McClure left Quwu full of resentment, but he was not in a hurry to return to China. Instead, he stayed in China to continue inspecting other products. He planned to contact Brother Ceramics Factory again in a few days to see if Liu Shuo's attitude would change.
Be a little looser. Of course, he also urgently contacted the company headquarters in Belgium, asking the headquarters to make a more accurate estimate of the sales prospects of ceramic knives in Europe, so as to use it as a basis for future negotiations with Liu Shuo.
Ron Company did not dare to promise too high sales volume, largely because it was still unsure about the market prospects and was afraid that it would trap itself by promising too much. In addition, it promised a relatively small sales volume first and then
After obtaining the agency rights, they would then negotiate with the suppliers based on the actual sales situation to strive for better agency conditions. This was also Ron's company's usual practice, but they didn't expect to hit a snag with Liu Shuo.
Mo Kongchao was moved by Liu Shuo's words, but when he saw McClure leaving, he was still a little panicked, fearing that McClure would never look back. However, his worry did not last long.
Two days after McClure left Quwu, a group of American businessmen arrived again, with the same purpose of talking to Brother Ceramics Factory about being an agent for ceramic knives.
In the following more than half a month, Quwu City was busy and received more than a dozen batches of foreign merchants, including several that were bigger than Ron Company. Liu Shuo and Huang Yanling, under Qin Hai's instructions,
They insist on requiring the other party to commit to a basic annual sales volume, in addition to a series of conditions in terms of advance payment, advertising, etc., which makes foreign businessmen who plan to take advantage of it feel a headache.
Seeing that so many merchants were interested in ceramic knives and were willing to accept the harsh conditions proposed by Liu Shuo, Mo Kongchao finally felt relieved. He even called Liu Shuo over to discuss whether he could provide more ceramic knives to foreign merchants.
Add some conditions, such as introducing Quwu's other products. Regarding Mo Kongchao's whimsical idea, Liu Shuo could only smile bitterly, explain, and then refuse.
Choosing an agent is not a simple matter. Both parties need to negotiate repeatedly on various details and implement the negotiation results into the agreement. Liu Shuo led several cadres in the factory to negotiate with various merchants day and night. After the negotiation,
After that, we have to communicate the relevant situation over the phone.
Notify Qin Hai in Anhe by fax and other methods, and listen to Qin Hai's considerations on some important issues. Logically speaking, Qin Hai should be present in person for such a big matter, but at this time Qin Hai is busy with Qingfeng Factory
I am also very worried about the transformation, and I have no way to do it.
Finally, we finally negotiated with the first agent. This is an American dealer. They are not very strong and do not require exclusive agency rights in the United States. They only signed contracts with a few states on the West Coast and promised to
Annual sales of at least 100,000 sets are guaranteed. According to the principles set by Qin Hai in advance, Liu Shuo agreed to cooperate with this dealer and signed an agency agreement under the auspices of Mo Kongchao.
"Congratulations, Xiao Liu."
After the celebration dinner, Mo Kong, who was slightly tipsy, pulled Liu Shuo and congratulated him with a smile on his face. Although it was only a contract for annual sales of 100,000 units, the total bid had reached more than 20 million US dollars.
.If this dealer works harder, it is very possible to exceed the minimum sales volume stipulated in the contract. That means sales will exceed the figure of more than 20 million, reaching 30 million or more.
In the past, Quwu could only exchange coal exports for some foreign exchange, and the total could not reach a scale of 20 million. But now, just some inconspicuous soil can be exchanged for so much foreign exchange. How can Mo Kongchao be unhappy?
.
"This is all the result of Mayor Mo's care." Liu Shuo said the compliment that all his subordinates would say, "Without the land granted to us by Mayor Mo, our brothers' ceramic factory would not be where it is today."
Mo Kongchao smiled and said: "Haha, Xiao Liu, you are too humble. There are so many ceramic factories in Quwu, and most of them are state-owned old factories. None of them can do as well as your factory. This year, there are many ceramic factories in the city.
We have to select outstanding talents. I have already told the secretary that you have a spot and no one can take it away."
"Thank you, Mayor Mo." Liu Shuo replied quickly.
"Xiao Liu, how many other companies are you talking about now?" Mo Kongchao asked.
Liu Shuodao: "There are currently five more companies, including Ron Company. Mr. McClure came to Quwu again the day before yesterday. They currently promise that the annual sales volume will reach at least 300,000 sets. Yanling and I want to stretch our fingers again.
He must at least commit to 400,000 units, otherwise we will find someone else."
"Yes, you should give him a squeeze!" Mo Kongchao agreed, "Calculating this, how big a sales volume can you ultimately achieve?"
Liu Shuodao: "We did a rough calculation and the most conservative estimate is that we should be able to achieve annual sales of 1.2 million units. If we are more optimistic, 1.5 million is also possible."
"1.2 million, that's... how much is it?" Mo Kongchao counted his fingers, unable to calculate.
