At the age of thirteen, the factory commenced operations, and Cheng Su, following Joy Soon Loy Restaurant’s welfare policies, handed out "red packets" to celebrate the opening, and added more dishes for a festive New Year’s meal.
Ning Ge, as one of the bosses, also returned. With a cheeky smile, he gave his New Year’s greetings to Cheng Su and stretched out his hand, "Sister-in-law, happy New Year, wishing you prosperity."
Cheng Su, slightly annoyed, handed him a red packet and asked, "I thought you wouldn’t be back until after the fifteenth?"
"I missed our company, so I came back earlier to avoid you saying I’m slacking off," Ning Ge said with a smile. "Even during the big holiday, I didn’t slack off; I’ve secured a few orders for us."
"Really?" Cheng Su was surprised.
"Of course, it’s true. I’ve left everything in Wang Bo’s hands," Ning Ge said proudly. "Not to boast, but now our Joy Soon Loy’s jam is stocked in all the big supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores, our brand is the most renowned."
"What about Friendly?" Cheng Su was most curious about their former competitor, Friendly.
Ning Ge snorted lightly, "Can they compare with us? Ever since that incident, Friendly’s jam just isn’t as good as before. Although it hasn’t been a huge impact, they swapped good jam for bad, and that’s left a bad taste in the people’s mouths."
"It’s a pity, indeed. If they had focused on research, they might have caught up with us. Now, it will take them quite a long time to recover their reputation," Cheng Su sighed.
"Wrongdoing always meets its demise; they brought this on themselves, nobody else to blame," Ning Ge said with a look of ’they had it coming.’ "Let’s not talk about them anymore. What are your thoughts on our factory’s development this year?"
Cheng Su took out a new business plan and opened it.
"A corporate culture is essential. Once our factory is up and running, shouldn’t we also organize some charitable activities and staff development? We need to start a canteen as well, the employee benefits are important. Besides, I’m thinking of hiring another manager. When neither you nor I are around, someone should be able to help manage," Cheng Su said. "But there’s no rush on this. What do you think?"
Ning Ge sat up and gave it some thought, "Our product line is quite limited right now. What do you think about creating some new types of jam?"
Cheng Su pursed her lips and said, "That’s inevitable. But as you know, our company has only been in business for less than six months, the capital cost has not been fully recovered. Investing more means greater risk and more equipment to add. Plus, I feel our factory space is too small; we need an expansion, but we don’t have the funds for it."
The employee canteen is indispensable, the work area needs expansion, not only does the factory space require an addition, but the capital cost also needs to increase. They were still far from recovering their investments. With more investment, first, the capital isn’t fully in place, and second, it would require more manpower. Their current factory setup was just right, and even the management was being handled by the bosses themselves.
With this scenario, how to diversify and develop?
It’s not easy for a company to develop. To reach the skies in one step is nothing more than a wishful thought.
"However, if our products are too monolithic, that won’t be good for the company’s development," Ning Ge frowned.
"It’s not that there’s no solution," Cheng Su mused, biting the end of her pen. "We can invite investors and also look for financiers."
Securing investors means setting up dealerships in certain areas, but one must be cautious, as choosing dealers is not a mere matter of selection; the wrong dealers can cost you business in a whole region.
Financing, in simple terms, is finding others to invest in Joy Soon Loy, seeking investors to contribute capital in exchange for shares. With that approach, the company would have funds to further develop.