National Tide 1980.

Like Luo Guangliang, Xiao Tao, who used to have a gangster-like air about him and looked like a gangster in a Hong Kong movie, has now begun to establish himself as a respectable businessman.

Although the task Ning Weimin assigned him was somewhat arduous, since Luo Guangliang was dedicated to stockpiling houses for Ning Weimin, the entire tricycle factory now relies almost entirely on Xiao Tao to manage the tricycle drivers.

Moreover, he took on the responsibility of building and operating the newly registered taxi company named "Dalu".

But to be honest, this Tao is just a young man in his early twenties, a few years younger than Ning Weimin. Now is the best age for him to be full of energy and to pursue his career.

Others might find it unbearable, but he remained energetic every day without feeling any hardship. On the contrary, he was able to temporarily forget about his girlfriend who was far away in the United States and felt a sense of fulfillment and peace of mind.

Moreover, from the very beginning, this young man had been supporting himself in society by following Luo Guangliang, becoming a rickshaw puller who traveled all over Beijing, and he had never left this profession since.

Over the years, he has become an undisputed expert in both transporting goods and transporting people.

It's safe to say that there's no trickery or secret in this industry that he's unaware of.

In this way, even though he was slightly lacking in cultural level, his accumulated experience could offset his lack of knowledge, which actually allowed him to become quite proficient and his personal abilities to grow rapidly.

Gradually, he became a decisive and experienced car dealership owner who could win the respect of people much older than him.

In addition, he was also lucky. With Ning Weimin's guidance and help, he caught the first train in time during the era of rapid development of public transportation in Beijing and a surge in tourism demand.

Therefore, taking advantage of the overlapping era's dividends, and with Ning Weimin's financial and network support, it would be difficult for Xiao Tao, even if he was just a coachman, not to become rich.

Take the pedicab industry as an example. Although there are tens of thousands of pedicabs in Beijing, the vast majority of them are flatbed trucks used for hauling goods.

The few pedicabs that can pick up passengers focus on train stations and long-distance bus stations.

Moreover, the tricycles used were just ordinary tricycles with seats, lacking any aesthetic appeal.

The tricycles that can attract foreigners at first glance with their antique-style appearance and complete equipment, and provide a comfortable ride that makes them feel like they've traveled back in time, are truly unique.

So even though these tricycle drivers were kicked out of the Temple of Heaven Park and lost their internal support, the market demand outside is even greater.

After a short period of adjustment, the tricycle drivers from Renheche Factory quickly found new ways to make a living at the Donghuamen Night Market, the entrances to the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, and Beihai Park.

Before long, taking foreigners and overseas Chinese to stroll through the hutongs became a new source of income for rickshaw drivers, and it became incredibly popular, with commercial profits flowing in as continuously as the endless stream of vehicles on the street.

To be honest, considering the time and distance, the price per customer for soliciting is indeed not as high as it used to be, when they made exorbitant profits in Tiantan Park.

But then again, there are no short-distance routes when it comes to picking up people outside.

A round trip is at least five or six kilometers, and it's a long, arduous job that takes almost an hour.

These tricycle drivers earn at least 20 to 30 yuan per trip, which is more than they used to earn, making it a more worthwhile business.

In addition to its independent customer operation model on the street, "Renhe Car Park" also has the support of major travel agencies and the Pierre Carton Building as well.

The jobs they offer are all "chartered" services starting at 200 yuan a day, and there are usually extra tips.

As a result, the businesses of both the people and the car factory prospered even more.

As a result, the saying "If you want to pull a rickshaw, go to Renhe" and "If you want to make money, go to Renhe" became popular in the rickshaw industry.

This has led many tricycle drivers to go to great lengths, using personal connections and favors, to try and join the industry.

Therefore, the scale of the people and vehicles in the parking lot is increasing day by day, and it has now developed to a scale of more than 300 tricycles.

If it weren't for the fact that building a decent tricycle is too much work, and that these vehicles require manpower for daily maintenance and repair, it wouldn't be surprising if the scale of the staff and vehicle yard exceeded a thousand.

Conversely, the factors that limit the scale of car manufacturers have also become the industry moat for people and car manufacturers.

No one else has vehicles like Renhe Automotive Factory, nor the connections of travel agencies or hotels catering to foreigners. Even if envious companies and individuals want to imitate Renhe Automotive Factory, they have no chance. At most, they can only try to make a small profit while the market demand is not yet saturated, but they will never achieve scale.

This further solidified the situation where Renhe and the vehicle factory held a dominant position, making them the leading enterprise in Beijing's tricycle sightseeing market.

Currently, I can earn a stable income of forty yuan per day just from the car rental fee for one vehicle.

Moreover, net profit has been growing at an average rate of 5% every month.

To put it bluntly, having more vehicles means more money. No vehicle is useless; they can be put to work as soon as they are produced.

I don't know how many people are lining up to wait; there's absolutely no ceiling to the profits in sight.

And that doesn't even include the profit premium from foreign exchange.

If you add in this hidden profit, it would be even more incredible.

As for the taxi company I'm going to talk about next, its business is somewhat different from that of the tricycle sightseeing business.

The main difference is that tricycles are designed to meet the needs of high-end tourists, while taxi companies are designed to meet the travel needs of the general public.

