Not long after Lin Zhichao returned to Hong Kong, he convened a meeting of Global Shipping Management.
In the conference room, he asked: "Currently, we have 20 ships in Global Shipping. Can we hold technical meetings every day for the fleet that sails around the world?"
At the headquarters of Global Shipping, there is a direct circuit for telegraph users. Ships from all over the world can use this circuit to promptly report various problems encountered, such as unexpected delays, unfortunate accidents to sailors, machine failures, insufficient berths at the dock, and For other natural and man-made disasters, the headquarters of Universal Corporation in Hong Kong can be informed of these situations immediately.
Lin Zhichao believes that the purpose of this is to analyze various problems encountered, take timely remedial measures, and accumulate experience for future purchases of new ships. If there is a problem with the ship, the company can accurately know the position of the ship and dispatch it in time. People fly to the port closest to the ship for processing.
Liao Changgui, director of the Communications Department, immediately said: "Boss, if we want ships to be able to communicate around the world every moment, we will probably need radio waves from 10 to 15 ships. At present, sometimes it takes half a day to a day to communicate with many ships. Only then can you get into the channel.”
Lin Zhichao had no regrets. On the contrary, he said: "It seems that this plan will be realized soon! Therefore, the company will prepare the plan I mentioned. Next year we will hold technical meetings every day. I will try my best to attend every day. If I can't If you are present, the deputy general manager will preside. If the deputy general manager cannot preside, the technical department manager will preside. In short, we must make full use of our global radio wave network to understand the dynamics of each of our ships."
"Yes, boss!"
Everyone said excitedly.
What this means is that the global shipping situation of ships around the world is huge.
Lin Zhichao is also very happy, and is finally about to realize his dream - to achieve global instant messaging.
For those shipowners who only have one or a few ships, there is no news as soon as their ship leaves the port, and the shipowners can only be worried.
This is superiority!
After the meeting, Gao Qiqiang went to Lin Zhichao to report: "Boss, that ship owner of Zhao Congyan has never learned a lesson. We found that he was soliciting goods at a low price again. So we went to ask them, and they also argued that the price was low because their ship was old and old. a little."
When Lin Zhichao heard this, he didn't feel anything to be angry about. He asked, "Is the price very low? It shouldn't be necessary. The market is so good now."
Zhao Congyan's reasons are indeed very good. As for his dilapidated 3,500-ton National Star ship, it is understandable that the price is lower.
"It's not very low, probably about 5% lower."
"How much impact it will have on us, you can let people evaluate it. If 5% of the price has little impact, we should not overreact and focus more on service, punctuality, and safety."
"Ok, I see!"
After Gao Qiqiang left, Lin Zhichao thought about whether to trick Zhao Congyan, but in the end he chose to forget it, it was such a big deal.
With the development of global shipping today, we have already stepped into the circle of "the best in the world". Why bother to scheming with small ship owners?
Why does Lin Zhichao dare to think this way?
The reason is very simple. The most important thing in shipping is to understand the market and cycles, followed by understanding finance, and finally understanding management.
Market and cycle: Bao Yugang was proficient in this in his previous life. He traveled around the world, met with national leaders, and read local newspapers, just to find out the context of shipping, so as to determine how many years his ship should be leased. ', it is more advantageous to sign a long-term contract when the market is good. On this point, Lin Zhichao was very confident and precise.
Financial arrangement: It means obtaining support from banks and shipyards, and making the best financial arrangements in the company. In this regard, Lin Zhichao has gained the trust of HSBC and Japanese customers.
Company management: Lin Zhichao has a super brain and amazing memory, and he has studied shipping tirelessly for three years. Even a shipowner with ten years of shipping skills may not be as proficient as him.
Thinking of this, Lin Zhichao felt relieved and didn't take Zhao Congyan's cleverness to heart.
Leave it to my men to deal with it!
Lin Zhichao took his family to visit the house at No. 79 Deep Water Bay. Everyone found that the current house is also very good. The only drawback is that it is a bit old.
"The preliminary plan is as follows: build a private road sloping from the north to the south from Deep Water Bay Road to the front yard. Set up a security guard box next to the private road to be on duty 24 hours a day. Then build a large podium (base) here. Above the podium are: a three-story European-style villa in the middle, a swimming pool to the south, a lawn to the southwest, and a marble courtyard to the north. In addition to these buildings, a small garden and pavilion are built over there (not on the podium)." Lin Zhichao described his plan.
