Chapter 553 Investment in Home Appliance Sales System
Chapter 553 Investment in Home Appliance Sales System
When it comes to an American giant investing in Hong Kong, even if RCA has already invested in Hong Kong, it is impossible to make a decision quickly, and Yang Wendong himself is not in a hurry.
Buffett asked again: "Mr. Yang, is your investment this time to move Berkshire's textile factory to Hong Kong?"
"Yes, this is the core purpose." Yang Wendong admitted.
It is naturally impossible to tell Buffett about investing in something like this. Even if you tell him, Buffett won't believe it because he himself doesn't know his future.
Buffett added: "What if we don't agree to invest in Hong Kong in the end? Will you withdraw your investment?"
Yang Wendong thought for a while and said, "That's not necessarily the case. It depends on other circumstances. In fact, even if you don't go to Hong Kong, you can go to other places in Asia, or even Eastern Europe.
But it is not feasible to maintain so many large factories in the United States, especially after the popularization of containers, textile transportation basically does not have to worry about seawater erosion, which you should understand. "
Before the 60s, every country in Europe and America had a textile industry, and textiles were easily damaged due to ocean transportation. But after the introduction of containers, this problem naturally disappeared.
It can be said that the existence of containers not only reduces transportation costs and time, but also reduces a large number of possible transportation loss problems.
Buffett nodded and said, "Okay, we will notify you after internal consultation."
"OK." Yang Wendong did not urge him, he was naturally not in a hurry;
Even if Berkshire Hathaway does not agree to invest in Hong Kong, it will not suffer any loss. It does not have to enter this industry. If it wants to, there are other giants in the US textile industry. Berkshire is only one of the three largest textile giants in the United States today.
After the meeting, everyone went to a nearby hotel for lunch, and then Buffett personally invited Yang Wendong to go out for a walk.
"I heard that Mr. Yang is not only an industrialist, but also a very successful investor." Buffett suddenly said, "I have also seen your investment cases in Hong Kong, and they are all very successful."
Yang Wendong said with a smile: "That is not a big investment. It is more about the strategic needs of my company. After the acquisition, my group will provide resources for them to develop, so they will naturally be able to develop better."
Buffett nodded and said, "First, acquire or control the company, and then use your own resources to help them develop. Eventually, the stock price can increase several times or even ten times. This is indeed a very good method."
"Mr. Buffett also wants to try this investment model?" Yang Wendong asked back.
Buffett shook his head and said, "Not yet. Some of the companies I invested in are able to develop normally on their own. I am just optimistic about them.
Unlike you, I don’t have any real industry, and I can’t help the companies I invest in. Moreover, these companies are involved in multiple industries and it is impossible for them to do what you do.”
Yang Wendong smiled and said: "If it is multiple industries, there is another way, that is strong finance. No matter what industry, except for some very well-developed companies, others need funds;
As long as you have enough funds, you can certainly provide a lot of help. Even if your investment in the United States is very successful in the future, your investment may be helpful to any company. "
"That's possible." Buffett nodded.
Yang Wendong added: "Mr. Buffett, if your investment requires funds, I can invest. I am also very optimistic about your previous investment experience."
Before Buffett invested in Berkshire, he was already a little famous on Wall Street. His fund company was worth tens of millions of dollars, but it was dissolved in 68.
Many people didn't understand it at the time, but now that the stock price has collapsed, they realized that Buffett may have predicted the stock market crash and ran away in advance.
If you can invest in Buffett, it is definitely worthwhile. However, the investment model of financial funds is different from that of traditional joint-stock companies. You don't get shares after buying them, but rather you invest money and then get dividends in the future. The operator gets a certain proportion of the profits. There is no real share issue because this kind of company has no industry at its core, it's just a group of people playing with finance.
Buffett smiled and said, "Haha, I won't consider building a fund for now. I'll see later."
"Okay." Yang Wendong did not force it. This kind of company completely depends on Buffett's interest;
If history does not change, Buffett's focus will shift to controlling Berkshire and then using the company to accomplish his own investment and financial career.
Buffett then asked, "Mr. Yang, after you acquire another 9.9% of the shares, will you increase your investment in Berkshire?"
"Probably not. This is just an investment. Investing too much will not do me any good." Yang Wendong shook his head and said.
He naturally wanted to continue investing, but if he invested too much and caused Buffett to change the vehicle of his financial empire, he would lose money;
10% of the shares is enough, and you can also acquire shares through various indirect methods in the future. Although it is not a lot, you can't treat Buffett as a fool. Just a moderate amount is enough;
In the future America, there will be too many companies where he cannot control more than 5% of the shares, nor is there a need. 20% of 5 companies is equivalent to the interests of a large giant company, and each company has fewer shares, making it easier to cash out.
