February 12, 1981—the eighth day of the first lunar month!
After a week-long Spring Festival holiday, all the shops under Li Yi’s name reopened for business, including the Feixue Apparel stores in Wangfujing and Dong’an, as well as the hot pot restaurant in Beiguancun!
Early in the morning, just as dawn was breaking.
Li Yi, accompanied by Dongzi and Liu San, set off on a motorized flatbed cart to Dong’an Market to procure supplies.
Normally, Long Zhanjun and his team handled these tasks, but since he was still in Yong County and hadn’t returned yet, Li Yi had no choice but to handle it himself.
After purchasing beef, lamb, and various vegetables, they returned to the shop by 7:30 a.m.
He gave Dongzi and the others a few brief instructions, telling them to prepare the ingredients as they had before the New Year and to operate as usual.
As for himself, after a quick bite of breakfast, he headed straight to the nearby cotton mill.
Right now, the cotton mill was Li Yi’s top priority. After all, it wasn’t just about whether Jiang Longcheng could deliver results; it also affected Li Yi’s 12% profit share, so he simply couldn’t afford to be careless.
More importantly, he still had over ten thousand yards of unsold cotton fabric, so it wasn’t yet time to completely let go.
By the time Li Yi arrived at the cotton mill, the workers were already there. Under the direction of managers and supervisors, they were inspecting machinery, cleaning the premises, and preparing to resume production.
When he entered Jiang Longcheng’s office, the man was in the middle of a meeting with several deputy plant managers and department heads, discussing the very development plan Li Yi had drawn up for them.
Seeing Li Yi push open the door and walk in, Jiang Longcheng immediately said, “Brother-in-law, you’re here! Have a seat!”
Li Yi didn’t hesitate and immediately found an empty seat to sit down.
No sooner had he sat down than Jiang Longcheng hurriedly said, “Brother-in-law, we’re discussing how to implement your plan, but we’re still having trouble making sense of it. Why don’t you explain it to everyone?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Deputy Plant Manager He Tianming chimed in, “Comrade Li Yi, your plan is too complicated, and some parts seem unlikely to be accomplished. Please do teach us all!”
“That’s right, Comrade Li Yi, please walk us through it…”
…….
Hearing their requests, Li Yi nodded and said, “I had actually planned to take you all to check out those two stores in the city today. Since you’d rather discuss the implementation of the plan first, I’ll go ahead and explain it!”
“I designed this plan specifically for the cotton mill’s unique circumstances. The goal is to transform the mill into a mega-enterprise with annual profits exceeding 100 million yuan. The specific implementation methods are…”
According to Li Yi’s plan, once production resumes, all the textile workshops at the mill must operate at full capacity to continue producing various fabrics.
At the same time, we’ll continue recruiting workers and expanding the scale and production capacity of the garment production workshops.
Additionally, the sales team must be expanded!
Their task would be to increase the number of company-owned stores across the country while simultaneously expanding and refining the garment factory’s sales channels, ensuring that all clothing produced by the cotton mill could be sold nationwide.
After hearing Li Yi’s analysis and explanation, everyone present was deeply inspired, though some furrowed their brows in deep concern.
No sooner had Li Yi finished speaking than Jiang Longcheng interjected, “Everyone, while my brother-in-law still has time, please voice any questions you have right away—this opportunity won’t come around again!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Sun Feng, the head of the sales department, stood up and said, “Comrade Li Yi, isn’t the task assigned to our sales department a bit too heavy? With our current staff, we simply won’t be able to complete such a daunting task.”
The task Li Yi had set for Sun Feng and his team was to increase the number of the cotton mill’s directly operated stores to 300 within a year, with sales channels covering all major cities nationwide.
Especially the provincial capitals—not a single one could be left out!
Of course, Li Yi also knew that the sales team’s motivation was directly proportional to their compensation.
Therefore, he had specifically emphasized in the plan that if the task was completed, every member of the sales team would receive a generous bonus.
If the target wasn’t met, however, all managers—including Sun Feng—would receive only their base salary, with bonuses and performance-based pay entirely withheld.
“We can hire more staff if needed, but the set targets must be met!”
After setting the tone, Li Yi continued, “There’s no denying that your Sales Department’s workload is indeed heavy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to accomplish.”
“But…”
“There’s no ‘but’ about it. Think back to before the New Year—you managed to secure sales channels in over thirty counties and districts in just half a month. Now you have a whole year. How can you possibly fail to meet the target of 300 company-owned stores plus establishing a nationwide sales network?” Li Yi said.
“We’ll do our best!” Sun Feng said solemnly.
“It’s not about doing our best—it’s about getting it done!” Li Yi declared firmly.
“Yes, but I hope Comrade Li Yi will grant us one request!” Sun Feng said again.
“What request? Go ahead.”
“I’m asking that Comrade An Hong be transferred to our Sales Department!” Sun Feng said, making a startling request.
“Why?”
“Because Comrade An Hong gave us a lot of good ideas that helped us complete our pre-New Year’s tasks so successfully. If she comes to help us, we’ll be even more confident!”
Sun Feng continued, “If Comrade An Hong were to join us, I’d be willing to step down as head of the Sales Department and work under her!”
Li Yi was secretly somewhat shocked. True to her reputation as the self-made marketing queen from his past life, she had accomplished so much without him even noticing—she was truly remarkable.
After a moment’s thought, Li Yi replied immediately, “I can’t give you an answer to that request just yet. Comrade An Hong isn’t my subordinate, and she doesn’t live in Beijing. I’m not sure what she thinks, so I’ll have to check with her first before getting back to you!”
“Alright!”
The reason Li Yi had set such demanding targets for the Sales Department was primarily because he understood the critical importance of sales channels to a company.
It’s fair to say that the quality of a company’s sales channels directly determines its survival.
For the company to survive right now, it can no longer rely on the notion that “good wine needs no bush.”
No matter how excellent the product quality may be, without a well-established sales channel, it cannot be converted into profit.
For this very reason, sales channels will be regarded as one of a company’s most important assets in the future; building sales channels is tantamount to increasing one’s own assets.
Of course, sales channels are also the most volatile of assets.
The cotton mill currently has a brand, technology, and good products; its biggest weakness is the lack of a solid sales channel.
If Sun Feng and his team can accomplish their mission, this weakness will be addressed, and the annual profit target of 20 million will be secured.
After the meeting, Li Yi suggested visiting the company’s directly operated stores in the city center to assess the situation.
Naturally, no one objected. The group then set off in three Jeeps, heading straight for the two stores in the city center.
Since the Dong’an store was slightly closer, when they arrived, they found that even on the eighth day of the first lunar month, customers were still streaming in to buy clothes.
The Wangfujing store was even more bustling; the 200-square-meter space was packed with people—it would not be an exaggeration to say they were shoulder to shoulder.
After briefly chatting with some of the customers, Li Yi and the others finally understood.
The reason these people were buying clothes at this time was not because they hadn’t bought any for the New Year, nor because they had nothing to wear.
The main reason was that they hadn’t known about Feixue Apparel before, nor were they familiar with bell-bottoms or batwing shirts. During the New Year, they saw many relatives and friends wearing these stylish clothes, so they wanted to buy a set for themselves.
At the same time, the customers offered Li Yi and his team a lot of feedback. For instance, they noted that the store’s clothing selection was too plain and limited in color and style, and they hoped the shop would expand its range of designs and colors.
Li Yi took careful note of all these suggestions from customers, planning to organize them upon his return and have the cotton mill make improvements accordingly.
In short, under Li Yi’s guidance, the Capital’s Second Cotton Mill completely transformed its previous business model and was now racing toward becoming a legend!