Chapter 21 Chapter 2 Battlefield with 50,000 Bosses

The trendy people in the business world are always those persistent bosses.There are more than 30,000 large and small business owners in Changshu Garment City who are registered with the industrial and commercial management department. If you add those fixed operators who are registered in the periphery and not with the management department, but often focus on the market, no one will be able to do business. Can't tell an exact number.The "old businessmen" in the clothing city patted their chests and said: there will never be less than 50,000! In an area of ​​less than 4 square kilometers, so many merchant sea generals gathered, which shows the intensity of the "war" here.

That's a real fight. A battle of money and material, wisdom and tactics. An orderly battle in which spirit and flesh, moral and amoral, mingle. All battles focus on one goal: to make money. All battles embody a spirit: the sublimation and sinking of self-worth. Battle example 1: Lao Biao’s "net collection technique" - Lao Biao is not really old, but because he is considered a boss in the nearby villages and far neighbors, so everyone calls his original name "Xiao Biao" the current Lao Biao Biao, to show his respect. Lao Biao, who is in his 30s, has never been registered in Changshu Garment City, so he has never had a name in the market.However, the way of doing business he adopted - "net collection technique" is a tactic commonly used by quite a few local bosses.Lao Biao's entire business is his motorcycle, and his way of doing business is also based on this motorcycle.When interviewing this article, I lived next to Lao Biao’s house for a few days. At first, I didn’t care that there was such a small boss in Changshu like him. It was all thanks to his motorcycle that blared day and night.Of course, at first I was very annoyed by the sound of the motorcycle, because it always sounded endlessly at eleven or twelve o'clock in the night and four or five o'clock in the morning when I was about to fall asleep.After a few days like this, I couldn’t conduct interviews normally during the day, and I couldn’t fall asleep on time at night. One day in the middle of the night, I finally got up and went to Lao Biao’s house to ask about the cause and effect. "I'm really sorry, I've tormented you." Lao Biao apologized after knowing what I meant.However, he told me that his business must be done during these two hours, otherwise it will fail.After his introduction, I finally understood all the secrets of this boss's money making.

Lao Biao himself is a layman in clothing, and his clothing business started when someone asked him to "by the way" bring a few pieces or bags of clothes to the market in Changshu city, so that he would take them out once or twice.The number of times I took was too many, and the neighbors felt embarrassed and gave Lao Biao 3, 5, 10 and 8 yuan.Later, Lao Biao thought, since this "by the way" can also "bring" business, why not do it simply.Just like fishing and collecting nets, helping households with looms to send finished garments to the market for sale?This simply, his business has really grown and grown.

In the vast rural areas of Changshu, almost every family had a machine for spinning and weaving clothes, but not every family had people who had time to go to the market to buy and sell finished products.This requires someone to help them bring the clothes they produce every day to the market and quickly exchange them for profits—even the most stupid and minimal businessmen know that exchanging finished products for cash as soon as possible is the most effective way to make money .Lao Biao was able to grow his business just because he met this need. Generally, one loom can weave about 20 pieces of clothes a day. These 20 pieces of clothes are made by one person, and the working hours are about fifteen or sixteen hours. Finishing, that is to say, sending out the finished clothes every day when the clothes are just finished, can make money most effectively.Lao Biao is at this moment every day, riding a motorcycle to finish the clothes from various households, so his business has the most basic and most active source.Those who make clothes can see themselves in the shortest exchange process from labor to money in the fastest time.Although the value of labor at this time may be less profitable than selling the finished clothes directly to the market, they are also willing to deal with this kind of transaction because it comes quickly, easily, without being cheated, and without delay.And bosses like Lao Biao rely on this time to get the goods at the lowest price.At this time every day, Lao Biao drove his motorcycle through the alleys of the country, and brought the finished clothes of each household to his home as quickly as possible. Early the next morning, he drove his motorcycle again Fly directly to the big market in Changshu City, and sell to those bosses who have stalls and sales offices.That night, Lao Biao used the money he earned in the morning to go to various households to "collect the net"... and so on, the money in Lao Biao's pocket also swelled up.During the busy season of farming, when the farmers put down their looms temporarily and went to harvest, Lao Biao’s motorcycle was still not idle. He began to sell various agricultural and sideline products, and he still adopted the "netting technique".

There are tens of thousands of small bosses like Lao Biao in the countryside of Changshu. Although they are not real bosses in Changshu Garment City, they are a unique landscape of Changshu Garment Market.Their existence has built a bridge between the nationwide clothing processing industry and the market in the vast rural areas of Changshu. Case 2: Master Kun's "casting net technique"—Master Kun was originally a carpenter with a little reputation, but was lured by the thriving clothing business and started a new business.Compared with a small boss like Lao Biao, Master Kun's strength from the start is full of business flavor.

He directly imports raw materials, and then decides one or several clothing styles according to the market development trend, and distributes the raw materials to those processors who do not have the strength to directly import materials, but are willing to earn some processing fees steadily and voluntarily cooperate with him for a long time. The processor only completes the finished or semi-finished product of one piece of clothing, and then sends the finished and semi-finished product back to his home in one or two days or a little longer, and Master Kun completes all the processing procedures at his home and sends them to the market in batches.When a certain style is good and business is booming in a certain season, Master Kun casts his "net" wider; In other words, the process of casting the "net" is the process of making money for Master Kun, and the size or size of the "net" determines whether he makes more or less money.

Compared with Lao Biao's "net collection technique", the benefits of Master Kun's "casting net technique" are several times or even dozens of times greater, and of course the risks are also several times or even dozens of times greater.In the process of Master Kun's "casting the net", its processors and those sellers who sell clothing to consumers in the market do not take any risks - because the processors have already done so before Master Kun finished "casting the net". I got the processing fee I deserved, and if those market sellers find out that Master Kun's products are not easy to sell in the market, they will not want his products anymore.Master Qiankun's "casting net technique" must have the correct judgment and adaptability of the market, otherwise it may cast a net once and ruin a lifetime of family property.When I asked Mr. Kun, who has been in the clothing business for seven or eight years, whether he had a history of failure, he answered very frankly and calmly more than once or twice, and it is still inevitable even now. "Either why is it said that the shopping mall is a battlefield, or why don't everyone play the 'casting net technique' like me?" Master Kun said.

