Chapter 427 Watsons' New Industry

Chapter 427 Watsons' New Industry

Chapter 427 Watsons' New Industry

Zhou Haoran smiled and said, "This method is indeed very good. If our sugar industry is large enough in the future, we may be able to do similar operations in Hong Kong."

"The main customers of the sugar industry should be beverages, but the transportation cost of beverages is too high, so it is unlikely to be concentrated." Yang Wendong shook his head and said: "The main customers of sugar factories will still be those countries that do not have the ability to produce sugar, or those countries and regions that are very short of sugar;

This kind of competition depends on cost control. We have ships, which is a little better, but we don’t have an advantage over sugar factories in Southeast Asia. So if we want to be competitive, we have to do a good job in sugar processing or create our own brand. Ordinary people buy sugar in supermarkets, grocery stores or vegetable markets.”

"I understand. Both of these need to be done together. The sugar must be made well, and then advertising can be used to build your own brand." Zhou Haoran nodded and said.

Raw material products like sugar do not have a premium like other daily necessities. Under normal circumstances, all prices are actually the same.

Yang Wendong added: "Changxing Industry already has a complete plastic bag packaging solution. You can find Wei Zetao and ask him to do the packaging for you. For publicity, you can find TVB, as they happen to have empty advertising space.

We will first sell our own sugar locally and compete with Swire, which will help us gain some experience. Once we succeed in Hong Kong, we will go to places like Taiwan and Japan.”

"Okay, now it depends on who has better cost control capabilities." Zhou Haoran agreed.

Yang Wendong also said: "Yes, this is the first real competition for our group. I am looking forward to whether it can be successful."

Many of Changxing Group’s previous products were creative or had some special advantages, but this was not the case in the sugar industry. This is just a completely normal business.

Of course, having your own channels, publicity channels, strong financial resources, etc. are also advantages, but business competition itself requires the use of all your own resources, and no one will play fair with you.

"I understand. I will do my best to develop the sugar business." Zhou Haoran also felt a lot of pressure, but that's how business is done.

Yang Wendong went on to say: “If you can achieve some success in Asia, we can consider purchasing sugarcane or beet farms in the future. Only by mastering these can we truly gain a foothold in this market.”

The core of agriculture is land, otherwise it can only be a large shell trading company at best; however, one must take one step at a time and gain a certain market share in the trade field before gradually developing towards the front end of agricultural production. Just like industry, this is true for all businesses in the world.

"Thank you, Mr. Yang." Zhou Haoran said with a smile.

The most profitable is always the entire industrial chain. Currently, the only industry that Changxing Group can achieve this goal is the plastics industry. However, judging from the boss's layout, many industries will be like this in the future, but they must also achieve certain results.

Yang Wendong said, "Okay, the sugar industry is like this. As for beverages, I know Pepsi is very good. What about our own herbal tea?"

Zhou Haoran replied: "Herbal tea is pretty good in Hong Kong, Taiwan and even parts of Southeast Asia. In the summer, the daily sales are about 8 bottles. But now the weather is not so hot. Although it is not cold here, the demand for herbal tea has also decreased a lot.

Before this summer, I plan to focus on entering the Japanese market and will also look for Japanese celebrities to endorse my products. I am currently in talks with several Japanese entertainment companies.”

"Well, we are also taking the high-end route. In places like Taiwan and Hong Kong, a daily sales of 80,000 is pretty good." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "The Japanese market is definitely stronger and has more people, but they should also have similar industries in their own country, right?"

Herbal tea is not unique to Hong Kong. Many people in Asian culture like to drink tea.

Zhou Haoran said: "Yes, Japan also has a kind of oolong tea, but the taste is different from ours. Theirs is more like tea flavor, with very little sweetness, while our herbal tea is sweeter."

"That's right. I still believe that everyone likes sweet drinks." Yang Wendong said with a smile, "In that case, I think our herbal tea will have a great future in the Japanese market."

Carbohydrates can stimulate brain nerves and give people a sense of entertainment. This is the survival instinct of animals. Because organisms need energy, after countless years of evolution, they will feel a taste reward when they encounter carbohydrate foods.

