Business Experience: The Business Wisdom of China's Top Ten Business Groups

Chapter 3 Shanxi Merchants - Paying attention to integrity is the best business practice

Shanxi merchants were once the top ten merchant gangs in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and their business names spread all over the country and spread to Japan, Arabia, and Southeast Asia; they dominated the domestic business circle for 500 years and created immortal brilliance.They rely on hardship, wisdom, and integrity.In their business dealings, Shanxi merchants have developed their management system to maturity with "morality, morality, and faith" and advanced and practical management methods. They maintain the healthy development of their companies with a sound equity distribution system.

Diligence and hardship, not afraid of hardships and dangers The living environment of many mountains, few lands, barren land, cold and windy weather forces Shanxi people to leave their homes and embark on the road of business.Looking at the county annals of Shanxi, the words "diligence, thrift and hardship" can be found all over the place, such as "the vulgar respects diligence and thrift, admires learning and strength, and is honest and not extravagant"; "The nature of the people is straight, and the vulgar is diligent and thrifty" and so on.

For a businessman, if he wants to start a business and get the first pot of gold, he must be able to endure hardships.Most Shanxi merchants started from scratch and went to success step by step. They relied on their entrepreneurial spirit of not avoiding hardships and dangers, and being diligent and thrifty.

There is a Cao family in Taigu, Shanxi, who moved from Taiyuan in the early Ming Dynasty. Because it was difficult to make a living, he went to the east of the Guandong, and engaged in small businesses such as growing vegetables, grinding tofu, and selling bean sprouts in the three towers at that time (now Chaoyang County, Liaoning) .Later, he opened a distillery, concurrently engaged in miscellaneous goods, worked day and night, worked hard, and became the backbone of the business of the three towers.

With the prosperity of commerce, the Qing government set up Chaoyang County in Three Pagodas, and later promoted it to Chaoyang Mansion.People at that time believed that "there was the name of Cao's family first, and then there was Chaoyang County".The fact is also true, the development of Chaoyang is closely related to the Cao family name.Afterwards, the Cao family opened firms in Chifeng, Lingyuan, Shenyang, Siping, Jinzhou and other places.By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the commercial power of the Cao family expanded from the northeast to the north and northwest of China, and Xinjiang, Kulun, Moscow, Irkutsk and other places became the commercial strongholds of the Cao family.At its peak, there were more than 640 firms and more than 37000 employees.

Qiao Guifa, the founder of Fushenggong, is honest and kind, not talkative, and because of his poor family, he is treated coldly by his neighbors.As a last resort, I joined the ranks of "walking to the west exit" and came to Baotou.He once herded camels, worked as a man, and suffered all kinds of hardships.Later, he became a brother of different surnames with a fellow surnamed Qin in Dachang Town, Xugou, a neighboring county.More than ten years later, the two had a little savings, and started to set up their own businesses in Baotou, opening grass fodder shops, grinding tofu, making bean sprouts, making sesame seed cakes, and cutting noodles.It was not until 20 years after Qianlong that the business started to improve, and "Guangsheng Gong" was established, which was later called "Fusheng Gong".The descendants of the Qiao family abide by the precepts of the ancestors, work diligently and frugally, and make the Qiao family's foundation flourish and become a giant in the business world of Baotou.

Wang Xiangqing, the founder of Shanxi's largest traveling Mongolian merchant "Dashengkui", was forced to serve in the Qing army due to poor life in his early years, and also did business as a burden-bearing soldier.Wang Xiangqing is tall and big, especially able to endure hardships.He and his companions Zhang Jie and Shi University became brothers of different surnames in a foreign land, imagining that like the three brothers in Taoyuan, they share the difficulties and share the blessings, relying on the strength of the three to jointly break out a way of survival.

Unexpectedly, at the beginning of the partnership of the three, things were not as expected and they were in a very difficult situation.Seeing that they couldn't get along, Zhang and Shi had no choice but to go back to Qi County and rent land to make a living.Wang Xiangqing, on the other hand, stuck to the main road in the northern part of the Great Wall - Killing the Tiger's Pass, and continued his business of carrying burdens.Later, the situation improved a little. Wang Xiangqing recruited an apprentice, and personally invited Zhang Jie and Shan University to preside over the business together, and established "Jishengtang", which was the prototype of a firm.After that, "Jishengtang" was changed to "Dashengkui" as the general name, and finally developed into a business giant monopolizing the outer Mongolian market.

It took Wang Xiangqing more than [-] years from starting a business to taking shape, which shows the difficulty of starting a business.It is said that one New Year's Eve, Da Shengkui could not repay the noodles owed on credit, and even the white noodles for making dumplings for the New Year were taken away. As a result, Wang, Zhang, and Shi could only drink porridge on New Year's Eve and the first day of the new year. .In order to keep the tradition of hard work alive for future generations, a bowl of porridge, a shoulder pole, two cargo boxes, and a stone that was once used as a weight were specially enshrined in front of the God of Wealth of "Da Sheng Kui", which reproduces the old days of Wang Xiangqing. Shouldering the difficulties of starting a business in selling goods.

Compared with Huizhou merchants, Shanxi merchants are even more extraordinary in their hard-working spirit.There is a saying that “no Huizhou can’t make a town”. Just when Huizhou merchants took Yankou, Yanhe, and southeast towns as their main areas of activity, Shanxi merchants found another way, silently developing trade in the northwest, Mongolia, and China-Russia Kyakta.They took the west entrance, crossed the grasslands, crossed the desert, and embarked on a trade route thousands of miles long.In the scorching heat of summer, the scorching sun was on their heads, and the sand on their feet could not be seen for several days; in winter, there was a strong wind, and sometimes people died of freezing on the way;It was through these complicated and arduous journeys and arduous labor that Chinese tea was continuously exported to Mongolia by Shanxi merchants until Tsarist Russia at that time.

Qin Bizhong, a native of Yuci, Shanxi Province, was in business in his early years with extraordinary courage.During the Jiaqing period, the tea business was just booming. People from the north went to the south to buy tea, and regarded the wind and waves as a fear of the road, but Qin Bizhong took it calmly.Once when he went south, more than ten counties were submerged by floods. He was trapped on a boat for many days, and then returned by detour to Guangdong. Everyone who saw him congratulated him on his rebirth.Despite this hardship, Qin Bizhong went south to do business as usual without fear.After Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, the society was unsettled and thieves came out everywhere, making it very unsafe for merchants to do business, but Shanxi merchants did not shrink back because of this.Shahukou is the place Shanxi merchants must pass through when going to Baotou. There is a folk song saying: "Killing the tiger's mouth, killing the tiger's mouth, it is sad to have no money, either throwing money or beheading with a knife. After passing the tiger's mouth, the heart trembles." Even so, Shanxi businessmen Not shrinking because of this, but more and more, like a tide.All these fully reflect the enterprising spirit of Shanxi businessmen who are tenacious, unyielding, and fearless of hardships and dangers.

Shanxi merchants have traveled all over the world with their tenacious spirit of enduring hardships.From Japan to Moscow to Calcutta to the Arab region, Shanxi merchants can be seen.They also proudly declared: "Where sparrows can fly, there are people from Shanxi."

Business experience

If you want to start a business and get the first pot of gold, you must be able to endure hardships.If you want to succeed, you have to rely on yourself. People are like a computer.The human body is like the hardware of a computer, and the human mind is like the software of a computer, and the human mind can also be selectively installed.What kind of mentality, way of thinking and way of thinking you choose determines what kind of achievements you will have!There are traces of success.