But Master Kun I saw is obviously a master of "casting the net" in the business world.His imposing three-story mansion and his local reputation speak for themselves. He told me that his current "casting net" is no longer a trivial matter, and it is boring.Now he generally casts the "net" once a season, and the investment each time is often hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan. Of course, the absolute value of making money also rises accordingly. Such masters of "spreading the net" like Master Kun have created a group of brilliant producers and operators in the clothing industry in Changshu. However, such "spreading nets" in the Changshu clothing market are still small and medium-sized bosses playing outside.

Case 3: Huang Xizhi's "Territory Technique" - when she silently walks in front of you, you may never believe that this is a "big rich man" with tens of millions of assets.Yes, she is as ordinary as the image of an elderly woman that can be seen everywhere in every street and alley in Changshu City.But you have to admit that she is the famous big boss in the world-famous Changshu Clothing City. Huang Xizhi, who has passed her sixtieth year, is now a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Federation of Industry and Commerce, and the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce in Changshu.Her "Xiangxiang Company" is as influential as her name in Changshu Garment City.I first interviewed Huang Xizhi and then learned about her "Xiangxiang Company".On the third day after interviewing her, I happened to be watching in the clothing city, but I was attracted by Huang Xizhi's "Xiangxiang Company" by no means.This is not because her company has any special style, but I found that there are several signs of her company along the way.Among them are clothing stores, restaurants, and hotels... This discovery made me completely believe that Huang Xizhi, a very ordinary Changshu "grandma", is definitely a "ten million yuan household".Someone told me that even if she just sits and doesn't use her brain, she can still earn hundreds of thousands or millions of stable income every year.

As early as when Changshu Clothing Mall was only a large shed, Huang Xizhi had the foresight to sign an agency construction contract with the marketing department at that time, and invested 20,000 yuan to build a clothing accessories specialty store, becoming the first in the mall. A person who "eats crabs".She tasted it after eating it.What needs to be explained is that although the most valuable and quickest gainers in Changshu Garment City are the stalls and store sites, Huang Xizhi's "site technique" does not rely on land dumping to make a fortune.Her "territory technique" is to rely entirely on her own strength and to seize opportunities when no one else dares.She first opened a store to specialize in clothing accessories. Later, when Changshu became popular, she directly cooperated with manufacturers of famous brand products to sell clothing.Afterwards, the Changshu market grew in size, and she began to occupy Haoshikou and run businesses in service industries such as restaurants.Today, Huang Xizhi's "Xiangxiang Company" has more than a dozen business outlets in the clothing city, with a total business area of ​​more than 1,000 square meters. She can win without a fight in the mall where every inch of land is expensive.

Huang Xizhi's good reputation is not only because she is good at seizing opportunities to occupy a favorable position, but also because she has a kind "auntie" heart. For more than 10 years, some 20 young people, including Zhang Shuiqin, Gong Xuelian, and Shou Qinghua, who used to be "buddy" under her, are now good management in the clothing city. taught.Sometimes after these novices are in charge of the business, their Aunt Huang always helps them when they lack funds, experience, or encounter difficulties, and even give up their "golden" land for their own use.As the leader of the self-employed in the clothing city, she has made countless contributions to local public welfare undertakings over the years... When I asked why this strong woman who gallops in the business world has such a keen sense of business territory and a motherly kindness, the big boss Huang Xizhi actually shed tears... She said she had been a soldier on the eve of the founding of the Republic, when she was only 15 years old, a very romantic girl.After graduating from Suzhou Girls’ Middle School, when the People’s Liberation Army was going south, she secretly went to East China Military and Political University to enroll in the army without telling her parents. Later, because the army considered her as the only daughter of her parents, she transferred her working relationship to the local government, and became Changshu at that time. A young cadre in a municipal government agency. In 1958, an inadvertent life trifle created Huang Xizhi's later tortuous life.She lost her job, her family happiness, and even her beautiful youthful ideals.Later, she was ill for many years. During this period, she met and married Lao Chen who was far away in the branch of Xinjiang. In 1979, Huang Xizhi, who had passed her forty years, had her first child, but the child was only a few months old when she suffered from cancer and underwent major surgery.Life is like a bottomless cup of bitter water. Huang Xizhi, who had just been discharged from the hospital, had to set up a stall on the street so that her son could drink milk and at the same time reassure her husband, who was going through the formalities in Xinjiang to return to the mainland.But at that time, street stalls were still considered "speculative" behavior and were included in the scope of the crackdown.Helpless, Huang Xizhi had to carry his son's basket on his shoulders every day, sometimes at the pier and sometimes at the station, and was driven around like a "rogue criminal" to live through the difficult years.She couldn't stay in the city, so she ran to the countryside, but there was still no place for her in the countryside.So she had to travel dozens of miles to set up a stall in other places, and what happened in other places was even more miserable.Therefore, when the Changshu Zhaomai Shopping Mall opened in 1985, Huang Xizhi, who had experienced the pain of having no land to set up a stall, relied on his own business experience and long-standing expectations, poured 20,000 yuan into his pocket, and poured out his hard work condensed with sweat and tears. All the money was spent on buying land.And with this move, Huang Xizhi was really right, and it completely changed the rest of her life.From the first batch of entering the market in 1985 to today, she has not only become a rich man with assets of more than 10 million yuan and a stable annual income of one million yuan, but also a well-known management department and peer in the Changshu clothing market. The "good aunt" loved by the boss and customers. Case 4: Old K's "bridge building technique" - the boss's business is booming at the moment, and in his own words: he is now playing a set of business techniques with such a piece of paper sandwiched between them. It would be difficult to sing if the scene was exposed, so he repeatedly hoped that I would not reveal his real name, so here I have to use old K instead of his real name. Old K said that he regretted that he didn't listen to people's persuasion and rented so many stores in the clothing city, so now he doesn't have any brand in Changshu that is worthy of a glance. "But I will never make less money than others." As a