African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 425: Expanding the Market

“It seems we still need to recruit more workers! We obviously have insufficient sales staff. I didn’t expect to encounter this situation again after the outbreak of the economic crisis.” said the personnel manager of the Hechingen Tobacco Company in Austria.

As a tobacco giant that has just emerged in recent years, Heichingen Tobacco Company has encountered an economic crisis for the first time, so its experience is somewhat lacking.

"Yes, market research results show that after the outbreak of the economic crisis, workers' unemployment pressure and cost of living pressure have greatly increased, the social environment has become increasingly depressed, and the uncertainty about future expectations has greatly increased people's demand for tobacco and alcohol. , especially the sales of cheap tobacco and alcohol products have increased significantly. Now as long as we have enough cheap raw materials to produce enough low-price products, we can make more money."

“However, we should set up more sales outlets, especially street stalls, rather than professional salesmen. Smokers don’t want someone to scream like flies in their ears at this time.”

“It’s like this. The current social atmosphere is not very good. If we hire professional salesmen, I’m afraid it will have the opposite result.”

Salesmanship is definitely a job that is easy to arouse disgust. In normal times, when the economic situation is good, people are more tolerant. But now the mood of the entire society is not stable, and those salesmen with average eloquence will only cause conflicts.

After the economic crisis, the Austrian Hechingen Tobacco Company has been living a very comfortable life. The empty-spirited Austrian unemployed have significantly increased their demand for cigarettes. This situation is the same as that of the distillery in Hechingen, especially the cheapest vodka, which has seen a huge increase in sales. .

Before the economic crisis broke out, the employees of Hechingen Tobacco Company were quite panicked, because all walks of life were laying off employees and cutting wages, and they were crying out loud, fearing that their company would also follow in the same footsteps.

The impact is still there. The emergence of a large number of unemployed people has indeed lowered wages, especially for unskilled positions. Competition is very fierce, which forces company employees to spend more energy than usual and work hard for fear of losing their jobs. Having been robbed, having a stable job now is better than anything else.

Of course, the company will not lay off employees at will. After all, older employees have more work experience, but the company is also happy to see competition. Some veterans who were good at fishing in the past have begun to actively engage in work, which has greatly improved the efficiency of Hechingen Tobacco Company.

“Since we had our own tobacco production area, we discovered how profitable tobacco is. The price of raw materials sold to us by foreigners was too low.”

"It cannot be said that tobacco growing areas are concentrated in the tropics and subtropics and require a lot of investment. However, many tobacco producing areas are colonies, and the labor costs in the colonies can be almost negligible. If these colonies did not exist, then what would have happened before The price of tobacco leaves in the market is also reasonable.”

“We don’t care whether it is a colony or not. We will buy from whose raw materials are cheaper and of better quality.”

“You can’t say that. Now our raw materials are actually delivered for free from East Africa. We no longer need to compare shopping and worry about everything as before.”

"Hahaha, this happens to be our advantage. The company is also expanding production in Africa. In a few years, we will really be far ahead of our peers. But it is a pity that our tobacco farmers in East Africa have little experience in tobacco cultivation. Compared with other traditional tobacco-producing areas, it obviously has many shortcomings, so the taste of tobacco is also worse than other tobacco-producing areas."

"There is no need to worry about this at all. The area of ​​East Africa is large enough, and the tobacco fields are large enough. Moreover, tobacco has been cultivated for some time now. The taste and yield have been greatly improved. And ordinary people generally don't know much about the taste. They only know the taste." I feel that the taste of Hechingen’s cigarette brands is getting better and better, which is a great thing for us.”

“With the commencement of tobacco production in East Africa in recent years, we have been completely relieved of the constraints imposed by tobacco giants from the United Kingdom and the United States on raw materials. When Matabele Plateau tobacco officially enters the market next year, I believe our business will reach a higher level.”

"Well, this is a sample of gold leaves from the Matabele Plateau. Let me show you." He said and distributed a pack of gold leaves in his hand.

 The packaging of the sample is in an enchanting yellow color, which is very eye-catching. It also has a golden gold leaf trademark, which leaves a deep impression on people. As the manager cleared away the cigarettes in the cigarette box, everyone looked carefully at the so-called "high-end goods".

“Manager, can I take it apart and take a look?”

“Of course, it’s okay to try smoking it directly. You can describe the taste in detail.”

The old smokers in the company were not polite. They took out lighters and lit cigarettes, and the whole conference room became filled with smoke.

  Generally, for safety reasons, smoking is prohibited in companies, mainly for fear of causing fires. As for the issue of smoking being harmful to health, I’m sorry, but people nowadays don’t have this concept.

“The taste is very soft, the stamina is great, and the aroma seems to be too strong. I think this tobacco should be mixed with other tobaccos for a better effect.”

“This taste, I feel, can we use it alone to produce cigars! In fact, the taste of cigars is just like this, which can greatly enhance the competitiveness of our high-end products.”

“Cigar is an area that we have no contact with at all, and I heard that the manufacturing process of cigars is very complicated and cannot be produced mechanically on a large scale like cigarettes, so the cost is much higher than that of cigarettes.”

"Actually, we don't do this at all. People on the market only recognize Cuban cigars, and although the tobacco leaves from Matabele Plateau are also very high-quality, they really don't have much reputation. What our company should do most is to package the brand. , just like Golden Leaf, just make it a perfect high-end product and make ordinary people familiar with the Golden Leaf brand."

"Essentially, we still need to use high-end products to drive sales of low-end products. If ordinary people don't have access to high-end products, it will give them the illusion that this thing must be good. Then we use the brand effect brought by high-end products. It can boost sales of low-end products.”

 For products of the same quality and price, ordinary people will naturally trust big manufacturers and famous brands more.

 “Then increase investment in advertising?”

“Of course we have to do this, but not now, at least until after the economic crisis is over. Now consumers have no time to pay attention to advertising. At present, we still need to increase marketing efforts, especially at lower prices.”

Although the tobacco industry has been affected by the economic crisis and has shown unprecedented sales, except for Heichingen Tobacco Company, other tobacco companies are not very happy.

 Mainly because Hechingen Tobacco Company, the sixth largest tobacco company, has captured a large market with its independent supply of goods and low-priced raw materials. In the past, no one had to roll tobacco, but now they have to roll it inward.

 (End of this chapter)