For Shanxi merchants, their success is also traceable. "If you want to succeed, you have to rely on yourself", this is the motto pursued by Shanxi merchants.

In order to achieve a certain goal, Shanxi people are constantly changing their methods and pursuing new possibilities.What they have is a fighting spirit of self-improvement and perseverance.It is this spirit that has opened up one path after another for them to do business.Modern Shanxi merchants also pass on the virtues left by their predecessors from generation to generation. Zhou Qihong, who is known as a "market tycoon" in Hong Kong, is a typical representative of them.

When Zhou Qihong was a child, due to his father's early death, the family's small grocery store, which was not very prosperous, was in danger of closing down.In order to make a living for the family, his mother still supported the business of the store.Later, as his mother grew older, it became more and more difficult to take care of the affairs of the store.Zhou Qihong decided to use this small shop as a basis to give full play to his ingenuity and make a career.However, when he saw the account books in the store, he realized that the store was basically on the verge of bankruptcy.

But Zhou Qihong was not discouraged. He carefully analyzed the previous business strategy of the small store, and felt that his mother's style was too conservative, her ideas could not keep up with the trend of the times, and she could not attract customers.How can you make money like this?He decided to use his own methods to "reform".He gathered the only funds in the store, added new varieties, and first set his sights on rice, which is necessary for people's life.

In order to manage the rice business well, Zhou Qihong visited almost all the rice shops in Hong Kong.He pondered carefully, why some rice shops have many customers, while others are deserted?He found that in addition to service attitude, the most important thing is the quality of rice.Usually, when buying rice, people who buy rice will grab a handful of rice and take a closer look at it in a bright place to compare the fullness, uniformity, and crystal brightness of the rice to whether there are sand grains or barnyards. I often go to several companies for comparison before deciding who to buy.

At this time, Zhou Qihong had a good idea. He invited a highly skilled rice blender, and specially built a rice cabinet in the store and installed a rice blower.The rice blender blows away the impurities in the rice with a rice blower, and then slowly drops some raw oil into the rice. Under the blowing of the wind, the raw oil gradually adheres to the surface of the rice, making the rice translucent. Crystal clear, moist as pearls and jade.Many people are surprised that this rice is "just like pearls".At this time, Zhou Qihong would also miss the opportunity to add a sentence: "Yes, this is the exclusive pearl rice of our store!" Once the news spread, nearby residents came to buy it one after another.

A few years have passed, and Zhou Qihong's store has developed greatly, but Zhou Qihong is not satisfied with his sense of restraint on his own ideals and talents. He is eager for greater opportunities to come, so that he can grow up in a wider world. Show your skills.So, Zhou Qihong made an astonishing decision—sell the existing store and contract the entire market.

After a series of preparations, it soon entered the implementation stage.Zhou Qihong successfully contracted the Chi Fu Fa Yuen Market through a past partner relationship.

While nothing is guaranteed to be smooth sailing, success is not necessarily out of reach.Thanks to Zhou Qihong's efforts, Chi Fu Fa Yuen Market aroused people's curiosity like magic.During the day, the buildings here are bright and beautiful, with distinctive features, and there are many advertisements, which is picturesque; at night, the colorful lights are colorful, confusing, ever-changing, dreamlike.Zhou Qihong's "big hand" won unanimous applause from the Hong Kong government and the public, and Chi Fu Fa Yuen Street has become one of the best advanced markets in Hong Kong.

A good beginning is half the battle.Zhou Qihong took advantage of the victory to pursue the pursuit, and contracted the Ma On Tai Market in Sha Tin, the Hang Yiu Market in Ma On Shan, and the Fung Street Market in Cheung Fat Village... Soon Zhou Qihong became a well-known "market tycoon" in Hong Kong.

Zhou Qihong is the representative of these thousands of new Jin merchants. With his spirit of self-improvement, fearlessness of hardships, and daring to take risks, he has made great achievements and has been widely praised by people from all walks of life.

Every businessman should have a clear understanding of himself. He must know that his life is his own, his industry is his own choice, and his life path is his own.Everyone has different talents, as long as you expand according to the part you are best at and like the most, you will definitely be able to create a bright life!

Business experience

What kind of mentality, way of thinking and way of thinking you choose determines what kind of achievements you will have!There are traces of success.Integrity is the foundation, and the popularity of the TV series "Qiao Family Courtyard" made by Yiyi has made people turn their attention to Shanxi merchants again.In addition to the popular legends of Shanxi merchants, the honesty of Shanxi merchants has left a deep impression on people.

In terms of morality, Shanxi Merchants have always advocated honesty as the foundation and profit as righteousness.They believe that although the purpose of doing business is to make money, everything should be based on morality and trust.They advocate making money in a proper way and thinking of righteousness when seeing profit, and oppose profit-seeking and unscrupulous means.Wang Wenxian, a famous businessman in the Ming Dynasty, summed up his business experience in this way: "A good businessman is in the field of wealth and goods, and cultivates clever behavior." Another businessman, Fan Xian, used his own experience to educate his children: "Who says justice is unbelievable. What? I reach Jianghuai in the south and frontiers in the north. When trading, people use fraud as a trick, but I don't cheat. Therefore, my business is booming, but they are quickly declining."

Jin merchants advocate faith and treat people with sincerity, which is not an isolated phenomenon, but a common and consistent one.At the beginning of the development of Shanxi merchants, most of them adopted the form of partnership management. The success of partnership management relies on the business philosophy of integrity.

In the past, there was an old lady in Pingyao, Shanxi who had been begging for decades. One day, she suddenly took out a money order of 1200 taels and went to the Rishengchang bank to demand cash for silver.There was a gap of more than 30 years between the money order and the deposit. Rishengchang immediately paid the principal and interest of the cash to the beggar old lady after checking that it was correct.Don't underestimate this old lady, her dead husband was once a famous fur dealer.Once he went to Zhangjiakou to do leather goods business. After making money, he made money orders. Unexpectedly, he fell ill and died on the way home.Decades later, the old lady took out the jacket, the only relic left by her husband, and accidentally found this money order.Through this incident, Rishengchang's reputation of honesty and integrity has been greatly improved, and its business has naturally grown bigger and bigger.

Dashengkui, which once dominated the trade in Mongolia for 200 years, was founded by Wang Xiangqing, a businessman from Jinzhong, and Zhang Jie, a businessman from Qixian County.Shanxi Merchants Banks are mostly funded by the owner and operated by the shopkeeper. The good relationship between the two depends on a kind of moral self-consciousness, that is, "loyalty".For example, Fan Yongdou, a famous Shanxi Jiexiu businessman in the Qing Dynasty, was also praised by the Qing government for "communicating with the Liao Zuo and keeping faith for a long time". Later, he became an imperial merchant and made a lot of profits.

People in Jin do business based on honesty and sincerity, and people also "believe in sincerity", which attracts more customers, and the business becomes better and better.

Shanxi merchants initially mainly engaged in tea.Mongolian herdsmen rush to buy brick tea as soon as they see the words "Sanyuchuan" and "Changyuchuan" engraved on it; if they recognize a certain brand, they will buy it for a long time, and it will remain unchanged for a lifetime.Due to the reliable quality and good reputation of the brick tea sold by Shanxi merchants, it was even used in transactions instead of silver taels.

