"I know this is not something that can be achieved overnight, and I don't expect to build a brand in one or two years. You can take your time, don't be impatient, if there are some signs in three years, and if the brand can be established in five years, that will be enough.
Fifteen years later, I will be satisfied if I can occupy a certain position in the international arena.
Twenty years later, it is enough to be able to compete with those top luxury brands and not be easily defeated.
Don't worry, I won't set you unrealistic tasks and goals."
It takes more than a few years to build an internationally renowned brand. Fame must be built up bit by bit, one city after another, one country after another.
Overnight fame gained through opportunistic means is like a rootless duckweed; it rises easily but falls just as quickly.
“Nansheng, the OEM business lacks core technology and core competitiveness. As long as there is enough capital, others can easily imitate our model.
Just like the plastic flower industry in Hong Kong in the 1950s, the clothing processing in the 1960s, and the electronic processing in the 1970s; once one company became successful, others would immediately rush in to grab a piece of the pie, and eventually the industry would fall into vicious competition, and only a few would survive.
Vicious competition is a problem that we, the swallowtail butterflies, must definitely face.
When our factory grows to have tens of thousands of employees, or even hundreds of thousands, a month or two of no business will eat up all our previous profits.”
Nan Yi nodded and said, "Secretary Zheng, very good. The fact that you can think of these issues now shows that you are thinking very long-term. I have also thought of these. Let me tell you what I think are feasible solutions."
"Appreciate further details."
“First, the employment system.
As the size of Swallowtail Butterfly increases, the factory's management personnel must report directly to the factory, and one to several thousand front-line workers must be retained directly under the factory.
These people belong to the Swallowtail Butterfly system and enjoy the high welfare benefits we have set: salary, bonuses, insurance, maternity leave, vacation time that exceeds the length of time stipulated by the Labor Law, etc.
These people are our own people of Swallowtail Butterfly, and we should treat them well, very well. Of course, we should select the best of the best, and they should all be the most outstanding talents.
Apart from our own people, the front-line workers of Swallowtail Butterfly are not our own people, but outsourced personnel. "
"Nansheng, do you mean labor dispatch?"
"right."
"But labor dispatch is a profit-making business. Companies that dispatch workers must earn a profit from the price difference, so the labor costs we need to pay will be very high."
“ You must have heard of the word SweatShop, right?”
Zheng Wenqi nodded. "Of course, it was first proposed in the country of Ying in 1867. It means sweatshop."
“Yes, sweatshops. In the future, we will serve high-end international brands. If we are involved in a scandal, it will have a huge impact on the brand.
The words "exploitation" and "sweatshop" are like honey to reporters. Once they smell it, they will definitely track you down and keep biting you.
At the beginning, there is less competition, so we can offer higher wages to front-line workers, so that their income will appear higher, and they will not think our high requirements and long working hours are unreasonable.
But as competition increases and the overall income level of society improves, their income will not be so out of place.
At that time, our high requirements and long working hours will become unreasonable, we will turn from a conscientious factory into a sweatshop, and a public relations crisis will come.
The brands we serve may terminate their contracts with us for the sake of their own brand influence, putting us in crisis.”
"Nansheng, what you mean is that we give our workers high salaries and benefits to make a sample; then, the main workers come in through labor dispatch, so that we have an excuse to prevaricate?"
"It's not just this reason. The longer these workers work, the higher the labor costs we need to spend. Their salaries cannot remain unchanged. We must increase their salaries in proportion to their years of service.
If the salaries of 100,000 workers are raised at the same time, by 5 yuan a month, that would be 6 million a year. If they were to increase again the following year, they would not only have to increase their salaries by 5 yuan, but by 10 yuan, and the next year they would probably have to increase their salaries by 20 yuan.
In three years, our annual cost expenditure will increase by 42 million. The longer it takes, the higher our expenditure ratio will be. Sooner or later, it will be so high that we can't afford it, and our profits will be squeezed to insignificant.
By then, even if the annual turnover of Swallowtail Butterfly is hundreds of billions, our profit may not even reach hundreds of millions, or even... we may even lose money to gain publicity.”
Nan Yi paused and continued, "Moreover, Secretary Zheng, given the current situation in the country, those who can handle overseas human resources must be certain people. It won't be wrong to have a good relationship with them."
Zheng Wenqi thought about who could set up human resources outsourcing, and soon she figured it out.
"Nansheng, I'm just worried that it will be difficult to get rid of it in the future."
"Today is cold, tomorrow is cruel, and the day after tomorrow is brutal. Running a business is like walking on a tightrope. We must first ensure that we are qualified to stand on the tightrope. The rest can only be left for the future.
Known, unknown, controllable and uncontrollable troubles will come one after another and rush towards us. Nan Yi is a bad name, and so are you, Zheng Wenqi. There will be no seats reserved for us at the Manchu-Han banquet.
All we have to do is pick the freshest leftovers from the trash can to feed ourselves, accumulate strength, and wait for the day when we can soar into the sky, fly out of the trash can, and roam the world at our leisure.
Secretary Zheng, you have to be the pioneer of Swallowtail Butterfly. It will be very hard, but I promise that you can get rewards beyond your expectations, and your efforts will be worth it. "
"Thank you very much, Nansheng. I will do my best."
"It's fine if you work hard, but you still have to do your job and take care of your health." Nan Yi waved his hand and said, "Let's go to the workshop and then the workers' canteen."
"Nansheng, this way please."
The Swallowtail Butterfly Garment Factory is not very large, about 1,200 square meters in total, and is surrounded by a yard.
The main building is a four-story factory building covering an area of ​​500 square meters. The first floor is temporarily idle, the second floor is a dormitory, and there is a small office area with only two offices; one independent office for Zheng Wenqi, and the other office is for other factory clerks.
The third and fourth floors are both production workshops. The third floor is already saturated, and the fourth floor has not yet been put into use.
On the left side of the yard is a one-story warehouse where the finished clothes are stored for easy transportation; on the right is a relatively simple canteen, which charges a fee and each worker receives a meal allowance every month.
As long as they don't eat too much meat and fish, the meal allowance given to them is enough to eat from the beginning of the month to the end of the month.
"Secretary Zheng, oh, no, President Zheng, at mealtime, I'll order a dish that workers usually order, and stir-fry a small dish and bring it to your office."
Nan Yi said this to Zheng Wenqi after visiting the cafeteria.