Since I decided to make guitars, I naturally have to have enough understanding of the industry. In terms of musical instruments, Jiang Chen is completely an amateur, and many basic common sense needs Ye Cheng to help him popularize it.
Their business model is very simple. They are nothing more than registering a brand, then getting spot brand from the guitar factory, and finally selling it with Ye Cheng's reputation. If you want to do a good job in this business, you have to find a stable supplier of finished guitars.
It may be difficult for other countries to find guitar manufacturers, but there are not too many in China.
Among the top ten guitar brands in the world, only red cotton guitars in China are among them. However, among the remaining nine foreign brands, some of the mid- and low-end models are produced by China OEM. These guitar manufacturers have agreements with foreign companies, and it is probably difficult to get goods, so they can only go through the wrong path.
In addition to regular guitar manufacturers, there are also various counterfeit guitar factories. The largest fake piano production base in the country is Zaozhuang, Shandong Province. The fake pianos here are not only sold nationwide, but also even in the European and American markets. They definitely break out of Asia and are well-known around the world.
Jiang Chen did it as soon as he said it. He spent three days to understand the basic knowledge of guitar. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, he went to the Epiphone factory for inspection. The enthusiasm for starting a business made Ye Cheng feel inferior. Perhaps this is the reason why he has gained tens of millions of dollars just after graduation.
Epi is a second-tier brand of Gibson guitar and a world-renowned electric guitar brand. Its main production base is Qingdao, Lu Province. All models of Epi guitar can be found here.
The characteristics of this kind of guitar are high quality, low price, and extremely unique. They are the leader among mid- and low-end electric guitar brands and are most suitable for sale on OEMs.
Jiang Chen ran to Qingdao for only two nights. Not to mention discussing cooperation with the manufacturer, he couldn't even get in the EPI factory door. The guy called back and complained to Ye Cheng: "Damn it, a second-tier brand, the factory is like a manufacturer of atomic bombs, and even ordinary dealers can't get in!"
Ye Cheng said: "If it really doesn't work, forget it."
"No, China is a factory in the world, so I can't do it. Even a factory that can cooperate with can't be found!" Jiang Chen said unwillingly.
Jiang Chen, who was frustrated with a regular manufacturer, then went to eight copycat guitar factories in Shandong Province in one breath. He had no idea about guitars, so he could only ask about basic questions such as supply volume and price. He randomly bought more than 20 finished products and came back to Ye Cheng for identification.
On the Lantern Festival, Jiang Chen directly found a moving company and moved the more than 20 copycat guitars to Ye Cheng's house.
Yuan Suyin was still wearing an apron around her waist. Seeing that the sofa in the living room was full of guitars, she joked: "Oh, are you planning to run a piano store at home?"
Jiang Chen smiled and said, "Auntie, am I going to do business with Ye Cheng?"
"What business do?" Ye Ping'an walked out and asked.
Jiang Chen explained: "Borrowing Ye Cheng's reputation, selling guitars with private labels."
After Ye Ping'an asked about the situation, he stopped talking and sat down to see them fiddling.
Jiang Chen said to Ye Cheng: "Yezi, I secretly hired someone to buy these from the factory. I have never selected any random purchases. You can check the quality."
"Bang bang bang!" Ye Cheng held the acoustic guitar and gently tapped the panel of the piano. Then he played the strings a few more times, and said to Jiang Chen, "This is the lowest-grade guitar among the guitars, suitable for beginners to practice."
Jiang Chen immediately handed over another handful and asked, "What about this handful?"
Ye Cheng didn't use his ears this time, and glanced at him and said, "It's also a triple-piece."
Jiang Chen asked again: "What is the quality of these compared to other triple guitars?"
"It's just the same. It's almost the same as it is made with trim boards. No matter how good it is, it's not much better," Ye Cheng asked, "You haven't bought a more expensive one back?"
"Yes, I'll look for it!" Jiang Chen grabbed the guitar and flipped it around. Finally, he saw the price of 2,200 yuan, "2,200 yuan, I heard it was a high-end product."
Ye Cheng picked up the guitar, first looking at its appearance and taste. Then he checked the fingerboard, buttons, rocker and bridge, and finally he held it in his arms and played "Two Tigers".
"How is it?" Jiang Chen asked impatiently.