Even in modern society, the "integrity" behavior and "integrity" image of Shanxi merchants have been generally recognized and widely praised by the society.Guo Songtao, a Qing Dynasty diplomat and the first envoy to the UK, said: "Chinese merchants have always said that the wisdom of Shanshan people cannot be compared with Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and their calculations cannot match Jiangxi Huguang. "Liang Qichao, a famous social activist and scholar in modern times, also said: "Shanxi merchants keep their promises."

Righteousness and benefit are a pair of contradictions. If we only seek righteousness without profit, we cannot become a qualified businessman, because the purpose of doing business is to make money; Injury to social moral norms is detrimental to the interests of the public; and from the perspective of long-term interests, it is tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst, which will ultimately harm one's own interests.Therefore, properly handling the relationship between righteousness and profit is not only the requirement of professional ethics, but also the embodiment of the quality of businessmen.

Business experience

Although the purpose of doing business is to make money, everything should be based on morality and trustworthiness.Small profits but quick turnover is the wisdom of Shanxi merchants who are well-known throughout the country for their good management. An important feature of their business is small profits but quick turnover.Small profits but quick turnover refers to the strategy of expanding sales at low prices and low profits. The "small profit" in "small profit but quick turnover" means price reduction, which can lead to "more sales", and "more sales" can increase total revenue.

Shanxi merchants don't want to aim too high, and they don't wait until the price of the goods is the highest before selling them, because when they know the highest price that the goods can sell, it is also the time when the price of the goods drops.

In the process of doing business, Shanxi merchants change their business strategies according to changes in market conditions and commodity exchanges, and follow the times.In specific transactions, they don't stick to their prejudices, and they do it when they see profits.Accelerate its capital turnover by implementing the strategy of small profits but quick turnover, and strive for a place in the market.

There is a farmer in Shanxi who once went to Wuhan with a bag of peanuts on his back.After he sold the bag of peanuts, he found that they were sold well in Wuhan, but there are also many people selling peanuts here.After thinking about it, he immediately went back and bought a few thousand catties of peanuts with his best strength, and then found someone to transport them to Wuhan.After arriving in Wuhan, he thought that if he continued to operate like others, he would not be able to afford compensation at all, because he had no store and no capital here.Later, he sold the several thousand catties of peanuts at a price slightly higher than his purchase price.He thinks this method is very good, although the profit is less, but the funds are transferred quickly, and there is always some profit.After tasting the sweetness for the first time, he boldly purchased 10 catties of peanuts and shipped them to Wuhan, and then resolutely lowered the retail price from 1.10 yuan per catty at that time to 0.95 yuan per catty.After the news came out, people flocked to buy, and even some big stores rushed to buy from him.As a result, the price of peanuts in Wuhan has also stabilized.Because the peanuts he distributes are of high quality and low price, the business is naturally getting bigger and bigger.

Many Shanxi merchants, like the above-mentioned person, often sell out their products on the principle of small profits but quick turnover, and invest the returned funds in more profitable industries.Even in modern times, Shanxi merchants are still able to use the strategy of small profits but quick turnover with ease.In business, the profit and loss of capital and goods circulation are restricted by many factors. Enterprises in different regions often encounter weak cash and sales in their operations.Some places have excess cash, loose money, low interest rates, and some funds are idle; while other places have insufficient cash, tight money, rising interest rates, no loans, and difficulties in payment.In order to make as much profit as possible, it is necessary to adjust the surplus among various enterprises.Shanxi merchants have their own tricks for this. When the Hankou company has a lot of goods and the Baotou company sells out, after they collect the payment in Baotou, the customer can go to Hankou to pick up the goods.This flexible measure not only balances the amount of goods in the two places, eases the contradiction between supply and demand, but also facilitates customers.This kind of whole company game of chess, taking into account both top and bottom, and adjusting at any time can enable the company to obtain the maximum profit and create more room for expansion for small profits but quick turnover.

Not aiming too high does not mean getting rich is easy.Some Shanxi merchants do small businesses, but their business is booming, and the scale has doubled. What is the reason?This is because they are not satisfied with the status quo with a small fortune, but instead use their wisdom in every corner of the business, and discover new sources of wealth. Operating scale, increased profits.Therefore, if you want to gain a foothold in the business field, you must have ambition, but Zhizang's intention is also indispensable.

Business experience

The "small profit" in "small profit but quick turnover" means price reduction, which can lead to "more sales", and "more sales" can increase total revenue.Doing business requires more strategy, being flexible and doing business is the most taboo to follow the trend, and it is difficult to achieve great success by following the trend.Effective "flexibility" is not only a way of competition, but also a manifestation of ability and quality.

Shanxi people have this saying: "Sliced ​​noodles are like a belt; tricycles are pedaled backwards..." In fact, this is the embodiment of their thinking mode and behavior.Shanxi's sliced ​​noodles are unique. Some people say that no matter how many varieties of Italian macaroni there are, they can't compare with Shanxi's generous sliced ​​noodles.It can be said that Shanxi people are a special group full of original thinking.

The unique thinking of Shanxi people lies in being strategic and flexible, which is also a style of Shanxi businessmen.While respecting Confucianism, Shanxi merchants were also influenced by Legalism and mastered certain legalist strategies, so they were able to adapt their business strategies appropriately by examining the current situation.

In 1993, Liu Haizeng graduated from the material management school and was assigned to a metal material company to engage in trade work.Later, he applied for a suspension without pay and went to sea.Because of his many years of experience in steel management and the support of his classmates in the material system, he successfully won the first big order-cooperating with Ukraine to import 5000 tons of coils.In this way, he quickly got the first 100 million.Later, Liu Haizeng drove the Honda car he bought with the first pot of gold, and came to Beichen Economic and Technological Development Zone in Tianjin alone, away from his hometown in Shanxi, just to realize his ideal of starting a business.Introduced by an old friend, he became a member of Tianjin Shanxi Chamber of Commerce.

Maybe it's because of more trade, entering and leaving ports and wharves all the year round, Liu Haizeng has gained more in the north-south travel from Nantong Port, Jiangsu Province to Tianjin Port.Once, he met his old classmate in Tianjin Port.With the help of this old classmate, a stranded Sino-Thailand joint venture project to produce PVC pipes came into Liu Haizeng's field of vision.

Liu Haizeng saw an opportunity, he needed a mutation.But at that time, he knew nothing about the field of drainage pipes. Through the investigation of the construction committee system, he found that the plastic pipe industry conforms to the national industrial policy and is the future development direction, and many developed countries have already used plastic buried drainage pipes to replace traditional ones. Cement and other pipes.After a further on-the-spot investigation in Shanghai, where the plastic pipe industry was first used, he found that the market prospect is broad under the background that "environmental protection economy" is getting more and more attention from people.After clarifying the information, he immediately made a decision, and the road to entrepreneurship began with these channels.

Liu Haizeng agrees very much with the business philosophy of his fellow Shanxi-Baidu company Robin Li: to be the most professional company.After four years of hard work, Liu Haizeng, with a strategic vision, "hangs the cloud sail directly to help the sea" in the market tide of the pipe industry.Nowadays, the reputation of "the south seems to connect the north" in the sewage pipe industry is no longer a false name, as if the pipes have been laid all over the country.

Although the pipeline industry is greatly affected by fluctuations in international oil prices due to the use of petrochemical raw materials, coupled with some vicious competition, it seems to have had a certain impact on it, but Liu Haizeng has always set his sights on a higher market prospect.He advocated quickly occupying the market with high-quality and high-end products, thus leaving competitors far behind at the strategic level.Liu Haizeng is a dedicated person, and his company also adheres to the dedicated strategy.For him, blind expansion is a high-risk choice, but for the industry, the biggest benefits will come from the most specialized fields.