martial arts lover since childhood, he always spoke with a bit of martial jargon, "Chinese martial arts are like Zhao Changjun and they are good at using sticks to dominate the world, but Japanese karate can still make the world amazing. Although My market in Changshu Garment City is less useful than others. However, I see that there are hundreds of township garment enterprises on the ground in Changshu, so since 1991 I have dedicated to those who come to Changshu from other places. The merchants who were eager to get the goods matched up and found out that this place is 'another village with dark willows and bright flowers'..." Ha, earned it.Old K told me so proudly. He did make money, he took me to visit his "cold room", a nearly 200-square-meter living room, the floor is all made of high-grade marble, the bathroom and kitchen utensils are imported from Italy... Old K said he The suite on the country homestead cost at least three times more than the one in the city.Old K called me into his magnificent living room, and said let's talk about business, don't you writers just like "details"?He said that his "details" are not complicated. As long as he makes friends, listens to all directions, and runs hard, he can make money.He took out a notebook from his pocket, on which were densely recorded countless personal names, factory names, product names, price tags, and so on.Old K pointed out that to put it bluntly, he relies on "information" for a living.For example, the garment factory of a township enterprise had thousands of sets of clothes under pressure, and was unable to get rid of them all at once and was anxious to revitalize the funds. At this time, when Old K learned of this batch of goods, he immediately opened his "information database" to check. Maybe you will find that the market in a certain place is in need of such a product, so a phone call is made, and the other party says that I want it and I want it all, and a deal is done.Old K not only got a considerable income difference from it, but both the seller and the buyer also thanked him, because in their view, Old K was doing a great deed for them.This is how I made my friend, and next time I have a stock, I must think of Old K first.At this time, the old K not only said "OK! OK!" to his friend again and again, but the most important thing was that his pocket was already OK. Of course, not all of Old K's "OK" are so simple and easy.Once, a certain factory said that 5,000 jackets had to be sold before the Spring Festival, otherwise they would be dumped in the warehouse, so I asked old K for help. Can the "old relationship" matter be left alone?So old K patted his chest and said that I paid all of the 5,000 pieces, because a department store in Ningxia happened to ask him if he had any jackets a few days ago.Unexpectedly, the man from Ningxia was on a business trip to Harbin at this time.This is so anxious to the old K, if the goods worth hundreds of thousands of yuan are not sold before the Spring Festival, they will all fall into his hands.After calling all night but still not being able to find anyone, Old K had to fly directly to Harbin overnight.After arriving in Harbin, I learned that the old man in Ningxia was going back to his hometown in Shandong to prepare for the festival.When old K chased after Shandong and turned back to send out 5,000 jackets from Changshu, thousands of families celebrated the New Year’s Eve, old K was being carried to the hospital by his family with a high and low moan... When talking about this matter, old K still said very coolly: "There is no pain in making money, but compared with pain, making money is more fun." This is probably the consensus of all bosses. Old K said that now that he is an "expert in bridging", risks like the "jacket incident" rarely appear again.But one thing is for sure, that is, you will learn a lot from a pitfall, and doing business is like fighting a war. The more you fight, the better you fight, the better you fight.Nowadays, there are a lot of intermediary bosses engaged in "bridge building" business in Changshu Clothing Mall. They are active in the countryside and city of Changshu every day, carrying out one deal after another. While filling their own pockets, they also help those enterprises revitalize The funds were raised and the backlog of products was sold.With the continuous expansion of business, these people have also built a "bridge" to the vast urban and rural areas in the nearby areas, and the Changshu market will always be the center where they rely on to make money, because the Changshu market itself is the largest information place for clothing transactions, like the old K The reason why they can make money is information, and what they play is information. Information is vital to all businessmen. Case 5: Xu Qinmei’s “snowball”: from RMB 180 to “rolling”——you can buy “Great Lincoln” every year Six years ago, Xu Qinmei heard that Changshu opened a clothing shopping mall, so she took a long-distance bus from Suzhou to Changshu.The journey was not long at all, only tens of minutes, but Xu Qinmei felt that it was as slow as a snail climbing a mountain. "Master, can you please hurry up, this car is slow?" "Hurry up, Lennon will take a car!" "Why do you talk like that?" "Why? Don't tell me like that, and you want me to drive Nong to talk about it in a Lincoln car?" "Non..." "Hahaha……" As the saying goes, listening to Suzhou people quarreling and scolding each other is as comfortable as listening to a good show, but this time when they return to Changshu for business, Xu Qinmei is very angry.She had heard that everyone who went to Changshu to do clothing business had made a fortune, but she was still on the road, anxious and worried, who knew that the car master would add fuel to her fire.At that time, Xu Qinmei's tears were rolling in her eyes.After this, she vowed that one day she would buy a "Lincoln" and drive it on the highway from Suzhou to Changshu. In a few years, Xu Qinmei's wish came true, and now she drives her brand new "Big Lincoln" every time she returns to Suzhou from Changshu. When I heard about this legend, when I interviewed her, Lao Cai, the "President of the Association" of the clothing city, said that it was no news that Boss Xu drove a "Lincoln". It started to snowball, and now we are doing business in Changshu, and we can buy a big "Lincoln" every year.Regarding this, Xu Qinmei only smiled lightly, and she said in very pleasant Suzhou dialect: "Thank you for building a Changshu market." Later I learned that Xu Qinmei, a peer of the Republic, had a very difficult time, and she can become a "millionaire" in just five or six years in Changshu, because of her during those difficult years. "Snowball" hard work has a direct relationship. In 1969, Xu Qinmei, who had just turned 20 years old, joined the tide of the era of "going to the countryside" like many urban educated youths, and was sent to a place in northern Jiangsu that was so poor that there was not a drop of water in the loess.This girl from Suzhou, who was already fragile, suffered from severe "malnutrition" because she didn't get a drop of oily smell for 43 days.Reluctantly, she had to go back to the city for a long-term sick leave.But in order to survive due to her poor family, she had to start thinking about how to support herself while recuperating from her illness.Looking for a job, no one wants it.Top class, not enough conditions.Xu Qinmei, who had nowhere to go, had no choice but to tear the shy face of the girl's family, and started a small business with only one yuan