Chapter 215: Company arrangements and brands

'Boss Zhou, I'm sorry. This time, I didn't do a good job of taking the lead in handling things. I was too blindly confident and conservative, which almost caused the company to lose the project opportunity, and also left Manager Li Qingyuan fighting alone. I performed very poorly in this project, and I need to take the lead in doing a review.' Zhao Jun said to Zhou Ming with great guilt, his tone sincere.

Zhou Ming and Zhao Jun were still in the meeting room where they had just had the meeting, except that the meeting had already ended a while ago. Zhou Ming had left Zhao Jun here to have a private meeting, and everyone else had been sent off to do their own work.

'In fact, from a general point of view, we really didn't have high hopes for this bidding meeting. Mr. Zhao, your decision to give up bidding and instead cooperate with the supply and marketing cooperative was the safest and most compromise approach. If it weren't for Manager Li's persistence, your approach would have been the best. That's why I never said that there was anything wrong with your judgment of the project. In fact, your prudence has also been very helpful to the development of the company.'

Zhou Ming continued, 'But just as the country needs reform and opening up, sometimes prudence alone cannot support the development of a company. It is also necessary to add a kind of fighting spirit. Of course, this fighting spirit does not mean recklessness. It also requires careful thinking and an extraordinary vision, knowing when to grit your teeth and fight, and when to hold back and hold onto the goods, rather than charging ahead blindly with a head full of hot air.'

'In this regard, Manager Li Qingyuan has done a very good job.'

Zhou Ming pointed out the key, and Zhao Jun nodded in agreement. This was not only because Zhou Ming was speaking and he did not dare to argue back, but also because in the matter of the shipping company bidding project, Li Qingyuan's approach had indeed convinced him.

This ten million dollar contract was almost entirely down to Li Qingyuan's efforts, otherwise after the bidding meeting he wouldn't have wanted to organise a celebration dinner. In fact, the purpose was also to congratulate Li Qingyuan and create momentum for him to better integrate into the team. It was just that when he was organising the celebration dinner, he forgot to find out the situation at the shipping company and blindly believed in the bidding, which was why he made a fool of himself again.

So Zhao Jun said sincerely, 'Mr. Zhou, I understand. Manager Li is a very capable businessman with ideas and vision. Only he can help our company win the bid.'

'I'm glad you understand. That's why it's reasonable for me to nominate him as deputy general manager. But don't let it get you down too much,' said Zhou Ming. 'As I said, I need to add a competitive edge to the company for its development. Manager Li Qingyuan happens to fit this profile, but that doesn't mean I want to change the company's overall style. Do you understand what I mean?'

Zhao Jun nodded and said, 'Boss Zhou, I understand. Manager Li's joining the company will bring a very big boost.'

'That's the idea,' Zhou Ming said, 'so what I hope is that Manager Li Qingyuan can integrate into the company, and that you and he can understand, help and trust each other, rather than doing your own thing as you did this time. If you can't do it, you should know what the result will be.'

The coldness of the words pierced Zhao Jun's heart, making him shiver involuntarily. He immediately said, 'Please rest assured, Boss Zhou, I promise I can do it!'

'Of course, if you guys can do well and increase the sales of congee in Hangzhou and even in Binjiang Province, or there are some other developments, I don't mind investing more resources here, and you people will also get better treatment. Because that's the way I am, whoever can help me make money, I will make him richer too!' Zhou Ming said.

'Please rest assured, Mr. Zhou, I will definitely try my best to cooperate with Manager Li!' Zhao Jun said excitedly.

Zhou Ming nodded in satisfaction, patted Zhao Jun on the shoulder, told him to go out, and then called in Li Qingyuan. After Li Qingyuan sat down, Zhou Ming asked, 'Manager Li, what do you think of the position of deputy general manager?'

This question made Li Qingyuan pause for a moment. Obviously, he didn't expect Zhou Ming to ask him such a question. However, his shock only lasted a moment, and he immediately recovered and continued, 'Mr. Zhou, I think the position of deputy general manager is a huge challenge for me. I can't guarantee that I will be able to do the job, but I can guarantee that I will try my best!'

'But I don't want to hear this nonsense,' Zhou Ming said. 'Put it another way. Manager Li, do you have any ideas about the future development of Baobao Congee?'

If others would have been at a loss for words in response to Zhou Ming's very general question, Li Qingyuan simply concentrated for a moment and replied: 'I think the future direction of development for Baobao Congee Company should be to continue to strengthen publicity, expand the sales market, and concentrate funds to open up each city as a unit, city by city. No matter what happens elsewhere, here in Binjiang Province, from the city to the countryside, I want to strive to make Baobao Congee a household name within ten years.'

Li Qingyuan spoke with conviction, looking full of confidence. If someone else were to hear this, they might think Li Qingyuan was exaggerating, but Zhou Ming knew very well that he really had the ability to do it, because he had already done it in his previous life. At that time, he had started from scratch with a health product company that had just undergone a transformation, and he had relied on his own hard work to make it a household name nationwide. Now, he was just targeting the province of Binjiang, and he was still being too modest.