Liu Haizeng works calmly, does not make publicity, and takes no complacency, no slack, and no impetuosity as the management benchmark. The strategic goal he designed for Xiangxiang is: take the road of refined and innovative management, and create a domestic first-class plastics enterprise.He firmly believes that the development of cities, chambers of commerce, enterprises or individuals is not only for today, but also for tomorrow!
The key to the success of modern Shanxi merchants is that they not only inherited the tradition of hard work, integrity, and diligence of their predecessors, but also were good at changing ideas and broadening their minds.

Business experience

Effective "flexibility" is not only a way of competition, but also a manifestation of ability and quality.In the eyes of many people, seeking progress while maintaining stability and winning with one blow is the basic characteristic of Shanxi merchants.

This is indeed the case. Many Shanxi merchants started as small businesses after going out to do business, and gradually developed through hardships.All kinds of risks in the market force them to be cautious and prudent.Therefore, even after becoming a wealthy businessman, he still works hard and does not aim too high.

Although the "Fu" shop opened by the Qiao family in Qixian County, Shanxi Province has strong capital and wealth, it is still very cautious in doing business.When interacting with other firms, you must first understand each other in detail.Only when it is confirmed that the number is trustworthy and reliable, will we establish a business relationship with it, otherwise, we will refuse to avoid getting involved in unnecessary troubles.However, once you have a fancy target, you are willing to put down capital and increase your bet.

Dashengkui Store was originally just a grocery store. The reason why it has survived for more than 200 years is because it started from a small place and made progress steadily.Through a detailed understanding of the customs, lifestyles, and needs of the residents in the Mongolian region, Dashengkui has continuously expanded its business scope. It became a firm mainly engaged in bulk commodities such as tea, fur, salt, and livestock.

Traditional Shanxi merchants have the advantages of stability, and similarly, modern Shanxi merchants have also inherited these advantages.

Li Yanhong had a conversation with a client at the beginning of his business.

Client: "How long will this project take to complete?"

Robin Li: "Six months."

Client: "Is it ok for 4 months? I'll give you 50% more."

Li Yanhong: "Sorry, I can't do it."

As a result, the client was very satisfied with Robin Li's refusal, because it reflected that Robin Li was a very honest and steady person, so that the quality of his products would be guaranteed.

Doing business must be prudent. Imagine if a person is like a monkey, always flustered when encountering things, and makes himself trapped in a whirlpool of impatience, then no matter what business he does in the future, he himself will spend in panic.

Generally speaking, in life, the greater the risk, the greater the return, which requires us to be adventurous.However, we need to be prudent in our conduct.So, which is better than risk-taking and prudence?Here, prudence does not mean not taking risks, but that when the opportunity is ripe and sure, act immediately.This is the secret of seeking progress while maintaining stability and winning with one strike.

Business experience

Prudence does not mean not taking risks, but when the opportunity is ripe and sure, act immediately.Seize the opportunity and take advantage of the situation An ancient poem said well: "When you ride the wind and waves, there will be times when you hang your sails on the clouds and help the sea." Great ambitions need to be achieved by taking advantage of the wind and waves.If you want to achieve great things, you must learn to be good at taking advantage of the situation.It can be said that the rise of Shanxi merchants is mainly because they are good at seizing opportunities and taking advantage of them.

When the Ming Dynasty government began to implement the "open middle system" policy, Shanxi merchants got a good opportunity for development.They seized the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and developed rapidly in the northwest region.In the mid-Ming Dynasty, Shanxi merchants formally formed a business gang, that is, a large group; by the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi merchants had entered their heyday.

What are the secrets of Shanxi Merchants' success?Being good at taking advantage of the "time and place" and firmly grasping the opportunity as soon as it comes, this is the secret of Shanxi merchants who have dominated the shopping malls for 500 years!
The "open middle system" is related to the Great Wall.To the north of Shanxi is the Great Wall, which was an important line of defense for the feudal dynasty against foreign enemies.A large amount of money is spent on stationing the Great Wall every year, and the royal family is naturally very reluctant to spend this money.Therefore, based on the principle of solving problems for the master, the Shanxi Province presented the proposal of "opening the middle system", which means to use the power of merchants to transport grain to several major border fortresses such as Datong and Juyongguan, and then give these merchants some "salt guides". "(Certificate of monopolizing the sale of salt) as compensation.Merchants rely on "salt introduction" to get salt from the management agency of the salt production area and then sell it for profit. The income other than compensation for grain transportation costs belongs to themselves.In this way, the royal family does not need to spend a large amount of snowflakes and silver every year to consolidate the border defense, and the merchants can obtain a large amount of profits.

To put it simply, in the early Ming Dynasty, it was merchants who transported grain from the interior to the frontier defense, and then what did the government compensate them for?I will give you a "salt guide", and you will be given a corresponding amount of "salt guide" according to the amount of grain you transport, and then take this "salt guide" to the salt field to collect salt, and then sell it. The merchant earns the difference. Chinese system".

After the implementation of the "opening-up system", Shanxi merchants have expanded their salt business on a larger scale.Before that, he could only operate the Hedong salt produced in his hometown, but now it spreads all over the salt-producing areas, especially Lianghuai and Changlu.Since then, Shanxi merchants have traveled all over the world, and the number of Shanxi merchants sent to Yangzhou and Tianjin has increased with time. The Shanxi merchants' guild halls in salt-producing areas can be seen everywhere.

Even in modern times, we can still see examples of Shanxi merchants taking advantage of the situation.For example, the Orient Health Industry Group in Changzhi, Shanxi was founded by Guo Ruiping, a former miner, on the basis of a bankrupt small bicycle factory.In just ten years, Orient series of fitness equipment spread all over the country, and one of the secrets of Guo Ruiping's success is to take advantage of the momentum.

The Changzhi area of ​​Shanxi was originally a very poor place, who wants to go to the gym?On the basis of no experience, positioning the business on fitness equipment that has no local market, this makes many local people do not understand.However, Guo Ruiping, relying on his clever mind, took advantage of the "Dongfeng" policy of "grasping with both hands and hardening with both hands" of the national competitive sports and mass sports at that time, and positioned his entrepreneurial goal at "fitness equipment that the masses like to use and the masses are willing to use." "On top.Orient not only avoids the competition with many professional competitive sports equipment manufacturers in China, but also takes advantage of the national sports lottery policy. For example, part of the income of the sports lottery is used to repay the public, invest in the construction of gyms and fitness paths, etc., to open up opportunities up the market.

Guo Ruiping took advantage of the good relationship he had established and maintained with the officials of the State Sports General Administration, first installed a set of "mass sports and fitness equipment" in the Longtan Lake Family Hospital of the State Sports General Administration, and then spread from this family home to the whole of China.Now you go to the streets of Beijing and look, you can see this kind of fitness equipment painted in orange, yellow and red everywhere. The business alone allowed Guo Ruiping to acquire assets worth hundreds of millions of yuan.

Many successful Shanxi businessmen know very well the principle of taking advantage of the situation. They rely on the situation to complete capital accumulation and stride towards the ranks of millionaires, tens of millions or even billionaires.