An architectural designer has been found and communicated with. Architectural designers gave great praise to the podium building proposed by Lin Zhichao.
In this era, podium buildings were not used, but in later generations, podium buildings were the most common in Hong Kong. Villas, shopping malls, buildings, etc. all make full use of the podium (base).
This is because the podium can separate commercial shopping centers and office buildings, and the podium can provide villa owners with more privacy and security.
The most exaggerated podium building in his previous life, Lin Zhichao remembers it was No. 35 Barker Road, which Lee Shau Kee did not live in until he was old. The podium building was two or three stories high, directly covering the sky and clouds of the Malou.
"It will cost millions of dollars to build like this, right?" Xu Caiying asked excitedly.
At the same time, she is naturally yearning for it, this is a woman's nature.
"I guess it's about the same. Many materials need to be imported from Europe and the United States. Of course, the construction fee is only a few million, and it's not a yearly expense. I believe your husband can make money quickly." Lin Zhichao said proudly.
Some sense of accomplishment can only be revealed in front of family members. Even if the cost is two to three million Hong Kong dollars, Lin Zhichao doesn't think there is much of a problem. After all, the entire construction period will take more than five years (including design time).
"When will it be completed?" Tang Caiyun couldn't help but ask.
"It will take five years, but moving in may not take place until the Spring Festival of 1958."
By then, Lin Zhichao will be thirty years old, Tang Caiyun will be twenty-nine years old, Xu Caiying will be twenty-five years old, and there will be a whole house full of children.
After everyone admired it, they reluctantly left because it would soon be bulldozed and rebuilt.
Returning to the garden house on Condut Road in the evening, the family gathered together to have dinner, happily.
Normally, Lin Zhichao still has a lot of social activities, but he has tried to turn them down as much as possible, putting his family first.
During the dinner, Wu Wenying, as the elder, asked: "Zhichao, Caiying, you two can't just play around. You have to have a child first. You will have it sooner or later anyway. Look at Caiyun, she still looks like a child after having two children." Just like a young girl, nothing can be seen at all. Life is better now, and giving birth to children is not as harmful to the body as we used to."
Xu Caiying suddenly became shy. What her mother-in-law said about "playing" had a profound meaning. In the words of her sister-in-law, good sister, and good classmate Lin Xiner, the sound was so loud that you could basically hear it from the second floor.
"Mom, you can't blame me for this!" Xu Caiying quickly removed the suspicion and declared that she was not causing trouble.
Lin Zhichao didn't care. He was the only man in the family with two little boys, so it was inevitable that he would be a little indulgent.
"Mom, this kind of thing is also an emotional exchange, not a play. As for the child, it will be arranged as soon as possible, so don't worry!"
Wu Wenying felt helpless when she saw that her son was thick-skinned and had his own opinions. This girl Caiying was indeed too smart. Of course, both daughters-in-law were smart.
"Please keep your ears open and listen, study hard, and don't live up to your brother's expectations!" Seeing that Wu Wenying could not control her son, she could only control her daughter.
Lin Xiner has listened too much in the past two years, and has become more or less thick-skinned. However, she still lowered her head shyly and said, "You all avoid talking to me, and you blame me for listening too much."
Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "Okay, okay, it's just a child's matter. There will be bread and milk. Also, Xin'er, don't be stressed. Whether you do well in the exam or not, I will send you to college." .”
Xu Caiying immediately said: "Don't worry about this, our Xiner is the smartest, reading is just a matter of time!" She deliberately sounded like a sister-in-law.
Lin Xiner gritted her teeth in her heart, but she didn't dare to openly tease her sister-in-law at home.
After dinner and a few chats, Lin Zhichao took Tang Caiyun and Xu Caiying upstairs. It was obvious what he was doing.
Wu Wenying sometimes worries about her son's health, so she buys expensive herbs and food to give her son a lot of supplements. Lin Zhichao doesn't refuse these supplements, but the tossing is definitely more intense at night.
Fortunately, Wu Wenying knew through her two daughters-in-law that her son was in good health, so she wasn't so worried.