Most people who don't drink much beverages actually have self-control. If eating more sugar is not harmful to the body, most people will not refuse it. Of course, those who feel sick after drinking too much beverage are a different matter.

"Yes, in fact, the Japanese still like to eat candy very much." Zhou Haoran said: "They themselves are also one of the major countries importing sugar."

Yang Wendong added: "We have to make more money from them. We have bought a lot of ships from Japan in the past few years. We have to get more of Japan's other markets so that we can make back the money."

The main business of Changxing Group is to export various commodities to earn money from overseas countries, but Japan is an exception. Because they need to buy ships, there is a trade deficit in turn. But there is no way around it, because Japanese ships have the best cost-effectiveness.

"I understand. I will try my best to develop the Japanese market." Zhou Haoran said with a smile.

Yang Wendong asked again: "In addition to sugar and beverages, Watsons also has pharmacy and cosmetics businesses. These two businesses have not developed much in the past two years. Do you have any ideas?"

When Watsons was acquired in the early years, its core industries were pharmacies, beverages and cosmetics, but in recent years, the focus has been on developing beverages.

But in his previous life, Watsons, owned by Li Jiacheng, was one of the top companies in the world in the field of cosmetics, so it was impossible for him not to enter this industry. Especially in his previous life, there were almost no Chinese brands in the cosmetics industry. If he controlled the terminal, he might be able to change this situation.

Zhou Haoran replied: "At present, these two businesses remain the same. Their development requires a lot of stores, and the company's funds are not currently invested in these areas."

"Your funds are indeed limited, and the beverage industry and sugar factories are indeed very capital-intensive." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Then I'll give you about a year to investigate the entire Hong Kong population and then choose a suitable location;

When the time is right, I will arrange for Changxing Real Estate to purchase real estate and shops on a large scale in Hong Kong, but it is also targeted. All the targets selected by you can join in at that time. "Even if the housing prices plummeted in 67, even if I had prepared funds early, it would not be possible to make random purchases without a purpose, although random purchases would definitely make a lot of money;
But if you are purposeful, you can make the same or even more money, and your various industries will benefit in the future.

"Okay, I'll secure the location." Zhou Haoran was delighted. He actually knew his boss's plan for the real estate market: buy high and buy low.

Yang Wendong added: “When the group invests more overseas in the future, it will also expand overseas to help Watsons gain control of the overseas cosmetics retail market;

But it’s more difficult for pharmacies. Watsons specializes in traditional Chinese medicine, which is not recognized in many places abroad, and the legal control is also vague, so if you want to expand pharmacies overseas, you can only go the Western medicine route.”

Although to a certain extent, Yang Wendong also believed in traditional Chinese medicine, especially in physical conditioning;
However, the difficulty of Traditional Chinese Medicine is that it relies on experience, and there are thousands of treatments for thousands of patients. This is why it is impossible to cultivate Traditional Chinese Medicine on a large scale in modern society. According to modern economic development theory, inefficient goods and services will eventually be gradually marginalized. Even the mainland in the past was developing in this direction.

The core problem is that it is too difficult to train talents in traditional Chinese medicine.
"It is also difficult to run a Western medicine pharmacy. The laws of many countries are very demanding, and the laws in each place are different." Zhou Haoran continued: "From the perspective of capital expansion, the pharmacy business is not cost-effective."

"That's true." Yang Wendong nodded.

In the past, those chain drug stores that were able to grow large, whether at home or abroad, actually all had a lot of connections, and they could basically only develop in their own territories. If they went abroad, they would be out of business.

Our group has enough influence within Hong Kong, but not overseas. Even if we have some influence, there is no need for us to get involved in such a risky field.

Zhou Haoran continued, "But Mr. Yang, I do have another idea, but it's a bit risky."

Yang Wendong asked in surprise, "You don't want to go into pharmaceuticals, do you? You could have played around with this industry before, but not now."