and eighty cents she had saved.This may be the poorest one among the more than 30,000 bosses in Changshu Garment City. What can you do with a dollar and eighty cents?Xu Qinmei thought about it, and then saw someone selling sweet potato rice cake skins at a street stall at a very cheap cost, so she bought some sweet potato rice cake skins from someone else for 1.80 cents, and "borrowed" a used-up homework from her younger brother. Ben, wrapped the sweet potato and rice cake skin into small triangle buns, and started his first business in his life for two cents a pack on the street.As a result, the business was good, and all 200 small bags were sold for a total of 4 yuan, more than double the cost.Xu Qinmei was very unhappy, and then she used the 4 yuan to buy back the sweet potato rice cake skin, and folded small packets into small triangle buns. The next day, she went to the street and spread it on the ground with old newspapers and yelled "again!" Cheap and delicious sweet potato rice cake skin..."Later, someone told Xu Qinmei that selling "five-spice beans" was more profitable.So she put all the money she earned from selling "sweet potato rice cake skin" into selling "five-spice beans".This "five-spice bean" is a specialty of Suzhou, and foreigners love to eat it.Xu Qinmei went to the train station to sell, but people from the "city management committee" were watching there, and people came out to arrest the hawkers as soon as they appeared.Several times Xu Qinmei's hard-earned money and belongings were confiscated. If she wanted to avoid confiscation, she had to learn the skills of a rabbit. At that time, Xu Qinmei was living a life of panic like a hare all day long at a young age.Nevertheless, she has a meager income to support herself after all. In 1979, she went back to the city and entered the factory.The trend of reform and opening up across the country revived Xu Qinmei's heart to do business again. She made a calculation: she only earned more than 30 yuan a month in the factory, and it would be better than selling "spiced beans" on the street for a day in the past. many.The policy also allows buying and selling, why don't I do it thoroughly?After figuring it out, she jumped out of the factory and took out the capital she had accumulated in the past to rent a small department store in Guanqian Street, Suzhou.The business is doing well, but this is "swimming in a basin" after all, and there is no great prospect.At this time, the Changshu clothing market, which is only a few dozen miles away from Suzhou, became more and more prosperous.Someone told Xu Qinmei that one year in Changshu can top the business in Suzhou for 10 years!Doing business is all about making money, who wouldn't be tempted by such a temptation? This is how Xu Qinmei came to Changshu.She began to rent out a shop, and in the first year she made money for a big "Lincoln".After that, she snowballed on the big "Lincoln", from one store to two, four, eight, and 16... Now she has more than 300 stalls and stores in Changshu Garment City!Let’s not talk about how much profit a booth or store can generate in a year. If she sells her more than 300 booths and stores at the current lowest market price of 100,000 yuan in Changshu Garment City, Xu Qinmei can collect tens of millions for nothing. ! "No, I'm late in the Changshu market, at least I'll do it for another ten or eight years!" Xu Qinmei, who has come through hard times, is well versed in the way of doing business, and she said that she would not give up Changshu, a place of wealth, easily. Battle Case 6: Gao Baozhong's tricks: "Secret Weapon" originated from the way of exchanging eggs for preserved eggs He came to my residence for an interview with the well-known boss Xu Qinmei, but in comparison, his demeanor as a "millionaire" is much worse.Gao Baozhong laughed himself, saying that I look like a bum instead of a boss. But don't underestimate these unremarkable people, they can make you go to heaven or send you to earth when they play for real.The year before last, there was a man in Guangzhou who claimed to be a master of "crossing the river and crossing the sea" in the clothing industry. He heard that a group of bosses from "bumpkins" in Changshu played a "secret trick", which disturbed the famous masters in the clothing market. He didn't believe in leaking the water, so he brought a huge sum of money to Changshu and vowed to play with the "bump bosses".Laymen may not know that with the development of society, the fierce competition in the clothing industry has become globalized, and this competition has become increasingly fierce since the 1980s.The most concentrated and prominent in such fierce competition is the competition of clothing styles.Trendy, timely and beyond the imagination of human thinking, clothing can dominate the world in the clothing industry overnight. On the contrary, those clothing that is out of fashion, has no personality and is far away from the reality of life may cause you to lose your foothold in the clothing industry. place.In China, where material life is becoming more and more abundant, when you walk into today's large and small shopping malls, you can clearly feel that the flames of competition in the clothing industry are so hot.The Cantonese guy boasted of his unique advantage of being well versed in the trend of Chinese and foreign clothing, especially the southern clothing. After arriving in Changshu, he did not really study the unique laws of the local market. This wants to show its prestige in the Changshu market.Unexpectedly, the local "bumpkin" bosses reacted very coldly to his "wool polyester women's suit whirlwind", and launched a new style called "Reagan shirt" in its own way. This kind of men's casual clothes called "Regan shirt" It is a kind of public clothing that a local farmer boss saw on TV and named the casual clothing worn by President Reagan of the United States.As a result, not to mention the Cantonese guy, even the Changshu boss himself did not expect that when the "Reagan shirt" was launched, the entire Changshu clothing market became hot, and there was a trend that whoever sold the "Reagan shirt" would have customers and make a lot of money; Whoever sells "Reagan shirts" will have no customers and lose a lot of money. "Reagan shirt" not only swept the entire Chinese clothing market, but also affected Western Europe and the United States.This year, those Changshu "bumps" bosses who managed "Reagan shirts" all made a fortune, while the Cantonese guy's wool and polyester women's suits almost fell into his hands.It is said that this Guangdong master never showed his face on the Changshu site again. He only heard people say that before leaving, he dropped such a sentence, saying that he could not fight the boss of Changshu, and the game they played had no rules.In fact, this Guangdong man was only half right, and half of what he said was wrong, that is, the clothing production and marketing skills played by Changshu people are not without rules.On the surface, the products designed by those "bumpkin" bosses, to be precise, are those clothes that are neither brand-new nor special, neither high-end looking nor messy.However, this kind of clothing is always very popular in the Changshu market every year, and of course it is also popular in the national market. Asked about the mystery of this, Gao Baozhong, the boss with a "farmer face", told me: the reason why Changshu clothing market can exist today, the reason why ninety-nine markets across the country collapsed but it did not collapse, the reason why we