Chapter 600: Chapter 587: Booming Business

“People always say you can’t get away with doing bad things, and it’s not a matter of if, but when you will face the consequences. This saying holds true.”

“Right, speaking of the cloth shop over there.” Zhuang Yutian jumped in, “Recently, some folk have become curious as to why our cloth is so cheap. Upon hearing about our weaving workshop, they came to us, hoping to purchase goods.”

“Some are from nearby county towns, and some are from the city. The quantity they want is not small either. The other day when I came to see you, I was thinking about discussing this issue. We have to decide how to handle it.”

“Business is knocking on our door, so naturally, we cannot refuse,” Zhuang Qingning laughed, “Now is the chance to release some stock gradually. Let the neighboring cloth shops know they can acquire goods from us, and at the same time, promote our workshop.”

“Zhuang Qingning is in line with my thoughts,” Zhuang Yutian laughed when he heard what Zhuang Qingning said. “That’s what I thought! As more people order from us, our workshop can grow larger. Considering our output from weaving and spinning machines, I don’t think it’s impossible for us to compete with Songjiang in the future.”

“For our cloth shop, it seems we don’t need to only sell to individual customers, we also need to start selling to merchants. However, we need to carefully think about our pricing strategy, the deposit ratio for orders, and how much concessions we give by the end of the year.”

“Speaking of it, this is a big deal. Once we set these, we have to follow them. We need to sit down and discuss it in detail.”

Zhuang Yutian said and looked at Zhuang Qingning.

Zhuang Qingning understood that Zhuang Yutian was concerned. He was afraid that he might make decisions she disagreed with, so she smiled and said, “Uncle Yutian has had more experience in business and has a deeper understanding of the cloth trade than I do. For pricing and giving allowances, you should make the decisions.”

“The only suggestion I can make is to have a tiered pricing system. The more orders made in one go, the greater the discount. If they can’t order all at once, estimate how much they can order in a year and provide a tiered discount based on that. Try to encourage them to order in bulk as this lets our workshop know how much stock we need to prepare and incentivizes them to order more.”

“Hmm.” Zhuang Yutian felt that Zhuang Qingning’s point was very reasonable, nodded, and said, “As for the end-of-year rebates, we can also offset them with goods, as much as possible avoid giving cash to the other party. It can not only relieve the pressure of the cash flow, but the cost of the rebate will be lower.”

Zhuang Qingning nodded, smiling brightly. She was becoming more confident in Zhuang Yutian and Mrs. Meng. She truly believed that this couple, having been in business for so long, were extremely capable. With Zhuang Yutian and Mrs. Meng overseeing the weaving workshop, Zhuang Qingning felt absolutely at ease.

They discussed more detailed aspects of the workshop, even paying a visit to study its inadequacies, and exchanged further ideas on it.

It was not until midday that Zhuang Qingning politely declined Zhuang Yutian and Mrs. Meng’s offer for a meal, and left Zhuang’s cloth shop with Chu Jinnian.

“You sure know how to trust your people.” On their way to the Hanfeng Tower for lunch, Chu Jinnian said with a smile.

“Hire with care, then trust, that’s the norm. Not only should we not doubt them, but we should also let them do their thing. In this way, their real level can fully come into play, and it can bring you unexpected surprises,” Zhuang Qingning laughed and replied.

“Indeed,” Chu Jinnian nodded in agreement.

In doing business, such practice indeed motivates employees to give their all. However, many people fail to see this, and even those who do might have personal bias and greed, hence fail to execute. They tend to hold all matters in their hands, thus limiting theiremployees’ performance and possibly leading to discontent in the team.

Just like clenching sand in your hand, the tighter you hold, the quicker the sand will slip through your fingers. Whereas if you loosen your grip, the sand will stay firmly in your hand.

The same goes for doing business and competing in the imperial court.

The more Chu Jinnian saw Zhuang Qingning, the more he realized how wise she was, and the more his eyes revealed fondness for her.

They walked into the Hanfeng Tower together, and the waiter greeted them with a beaming smile, “Please come inside.”

As he spoke, he led them towards the busy main hall on the first floor.

“I remember there are private rooms on the second floor. Find me a seat by the window,” said Zhuang Qingning.

After a busy morning and a lot of talking, she only wanted to enjoy the food quietly with Chu Jinnian. The first floor was too crowded and noisy.

“I apologize, all the rooms on the second floor have been booked today,” the waiter apologized, “If you don’t mind, this corner here is quite quiet. As an apology, we’ll treat you to a dish of West Lake vinegar fish.”

“Someone booked all the rooms?” Zhuang Qingning raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Hanfeng Tower was the largest and best restaurant in the entire county. The food was not exactly cheap, especially in the upstairs private rooms. A meal could cost a few taels. With more than ten private rooms on the second floor of Hanfeng Tower, whoever booked all the rooms was indeed generous.

“Yes,” the waiter said. “Manager Zhong is treating all his clients who have been supporting Chu’s shop. He ordered an elaborate banquet to show his appreciation, insisting on having the most exquisite dishes, including the finest Nu Er Hong.”

“One table alone would cost more than ten taels, meaning the cost of the booking would be close to two hundred taels. This shows just how prosperous Chu’s shop, which Manager Zhong recently opened, is. However, Chu’s products are indeed novel, with all kinds of soap. Everyone, including my manager, has bought many to try.”

“The same goes for others who buy out of curiosity. But it’s said that the soaps are in such high demand that they can’t be bought right away. Instead, you have to pay a deposit, register your name, and wait until the product is available.”

After the waiter had prattled on and saw that Chu Jinnian and Zhuang Qingning weren’t particularly interested, he hurriedly said, “I’ve said too much, please don’t mind.”