In the early years, Watsons also made and sold its own medicines. This was naturally no problem in the poor times because most people could not afford to go to the hospital. However, with economic development and the improvement of laws in various countries, pharmaceutical manufacturing has become an industry with super high barriers to entry. Just like aerospace, automobiles, chips, etc., only a few players in the world can ultimately survive.

"No, I know that pharmaceutical manufacturing is too difficult, and although our Chinese patent medicines are effective, they cannot be patented." Zhou Haoran said, "I'm talking about the medical device industry."

"Medical equipment?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "I remember there are such companies in Hong Kong, right?"

"Yes, Hong Kong makes stretchers, various surgical knives, tweezers, and pliers, which are actually extensions of the hardware category." Zhou Haoran replied: "Back then, the plastic industry replaced a lot of hardware and daily necessities. After that, many hardware factories closed down, but some were forced to transform and started making simple medical devices."

"It's a good direction for transformation, and it can be considered a little bit of industrial upgrading." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "Then you don't want to do these too? We don't have any advantages in this regard."

There are too many things in this world that can make money. It is impossible for any group or even any country to do everything. Only those that are suitable for you should be developed. If it is not suitable, you should not enter it casually, no matter how much money it makes.

Zhou Haoran smiled and said, "Of course not. I think with our group's resources, we can make equipment for wound treatment, such as various bandages or the most commonly used band-aids."

"You mean, we should make good use of Changxing Industrial's glue industry?" Yang Wendong also understood.

Post-it notes are the earliest industry of the entire Changxing Group and the first industry to develop towards the front end. Its core is glue and paper; among them, glue was the first industry to invest and build a factory in Hong Kong.

In recent years, Changxing Industrial's glue industry has developed very well. In addition to supplying sticky notes, it also supplies 3M's large tape factory in Hong Kong. It also produces various glues for export. It has become the largest local enterprise in Tuen Mun, creating jobs for nearly a thousand people. However, because its products are not directly used by civilians, they are not well-known.

Zhou Haoran also said: "Yes, I went to the Tuen Mun glue factory to investigate. They have invested huge amounts of money in research and development or purchased patents over the years, and have the production capacity of simple medical glue. In the past two years, they have also been supplying some Japanese medical device companies;
In that case, I can also make it here. The raw materials for bandages are gauze and cotton cloth, so it is easy for us to make them now.”

"It is indeed easy to do, but the biggest difficulty is the channel." Yang Wendong nodded and said.

Many products are actually very simple and can be made by a small factory, but the problem lies in the channels. Without channels, it is useless.

Zhou Haoran said: "In fact, given the current situation in South Asia, as long as we can produce here, we will not have to worry about not having orders."

"Are you talking about Vietnam?" Yang Wendong also understood.

In the 60s, things were quite lively in Asia. Monkeys and Americans started fighting. Although the scale of the war was not as large as the one in Northeast Asia more than a decade ago, it lasted longer and was time-consuming and laborious for the Americans. This also brought great opportunities to the surrounding Asian countries.

Zhou Haoran said: "Yes, ZZ, the demand for medical supplies is very high. If we seize this opportunity, we will not have to worry about lack of business. As long as we develop it, even if ZZ ends in the future, we will have the opportunity to gain a foothold.

This is a rare opportunity for Watsons to develop the medical industry. Otherwise, it will be stuck in Hong Kong selling medicines.”

"Okay, let's make simple medical devices like bandages first." Yang Wendong thought for a while and said, "When we have the ability in the future, we can make other things. Medical devices themselves are also a huge market."

In fact, he had never thought about making medical devices, but when the group grows to a sufficient scale, its industries will also think about developing in various directions. This is the case with many large companies. For example, Juhuasuan in its previous life was created by several Alibaba employees, and then it achieved results and was valued by the head office group.

The same will be true for Changxing Group in the future. The boss Yang Wendong will be in charge of some core industries, but as for the peripheral industries, his subordinates are willing to try. Unless Yang Wendong, the time traveler, knows that there is definitely something wrong with this industry, he generally will not stop it.

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(End of this chapter)