farmers in Changshu We can win the world in the clothing industry because our clothing here, from style to price, is completely oriented to the market and sales trends with Chinese characteristics for the 1.2 billion Chinese people.Most people in China are not yet rich, or have just begun to become rich, and 9 out of 10 people in China are farmers, and seven out of ten of the remaining class are "developing countries."So whoever puts their foothold on these consumer objects above will be invincible forever. Such a smart and shrewd Changshu person! However, that's not all the secrets to their success in the apparel world.Their secret is that apart from the fact that some of the masters among them pay great attention to the use of "secrets" tactically. Gao Baozhong is one of them who is proficient in this way. When I interviewed him, Xu Qinmei, who was invited together, saw Gao Baozhong, and couldn't sit still and asked him about "military sentiments". "No matter how I can tell, I have to order some goods." Unexpectedly, the dignified boss Xu asked her colleagues for goods in such a begging tone.But Xu said to me indifferently: "It's nothing to lose. There are not one or two masters in Changshu's clothing market. Like my sales centered on the store, I have to use my brain to buy the right goods. Enter the best-selling products in the right market, otherwise you will suffer big losses. Like Boss Gao, they can launch some new styles that are produced and sold in the right way every year, which often affects the clothing market for the entire season. That's why they are 'excited' (note: The local dialect means powerful), they are our bosses!" Boss Xu spent a long time soaking softly and hard, but Gao Baozhong never let go.Later, when it was just the two of us, I asked Gao Baozhong why he didn't give his colleagues some face?He said firmly: "Absolutely not. I would rather give her tens of thousands of dollars, but I can't give her the 'secret weapon' I want to launch in the market in advance. If I really do that, she will be right. And I could be broke." "Is it that serious?" I said.Boss Gao said: "Think about it, every time I develop a new style that is suitable for production and sales, from the beginning of scouting the market, researching the market to designing it - I still invite experts like Shanghai Textile University for design, which costs a lot of money. Small expenses, this part of the work is mainly time-consuming. Then there is a big investment, from the purchase of raw materials to the production of samples, and then mass production. And outside the market, there are at least tens of thousands of small and medium-sized bosses who rely on market trends to make a living. They usually do other business in the off-season. What is the direction of clothing, what should I do next, etc., all year round. They are different. They usually have enough energy, and when the season of selling clothing comes, they become active and spend all day in the market. Walking around, as long as he sees someone whose clothes are selling well, he will immediately keep an eye on them and offer you a few or tens of dollars to buy one, but within three or two days, the clothes that are exactly the same as yours will come out, and the price is very high. It should be cheaper than you, and the quantity should be dozens or even hundreds or thousands of times larger than yours. At that time, they will make a lot of money with the new products you designed, and you will only die after working hard. there……" I see.Once again, I smell the bloody smell of the mall as a battlefield.Gao Baozhong told me that playing the "secret weapon" in the clothing industry is not something that everyone can do. Firstly, a large sum of capital is required, and secondly, a superb and accurate market observation ability and an extraordinary level of advanced consciousness are required.You can't do big business without capital, but you can't do it well if you have capital. If you make a slight mistake in judging the market trend, it will lead to catastrophe. Since the market is so complex and cruel, and requires such profound knowledge and market insight, I have to have some doubts about whether a "bumpkin" like Gao Baozhong can really do what he said.The farmer who claimed to be "not like a boss but like a bum" probably saw the doubts on my face, so he smiled slyly and said: "You are not in the clothing business anyway, so I can tell you about it." He said that he was not belittling those experts, because those experts in schools and research institutes may design first-class styles and products, but their first-class styles and products often cannot be pushed to the market, or cannot be pushed to the market in time go up. "It's different for me. When I develop a new style or product, I first ask experts to demonstrate and check it. This ensures a certain level of style and product. Then I can make the final decision on when to release the new style and product. We will take action when new products are introduced to the market. For example, I will launch another "secret weapon" this fall. It took me nearly half a year of market research to talk about its raw material composition, and then to make samples and invite Shanghai It will take nearly 3 months to wait for several specialties in different places, and the experts from the colleges will check it. Now I have started mass production, and about 10 days before the arrival of the season, I have to invest several million yuan. You said Are you afraid of risks if you invest too much? Of course, risks are inevitable, but my "secret weapon" is not a dog skin plaster. These multi-million dollar products are released to the market with a turnaround period of about two months, so that others will not learn even if they want to learn. Affect my marketing. Because my "secret weapon" is only the raw material, if someone wants to learn exactly the same, it will take 3 months to complete the batching process. As I said just now, the turnover period after all my goods arrive on the market It's two months. If something goes wrong during these two months, it's okay to delay the overall situation. When those "schools" catch up after learning, almost all of my goods will be sold. If the market is okay at this time, I will Then we can do the second cycle of operation. If it doesn’t work, I will immediately withdraw my troops. In this way, if the situation changes suddenly, it will definitely not be me who fails.” "Gao, you are really tall." I couldn't help but stick out my thumb.But there was a knot that I still couldn't untie, so I asked him again: "How did you learn this set of skills? Boss, this probably won't be another 'secret weapon', right?" I was a little embarrassed seeing him for the first time.Gao Baozhong paused, and said: "Actually, it's a waste of your time. I'm a farmer. Although I have a lot of money in my pocket now, I still hang around in the land of Changshu! If I can do it in the clothing business now I found some clues, which is related to the 'eggs for preserved eggs' I have done for several years." That's an interesting detail. Gao Baozhong told me that when he started the "eggs for preserved eggs" business, it was completely out of life.He Gao Baozhong entered the factory in 1964, and he can be regarded as the earliest group of workers in township enterprises in China.At that time, entering a factory in a township was no different from being a farmer, and they all got work points to eat.Because there is too little oil and water, Gao Baozhong used his commuting