Small experience, big wealth

Chapter 7 (1)
12. Big businesses often start small
Shi Yuzhu, chairman of Giant Group, said: "In the beginning, Giant's culture was wrong. They used slogans at every turn. They were originally used to motivate employees, but later they deceived themselves. Now I don't dare to set such goals anymore. I What we have to do is to make every small place the best.” That year, we went to Nanhai City, Guangdong Province to investigate the market of aluminum accessories, and after selecting a company, we signed a cooperation agreement with it, and then we returned to Dalian.

After returning to Dalian, we sent a purchase list to the other party according to the needs of the Dalian market. The amount of the purchase price was a little more than 21 yuan. When we signed the agreement, we made a promise first, and paid after delivery.The other party kept their promise quite well. One week after the fax was sent, we received the "arrival notice" from the railway.This batch of goods was ordered by a real estate company, but something happened after the goods arrived home. Due to the shortage of funds, the real estate company has not paid for the goods, and we have delayed the payment from Guangdong.In the helpless situation, we explained to the other party, and the other party said straightforwardly: "No problem, we can talk about it when it is convenient." He didn't even mean to blame us at all.

Almost half a month later, we asked Nanhai to buy 15 yuan of goods on credit.The other party did not hesitate at all, and immediately sent us another 15 yuan in goods.We were even a little embarrassed.

In this way, the payment has been owed until the end of the year.At this time, the real estate company's real estate sales situation improved, and the money owed to us was paid off in one lump sum.The wife happily called the Guangdong side, checked the accounts, and prepared to pay off all the arrears.Guess what the manager of the other party said, he was very straightforward, he said: "Have you got money? That's good, we've already done the math. We owe us 44 yuan and a fraction. If you can pay in one lump sum, we will remit Let’s say 40 yuan, then 4 yuan and a fraction are rewards for you!” I was overjoyed when I heard that, and paid off all the debts at once, and the other party gave us a color TV as a gift after receiving the payment Woolen cloth.

Later, I thought about why there is such a big difference in the way of doing business between Cantonese and many northerners?Cantonese people trust their partners so much, but northerners are often so skeptical of their partners. What a world of difference!Then I figured out that it was the market environment that was at work.

I remember that when I was in school, I learned an ancient article called "Yanzi Envoys Chu": Yanzi visited Chu State on behalf of Qi State, and the king of Chu State wanted to humiliate Yanzi in public. Later, two petty officials escorted a man who was tied up, and told Yan Zi that he was from your country of Qi and broke the law because of theft.At this time, the king of Chu State deliberately asked Yan Zi: "Are you Qi people good at stealing?" Yan Zi's answer was wonderful: "Oranges born in the south of the Huaihe River are worthy of the name, and those born in the north of the Huaihe River are called oranges. Hovenia, because they have similar leaves but different tastes. Why is this so? Because of the difference in water and soil, they are like this! Now the common people live in Qi State and don’t steal. They learn to steal when they arrive in Chu State. Could it be that they belong to Chu State? Does water and soil make ordinary people good at stealing?" The role of the individual is limited, and the environment often changes people's behavior, and a person's thinking, behavior, and activities are closely related to his environment.

The Guangdong area is the region with the most developed and mature market economy in China.One of the most important characteristics of a mature market economy is honesty. Without honesty, transaction costs will remain high, transactions will be impossible, and the market will collapse.Cantonese people pay attention to business ethics, honesty, and trustworthiness. Although the distance between the north and the south is very long, since the two parties have negotiated the terms, the Cantonese must abide by the terms. No matter the quality, deadline, or price, the contract will be strictly implemented, and you will not be cheated. money.Because of this, people are willing to do business with Cantonese. Their products are sold all over the motherland and earn money from the people of the whole country.

So why can they establish a business relationship of mutual trust with each other?In fact, this is also the result of repeated games.First of all, since the Cantonese live in the region with the most developed market economy, they have been influenced by market economy ideas for a long time. In the course of business, people have gradually formed certain routines; The basic rules of market economy operation; third, Guangdong is located at the southernmost tip of China, and the cost of contacting Cantonese for the first time is relatively high, so people who come to Guangdong to do business are generally real businessmen with sincerity Come, this is verified after years of practice.In the early days of reform and opening up, people may not have such a big measure at the beginning, and they dared to sell hundreds of thousands of things on credit at once, but after repeated games, for example, they gave Beijingers 2 yuan of goods on credit, and the accounts were settled at the end of the year. So in the second year, they dared to give Liaoning people 5 yuan of goods on credit, and later dared to give Shanghai people 10 yuan of goods on credit... After countless times of such business, after playing games with different people and different businesses, they They developed the habit of operating with integrity. Over time, they dared to trust others, and others dared to trust them. Gradually, they established a relationship of mutual trust and minimized transaction costs. The cost of a fax replaced nearly 1 million in travel expenses.The social environment has entered a virtuous circle.

The market economy makes people face an alternate relationship, and mutual transactions are completed through the exchange of money and commodities.With the continuous advancement of people's communication, transportation, and information technology, people's transactions have expanded from villages and streets to cities, other provinces, and even beyond the country.If people's transactions lack a fixed transaction rules, transaction practices, and mutual trust, how can transactions be carried out?

