The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

"The head of the family, let's sell the farm and go speculate in real estate!" After Lin Zhichao and others left, Wu Bing immediately said to Yu Chengwan.

She was fed up with this poor country, and now someone could relieve her, how could she not seize the opportunity! A beautiful woman, who wants to stay in the country, why can the main wife stay in the downtown area?

Yu Chengwan looked hesitant and said worriedly: "Lin Sheng and I only have a relationship, and real estate speculation is definitely very risky, so I'm a little worried!"

Because some people don't believe that a big businessman like Lin Zhichao would be willing to be friends with him, so he still has doubts in his heart.

Wu Bing immediately said: "You have already said that if someone else is a big businessman, how can he still like your farm? I think it is because he appreciates you and your experience in fighting for the country, so he promoted you. As the saying goes, opportunities are rare, Haven’t you always wanted to develop in business, but now if you don’t take advantage of the methods that others bring to your doorstep, then there really will be no store like this after you’ve passed this village!”

After all, she was also Miss Fu, and she could see very clearly that it was absolutely impossible for Lin Zhichao to cheat the two of them.

In fact, Lin Zhichao really planned to make Yu Chengwan rich, and there was no purpose, just to make friends. In Lin Zhichao's life and work, he is willing to make people rich and never let down his friends.

Yu Chengwan was immediately moved. If he really squeezed into the circle of Lin Zhichao and Li Gaofu, he would really be prosperous.

"It's just that this farm won't be available for a short time!"

"Your cousin, he lives here and has always been keen on this business! The farm can earn more than 20,000 Hong Kong dollars a year. Together with the house and land, we sold it to him for 60,000 Hong Kong dollars."

Yu Chengwan also figured it out at this time and said decisively: "No problem! I will go to Kowloon to find a house for you soon, and then pick you up."

Wu Bing immediately said: "Then act quickly! You have to register a real estate agency company. Didn't you hear what Mr. Lin said? To buy their 5-unit house, you only need to pay 20% of the money temporarily, which is 30,000 yuan. The price is around Hong Kong dollars, and houses will continue to rise sharply; by then, if a house earns 10,000 yuan, it can earn 50,000 yuan."

When others said this, she would still doubt it, but when Lin Zhichao said this, she had no doubt at all, because the identities of both parties were there!

In fact, this is just a low-level guidance. If Lin Zhichao admires a person, his support will go beyond that.

Yu Chengwan nodded excitedly and said, "I know!"

At this time, he also dreamed of making a lot of money following Lin Zhichao and Li Gaofu.

Lin Zhichao attended the symposium of the Hong Kong Wig Merchants Association, and as many as 52 members attended the meeting. There are currently hundreds of wig factories in Hong Kong, and not all of them are qualified to enter the Chamber of Commerce.

Currently, the conditions for entering the Chamber of Commerce are that one must have been in business for two years and have a scale of more than 50 employed workers. In fact, the expansion has been temporarily stopped, but there are still many applications.

Hong Kong's wig industry has become the world's absolute hegemon, defeating the French and American wig industries. However, this is a small industry, and there is no need to worry about trade fortresses being set up by Western countries, including plastic flowers.

It is a big industry for Hong Kong, but it can only be a small industry for the global economy.

At the beginning of the meeting, Lin Zhichao delivered a speech as the chairman of the chamber of commerce. The manuscript was actually written by Chen Linyuan, but he spoke completely out of script: "At present, Hong Kong employs about 4,500 people engaged in wig production, and Hong Kong's wigs account for 90% of the world's share. , the development is so good that I didn’t even expect it. It has developed to such an extent in two years, which is gratifying.”

Everyone burst into applause. This was undoubtedly exciting news.

Solving 4,500 jobs is a great achievement.

At present, Yangtze Wig has only 500 workers, and focuses more on its agency business, which licenses almost 25 to 30% of Hong Kong's wig products. However, in order to consider its own interests, Changjiang Wig has signed a contract with everyone for monthly supply, that is, it can stop the agency at any time to prevent the goods from being in its own hands.

In terms of wig raw materials, it still monopolizes 60% of the raw material market in Hong Kong.

Secretary-General Chen Linyuan then added: "Hong Kong's wig factories are saturated, but this is not a bad result, because I went to Europe and the United States to find that the global demand for wigs is increasing day by day, especially the trend of 'crossing the generation' in the United States. The more influential, I am optimistic about the development of wigs in the next five years. But everyone should not blindly expand production, so as not to bring losses to themselves. At the same time, everyone should not maliciously lower the price on the ex-factory price. Once vicious competition forms, do it well. The market will also be screwed."

At present, the ex-factory price of a wig in Hong Kong is still 460 to 500 Hong Kong dollars, and some specially made wigs can reach thousands of dollars.