Ye Cheng put down the guitar and said something that made Jiang Chen speechless: "You buy it expensive. Even if this piano is attached to the Yamaha brand, it will be worth up to 2,000 yuan."
Jiang Chen scratched his head and said, "I'm asking you how good the quality is."
Ye Cheng commented: "The materials are quite honest, the spruce panels. The side panels are all wood, and the fingerboards and bridges are rose wood. This should be used to copy high-quality imitation brands of guitars. The quality is relatively good. If you are not a veteran, you can't tell the truth or fake."
Jiang Chen smiled with relief and said, "It seems that our country's copycat ability is still trustworthy."
Ye Cheng also smiled and said, "If we can all achieve this quality, it will be fine to put our brand on it. I am afraid that the quality of things produced by small factories will be uneven, and the defective rate will be too high, which will ruin our brand."
Jiang Chen thought for a while and said, "We can hire a goods inspector."
Ye Cheng nodded and said, "This method is feasible."
Jiang Chen asked again: "I often hear people say that handmade guitars sound very high-end, so why don't we make handmade guitars too?"
"Don't," Ye Cheng directly denied the suggestion, "Handmade pianos are very good at crafting skills of pianists. Ordinary handmade pianos are not as good as factory pianos. Where can we find a good master with experience?"
Jiang Chen didn't understand this either, so he could only listen to Ye Cheng's professional advice. He said: "Then you will make the handmade piano in the future. Let's register the brand first. What do you think is the name?"
Ye Cheng smiled and said, "I don't know how to name a few, please give me some advice."
Jiang Chen took out a few A4 printing paper from his briefcase, and wrote a lot of words on it. He said: "The guitar needs to be sold based on your fame, so the brand name must have something to do with you. I think the 'Leaf Guitar' is very good, I asked my friend to make it."
Ye Cheng sighed: "You have really done all your actions."
Jiang Chen took out a very beautiful look. The l and f in the English word lea (leaf) are stretched into an abstract leaf with branches. The two letters in the middle are embedded in the pattern forming the leaves, and the Chinese artistic font "Leaf Guitar" is written next to it.
Ye Cheng looked left and right and couldn't find any fault, and nodded and said, "Just use this."
Jiang Chen also said: "There are too many guitar brands now, and they are already flooded on the market. I think that if our guitars want to stand out, in addition to using your fame, we also need to sell feelings and personality."
Ye Cheng nodded and said, "Tell me what you think."
Jiang Chen said: "First of all, the appearance must have personality, such as the colors and patterns of blue and white, which can be called the 'blue and white porcelain' series; with the pattern of red flames, it can be called the 'Chasing Dream-Chasing the Child Heart' series. In the future, the 'Dongfeng Break' series, the 'Fireworks easy to cool' series, and the 'First Experience of Love' series."
Ye Cheng stared at Jiang Chen for a long time and said in admiration: "I finally know why you can start a company from scratch."
Jiang Chen said modestly: "I'm all clever."
Next, Ye Cheng and Jiang Chen began to discuss the establishment of a Hehe Company. The brothers decided clearly, so they had to establish a charter in order to do business.
Ye Cheng didn't understand these at all, so he simply asked his father to talk to Jiang Chen.
Ye Ping'an was the financial manager of a state-owned enterprise before, and Jiang Chen was a little boy compared to him. The final result was: Ye Cheng and Jiang Chen each invested 500,000 yuan to register a bag company called Ye Ziqin Store. The company has full ownership of the brand "Yezi Guitar". Ye Cheng is responsible for brand promotion, free of charge, and holds 60% of the company's shares; Jiang Chen is responsible for specific sales and operations, and enjoys 40% of the company's shares.
"Leaf Guitar" is temporarily taking the mid-to-low-end route, that is, selling ply guitars that cost several hundred yuan, and selling mid-range guitars that cost two or three thousand yuan.
Well, to put it so high-profile, it is actually just selling OEM guitars online, not even a physical store.
In addition, Ye Cheng also authorized Jiang Chen to help run his own online store. In addition to selling records and peripheral products, he also sells various clothing and snacks.
Jiang Chen was very active in doing business. He asked Sun Jianmin to draft a contract, and immediately went to register a company and brand after signing the contract. When Ye Cheng returned to the capital, this guy had already completed all the procedures and was constantly working to discuss cooperation with the guitar counterfeit manufacturer.
Ye Cheng's new single Wukong has been uploaded on the Internet at this time. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!