time to start the simplest and always secure small business in the local village-eggs for preserved eggs.It doesn't take much skill, and a 3-year-old can learn it in 10 minutes.An egg is exchanged for a preserved egg. Others pay 1.5 cents, but Gao Baozhong only charges 1 cent.Although the business is a little smaller, it can always earn a few cents more daily than other workers in the factory.Although Gao Baozhong did not make a fortune during this process, he obtained an extremely valuable harvest from the simple operation of "exchanging eggs for preserved eggs".That is, the exchange between things can not only obtain wealth and spiritual satisfaction, but also change the fate of a person's life.Since then, Gao Baozhong has completely immersed himself in the pleasure of "exchanging things between things" in his spare time.Once, the factory sent Gao Baozhong to Wuhan because it needed to deal with a batch of backlog of textile products. In the end, it really succeeded. The backlog of goods in the factory was all sold. Praise.This trip to Wuhan gave Gao Baozhong a qualitative leap in his understanding of "exchange between things", that is, "changing eggs for preserved eggs" for 10 or 100 years may not be as good as what he did during his trip to Wuhan thing. "Wow, the exchange between things is like a Rubik's cube, which is huge and boundless, magical and colorful..." At this time, Gao Baozhong even dreamed of playing it once, no, it should be 10 Large-scale "thing-to-thing exchange" transactions like the trip to Wuhan once, hundreds of times, and thousands of times.The opportunity came. In August 1985, Gao Baozhong heard that a market was built next to the bus station in Changshu City to allow private transactions. Without further ado, he let his wife and brother-in-law enter the market.At that time, it was free to occupy the stalls, so Gao Baozhong asked his wife to occupy four stalls at once.The shrewd Gao Baozhong didn't quit his job in the factory until this time. His theory at the time was: "One worker, one farmer, one life will never be empty."But by the end of the year, Gao Baozhong couldn't stay any longer.The business my wife does in one day in the Changshu shopping mall is several times more than his factory does in a year!Gao Baozhong slapped his thigh and said to his wife: The opportunity has come, it's time to let go.This time he said goodbye to the factory completely, and even threw away the wooden frame of "eggs for preserved eggs" that he had memorized for more than ten years.Well, after entering the Changshu clothing market, Gao Baozhong couldn't believe that the "exchange between things" in this world would appear like a miracle once it entered the market.In the past, money that he didn't even dare to think about poured into his pocket day by day.He found that he can sell whatever he puts on his stall, and he can sell as much as he puts.Later, the business got better and better, and a lot of wholesale business needed to be done. He simply sold the stall and made more than 500,000 yuan at once.After the capital increased, Gao Baozhong started to set up his own factory to directly produce and sell clothing. The benefits generated by the integration of raw material processing and market sales are several times greater than single wholesale sales.By this time, Gao Baozhong was already a veritable big boss, but the big boss also has the big boss's difficulty, that is, every time he follows the best-selling products in the market, he always feels very passive, and he may lose money if he fails to do so. .This prompted him to independently engage in research on new products.But there are also a lot of troubles. You have worked so hard to come up with a new product, and within a few days after it was put on the market, other people robbed you of your business overwhelmingly.Such a process forced Gao Baozhong to start researching the "secret weapon"... "After entering into large-scale production and operation, paying attention to the confidentiality of products is the only way to win in the market economy, and it must be taken." Gao Baozhong said with considerable experience today.Now, the clothing merchant who debuted in "changing eggs for preserved eggs" not only owns many factories of his own, but also has his own hotel and his own motorcade. There are three private houses in Changshu city alone. Case 7: Huang Yunyue engages in wholesale and brings out thousands of generals in Zhejiang——I didn’t expect to meet Mr. Huang Yunyue, the “wholesale king” who is famous for the “China Garment City” in Changshu, Jiangsu and the “China Small Commodity Market” in Yiwu, Zhejiang in Changshu. Huang Yunyue told me that among the bosses doing business in the Changshu clothing market, Zhejiang people account for an absolute majority, accounting for more than 50% of the total number, while local Changshu bosses only account for about 30%, and other foreigners account for about 20%.People from Zhejiang are famous all over the country for their ability to do business. Where there is a market, there are people from Zhejiang. This is almost an unchanging truth. He, Huang Yunyue, is an authentic farmer, but at the same time he is a shrewd business master.In the interview with me, he very frankly presented the process of his fortune in the two major markets of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. "I served in the army for 6 years, and returned to my hometown in 1975 to set up a business. Later, when the production in the factory was not good, I came out to learn from Wenzhou people to sell shoe mending machines. A shoe mending machine costs 50 yuan, and each machine is sold in Changchun. It costs 150 yuan. We carry five or six units at a time, and we can earn more than 100 yuan after deducting the travel expenses. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, this money was not small. Our Yiwu is not as rich as Changshu since ancient times. Yiwu is a mountainous area. In the past, we were very poor. However, people in Yiwu have a lot of aspirations. In our hometown, the traditional "cracking sugar for chicken feathers" business has been popular since ancient times, just like the "eggs for preserved eggs" here in Changshu. After the end of the "Cultural Revolution", we There is a small free market for small businesses. My home is next to the small market, and I started to sell some small general merchandise in a basket like others. But Yiwu is small and poor, so it may not be possible to dig three feet Seeing some oil and water, I took my fellow villagers to Shanghai. At first, everyone was afraid to leave the house. I was a soldier, and I have seen a lot of world experience. In Shanghai, we went to department stores to wholesale, but they refused to approve us. We are privately owned, and of course other state-owned stores dare not do direct wholesale sales with us. Later, a master asked you if there are any local products in Yiwu? Shanghai people love local products just like we Yiwu people love to eat 'knock knock sugar'. I Hurry up and say yes, we have a lot of eggs there. The master in Shanghai said yes, if you get some eggs, I will approve you to buy some small grocery items. I said yes. He narrowed his eyes, then smiled and said how much are your eggs per catty? As soon as I guessed what he meant, I hurriedly said one penny. The master’s eyes almost popped out when he heard it, and he said it was cheap! I thought to myself, of course it’s cheap, and if I say three cents a penny, can’t it be cheap? ?Actually, in Shanghai at that time, you sold him an egg for