Chapter 58 Smart
Li Daqi and Gu Jie looked at each other.
"Let me talk first." Li Daqi cleared his throat. "I think these college entrance examination review materials can't be sold the same way as selling hangers in the vegetable market, because the people who need them are different. The vegetable market is full of unemployed grandpas and grandmas or working couples. They don't have the energy to go to college. If you sell these things in the vegetable market, they will definitely not sell them."
"I thought about it carefully. If I want to sell this thing, the key is to see who I sell it to. Those who take the college entrance examination are all young people. Some of these young people are unemployed educated youth like us, and some are originally freshmen. So if we want to sell this thing, we must target them. So I think it is more appropriate to set up a stall in front of the bookstore, or go directly to the school gate to sell it."
At this point, Li Daqi smiled and said, "Time is too tight, so I can only think of this, and I haven't figured out the rest yet."
Song Yuanchao nodded slightly. Li Daqi's business sense was still good. At least he could judge the target audience at a glance.
As he said, college entrance examination review reference materials are different from clothes hangers. Although they are both commodities, their target audiences are different, which is the difference in consumer groups from a commercial perspective.
The consumer group determines the subsequent sales targets and sales methods. There is nothing wrong with Li Daqi's opinion. Although the method he proposed on how to sell is relatively simple and direct, it is fundamentally correct.
"Gu Jie, what about you?" Song Yuan looked towards Gu Jie.
Gu Jie scratched his head and smiled a little embarrassedly: "I think the same as Da Qi, but I think since this thing is needed by individuals, can it be sold through friends? My neighbor's child is planning to take the college entrance examination this year. I heard him talk about it some time ago. He said that those who are taking the college entrance examination have a circle, and they will review and exchange information together. For example, where there are new textbooks and extracurricular tutoring books, they will line up together to buy them after hearing the news..."
Before Gu Jie could finish, Li Daqi slapped his head and said, "Why didn't I think of that? Isn't Xiaoyun preparing for the college entrance examination? I didn't even ask her about this... Let her spread the word to her classmates and there will definitely be a lot of people who want to buy it. Besides, didn't the newspaper report a few days ago about the long queue at the Education Bookstore? These candidates all have their own circles, and news spreads very quickly in the circle. This is a good idea!"
Gu Jie's idea was also good and more targeted. As for other ideas, like Gu Jie and Li Daqi, these were all they could think of because the time was too short. But Song Yuanchao was already very satisfied.
"Good idea, all these methods are feasible." Song Yuanchao immediately expressed his approval, which made Li Daqi and Gu Jie, who had been thinking about it all night, very happy.
"Let's put this matter aside for now and talk about other things first." Song Yuanchao took a sip of water and said to everyone, "My master called me over to the factory today. The school has agreed to produce and print the college entrance examination review materials..."
As soon as the words fell, Li Daqi and Gu Jie showed joyful expressions. Although Song Yuanchao had said before that he had a high chance of success, everything was still unknown before the official result. Now that Song Yuanchao had clearly told them that the school had agreed to this matter, it was like a done deal.
"Don't be happy too soon." Seeing their delighted expressions, Song Yuanchao poured cold water on them and immediately explained the conditions proposed by Principal Zhou. After Song Yuanchao finished speaking, Li Daqi and Gu Jie looked at each other, and even Qin Zhengguo, who was dealing with this matter for the first time, frowned.
" Wouldn't it be a big loss this way?" Li Daqi made a rough calculation in his mind, and his face suddenly darkened: "To support North Korea, the school needs so many? If it was just a dozen or twenty books, it would be fine, but now a single subject needs 300 books, and the three subjects combined will be nearly a thousand books, right? How much will this cost?"
"If the total printing quantity exceeds 5,000 copies, the cost per copy will be around 1 yuan." Song Yuanchao said this figure lightly.
"That must be thousands of yuan?" Everyone was shocked. Thousands of yuan! This is definitely not a small amount. If it doesn't sell well, the business will not only make no money but also lose money. You know, the monthly salary of workers is only about 40 yuan now.
"Brother Song, can't this be discussed?" Gu Jie asked with a frown.
Seeing Song Yuanchao slowly shaking his head, Gu Jie's face looked particularly ugly. If this was the case, the risk was too great.
"How about we go find other factories to print it?" Li Daqi suggested.
But as soon as he said this, he immediately felt that it was not appropriate and shook his head repeatedly. Because the printing of these reference materials is not as simple as finding a factory to print them. The key lies in the source of these materials.