It is far from enough for a person to rely solely on his own strength in business operations, and he often needs the help of external forces to succeed.It is a shortcut often taken by wise men to take advantage of external forces to strengthen themselves and achieve success.

Business experience

If you want to achieve great things, you must learn to be good at taking advantage of the situation.Mastering information is equal to mastering opportunities Many large companies have adopted various advanced scientific means to capture product information and grasp market changes for their own development and future.Shanxi people have done particularly well in this regard.

Paying attention to market information, predicting market conditions, and monopolizing the market are important ways for Shanxi merchants to get rich.In history, Shanxi merchants, especially those who mainly used buying cheap and selling expensive, attached great importance to commodity information.They understand the market conditions through various channels, grasp the information on the shortage of materials in various places and factors affecting business operations.Between the main number and the semicolon, there is usually a letter every five days, and a letter every three days, and the monthly situation is reported at the end of the month.In this way, ventilation between the total number and the semicolon can be achieved up, down, left, and right.The contents of the letters written by various companies are particularly extensive, and almost all information related to business and finance is included.

In order to keep secrets, each letter has its own code word, and once the letter falls into the hands of others, the meaning is unknown.In case of important information, the semicolon must send a special person to report to the head office day and night, and never let any information fall into the hands of the other party.This way of processing business information has played a great role in the development of Shanxi merchants.

In the 25th year of Guangxu, Qixian Dade Pass received an economic intelligence letter, which stated: "The price of grain and rice in northern Shanxi and naturalization and Baotou is flat, white wheat is more than 26 yuan per catty, and the big autumn harvest in Kou Seventy-eight points...In addition to the fact that Xinzhou was robbed by soldiers of the Wuwei army on the [-]th, and three people were captured, we have clues, etc." The content of this letter involves food prices, harvests, military disasters, etc., and the scope is very wide.At that time, Shanxi merchants attached great importance to information and intelligence.

In addition, each firm regards the collection, arrangement and use of information from the shopkeeper to the partners as one of the important personnel assessment contents and as a condition for awards, so everyone attaches great importance to this work.Take the shopkeeper of Taigu Cao’s Shenyang Fushengjun shop as an example. One autumn, on his way home to visit relatives, he saw that the red sorghum along the way was growing well.It is immediately concluded that the pests are spreading, the harvest is hopeless, and the market will rise.Later, he gave up the idea of ​​going home, returned to Shenyang, and bought a large amount of sorghum.At this time, other companies were deceived by the illusion of an upcoming harvest and sold a large number of stocks.When the autumn harvest came, sorghum production dropped sharply and the market rose sharply. This time, Fu Shengjun made a huge profit.

Traditional Shanxi merchants relied on well-informed information from market development to market monopoly, while modern Shanxi merchants still have a good tradition of valuing information.The emphasis on the market situation and the capture and feedback of commodity information are the top priorities for them, especially for large companies and enterprises, most of them have dedicated market forecasters who conduct market research continuously in order to be able to grasp the market change and take timely action.

In 1996, Li Mingqi, a modern Shanxi businessman, contracted a closed street rubber factory. The factory originally owed more than 30 employees nine months' wages and a foreign debt of 9 yuan.But all this did not discourage Li Mingqi.In order to improve the current situation of the factory, he carried out relatively substantial reforms, increased investment, and prepared to do a lot in rubber products.

At this moment, an accurate market message came out—there was a surplus of products in the rubber industry market, and many manufacturers in the same industry stopped their new projects one after another.Li Mingqi got the news and decisively decided to change his original mind.After thinking about it, he thought that the livestock industry in this area was booming and there was a lot of leather, so he chose to switch to leather products.He used local materials to make bicycle cushions, handbags, backpacks, travel bags and other products with leather, and quickly occupied the market.The debt was paid off and the wages of the workers were repaid.

The rapid and stable development of the tannery once again made Li Mingqi fall into contemplation. Any kind of stability will have countless crises lurking, although you may not know what it will be.Li Mingqi realized that relying on the risk of only one product will make the company extremely easy to fall into crisis. If the method of "focusing on one industry and developing multiple industries simultaneously" can be adopted, it will be possible to avoid the crisis caused by the business downturn. crisis.

In order to choose new products, Li Mingqi traveled around to learn about market conditions.By chance, a poster of "The First Mule and Horse Material Exchange Conference in City A" attracted him.The local cowhide is rich in resources, and the leather ranks first in the country. The idea of ​​processing cowhide came into his mind.From the market, he also learned that "yellow cattle wet blue leather" is a tight commodity in the peripheral market.So he organized his forces immediately, and soon produced bright-colored "yellow cow wet blue hide".This new product was favored by a foreign businessman as soon as it was launched, and immediately signed a contract with their factory for an annual supply of 5 pieces.Due to the high quality and trustworthiness of his products, the "yellow cow wet blue hide" was exported to Japan, Singapore, India and other Asian countries soon.

Every message seems to make Li Mingqi capture a little bit of inspiration.Because he is good at capturing information, filtering it, and finally developing in a favorable direction, his tannery continues to create new products.

In today's increasingly fierce competition in the market economy, investing in projects is inseparable from research. While mastering market information, it is also necessary to study and analyze carefully, so as to make correct business strategies.Only in this way can information generate huge economic benefits.

Business experience

Paying attention to market information, predicting market conditions, and monopolizing the market are important ways for Shanxi merchants to get rich.You can have no capital, but you can't lose sight. For a businessman, vision should be the most important thing.

In business, you can borrow money without capital, search for relationships without relationships, win over customers without reputation, hype without fame, explore without experience...you can't do without vision.As the "Talmud" said: "The most expensive diamonds are always buried in places that are not easy to be found." Without vision, you will go in the wrong direction, go in the wrong direction, go in the wrong direction, and no matter how hard you spend, it will be in vain of.

A good businessman looks at everything from a businessman's perspective from an early age.With a superhuman vision, you will find a road full of gold.

Shanxi merchants are not only good at taking risks, but also have advanced vision.Shanxi merchants have been able to operate freely in the business world for hundreds of years, mainly due to their ability to assess the situation, have a long-term vision, and then be sensitive to observe business opportunities, and then act in advance to seize opportunities.

According to historical records, people in Linfen, Shanxi Province have been good at doing business since ancient times.At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Kang family in Pingyang Prefecture, the Liu family in Nangao County, Xiangfen County, the Wei family in Shizhuang, and the Wang family in Beichai were known as the four richest people in southern Shanxi.Among them, Wei's family was just a small rich man in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. It is precisely because of their long-term vision that they became the richest man in the future.During the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, Wei Jia, a member of his family, bought iron, salt, sheepskin, tobacco leaves, wood, etc. from Shanxi and Shaanxi and transported them to the Jianghuai area of ​​the two lakes, and then transported silk and tea from the Jianghuai area to the inland; from a single operation to Diversified operations, gradually changing from commercial operation investment to financial investment, and gradually expanding the business of banks and banks; from being a bank to long-distance trafficking, number shops developed from Shanxi and Henan to Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and other southern regions 13 provinces.

Shanxi merchants not only focus on domestic trade, they also set their sights on foreign countries.Hundreds of years ago, Shanxi people opened up foreign markets.In Moscow, Petersburg and more than a dozen Russian cities, there have been firms or branches run by Shanxi people.In North Korea and Japan, the trade of Shanxi merchants was also very active.The Chang family in Yuci exported cloth from China and imported ginseng from North Korea.

Modern Shanxi merchants still inherit these advantages of their ancestors.