three cents, which was already very affordable. In order to open up the business, I knew that I had to make a loss in order to make a profit. This is how I started the wholesale business with Shanghainese. We take home the Shanghai goods that are lower than the market price in Shanghai and then wholesale them. We only eat the price difference. Later I found that most of the goods in Shanghai are not from Shanghai. Whether it is clothing or small department stores, many of them are from southern Jiangsu. Some manufacturers produced them. This gave me an idea: why not go to the manufacturer where they are produced? It must be cheaper there. So I spotted the button that was promising in our Yiwu business, and found its origin in Changzhou City. After arriving in Changzhou I just realized that I had fallen into a money pit. As soon as I entered the Changzhou button factory, when I explained my purpose, the factory manager hugged me like a savior, and said that I would give you as much as you want. It turned out that his The factory has a backlog of hundreds of tons of buttons, and I am very worried! Seeing that the factory manager is so happy, I feel confident. So I negotiated the starting price with him. His original ex-factory price was four yuan a catty. I said you have to Sell ​​it to me for three yuan a catty. Three yuan a catty is too low. Seeing him feeling distressed, I said it would be three yuan and two catties. I had to take them all away. I was so happy that I almost screamed out, saying yes, I promise to take all the goods away within half a month. I paid them 2,000 yuan and returned 50 catties of buttons. Too heavy, I can only Back so many. Along the way, I thought: Changzhou has so many buttons, I can't do it by myselfHow long will it take to recite back and forth like this?No, I have to ask the team to come out and memorize it like me.After returning to Yiwu, I told the folks in the team that they all shook their heads.I asked why I don't want to earn money when I have money?They told me that they had no capital, so they couldn't go to Changzhou with you.I said that it doesn't cost much money, 300 yuan per person is enough.That's when they went to Changzhou with me.In this way, I took a "button transportation team" with a dozen people at first and then dozens of people, and went back and forth between Changzhou and Yiwu every three days... The "button market" that Yiwu later formed was due to us These people 'back' it out. " "In 1985, I learned that Changshu had set up a clothing market in the process of 'backing' buttons, and it became popular in a short period of time. Compared with Yiwu, I think Changshu has a lot of advantages, although Changshu also has There is no railway, but it is very close to Shanghai, Wuxi, and Suzhou, and the land and water routes are very convenient, and this place is rich and prosperous. It must have a much more promising market than our Yiwu and Wenzhou markets in Zhejiang. Facts later proved me According to my judgment at the time, Changshu’s market has indeed great potential. When I first came here, even stalls were basically free of rent. I asked for a stall at 50 cents, and the business was so good that I quickly rented a few more stalls. To do small department stores, and to sell the things here in Changshu back to Yiwu, the profit is much higher than when I did business in Shanghai and Changzhou in the past. Because Changshu has convenient transportation, good goods, and is the origin of general products. Things like clothing , Most of the products on the Shanghai market basically have manufacturers in Changshu. In comparison, the prices here are definitely much cheaper. The most important thing for us to do business is to see where we can make money and make more money. Changshu The market has an advantage in price, the quality of the goods is also excellent, and the humanistic atmosphere here is good, so it is a good place to do big business. After arriving in Changshu, the bosses in Zhejiang, my hometown, became popular. Eyes, you have to follow me here. In the past few years, the Changshu market is almost overwhelmed by us Zhejiang people. Now there are five or six thousand bosses who follow me to Changshu to engage in clothing business. Few people know how to do business better than me, and the most they can earn tens of thousands of yuan a year here. You say it’s scary? Of course, it’s not one or two people who make scary money in the Changshu clothing market.” "You don't know? The talents in Shanghai are amazing! You can go and interview them..." Zhejiang "Wholesale King" said to me at the end of the interview. Battle Case 8: Shanghainese Stepping In: Spending Tens of Millions of Dollars——The owner of Zhejiang lamented that he could not compare with Shanghainese, probably because of this. In the business war in the Changshu clothing market, it should be said that the Shanghainese were the first batch of foreign bosses to participate.They are known to be shrewd and know how to do business. In the mid-to-late 1980s, that is, a few years before the formation of Changshu Garment City, Shanghainese accounted for as much as 30% of all business owners in the Changshu market.But then there was a stock market in Shanghai, and many people went back to Shanghai to play stocks.However, in the past two or three years, a large number of Shanghai bosses have returned to Changshu Garment City. They asked the reason: the stock market does not make much money, and if it is not done well, they will have to lose money.The clothing business in Changshu is different. It is a stable profit here, and Hershey can also be like playing stocks, and it will make a big fortune within a few days.But it will never have the risk of going bankrupt overnight like the stock market, and at most it will earn less.Shanghainese re-acquainted with the Changshu market from the lessons of "blood".And sometimes why we say that the smart Shanghainese are more than smart but not smart enough is also based on this reason: the stocks at their doorstep attract those Shanghainese who dream of becoming millionaires overnight, and the stocks in Zhejiang and other places The bosses have to go through the stalls left behind by the Shanghainese, and do what they think is a lucrative business in a steady manner.As a result, people from Zhejiang and other places who continued to stay in the Changshu market made a fortune in Changshu clothing during the few years when Shanghainese went to play stocks. In conclusion, do you think people from Zhejiang and other places are better than people from Shanghai?Don’t draw conclusions too early, because the Shanghainese who turned the corner returned to Changshu this time and returned to Changshu with such force that the bosses in Zhejiang and other places were a bit overwhelmed:—— A Shanghai boss, in 1994, paid nearly 2 million yuan to rent several stores in prime locations such as "Huasheng Market" and "Zhao Shopping Mall" in the clothing city, and launched new women's suits continuously in spring and autumn. "Volume" took more than 10 million profits—— At the end of 1994, a certain boss in Shanghai, with his family of four, divided into three groups, bought out all the products of three textile companies in Changshu, and then opened up battlefields in Changshu and Shanghai at the same time, resulting in an annual profit of more than 10 million yuan. "Hengshenxiang Knitting Fashion Co., Ltd." is a representative of such a group of Shanghai bosses who went to Changshu.This time I had the honor to visit the factory opened by the Shanghai