As Lin Zhichao's spokesperson, Chen Linyuan is also the most proficient talent in the entire industry, so he naturally has great decision-making power. Everyone agrees on this point.

Of course, there are a full 25 Shunde merchants among the 52 members of the Wig Chamber of Commerce, and these 25 Shunde merchants occupy about 60% of the market share, which can be described as the core. The Hong Kong Wig Chamber of Commerce is called the ‘Shunde Overseas Chinese Wig Chamber of Commerce’.

Liu Qingshan echoed: "Indeed! Blind expansion not only harms long-term interests, but also makes oneself fall into a state of loss. At present, the wig industry is still healthy, and everyone who can join the chamber of commerce will basically not be short of orders. I hope everyone Maintain the healthy development of Hong Kong's wig industry and ensure the quality, otherwise the chamber of commerce will consider removing wig production units that have repeatedly experienced quality failures."

The meeting went well, but there was a jarring interlude.

A wig merchant said: "President Lin, the cost of producing a wig has gone up a bit now, and you have high quality requirements, but I don't know if the agency price can be increased any more!"

Everyone was secretly happy, and some secretly scolded him for not knowing what was good or bad.

However, Lin Zhichao said calmly: "It can't go up! I have three reasons: first, in order to represent everyone's products, we gave up the opportunity to expand; second, we encourage everyone to find their own sales channels, especially to open up new sales channels. ;Third, the cost of wigs has not increased much, just a few dollars more for raw materials, and you earn more than us.”

The cost of a wig is around 150 Hong Kong dollars (excluding the cost of machinery and factory buildings), and the agency price is around 350 Hong Kong dollars, but it is currently sold to European and American buyers for as low as 460 Hong Kong dollars.

It seems that Yangtze Wig Factory can earn more than 30% just by accepting orders. In fact, dealing with wholesalers' favors, providing technical guidance to cooperative companies, etc. are all energy and money.

Once the three reasons came out, everyone had nothing to say. The most fundamental one is that others encourage you to find your own sales.

But having said that, although everyone is encouraged to find their own sales, large wholesalers in Europe and the United States recognize the reputation of Yangtze Wig Factory and will not easily cooperate with others.

Next, Lin Zhichao also took the opportunity to suggest: "In view of the high-quality development of the wig industry, I propose to give industry workers a salary standard, which is conducive to the quality of industry workers and the development of the industry. Everyone can vote by a show of hands, whether you think The Hong Kong Wig Chamber of Commerce needs a guidance level for industry wages, once passed, I hope everyone will abide by the chamber of commerce's system!"

Everyone has different expressions, but overall they seem to be more supportive!

The wig industry does make money, but the most important thing is that the Changjiang Plastic Factory has too much influence. At least half of the people sitting in the conference room have visited the Changjiang Wig Factory.

Chen Linyuan immediately added: "The quality of workers in the wig industry is very important. Many times, a company's wig products have failed to meet standards, causing certain losses. I believe that everyone does not want that to happen again. Moreover, European and American wholesalers are importing products. At that time, I was very concerned about the situation of the workers, and if there were any adverse effects, it might affect the entire Hong Kong wig industry.”

This is telling the truth. Because Europeans and Americans are rich, they always look at things with the mentality of superiors. They also like to fight for various benefits for workers. If it is labeled as a sweatshop, it will be boycotted in Europe and the United States.

"Okay, let's show your hand! Raise your hand if you agree!"

Now that we've said all this, there is no reason for everyone not to raise their hands. Some people hesitated and kept observing with their eyes, but in the end they could only be forced to raise their hands.

Lin Zhichao sneered in his heart, he just wanted to be 'hypocritical'. He is not an unconscionable capitalist, he has always been thinking about the workers and the development of Hong Kong.

Of course, all this must be based on him making a lot of money.

52 people voted unanimously, this is real and effective!

Afterwards, everyone had a heated discussion about average wages. Since most of the workers are female, the salary in the wig industry is not high among the entire industry, with 2 to 2.5 yuan a day being common.

Before 1967, wages in Hong Kong were very low and rose very slowly. After the riots, the Hong Kong government began to attach great importance to workers' wages, and then they rose very quickly. In the mid-1960s (1966), the salary of skilled workers in the textile industry only started at HKD 9 a day, while ordinary workers only had HKD 4 to 5 a day. Salaries of more than 100 yuan were common, and this amount of money was only enough for food and clothing. That’s all.

Some factories only go to Kowloon Walled City, Tiu Keng Ling, etc. to recruit workers during peak production seasons, and then fire them after they have finished their work. The money given to them is just enough for food.

By the mid-1970s, the average salary had risen to HK$1,300 a month, an increase of more than 300% in ten years.

So, there are pros and cons to everything!

As expected, major wig business owners are very stingy about employee wages, and they fight for every inch of space when it comes to the standards that guide wages.