If there are no question banks in No. 2 Middle School, what is the point of finding other factories to print things? The key to the college entrance examination review materials lies in these question banks, which are the soul of the materials. Without the soul, who can sell the printed materials to?
The room fell silent for a moment. Li Daqi and the others all looked unhappy. The lively discussion just now became unusually quiet.
"Yuan Chao , stop keeping us in suspense and just tell us what you think. We are brothers. Do you think this is interesting?" Just when Li Daqi and Gu Jie were confused and entangled, Qin Zhengguo on the side suddenly said this.
Song Yuanchao looked at him with squinting eyes. Qin Zhengguo took a puff of cigarette and grinned at him: "You never fight a battle without preparation. If this matter is going to fail, why did you call us here to talk? You were chatting so lively with Daqi and Gu Jie just now, is it just to make fun of us now?"
"Hahaha, you, how do you know I have an idea?" Song Yuanchao suddenly laughed and patted Qin Zhengguo on the shoulder and asked back.
"Tsk! We've been together in the northwest for so many years, living in the same room and sleeping on the same kang. As soon as you stick your butt out, I know what you're going to do. Can you hide it from me? To tell you the truth, I have a nickname in Anton. Do you know what they call me?"
"What?"
"So smart!"
Qin Zhengguo was very proud: "I calculated with my fingers, and it turned out to be as I expected..."
Song Yuanchao burst out laughing and almost fell to the ground. When did this kid get the nickname "Great Congming"?
Now this nickname is not the derogatory meaning it has in later generations, but for some reason Song Yuanchao wanted to laugh when he heard it.
"Okay, just laugh a few times. Are you not done yet? Tell us what you figured out quickly so we can listen." Seeing Song Yuanchao laughing so hard that he was about to suffocate, Qin Zhengguo was completely confused. He didn't understand what Song Yuanchao was laughing at. However, he always felt that Song Yuanchao's laughter seemed a little unusual. He couldn't figure it out for the moment, so he simply stopped thinking about it and urged Song Yuanchao to reveal the mystery.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you what I'm saying." Song Yuanchao wiped away the tears from laughing, took a sip of water and then spoke.
"In fact, this matter should be viewed dialectically. Although the conditions proposed by the school are a bit excessive, they are also reasonable. After all, the school provided the information and the production site, and No. 2 Middle School already has a graduating class that will take the college entrance examination this year. It is reasonable for the information to be printed for internal use by No. 2 Middle School."
Seeing that Li Daqi was about to say something, Song Yuanchao gestured to let him finish first.
Song Yuanchao continued, "Everyone knows that misfortune may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, right? Although the conditions proposed by No. 2 Middle School will cause some losses to us, I think it is also an opportunity. Daqi and Gu Jie both mentioned their ideas about sales. The method you are thinking of is feasible, but I think it is still a bit difficult to do so. There is a key issue that you have not considered."
"The key issue?" Everyone looked at each other, and for a moment they didn't understand what the key issue Song Yuanchao was talking about.
"Let me ask you, who knows when the college entrance examination will be this year?"
"July! July 7 to July 9." Li Daqi answered without hesitation. Li Xiaoyun was going to take the college entrance examination, so Uncle Li and Aunt Dong had mentioned this time countless times at home, and Li Daqi's ears had long been callused. (The time of the college entrance examination was different from the time of the college entrance examination now, and it was not the time of June 7 as it is in later generations)
"What month is it now? How much time is left until the college entrance examination? If you set up a stall outside to sell, how much can you guarantee to sell in a day?" Song Yuanchao asked these three questions directly.
Everyone was silent for a moment. It was almost May Day and it would take time to print the college entrance examination review materials. Even if they could reach an agreement with the factory tomorrow and start preparations right away, it would take at least a week to organize the materials and emboss the materials before they could start formal printing and binding.
In this way, by the time I finish all these and get the bound materials, it will probably be around mid-May, and there are less than two months left until the college entrance examination.
The two months also include the time to sell the materials and the time for the candidates to do exercises and review. If the time is not managed well, or the sales are not ideal at the beginning, then as the college entrance examination gets closer, the value of these materials will continue to decline.
Of course, these materials can be used next year if not this year, and can be provided to students taking the college entrance examination next year. However, this is equivalent to wasting a whole year, which is completely not worth the loss from a business perspective.