owner in Changshu.The factory is located in the "Shenda Industrial City" in the north of Changshu City. It covers an area of ​​20 mu, has 6 workshops with a construction area of ​​nearly 20,000 square meters and has been newly decorated. Feel.The young manager Dong Xun told me that he and his partner bought the property rights of this factory building at a price of 16 million yuan in September 1995.At that time, it was an empty factory building. Now, in addition to buying this property right investment, at least another 60 to 70 million yuan has been invested. God, let me do the math for him: Isn't it almost 100 million inside and outside? ! "Almost." The young Shanghai boss said disapprovingly. "Where do you spend all this money?" Xiao Dong seemed to see some of my doubts, and took me to the workshop of their factory.This is a large and spacious workshop. It can be seen from the rows of textile machines that have been put in place that it is a main production line that has not yet been fully put into production.But here is obviously already being installed and produced at the same time. There are beautiful girls standing beside rows of looms. They don't seem to be busy at all. You can't associate them with the profession of weaving women workers.I asked: "Why?" Xiao Dong smiled and said: "You will understand when you come closer and look at our looms." I went to the girls and found that the looms they operate are indeed very different from what we usually see , the looms here are all fully automatic equipment controlled by computers, and there is no noisy sound at all.I don't know English, so I had to ask the boss what kind of machine it is. "Shima Sei (sound) flat knitting machine." He replied. "Where did it come from?" "Japan" "Whether it is the most advanced textile machine in the world." "yes." "Shima Seiki flat knitting machines were founded in the early 1980s, and now there are three generations. The batch we have imported is the most advanced generation. What's so good about it? Why don't we use it? Shima Seiki flat knitting machines are all computer-controlled , so it has an extremely precise and detailed automatic identification and adjustment function for line quality, line color, clothing style, etc. when working, and its intelligent simulation is not replaced by ordinary manual labor. Today's international high-end Clothes can only be produced by such advanced machines, which can be said to be an advanced world textile revolution..." Xiao Dong actually introduced the contemporary textile revolution to me eloquently.However, I am concerned about his own situation and the situation of the company. "How much is this 'Jingdao'?" I asked. "The dollar is 160,000 yuan." He said.By counting, there are 39 units in the workshop.Eight out of eight, these 39 units are equivalent to RMB 50 million!Xiao Dong said: "His company has a total of 79 sets of such equipment, the most in the country. Even the largest and most advanced enterprise under Wu Wenying, Minister of Textiles, does not have half of his 'Shima Seiki' equipment." After sighing, I asked Xiao Dong: "What are you looking for when you come to Changshu and invest such a big price?" "Two words: make money." Dong Xun answered very simply, and then he finally opened his mind to me.As far as the clothing business is concerned, the Changshu market is the best in the country. There are several firsts here, the number one sales in the country, the number one participating operators in the country, the number one standard level of market economy, and the number one place in the country in terms of fierce competition.Everything that happens here every day is like a barometer of the season, which is very important to those who work in the clothing industry.Now domestic experts all know that if you look at the market in Changshu the day before, you will know the trend of the national clothing market in five and a half months.Since the Changshu market has such an effect, as a clothing manufacturer, if he does not directly participate in such a main battlefield, he is really not a good clothing salesman, and it is impossible to make a big splash.That's why they came from Shanghai.Of course, in addition to the above reasons, there is another very important point, that is, Changshu is close to Shanghai, two or three hours away.However, the natural conditions, labor costs, quality of workers, taxation and other management of setting up factories here are many times better than those in downtown Shanghai.With the same investment and the same operation, the production and sales in Changshu are about 30% more profitable than those in Shanghai.Who else can come to Changshu? "Ha! Are you asking if our business is doing as well as we imagined after we came here? No, the reality is better than imagined. We came here in September last year and spent 1.6 million yuan in annual rent to reverse the two stores from others. Expensive enough? Yes. But the business is good. After half a year, our sales in these two stores alone exceeded 50 million yuan. You said that the clothing market in Changshu is mainly low-end and middle-end. Why do we invest so much at once? Such a large advanced equipment? You can point to our key points. It is true that the clothing on the Changshu market is mainly low-end, which should be said to be the brilliance of the managers who operate this market. They have grasped the The business conditions of China's clothing market focus on the developing people and the development level of the developing people. There are so many various markets in the country. If 99 out of 100 are going to fail, then Changshu will not fail The one. We have invested so much and so many state-of-the-art equipment. On the surface, it seems that we are somewhat contrary to the Changshu market. In fact, we have studied very carefully before investing, including many issues you raised. As a garment As a specific operator in the industry, when we chose our own direction, we grasped the characteristics and fundamentals of the Changshu market, which best reflects the level of China's garment industry, from another aspect, and determined our own from this characteristic and fundamental research. That is, from the Changshu market, we can see the level and trend of the Chinese clothing market tomorrow, and see the bright prospect of the world's largest developing country connecting with the international market tomorrow. Therefore, when this rapidly advancing market When the "level and direction" of the economic tide and the bright prospect are just beginning to appear in front of you, as a sober and wise operator, you should firmly grasp it. This is why we set foot in Changshu and why we invested thousands of dollars at once. This is our strategic thinking, and it is also an important decision to win in the market economy competition in modern society.” After listening to Dong Xun's high-level remarks, I seem to have not only seen the fierce business wars in the Changshu market, but also delighted to see a new generation of Chinese businessmen with brains, foresight and courage under the conditions of market economy! Battle Case Nine: ——I wandered around the clothing city one night. At this time, most of the markets that had been bustling all day were closed. Only the five-story Swan Hotel at the intersection was brightly lit, and there were an unusually large number of people coming in and out. .Judging from the accents and postures of these people, you can tell that they are the bosses who came here to do business from other places.This got me intereste