By an extremely accidental opportunity, Gao Chungui, a modern Shanxi businessman who was looking for a new investment point, became acquainted with ceramic murals.He believes that as a new decorative material, the market prospect of ceramic murals is very broad.The pottery plates currently sold in the market are all machine-processed, with too few patterns, and the pottery plates produced in this way do not show the charm of manual culture.

Shanxi Province already has abundant pottery clay resources, and several pottery kilns in Pingyang, Jiexiu, and Bayi have far-reaching influences in history.With the personalized and artistic needs of emerging hotels, office buildings and residential buildings, terracotta murals, a pure natural and environmentally friendly decorative material, will surely become a new favorite. "This is a cultural industry, and I believe it will have broad prospects." Gao Chungui, who has been in the steel business for more than ten years, said excitedly.In his opinion, the steel industry is a traditional industry after all, and he wants to find a new breakthrough, "Porcelain murals should be a good choice, and its market is good."

Gao Chungui, who has no higher education, has a feeling of admiration and closeness to culture.Even though he sells steel products in Yuci, there is a painting and calligraphy hanging in his office.Gao Chungui was very interested in finding ceramic panel murals, a product with both broad market prospects and cultural heritage.He believed in his choice, and started another round of entrepreneurship with a spirit of daring to be the first in the world.

Recalling the toss and toss in the past few years, Gao Chungui felt that he had accumulated a lot of wealth in life at that time, which is more worthy of aftertaste and cherish than the material wealth now.Now he owns four companies, two that sell steel products, one that operates real estate, and one that is Shengshi Classic Leisure Gallery.As he himself said: "We are setting up a framework, and in the next two to three years, we want to develop into a group company."

To do business, you must have a unique vision. A short-sighted person cannot be a big businessman.If a businessman wants to have greater development, he needs to maintain a long-term vision, start with integrity, start with small things, and make reasonable plans to formulate long-term plans.This is the essence of doing business.

Business experience

A good businessman looks at everything from a businessman's perspective from an early age.The process of money flow is the process of money making money. In the past years, people generally considered saving some food at home, because the price of goods changed three times a day, and ensuring that they were not hungry was the top priority of the common people.In today's peaceful and prosperous world, besides food and clothing, everyone has some spare money. How to preserve the value of this money has become a topic for many people.

Putting money in a jar and burying it may have been expedient in the days of being ready to flee.But now that the society has developed to this day, I am afraid that no one will bury a lot of banknotes in the soil.Depositing money in the bank is of course the first choice, but this can only be regarded as "guaranteeing the number" and may not be able to preserve the value, and it is even more difficult to appreciate it significantly.This may be the thinking of many poor people.

The reason why poor people can't become rich is because they don't let money make money.The idea of ​​the businessman is different. The money of the businessman is flowing like water, and the process of flow is the process of money making money.People often say that "businessmen have very smart brains", which actually means that the thinking of businessmen is different from that of ordinary people.Businessmen can not only see profit in their eyes, but also firmly grasp the profit through capital operation.Shanxi merchants are such a group who are good at making money make money.

Qiao Guifa, the ancestor of the Shanxi merchants' Qiao family, made his fortune by grinding tofu with the Qin family in Baotou, so there is a saying that "there was Fusheng Gong first, and then there was Baotou City".

From the perspective of the absolute value of wealth, this seems absolutely impossible.How could a tofu shop with an output value of less than a hundred taels soar to tens of millions of taels?In fact, the reason is very simple, no matter how little capital is required to grind tofu, as long as it is turned like that millstone and keeps grinding out tofu, it will continue to generate profits.If we take this as a starting point and extend outward to form a one-stop system of tofu processing, sales and service, an industrial chain will be formed, and the limited money will become alive.

As long as the path is right, you are not afraid of a low starting point.Qiao Guifa, who came from a poor background with little education, and a fellow villager surnamed Qin obviously didn't know what an industrial chain is, but they did it consciously.In the 20th year of Qianlong, they encountered an opportunity to make a fortune.That year was a bumper harvest of grain, and the two of them felt that the price of grain was very cheap, so they bought a large amount of soybeans and corn for later grinding tofu and raw bean sprouts.Unexpectedly, the weather was severe in the second year, and the value of soybeans increased, and they made a lot of money because of this.After that, they started from operating tofu workshops, and then engaged in the storage and trading of beans, feeding pigs with bean dregs, and brewing wine.This is actually building a canal to make my limited money come alive.This is a decisive step and lays a solid foundation for future success.

Later, the two added a grocery store next to the tofu workshop, dealing in grain, oil, clothing materials, and opened a money store.In this way, an industrial chain centering on the processing and sales of tofu, involving grain and oil, cloth, department stores, wine, meat, money lending and many other industries was formed and put into operation.Although their industrial chain is the most elementary and extremely primitive, its operation is stable and its profits are huge.Especially after getting involved in the profiteering wine industry and money shop operation, the pace of primitive accumulation has also become bigger and bigger.After years of painstaking efforts, there are as many as 19 Qiao's stores in Baotou City, with 500 employees.Qiao's Fuzihao has become the firm with the longest history and the strongest strength in Baotou City.

A famous city turned from a tofu-grinding mill is enough to show that as long as capital is put into operation, even in a short period of time, the huge profits are often astonishing.Even if the carrier of capital operation - the industrial chain is extremely small and primitive, it will also produce a miracle of wealth.Although Qiao Guifa's tofu industry chain is not comparable in output value and profit to the capital industry chain of silver business established by his descendants operating bank accounts, the mode of operation is similar.

A famous businessman in modern times said: "Don't fall in love with business, that is, don't be addicted to any business." This is a kind of spiritual enlightenment detached from business after having rich business experience.For a smart businessman, in his eyes, there should be only profitable business, not permanent business.Any business, when it has gone through its own mature stage, will inevitably decline. At this time, if you do not make necessary self-adjustments and hold on to it, you will surely fail along with this business.This reminds people not only to let the capital roll, but also to invest the capital in the most profitable industry as much as possible, so that the capital can realize a virtuous circle.Shanxi merchants had already done this hundreds of years ago. When Qiao Guifa realized that the profits brought by the tofu industry were dwindling, he diverted part of his funds to more profitable industries such as wine and money shops.

It can be seen from this that if a businessman wants to really get rid of poverty and become rich, he should not be afraid of a late start or a small start-up capital. As long as the capital in his hands is really rolling, it is not impossible to become a wealthy businessman.

As a businessman, if you want to make your industry bigger and bigger, you should adjust your projects at any time. Don’t wait for the profits of the projects to be excavated before considering changing careers. Instead, adjust the industrial structure in time to make yourself invincible forever. It depends on wisdom and courage, and more of a strategy.

Business experience

The money of a businessman is flowing like water, and the process of flowing is the process of money making money.Taking care of others is also taking care of themselves. Businessmen of the older generation understand such a truth-to take care of the interests of the other party when doing business. "A businessman who doesn't let people make money is not a good businessman." This is a sentence often said by Gu Gengyu, the bristle king.In the commercial society, doing business always requires partners, helpers, and friends.When you take care of other people's interests, you are actually taking care of your own interests.

The Shanxi people's concept of "sharing weal and woe, sharing weal and woe, and helping each other" is the best embodiment of solidarity and mutual assistance.The brilliance of the Shanxi merchant group comes not only from the right time and location, but also from the harmony of people.