But after all, they had serious discussions, and finally everyone decided to use 2.5 Hong Kong dollars a day as the minimum standard, excluding the one-month probation period, and provide a daily living allowance of 0.2 Hong Kong dollars per day, and overtime pay for more than ten hours. The overtime pay per hour is normal 1.5 Hong Kong dollars. times; at the same time, everyone is encouraged to implement the double salary system at the end of the year, but it is not mandatory.

Calculating this, a female worker’s monthly salary can reach HK$80.

This salary level is still lower than that of the Changjiang Wig Factory - the salary of female workers at Changjiang Wig is 80 Hong Kong dollars per month, double pay at the end of the year, benefits on holidays, a ten-hour work system, one day off per week, HK$0.40 per hour overtime, and daily subsidies Meal fee is HKD 0.2.

After a meeting that lasted for one and a half hours, the 52 member units felt for the first time that the Hong Kong Wig Merchants Association really existed, with benefits and constraints.

Needless to say, there are benefits - many non-member factories often have work stoppages!

Naturally, there are many constraints, including product quality, worker welfare, etc.

After the meeting, Chen Linyuan, as the secretary-general, will record and supervise the spirit of today's meeting, and even publicize it in newspapers.

The next day.

The news of the first general meeting of the "Hong Kong Wig Merchants Association" was published in the "Sing Tao Daily".

The impact was huge for a while, and it also aroused heated discussions in the city.

"Amazing! In just two years of development, there are already more than 4,500 wig workers, accounting for 90% of the global market share."

"52 member factories have signed the industry salary guideline. The daily salary of regular workers is not less than 2.5 Hong Kong dollars per day, the living supplement is 0.2 Hong Kong dollars per day, and the overtime pay is not less than 1.5 times. This is amazing. This salary level is higher than that of textiles and ready-made garments. ah!"

At the same time, for the first time, businessmen felt the unity of a small "Hong Kong Wig Merchants Association". It actually passed these agreements that were "harmful" to the business owners. It has to be said about the leadership of Chairman Lin Zhichao.

At the Central headquarters of the Hong Kong Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce, a group of Chaoshan businessmen are gathering. The person hosting the gathering is Chen Weinan, but the attendees are basically plastic businessmen.

It turned out that the Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce could not sit still because of the rapid progress of Shunde people in the plastics field. They decided to join forces to compete with Shunde businessmen in the plastics industry.

This is Chaoshan people - unity. As long as one family can make a product, there will soon be a second or third Chaoshan family making the same product. If you have money, they can buy it together.

The headquarters of the Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce is a two-story tenement house in Central, with a floor area of ​​nearly 2,000 square feet. The entire three-story tenement house is a self-owned property, and the downstairs is rented out to earn membership fees.

At this time, everyone was sitting together, and the discussion was intense, including Li Jiacheng, although he was just a small business owner.

In terms of leadership, apart from the chairman Chen Weinan, there are also bank representatives Chen Bichen and Liao Baoshan. Although Chen Bichen opened a bank in Thailand, he also established a branch in Hong Kong last year, becoming another Hong Kong bank of Chaoshang.

Chen Weinan said: "We fashion merchants are already lagging behind in the field of wigs. I have studied the wig industry and found that Yangtze Wigs has controlled the raw materials and sales channels from the beginning. Therefore, even if our chamber of commerce encourages everyone to enter, it will be difficult to achieve success. . But now the plastic flower industry is different. Its sales channels are wider, and the Yangtze Plastic Factory cannot control the raw materials and sales channels. Therefore, some of you plastic merchants proposed to hold this meeting, so everyone can discuss it today. We Chaozhou Businessmen How to do more in the plastic flower industry, we first invite members who are engaged in plastic to speak!"

Liao Baoshan was disdainful. He recently heard that Lin Zhichao was preparing to build a high-rise building, so he was focused on real estate. He planned to see how Lin Zhichao played so that he could use it as a reference. As for today's meeting, as a bank representative, he naturally couldn't run away, but he opened a bank, and he didn't expect to make money from loans, he would rather lend to himself.

Li Jiacheng also spoke later: "Plastic flowers have great prospects. The market is still in its infancy. However, the Yangtze Plastic Factory has a large scale and sufficient funds. Only we can compete. At the same time, if the Yangtze Plastic Factory is unable to receive orders in Europe and the United States in time, it will It will be distributed to factories run by Shunde people for processing. Therefore, only by uniting can we compete, conduct regular technical exchanges, and share sales channels."

He is the most active, because his plastic factory is small, and he most wants to take the convenience. Cheung Wo Plastic Factory officially started producing plastic flowers in May, and they entered the original sales channels (Southeast Asia and Hong Kong) at a low price. Although it is cheap, it makes more money than previous daily necessities.