After a while, Lin Zhichao went downstairs to greet Lin Xiner.
"Xin'er, borrow it!"
Lin Xiner blushed, then lowered her head and walked into her bedroom. After a while, she took out a pocket.
"Don't think too much, Caiyun didn't study in Hong Kong."
"I know, come up quickly!"
"This girl!"
Time flies, and it’s early January 1952 in a blink of an eye.
Lin Zhichao came to Yangtze River Industry and inspected his "industrial zone". Lin Zhichao has made an overall plan for the land of 450,000 square feet. It is expected that after all is completed, there will be more than 2 million square feet of factory buildings here. Floor area.
At the same time, this area has been positioned as a "light industrial park" by Lin Zhichao. He will also invest in a heavy industrial park. The current idea is to build it in Tseung Kwan O and use it for smelting aluminum alloys and shipbreaking in the future.
Back in the office, shortly after I sat down, Tao Derong, the general manager of the Yangtze Plastic Factory, came to report on his work.
"Boss, last year the Yangtze Plastic Factory made a total profit of HK$460,000. The raw materials were purchased from Yangtze Trading at market prices. The best-selling products are toys, plastic bottles, buckets, etc. Currently, the two largest plastic factories in Hong Kong are our Yangtze River. Plastic Factory and Kaida Industrial.”
The profit level is better than expected. The profit of plastic products is actually not very high. Because the threshold is low and competition is fierce, the product profit margin is not high. Unless you produce a hit-level product, others will not be able to imitate it in a short time, and then you will occupy a large amount of the market before everyone reacts.
Hong Kong's industry will become a kingdom of copycats of global commodities. Lin Zhichao also has his own thoughts on this, that is, if you have a better mentality, it will be okay if everyone makes money together. Of course, if he develops a toy product with a registered patent, he must be serious about it, after all, what he sells is high added value.
"Well, the overall performance is good. The situation last year was so serious, but I can still achieve this result. I am quite satisfied. In the new year, the situation is still not optimistic. I hope to continue to work hard. While developing steadily, we must also find ways to make breakthroughs. Major technological breakthroughs. Plastic technology in the world is changing with each passing day. We must always pay attention to any new machines or products."
"I understand. Boss, do you want the funds in the account to be handed over to Yangtze River Industries?"
"Keep some of it, and most of it will be handed over to Yangtze River Industry. In the later stage, the group will lay out the planning of the entire industry, and your Yangtze River Plastic Factory will also be the focus of investment. Of course, Hong Kong's industry will have real sunshine after the war is over."
"It's a pity that this negotiation failed!"
"Just wait, it will definitely be over within a year or two."
Tao Derong nodded. He knew that his boss still had great ambitions in the plastics industry, but now the inability to import new plastic machines, the inconvenience of importing raw materials, and the inability to sell products to the United States are all restricting the development of Hong Kong's plastics industry.
Because Lin Zhichao often communicates with his subordinates about market prospects and development directions, including the international situation, Hong Kong's advantages, etc., his senior executives also have a long-term vision. Moreover, Lin Zhichao likes management to learn and improve, so everyone works hard.
After Tao Derong left, Wang Liang also came to Lin Zhichao's office. He is still the general manager of Yangtze Zipper, so his actual work is mainly in the zipper industry.
At the same time, after Uniqlo Clothing Company was transferred to Yangtze River Industrial, Yangtze River Industrial only had two first-level subsidiaries - Yangtze Zipper and Yangtze Plastic.
"Boss, we have prepared last year's summary report, please take a look!"
"Well, I'll look at it and you can summarize it."
Wang Liang immediately organized his thoughts. This boss is like this. He likes his subordinates to be well prepared, so he is naturally well prepared.
"Last year, Yangtze Zipper produced a total of 11.5 million meters of zippers, with a total production value of 29.9 million Hong Kong dollars. The zippers made a profit of 6.26 million Hong Kong dollars. Yangtze River Trading earned 520,000 Hong Kong dollars in raw materials. The investment amount was 4.6 million Hong Kong dollars, and you took away 5 million Hong Kong dollars. The current cash on hand is HK$320,000.”
"In the new year, Yangtze Zipper's investment will mainly be in research and development, adding other equipment, etc."