Shanxi Merchants fully apply group spirit to commercial operation and capital operation.Many of their practices still have advanced reference value, among which joint operation is a major feature of Shanxi merchants.Joint account management can combine brothers, fathers and sons, friends, and neighbors into a group of forces that share and cooperate with each other, and spread out on a large scale. A business climate.

The joint management system is not a combination of equals, but a hierarchical management method in which the general account governs the semicolon, the owner manages the shopkeeper (general manager), and the shopkeeper leads the staff.The owner may be one person, several people or even dozens of people, depending on their investment situation; the shopkeeper may also have several people, but the big shopkeeper can only be one person, who is the real "man in charge".

The scope of Taigu Cao's business covers ticket numbers, pawns, pigments, medicinal materials, leather, foreign goods and other fields.After the joint operation system was implemented, more than 640 firms at home and abroad were operating normally, and they continued to earn back money for the Cao family.According to the principle of hierarchical management, Cao's joint account management system has formed a three-level or four-level management structure. The authorities at all levels are clear, the responsibilities are clear, and there is both division of labor and cooperation. There is mutual assistance in competition, comparison in cooperation, and a whole game of chess.

Cao's joint account management system implements independent accounting, and the semicolon has management autonomy and competes with each other. The responsibilities, rights, and benefits of the general account and the semicolon are very clear.According to the procedure, the semicolons cooperate with each other, think in one place, work in one place, exchange information, help each other, seek great benefits together, realize resource sharing, and jointly promote the overall "big expansion".

The joint account management of Cao's giant merchants is not only for the understanding of government orders and the integration of internal and external, but more importantly, it realizes the interaction and integrated operation of various industries, and the profits are no longer single, but multiple.All industries interact simultaneously, and dividends are rolling in.Therefore, the joint operation system is one of the "secret weapons" that have enabled Shanxi merchants to dominate the shopping malls for 500 years.

The solidarity and mutual assistance of Shanxi merchants is not only reflected in internal operations, but also in their external operations.

Shanxi merchants also pursue interests just like other businessmen, but this pursuit is based on the traditional Chinese morality of "benevolence and righteousness".They adhere to the principle of "help each other with all your strength and yield with patience", and there are few "internal disputes", which is also very instructive to modern businessmen.

Shanxi merchants also built guild halls widely, using the patriarchal society to unite with each other, using guild halls to maintain, strengthen mutual unity and cooperation, and support each other, help each other, and coordinate The relationship between firms eliminates the disharmony between interpersonal relationships and forms large and small business gangs.The Shanxi Merchants culture believes that the bravery of an ordinary man is not enough, and they never engage in personal heroism.There is a commandment in the ancestral precepts of many Shanxi merchant families, that is, they are not allowed to do business over the market, and they must leave room for others to develop together.

If a businessman wants to make his business bigger and stronger, he must learn to unite and grasp the win-win idea, so that he can take care of himself on the basis of taking care of others.

Business experience

A businessman who does not make money is not a good businessman.

Employing people for business rather than people for business Shanxi merchants attach great importance to the selection and promotion of business talents in their business activities.In terms of the employment system, they adhere to the principle of "employing people according to their needs" and never "employing people according to their needs" in order to prevent "fewer things and more people, and getting used to being lazy".For example, when the employer hires a manager, it always conducts a comprehensive inspection to determine that the person is capable, proficient in business, and of good conduct, and is competent for the duties of the manager. Doubt, the suspect should not use the purpose."Once hired, the employer cannot interfere with the manager's business operation process. Only when the account period is concluded, the employer can decide whether to re-employ based on its operating performance.Regarding the selection of managers, Li Hongling, a famous person in the Shanxi bank industry, once summed it up like this: "Those who win people prosper, and those who lose people decline. Those who check carefully get it, and those who don't check carefully don't get it."

In addition, Shanxi merchants have also fully demonstrated the management style of "cautious in selecting people" in the selection and training of reserve talents.When Shanxi merchants select newcomers, they usually select young people from the location where the account is located and neighboring counties, and they start to train them from a very young age.Generally speaking, when a newcomer enters a company, he or she must have a reliable introducer as a guarantee.For example, when "Da Sheng Kui" chooses people, he always chooses fifteen or sixteen-year-old children from Qixian County and Taigu, who have a certain cultural foundation, decent behavior, smart and studious, and their families and previous generations have no stains.After being selected, let them walk to the semicolon of Guihua (now Hohhot), and then transfer to camels to the general number of Khobd (located at the junction of western Mongolia and Xinjiang of my country), where they will conduct unified training, mainly learning Foreign languages ​​and minority languages, such as Russian, Mongolian, Uyghur, etc., and various rules in the company.Then they were assigned to various semi-colons and learned business from the old clerks, mainly the "three pots" (kettle, teapot, urinal), sweeping the floor, wiping the table, upper and lower door panels and other chores, and practicing writing and abacus at night.In addition to learning various practical techniques from old clerks, he also needs to learn various rules in the enterprise.After the three-year apprenticeship period, you can do some specific business. After years of practical business tests, you will select talents and talents, and entrust them with important tasks.

In order to expand business and increase profits, Shanxi merchants also do everything possible to poach business wizards from other places for their own use.There is a famous case in which the Hou family of Jiexiu poached Mao Honghui from the Rishengchang bank and founded the "Weizi Wulianhao" in one go, forming a huge financial empire of the Hou family, thus creating a A new era for the development of Shanxi's ticket bank industry.In addition, Qiao Shijie, who used to be Zhili Buyongdao, co-founded Baofenglong Stock Company with others. He took a fancy to the management ability of Song Jukui, the deputy manager of Yuan Weitaihou who was recuperating at home, and invited him to come out many times.At that time, the general manager's stock was one salary, and Qiao Shijie generously agreed to give Song Jukui one salary and two per cent.After Song Jukui took office, he worked hard to recruit talents, and Baofenglong Bank became a famous big bank in the later period.

"Employing people according to their needs" also means that Shanxi merchants are good at mobilizing the enthusiasm of each employee, making them take the operation of the company as their own business, and generate a strong cohesion and professionalism. Its performance is a very unique "top body stock" The system is widely used in the business activities of Shanxi merchants.It makes every employee know that as long as he works hard, he can become a shareholder of the company and participate in the dividends of the account period, not just a small worker.

Shanxi merchants also have their own system in terms of employment.Shanxi merchants are well aware of the principle of "don't use suspicious people, and don't doubt employing people". Even if there is a loss in the year-end settlement, as long as it is not caused by human dereliction of duty or lack of ability, instead of blaming them, the financial owners will give more comfort and immediately make up the funds. It has regrouped, with a view to turning losses into profits in the coming year.This kind of full trust has enabled the managers to establish the code of conduct of "being entrusted by others and being loyal to others".It can be said that this is the most valuable resource in the human resource management of an enterprise. It is more long-term, holistic, comprehensive and strategic. To achieve this, it must be through effective management, bold authorization, good Two-way communication, full trust and attention can only be realized.