"Okay." Buffett smiled and said nothing more.
After meeting with Berkshire, Yang Wendong and others came to Los Angeles and visited the newly opened Best Buy electronics store. At this moment, many big-name electronics brands have joined in.
Lin Youcheng and Best Buy's head Brian accompanied Yang Wendong on a walk. Yang Wendong smiled and said, "There are so many international brands here. How did you attract them?"
Brian said, "Mr. Yang, we offer free services for the first year, and we also promise big discounts for the next two years, so we were able to attract enough brands."
"Well, this method is indeed feasible." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "How is the after-sales service?"
Not to mention now, even in the past, Wanda, Wuyue and other old shopping malls in the mainland may have offered free or discounted prices in order to attract people in the early days;
Rely on low costs to attract merchants, and then use this to attract buyers. Once buyers get used to it or the mall has a certain degree of popularity, normal business operations can begin.
Brian said: "At present, we have door-to-door service for large items such as color TVs, air conditioners, and refrigerators, while for small items, customers need to deliver the items to us.
If the value is very low, such as a fan, customers generally will not repair it if it breaks, and will most likely just throw it away, so only a small amount of resources are invested in this aspect.”
Yang Wendong asked: "Can all brands be repaired?"
Brian replied: “They are basically some basic problems. If they are major problems, they need to be sent back to the factory for repair or directly scrapped because it is not cost-effective;
In addition, our after-sales staff will also learn about various issues of each brand, so as to ensure their versatility. "
"That's enough for now. Based on this, we will continue to train more people, and we will expand to other places in the future." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
The biggest problem with sales channels is after-sales service, which is too costly. Many manufacturers simply do not have the ability to do so, so they have no choice but to give up the market.
But if there is a large chain of professional electrical appliance supermarkets that not only has sales but also has after-sales capabilities that can cover most problems, and everything can be contracted to this chain supermarket, wouldn’t it be perfect?
This is Best Buy’s business model. The so-called best business model is nothing more than solving users’ pain points. Best Buy’s customers are both countless users and various merchants.
Brian smiled and said, "Understood, Mr. Yang."
After a while, Brian was sent away, and a Chinese man in his early 30s came up to Sean and said, "Hello, Mr. Yang."
"Are you from Hong Kong?" Yang Wendong knew the man was from Hong Kong as soon as he heard the voice.
There are many people in the United States who can speak Cantonese, but the way they pronounce it is a little different, and you can tell the difference at once. This is the magic of the Chinese language. Before Mandarin became popular, there were probably thousands or even tens of thousands of dialects in China, and in some places one could not understand the other even if they were dozens of kilometers away. English spans several continents, but basically there is only a slight difference in tone.
The man replied, "Yes, Mr. Yang, my name is Xiang Fansheng. I used to be an HR person at Carrefour Jinzhong. I applied for an internal position and came to the United States."
"Okay, it's also an opportunity for you." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Although Hong Kong is the headquarters, wages in a place are linked to the overall local economy. This is why Europeans and Americans can earn 100 kilograms of food a day by screwing screws, but Africans cannot even get enough to eat after working hard all day.
The salary for working in the United States is naturally higher, because there are also many people applying internally for Hong Kong companies.
Moreover, in his business in the United States, he gives priority to hiring Chinese people in human resources and finance departments.
"Yes, thank you Mr. Yang for giving us this opportunity." Xiang Fansheng said with a smile.
Yang Wendong added: "How is the training of the Chinese here going?"
Xiang Fansheng replied: "At present, I have been recruiting Chinese people in Los Angeles to do after-sales or some other positions, but it is a bit difficult. Many people are unwilling to come, or it is too far away;
So I think we can consider bringing people from Hong Kong here, and we can arrange their food and accommodation here. As long as they can speak English, we can teach them how to find their way around and how to talk to American customers. That’s all.”
“It can be considered, but to avoid having them come here as illegal immigrants, they must have family members in Hong Kong, and their family conditions must not be too bad.” Yang Wendong thought about it and finally agreed.
In the past, after the reform and opening up of the mainland, many people took the opportunity to go abroad and became illegal immigrants. There was even a lack of university professors who would rather stay in the United States illegally to work as bricklayers.
Regarding this point, Yang Wendong does not think it is outrageous. After all, in the 80s, the economic gap between China and the United States, China and Europe, China and Japan, etc. was too large. It was possible that the gap was not dozens of times, but hundreds of times. In the United States, the income of washing dishes is really much higher than that of domestic professors.
The gap between Hong Kong and the United States is quite large now. Although not as big as that of the mainland in a dozen years, it is still possible that someone will operate in this way. This needs to be avoided, otherwise the US government will also cause trouble.
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)