Our company often receives some small orders from foreign-funded enterprises. The price of small electronic components is only more than ten yuan, and they need to be purchased from abroad. If we lack trust in foreign partners, we can buy several electronic components abroad by plane In the case of components, this kind of business is simply impossible to talk about.

Business experience:
Big businesses often start from these small businesses.

If you can't do small business, how can you do big business?After countless games, the two parties have established mutual trust, and then there is the possibility of further cooperation.

13. The name is not right and the words are not right. Let me tell you a few stories about the plaque:
That day the company placed an order for me to make 5 square stainless steel trash cans.A friend told me: "There is a stainless steel company called Guanglian Stainless Steel more than 100 meters east of your company." I put down the phone and came to the side of the road. I walked east from our door and walked 500 meters away. Did not see this Guanglian stainless steel.I turned around and searched from east to west, and I was almost at the door of the house, but I still couldn't find it.At this time, another friend who knew me greeted me on the side of the road. I nodded and asked, "Where is Guanglian Stainless Steel?" The friend laughed, "Isn't this Guanglian Stainless Steel in front of you?" It was only when I came to my senses that the words Guanglian Stainless Steel were not written in Chinese characters, but in Chinese pinyin. It said: "GUANGLI-ANBUXIUGANG", just one line of pinyin.I looked for the word "Guanglian" as I walked, and I saw it was pinyin, but I thought it was English. Anyway, we don't understand English, so we passed by without even looking.

The friend who greeted me on the side of the road said: "I can't find their house every day. Their house is weird. Some people don't know a few Chinese characters. Who knows these English letters." This guy is as evil as me. Also treat Chinese Pinyin as English.Did you say you can not delay things?

Let me tell you one more thing, also about the plaque:

There is a newly opened restaurant downstairs called Yingyuan.That day a friend was entertaining guests in Yingyuan and called me: "Old Du, why haven't you arrived yet? We've been waiting for you for a long time. Come here quickly." I asked, "Which restaurant is it?" The other party replied: "I also I don’t know what the name of the restaurant is Yuan, that word is weird, I’ll ask you later.” I was driving to the hotel, when the phone rang again: “What is the name of the restaurant, the word before it is unknown to everyone. Yes, the waiters don’t know each other, the boss has gone out to buy vegetables, the restaurant is next to a bar, your house is downstairs, you’ll see it when you arrive.” I was driving and thinking, how can there be a bar on the left and right of our downstairs ?
When I got to the door of my house, I saw that there was only one restaurant with the word "Yuan" on it, so I realized that they were talking about "Yingyuan".When I walked in, I wondered, there is no bar nearby?
The guy who just called me came out, and I asked: "Where is there any bar at this door?" He dragged me to the door, pointed to a store next to him and said: "See? 'Sunshine Stainless', isn't this What's a bar?" I laughed out loud, dragged him to continue walking, walked to the door of the "Sunshine Stainless" sign and turned right: "What do you think this is?" It turned out that the "Sunshine Stainless" house The front of the door is too small, and the characters are too big to fit on the front, and the words on the back are turned to the side: steel crafts.Together it turns out to be:

"Sunshine Stainless Steel Crafts".

You said it was a joke, just looking at the poetic words "Sunshine Stainless" really makes people mistakenly think it is a bar or a coffee house.

There is also a store not far from our company, which left a deep impression on me.

The signboard of this store reads the words "Mingyuan Yipin Store", and there are no more words.Moreover, at the beginning of the store’s opening, there was a bombardment advertisement on TV, talking about the store’s beautiful environment, superior location, and cheap prices, etc., but it didn’t say what this “Mingyuan Yipin Store” does. My wife and I took a walk I can often see this store when I was in Beijing. This store has been open for three or four years. I remember the name, but I have been kept in the dark about what it does, and my curiosity is not serious. So I haven't looked into it yet.

In fact, a company's name is just like a person's name, it is a very important information carrier, especially in a market economy society.At the very least, the writing should be clear, the content clear, and the language concise.

It is not parents, lovers, children, or money that can consistently accompany a person in the world, but a person's name; the same is true for the name of a store, which can consistently accompany a person in the world What accompanies a company through its "life" is not the boss, employees, consumers, or money, but the name of the company.

The name is not only a special symbol representing a company, but also has profound cultural connotations. It is the embodiment of a corporate image, quality, and taste. It will directly affect the development of the company's career. People's hopes and desires also imply that nature has a strong and irresistible information inducement for human beings.

The ancients said: "It is better to give a child a thousand gold than to teach him a skill; to teach a child a skill is better to give him a good name." Why is this not the case for enterprises?Although the name of an enterprise as a character symbol cannot determine the fate of the enterprise, it carries the information of the times, engraves the cultural concept of the enterprise, leaves a deep imprint of the operator, and embodies the deep affection and ardent hope of the operator for the enterprise. , which is a metaphor for the different ideals and ambitions, hobbies, goals and pursuits of the operators, and it exerts a subtle influence on people.

(End of this chapter)