Therefore, how to employ people is one of the basic functions of an enterprise's top managers, which determines the success or failure of an enterprise.There is such an example: before the Cao family in Taigu opened the Jinsheng Runpiao Bank, they planned to open a bank in the northeast.Cao Caidong carefully found a shopkeeper and paid him 7 taels of silver for the start-up. The shopkeeper went to the Guandong with confidence.A year later, the shopkeeper returned empty-handed, and the owner's 7 taels of start-up fee was in vain.However, Cao Dong’s family knew people well, and he carefully analyzed the reasons for the failure. He believed that there were many reasons for the failure, but none of them were subjective factors of the shopkeeper who returned from a big defeat.So, instead of blaming the shopkeeper, he comforted him, and took out another 7 taels of silver to encourage him to go to the Northeast to start a business again.The shopkeeper was deeply moved and decided to make a way out in Kanto.But I didn't expect that after a year of busy work, I returned empty-handed.The shopkeeper felt ashamed of his boss and pleaded guilty to Cao Caidong. After Cao Caidong reviewed the annual business situation, he felt that the responsibility for the loss was still not the shopkeeper.At this time, he decided to give another 7 taels to the shopkeeper to start a business.The shopkeeper thanked the owner and started to make three trips to the Kanto.This time, the shopkeeper seized the opportunity to start with brewing, and successively opened three wineries, Shengquan, Fushengcheng, and Fushengyi in Shenyang, and finally achieved great success.Soon Fushengjun Bank was born.The shopkeeper fulfilled the great trust of Cao Dong's family, and opened up a market for the Cao family in the Northeast, and gained a firm foothold, receiving unanimous praise from inside and outside the account.

Trust is mutual.The owner's trust in the shopkeeper is manifested in letting the shopkeeper take full control of the operation, while the shopkeeper's loyalty to the operation of the shopkeeper is expressed.Since most Shanxi merchants implement the unlimited liability system, "compensating the owner does not compensate the shopkeeper", if the shopkeeper is not loyal enough to the boss, it is easy to embezzle, make false accounts, and "eat official meals and release private camels".Not to mention that each firm has a clear stipulation that "the owner does not ask questions about the mark", even if the owner is willing to "visit and guide in person", that is unrealistic.The branch offices where the shopkeepers are located are all thousands of miles away. The transportation is inconvenient and the information is not effective.

It can be said that the relationship between the owner and the shopkeeper of Shanxi merchants depends entirely on faith.When the boss solemnly handed over his money to the shopkeeper, would it be okay if he didn't trust it?The shopkeeper manages the store carefully and earns the maximum profit for the owner. Is it okay to be disloyal?This is also the way Shanxi merchants employ people.

Business experience

In terms of the employment system, Shanxi merchants adhere to the principle of "employing people according to their needs" and never "use people according to their needs", in order to prevent "few things and many people, and they are accustomed to being lazy". "Everyone can be the owner" top-share system Some people think that the joint-stock system is an "imported product" from abroad. In fact, the personal top-share system established by Shanxi merchants hundreds of years ago has already created a precedent for the modern joint-stock system.They rely on this joint-stock system to manage the firm, recruit talents, and create benefits, achieving success that is still amazing when I think about it.In fact, they didn't have any secrets, they just fulfilled the promises written on paper one by one.Never discounted, never adulterated, and that's enough.Business owners who now implement the joint-stock system should also learn more from Shanxi merchants, and fully implement the joint-stock system, which will definitely benefit a lot.

Shanxi Merchants’ personal top-up shareholding system can be described as the embryonic form of the modern shareholding system. It is a form of labor organization created by Shanxi Merchants in their business activities. The top business shares obtained can be described as a great creation of Shanxi merchants.This form is also a good way to coordinate labor-capital relations and mobilize workers' enthusiasm for work.

The owners of various ticket offices in Shanxi believe that the performance of a firm’s ticket office is closely related to whether the general manager, branch manager, manager, buddy, and apprentice in the firm’s ticket office wholeheartedly serve the ticket office.If the work performance and effort of the people in the bank account are not linked to their income, or if they feel that they are working hard for others, everyone's enthusiasm for work will be greatly reduced, and there will be a phenomenon of passive slowdown, which will affect the bank account. Operating results.Far-sighted Shanxi merchants and ticket dealers do not simply pursue short-term benefits, but pay more attention to long-term benefits.On this basis, Shanxi Merchants' personal top-up stock system came into being.

Shanxi merchants determine the share of their respective income top shares based on the talents and performance of managers, stewards, and employees, and use this as a basis to compare and participate in the same dividends as shareholders of financial shares in each account period of the ticket number. top business".The so-called top body shares, in short, are those who only contribute and do not pay money (shares that contribute money but do not manage affairs are per share), but top body shares, like every share, have the right to dividends.

Although the shopkeepers and clerks in Shanxi firms have no capital to pay for each share, they can rely on their own labor to contribute to the shares, and participate in dividends with the wealth owner's silver shares, and the owners of the shares are not liable for losses.The number of shares held by the general manager is determined by the financial owner. The person in charge of each functional department in the firm, the shopkeeper of the branch, and the clerk are the negated shares and the number of shares is determined by the general manager. Sure.

There are usually two ways to generate top shares: one is that when the owner invests in opening a firm, he first declares the number of top shares to the manager (treasurer) hired, and stipulates it in the form of a contract, generally one share per person ( ten per cent), and occasionally there are two or three per share shares; the other is that after ordinary employees enter the number, they have worked for more than 10 years and have no fault. On the "Wanjin Account", it is stated since when, how many shares have been topped, that is, the number of personal shares has been topped.The initial top-up stock of ordinary employees is generally [-]%. After that, every accounting period (three or four years), according to their business ability and contribution, they will be increased at their own discretion and increased to one share, which is called "full share". No more can be added.This is very tempting to the people in the ticket number, so that the top-level shares of some business backbones exceed the wealth shares of many small shareholders.That is to say, many stockholders don't have any funds, relying on their own ability and performance, after years of hard work, they can get more dividend income in dividends than some small shareholders who invested.

This business model of "everyone can be a boss" makes everyone in the bank dare not slack off in the slightest, and they all devote themselves to the business with full enthusiasm.Duan Zhangao, who worked as a clerk in Fuheng in Qixian County, was recommended by young people in 1925 to join Fuheng as an apprentice. year.In 1935, he finally paid for the three-percentage business, and distributed 200 silver dollars as soon as the first account came.Duan Zhangao also recorded in detail the temptation of the personal top-up share system in two articles, "Qi County Fuhengdang Practitioner's Personal Experience" and "Fuhengdang Regulations I Have Witnessed" published in "Shanxi Literature and History Materials" .

Shanxi Merchants absorb funds through the form of each share and expand their operating capital; and through the form of top-up shares, directly link the operation of the firm with the economic interests of the employees of the firm, and both participate in the dividends of the account period, thereby fully mobilizing managers, buddies, and employees. The work enthusiasm of the apprentices has given full play to the role of the group in the operation of commercial enterprises, enhanced professionalism and cohesion, and improved the competitiveness of Shanxi merchants in the market.

From the current point of view, the personal top-up stock system is a bit like the modern option incentive system for managers, and it also has a certain shareholding cooperative system.This advanced equity management method has greatly improved the enthusiasm of operators and all employees, brought their work enthusiasm and initiative into full play, and created great economic benefits.Of course, there are also disadvantages to top stocks, such as ranking top stocks in terms of seniority, which limits the timely discovery of talents.

Business experience

Shanxi Merchants absorb funds through the form of each share and expand their operating capital; and through the form of top-up shares, directly link the operation of the firm with the economic interests of the employees of the firm, and both participate in the dividends of the account period, thereby fully mobilizing managers, buddies, and employees. The work enthusiasm of the apprentices has given full play to the role of the group in the operation of commercial enterprises, enhanced professionalism and cohesion, and improved the competitiveness of Shanxi merchants in the market.

(End of this chapter)