"2088 million." Liu Shuo replied. He had calculated this number repeatedly over the past few days. At first, even he couldn't believe it.
Mo Kongchao exclaimed exaggeratedly and said: "Wow! It's almost 300 million, and it's still in US dollars. This is considered to be a satellite, right? By the way, with such a large sales volume, your production can keep up.
Are you going? Do you want the city to give you some support?"
"It's so necessary!" Liu Shuo said, "I've been busy negotiating with foreign businessmen these days, and I haven't been able to spare the time to report this matter to you. To reach an annual output of 1.2 million units, we need to expand the existing factory area.
Three times, a large amount of new equipment needs to be added. Because the payment for the goods has not been received, the funds to purchase these equipment need to be borrowed from banks, which also requires the city to help us coordinate."
"There is no problem with the land. I will call Lao Guo from the Land Bureau tomorrow and ask him to solve the land problem for you. As for the loan, there is no problem. You are able to repay it. It is impossible for the bank to refuse such a loan. Just tell me
For a rough loan figure, I will personally go to several banks to help you contact them." Mo Kong said to everyone.
A project that earns nearly 300 million U.S. dollars in foreign exchange from exports a year is also attracting much attention in the province. How could Mo Kongchao not be interested in it? Land was not too scarce back then, but it was relatively difficult to get loans. However, no matter how big it was,
The task of earning foreign exchange through exports has to be given a green light despite the difficulties, and Mo Kongchao has full confidence in this.
Liu Shuo thanked him repeatedly, but he was secretly laughing in his heart. If things go as Qin Hai predicted, as long as he dares to speak, the city will have nothing to say. The reason is also very simple. Government officials always only like to add icing on the cake and don't like to provide help when it is time.
.If Brother Ceramics Factory does not operate
If you want the city to help, the city officials must be passing the buck and no one is willing to come forward. But on the other hand, the business situation of Brothers Ceramics Factory is very good, and it has become a major profit and tax earner. Not to mention ordinary cadres, even the city officials
The leaders would rush over to express their concern.
"The land and capital issues are easy to deal with. There is another big problem, and that is the people issue." Liu Shuo pretended to be embarrassed and said to Mo Kongchao.
"What's wrong with people?" Mo Kongchao didn't understand for a moment.
Liu Shuodao: "Our production scale needs to be expanded nearly 10 times, and both workers and technicians are facing a serious shortage. Without people, no matter how much equipment we have, we can't run it, and the products still can't be produced."
Mo Kongchao took it for granted and said: "Recruit workers! There are still so many unemployed young people in the society. It's really not possible. It's not impossible to recruit some young farmers from the surrounding countryside to work in the factory. You are a private enterprise and you don't exist."
There are no staffing restrictions, just open the door to recruit workers."
Liu Shuo shook his head desperately and said: "Mayor Mo, this matter is not that simple. What we need are skilled workers. When ordinary unemployed youths and farmers are recruited, they can only be apprentices or general workers first. There are still not enough skilled workers.
."
"This is going to be difficult..." Mo Kongchao was worried. He didn't think twice when he spoke just now. He forgot that the workers in the factory need skills, and they cannot just pick a few from the market to adapt. However,
How easy is it to find skilled workers several times the size of Brother Ceramics Factory?
Liu Shuo said with a sad face: "Yeah, these days, I feel worried when I think about this matter, and I can't sleep at night. Mayor Mo, I'm not afraid of your jokes. I passed by the entrance of Quwu Ertao this morning and saw their workers
When I go to work, I can't wait to snatch these people away and send them to our brother's ceramics factory."
"Quwu Ertao?" Mo Kongchao's eyes lit up. The full name of Quwu Ertao is Quwu Second Ceramics Factory. It is an old local state-owned ceramics enterprise with more than 400 employees, many of whom are skilled ceramics workers.
Technicians. If these people can be brought to Brother Ceramics Factory, wouldn't the problem of shortage of manpower mentioned by Liu Shuo be solved?
Seeing the smile on Mo Kongchao's face, Liu Shuo knew that his hint worked. Of course he didn't say Quwu Ertao's name casually. In fact, he had been thinking about this factory for a long time, and finally got it.
Of course he would seize such an opportunity tightly.
"Xiao Liu, you just mentioned Qu Wu Er Tao, I have an idea." Mo Kongchao didn't realize that Liu Shuo had dug a hole for him to jump into. He was still immersed in his discovery, and
I want to show off to Liu Shuo.
"If you have any good ideas, please tell me." If Liu Shuo didn't know what to say at this time, he would have wasted his time as factory director.
Mo Kongchao said: "My idea is that you can borrow a group of workers from Ertao. Ertao's business is not saturated now, and the workers don't have much to do, so it is just right to lend them to you."
"Borrow?" Liu Shuo muttered, "Mayor Mo, our production technology is confidential. If we borrow people from Ertao, it might not be appropriate. What if they bring the technology back to Ertao in the future? My
It means, either we can transfer these people directly to our factory, or we can only continue to recruit people from the society." (To be continued...)