'That's a good idea, but with the multimillion-dollar shipping contract this time, I think the development of our eight-treasure porridge can be even faster. Manager Li, don't be so unconfident!' Zhou Ming said.

Zhou Ming's encouragement lifted Li Qingyuan's spirits, because he was originally worried that Zhou Ming would laugh at him for talking big. However, he didn't expect that Zhou Ming's thinking would be even bigger and farther than his. This also gave Li Qingyuan the confidence to say, 'Please rest assured, Mr. Zhou, I will definitely speed up and work hard to achieve it!'

'It's good to have drive, but you can't blindly expand. We're in business, not a black workshop that moves from place to place after a single shot. We must take one step at a time and move forward steadily. If you try to get ahead by taking short cuts, it's easy to be like this time, unable to defend yourself against your opponent's attacks.'

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and then said, 'Also, you are only the company's deputy general manager now, so you must discuss everything with Zhao Jun. Maybe he is not as good as you in some ways, but at least he was able to set up the company's entire structure in less than half a year, which is enough to show his abilities. He is an old manager and has more experience in dealing with many things than you do, so you should still seek his advice when doing things.'

Li Qingyuan nodded silently: 'Thank you very much, Boss Zhou, for your reminder. I have already taken note. This tender will be a wake-up call for the rest of my life. I promise I will not make the same mistakes again!'

'Very good, Manager Li. I have great expectations for you. I believe you will lead the Eight Treasures Congee Company to impressive results in the future!'

Zhou Ming thought of something else and asked Li Qingyuan: 'Manager Li, I heard that when you were at Baby Smile, you once proposed a plan to make drinks?'

Li Qingyuan nodded apologetically and said, 'It's true, Mr. Zhou. Since my brother studied the production of sparkling water in the United States, he has the production formula for foreign sparkling water in his hands. And I think that there seems to be a serious lack of this kind of beverage in China at the moment, to the extent that just about any jlb concocted in Lingnan can quickly become popular across the country without having to use too good marketing techniques. But after all, what he makes is still under the banner of sports drinks, but what I want to do is create a kind of leisure sparkling water beverage that belongs to our own China.'

'Manager Li doesn't seem to have much confidence,' Zhou Ming asked after listening to him.

Li Qingyuan was a little at a loss for words at Zhou Ming's question: "Of course I am very confident.'

'If you are confident, you should give a confident answer. Manager Li, the tone you just used made me feel no confidence at all!" Zhou Ming suddenly said loudly.

Zhou Ming's words pierced Li Qingyuan's heart, and he suddenly had an epiphany. As the saying goes, a weak soldier makes a weak general, and a weak general makes a weak troop. If he had proposed a development plan to the company in the tone he had just used, no one would have had confidence. So was this the reason why everyone at the bidding meeting had no confidence? It was because he lacked the kind of confidence that radiated from within.

Thinking about this, Li Qingyuan immediately said aloud, 'Mr. Zhou, as long as we join the production of sparkling water drinks, we can also make it a pillar brand of the company in the future!'

Zhou Ming laughed and patted Li Qingyuan on the shoulder, saying, 'That's right. As my company's vice president, how can you not have confidence?'

Zhou Ming continued, 'Manager Li, your idea is very good. There is definitely a big market for beverages in the future, but sparkling water alone is not enough. These are all very mature products from abroad. Once these products come in, have you thought about how much competitive pressure we will face?'

Li Qingyuan thought for a moment and asked cautiously, 'Mr. Zhou, so you mean we should develop more products?'

Zhou Ming snapped his fingers, 'Smart, that's exactly what I mean. Since others have an advantage in this area, there's no point in competing with them head-to-head. We can simply go and seize other blank markets.'

Zhou Ming then gave an example: 'For example, we all know that Chinese people like to drink tea, so we can produce tea drinks. I have also drunk northern milk tea in Yanjing, and it tastes very good. We can also produce milk tea drinks. Many people say that business is about innovation, but I think that business is about discovery. As long as you can use your brain, there are plenty of business opportunities in front of you!'

'Yes, that's right!'

Li Qingyuan said, his heart was very excited, he felt that Zhou Ming's example had just opened the door to a new world for him.

Many people find business difficult because they don't know how to do it, but Zhou Ming knows how to do it, or in his eyes, everything is business, which is truly a master to look up to!

Li Qingyuan was feeling emotional inside, but he didn't know that Zhou Ming had just taken out the products that he knew would become mature in the future and were well-known all over the country. Since other companies could do it, now that Li Qingyuan was here, he could preemptively occupy the market. With his abilities, he could definitely make the Baby Smile beverage empire come into being ahead of schedule. As for whether there were other companies involved, it wasn't something he needed to consider.

After all, he hadn't broken any laws or used any improper means, he had just made their money in advance.

Zhou Ming thus excused himself in his heart.

'Okay, I've said everything I needed to say. The rest is up to you. I can't be here forever. I hope I won't have to hear about the Doll Smile food and beverage empire for a long time.'

Zhou Ming stood up and left the meeting room. He took out his pager, which was displaying a message from Nanjiang: Consultant Zhou, please come to Nanjiang immediately!

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