Lin Zhichao also quickly browsed the work report of Yangtze River Zipper. After listening to Wang Liang's words, Lin Zhichao said: "I will not withdraw funds from Yangtze Zipper or Yangtze River Industry starting from this year. When the war is over, I will fight for the grand plan in industry." . Of course, before that, we must accumulate sufficient technical strength and human resources, and you must also have a longer-term vision."
Wang Liang nodded immediately and said happily: "No problem! Our technical department and Bern Machinery jointly developed nylon zippers. They have stabilized and will be successfully developed. By then, the world's demand for zippers will skyrocket, and the cost will increase. At a lower level, we can gain greater market share.”
To be honest, 11.5 million meters per year is only a small part of the world's zipper demand market; although Yangtze Zipper sells its products to Europe and the United States, its market share is not high.
In the previous life of YKK zippers, in the late 1950s, the total production of zippers reached 800 million meters; in the 21st century, 2.5 billion meters were produced in a year.
This market is huge, and even if you only get a share of the pie, you can continue to do so. What's more, the Yangtze River zipper will not lag behind.
"Is the business of Bourne Machinery not doing well?" Lin Zhichao suddenly asked.
Wang Liang thought for a while and said: "Their textile machine business is indeed average. As for zipper machines, we account for a large part of the business."
Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "I understand!"
A plan has emerged in his mind to be implemented next year.
Finally, Lin Zhichao said: "This year we will still have double grains, and there will be rice and oil benefits during the Spring Festival. Please make arrangements so that everyone in the group can have a good year."
Wang Liang immediately said gratefully: "Boss Renyi! Some bosses in Hong Kong who are effective and Renyi are also following our company's footsteps and will receive double pay at the end of the year."
Lin Zhichao waved his hand and said: "Don't worry about others! For me, as long as the company has the ideal effect, it is appropriate to receive double pay at the end of the year."
This tradition in Hong Kong was not initiated by Lin Zhichao, but it was the most effective one he did because his factory was large enough and had enough employees.
Therefore, the influence is also full!
Lin Zhichao's company implements a salary level that is at the forefront of similar industries, but does not deviate from the market; attaching importance to year-end bonuses and holiday benefits is the best way to motivate employees.
Lin Zhichao knows the "people's heart" well. If you give employees a salary increase of HK$10 every month, the employees may not be moved because they will get used to it. They just think that your company's salary is good, but they will not be grateful.
But if you provide benefits during holidays, it will be an unexpected surprise for employees, and they will recognize the company more; plus double pay at the end of the year, it is much more effective than a salary increase.
Of course, these are all "imperial paths". In terms of overall treatment, you can't cheat and cheat, and you must be at the top level in the industry.
Worldwide shipping.
After listening to Feng Yongfa's work report, Lin Zhichao immediately made plans in his mind.
Some time ago, I spent US$300,000 from Global Shipping Lines to purchase land and luxury homes. Fortunately, the impact was not significant because Global Shipping Lines’ monthly profits are very high.
By March of this year, it’s almost time to consider buying another ship. We will try to get another loan of US$3 million from HSBC, and then use the funds on our account to purchase a cargo ship of 70,000 to 80,000 tons, completing half of this year’s goal.
For the remaining goals, there is no need to borrow money and you can just use your own funds. After all, HSBC will not lend too much money. Every time, it will clearly review the accounts of Global Shipping, then assess the risks, and finally lend money.
As for using Global Shipping's funds to invest in real estate, we will draw funds based on the situation in the second half of the year.
Thinking of this, Lin Zhichao still said to Feng Yongfa: "This year, all employees of Global Shipping will receive double grains in the month at the end of last year. The Spring Festival is also coming, and the Finance Department and Logistics Department should jointly purchase rice and oil and distribute it to employees. .”
Feng Yongfa was immediately surprised. The salary of seafarers is not low and ranks among the top of all occupations in Hong Kong. If they receive double pay at the end of the year, it will be a huge sum!
However, he still said gratefully: "Okay, I will organize it immediately and give you a plan then."
"Um"
Lin Zhichao plans to be like this in all companies. He wants to be a "not bad" boss, and he wants many employees to work for him for a lifetime.
In the future, some companies will also set up "employee pension" and other funds to truly become a great entrepreneur.
(End of chapter)