However, Li Jiacheng has always wanted to break into the European and American markets, but the reality is cruel. Facing the competitiveness of the Yangtze River Plastic Factory, few European and American customers are willing to purchase plastic flowers from small factories.

Chen Weinan looked at this little brother and said with admiration: "The bonus makes sense! We fashion merchants have always been united, and we should all exchange resources this time."

This time the Hong Kong Wig Chamber of Commerce showed its talents, which made him, the chairman of the Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce, unable to sit still. You must know that Lin Zhichao is also the honorary president of three Shunde chambers of commerce. He had to do something, otherwise he would be the president of the chamber of commerce who didn't do anything.

Subsequently, a kind of Chaoshan plastic merchants started exchanges and decided to unite and compete.

When Lin Zhichao came to the Yangtze Plastic Factory, the plastic flower production workshop at this time already had a two-story production area, and there were more than 800 workers. You know, the plastic flower has not been developed for a full year!

"General Manager Tao, what's the progress in arranging the external processing of the family workshop?" Lin Zhichao asked with concern.

The Yangtze River Plastic Factory provides targeted support to fellow Shunde residents living in Tsuen Wan. All selected family units, as long as there are elderly people, women, and children in the family who are Shunde residents, can receive some threading work from the Yangtze River Plastic Factory.

In this way, people who had nothing to do can get an income. And Changjiang Plastic Factory can also outsource a procedure of Plastic Flower.

Good thing that kills three birds with one stone:

First, saving a threading link can save some costs;

Second, it has taken care of the overseas Chinese in Shunde, not to mention that Lin Chi-chao is also an unofficial Justice of the Peace and a member of the Development Committee of Tsuen Wan;

Third, some foreign wholesalers come to Hong Kong for inspections, which can explain this situation and take them to inspect family workshops, which will make it easier to get orders.

Tao Derong said: "Currently, 50 family units have received orders from us. They come to pick up the goods every morning and deliver the goods in the evening. Everyone is very happy. At the same time, after eliminating this step, our efficiency has also greatly increased. . In the follow-up, we will increase the outsourcing of this process based on the actual situation."

Lin Zhichao nodded with satisfaction. Although it was outsourced, there was absolutely no problem with the quality, because the plastic flowers had already been formed, and the family workshop only needed to assemble them. The important thing is, of course, there is also a responsibility system, and people in this era are more honest and responsible.

Then, he asked: "How is the plastic flower order situation?"

In addition to his relatively high participation in the beginning, subsequent work is handed over to the management teams led by the general managers of these subsidiaries. Of course, the group management also supervises and guides.

Tao Derong said: "It's often too late, but I always leave it to a Shunde businessman factory for processing, and strictly requires quality. When the order is too late to a certain extent, our factory expands a bit."

There is nothing wrong with expanding the factory steadily, rather than blindly, and giving everyone some orders.

Lin Zhichao said: "You are doing the right thing! The factory needs to be expanded, but step by step, it can produce 70% to 80% of the total order, which is not bad. Also, the Plastic Flower Merchants Association will be officially established next year, and you will have to work hard by then. Give full play to your role, become familiar with the development plans, prospects, processes, etc. of the global plastic flower industry, become a top talent in the industry, and make your own contribution to the development of Hong Kong's plastic flower industry."

Tao Derong was immediately excited. What a glorious thing it was!

He occasionally organizes industry exchanges with plastic flower business owners with his boss, but he did not expect that the Hong Kong Plastic Flower Merchants Association would be developed next year. With the boss's energy, he will definitely not have much time to exert it, so he, the general manager of the Yangtze Plastic Factory, has to replace the boss and lead the development of the industry.

"OK!"

Lin Zhichao nodded and added: "The plastic flower industry is much bigger than the wig industry. Maybe in a year or two, we will have a plastic flower factory with 3,000 workers. And the plastic flowers in Hong Kong can feed more than tens of thousands of people. For such a huge industry, leaders must have a strong vision!”

"Well, I will study and analyze it carefully!" Tao Derong said seriously.

In fact, Lin Zhichao was a bit conservative. Based on the strength of Yangtze Plastic Flower, he estimated that it would develop into a factory with four to five thousand workers in the late 1950s. After all, Li Jiacheng's plastic flower factory in his previous life had grown to nearly 3,000 people, and it was that big at its peak.

However, when Yangtze Plastic Hua Zhen develops to a scale of 3,000 employees, there may be a lot of outbound orders, and it may also be entrusted with Shunde counterparts for processing in the future.

After all, Lin Zhichao has always been generous in his ideas. If it can really develop to a production scale of 5,000 people, then the productivity of 2,000 people will be handed over to the Shunde folks.

After all, he knew how the dinosaurs became extinct because they were huge!

Therefore, while the wig industry has a scale of 4,500 people, it only has a production scale of 500 people. It mainly sells agent products, killing two birds with one stone - not taking risks and taking care of its peers. (End of chapter)