the exchange, he grinned. “They’ve sold three! So fast... so fast.”

I shook my head. “This is only the beginning. You must make sure that they’re the only ones selling. Any more salesperson and we might not be able to afford it. What you should worry about now is construction and not the sales.”

...

Over 200 cars were sold at the end of two weeks.

Demand started to exceed supply and I had my managers ensure that there were at least 50 ready to sell cars available.

And we already had 50,000,000 cash flow. Of course, these weren’t ours.

We would have to return them, but meanwhile, we had to use it to make us more money.

Glasses was ecstatic. He wanted to repay the banks immediately, but I insisted on only paying the minimum. Taking it all out now would only make it difficult for us to fill the gap later on.

The factory would stop for a day on the first of each month.

Every employee, as promised, was given their salary and compensation fee.

I waited in the empty factory for Brother Luan while Glasses hid behind me.

At 9:30 in the morning, three minivans arrived.

About ten people barged into the factory office with clubs and machetes.

A bald man wearing a gold chain as thick as a finger, appeared and shouted, “Where’s my 3,500,000?”

I handed a bank card over to him. “It was difficult, but we managed. There is 3,700,000 inside. Please take care of us in the future. Thank you, Brother Luan.”

“Do I look like a fool to you?” He looked at the bank card and had his lackey bring out a POS system.

He swiped the card. “Pin?”

“Six eights, don’t worry,” I said confidently.

Shortly after, Brother Luan slid the card into his pocket, smiling. “Seems like you’re much better than your father.”

“The company’s in a tight spot now, but things will get better. How about you get your men back off first? I won’t be able to make and sell the cars if my machines get damaged,” I suggested.

With a wave, Brother Luan replied, “Alright, but shouldn’t we talk about protection fees?”

He had his lackeys leave the workshop and I heaved a sigh of relief.

“Now that the debt’s cleared, how about 100,000 a month?” I proposed.

“At least 200,000. Aren’t you going to take it out for this month?” he smiled.

“This... alright, just don’t chop my hand off. Come back next month.” I acted sullenly.

“You’re tactful, eh? I’ll see you next month then.”

He stood up and left the office.

Glasses said nervously, “I was afraid of this. Now we’ve become their money tree. Are we still able to pay them? There isn’t a problem?”

I laughed, slapping my phone on the table. “Does he have a relative within the police force?”

“He doesn’t,” Glasses responded.

“Bring the recording to the police station and tell the employees not to show up on the first of next month. We’ll get the police to nab the whole gang.” I grinned.

I held onto my phone, which kept over 50 online accounts with 50,000,000 within them to collect interest.

This sum would only continue to grow from sales. Only the interest belonged to us, but it, too, would also continue to grow.

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