This market is not only larger, but it also has demand 24 hours a day.

However, the operating qualifications and operating costs mean that this is not an industry that ordinary people can get involved in.

For example, you can't just get a driver's license anytime.

Finding a driver these days is extremely valuable, and a car costs at least tens of thousands of yuan.

This kind of industry moat has resulted in the slow development of Beijing's taxi industry.

Even now, Beijing's taxi industry has only 286 operators and 15,000 taxis in the entire city, making it a severely oversupplied industry. However, everything has two sides, and for Xiao Tao, these difficulties are not bad but rather good.

why?
Because Ning Weimin solved most of the difficulties for the taxi company in advance, not only did he get the business license, but he also helped Xiao Tao establish a cooperative relationship with the driving school.

As long as you pay, "Dalu Taxi" can continuously send people to learn to drive and train them to become the company's drivers.

Moreover, the emergence of "vans" has greatly reduced the cost of purchasing vehicles, which not only makes the industry more and more profitable, but also ensures that the money left by Ning Weimin is enough to ensure that Xiao Tao can expand and develop at a faster pace than others.

To put it bluntly, most people are excluded from this industry, but Xiao Tao is a big fish that Ning Weimin specially threw in—a fish that has been artificially raised, can eat and drink like crazy, and has no natural enemies.

Even if you act recklessly, even if you make mistakes, what's there to be afraid of? You can still develop healthily.

In fact, after Xiao Tao took over the management of "Dalu" taxi company, even though it was only a few months, the 157 "Changhe" and "Dafa" taxis he bought made it the largest private company, even surpassing the size of many large collective enterprises and able to compete with a few state-owned companies.

Moreover, Xiao Tao knows how to apply what he learns and improve the management system.

Xiao Tao, for example, invented a two-shift system without any instruction—two drivers could drive one car day and night, thus collecting two different amounts of money.

Although there are fewer jobs at night, the vehicle rental fee should be reduced by half, and the rental fee should also be appropriately reduced during the day shift to keep the drivers satisfied.

But no matter what, they can earn significantly more per vehicle than other companies.

That's four thousand yuan a month, and you can break even in less than a year; the rest is pure profit.

So, Xiao Tao is now facing a double whammy.

If Renhe and the car factory are a goose that lays golden eggs every day, then Dalu Taxi Company is a machine that prints money day and night.

For him, counting money every month was enough to make him numb.

He steadily earned nearly a million, and he could also take fifty or sixty thousand of it for himself.

At that time in the capital, such personal income undoubtedly belonged to those who were extremely outstanding.

Although it's hard-earned money, the cost is that he has to keep an eye on the people and factories in Jinyuchi 24 hours a day, but the advantage is that it's steady and reliable, and his income is guaranteed regardless of the circumstances.

Not only does he earn no less than Luo Guangliang and Yin Yue, but more importantly, he has unlimited potential for expansion.

After all, compared to others, his car manufacturing, car buying, and driver training, although not easy, are ultimately much more stable and reliable than Yin Yue opening a branch store and Luo Guangliang finding a house. That is truly an upward trend every day, with tangible revenue growth.

By this time next year, he should be able to at least double the size of the company.

At that time, his income will probably surpass that of Luo Guangliang and Yin Yue, which can perhaps be seen as a practical manifestation of "more work, more pay".

However, as business expands and profits increase, corresponding troubles also arise.

After all, when there are many people, there are many more problems; when people get rich, some people start to covet the money in your pocket.

On the same day, October 8th, Xiao Tao was much more upset than Yin Yue and Luo Guangliang.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that the Beijing Railway Station police station called that morning and the company sent someone over was an unpleasant experience.

It turns out that several taxi drivers from the company were playing cards together at the bus station last night while waiting for fares, and someone reported them, leading to the police raiding the place.

Well, that's really bad. These people were rejected all night, and not only did they lose all their money in fines, but the next day, they were also put under individual management when it came to taking on jobs during the day shift.

By the time they got the person out and drove back to the company, it was almost noon. When Xiao Tao saw the "gambling gods" again, he was naturally furious.

“You guys didn’t show up to deliver the truck this morning. I thought you’d all disappeared into some rat hole. I called you guys over thirty times. Turns out you’re all in jail. You guys are really something, huh? You’re not doing your job properly, but you’re addicted to playing cards? Do you still want to work? If not, get out! There are plenty of people waiting in line behind you.”

The moment they met, Xiao Tao launched into a tirade of abuse.

Although the guys on the other side weren't exactly known for their good tempers, they were ultimately in the wrong.

At this moment, they were like flowers under the sun, no matter how much they were scolded, almost all of them were admitting their mistakes.

"Manager Tao, we were wrong, we were wrong."

"Manager, I promise I will never do it again."

"Boss, thank you for your trouble. Have a smoke to calm down..."

I have to say, these bastards actually had a decent attitude.

Although Xiao Tao was cursing, "Sooner or later I'll be collecting your corpses at the gambling table. The company has warned you countless times not to gather and gamble while waiting for work. Why don't you guys listen? You think I have to fine you 10,000 or 20,000 yuan? Let me tell you, the country is cracking down on gambling right now. If you go back to jail, I won't bail you out."

But seeing them nodding and smiling apologetically made me feel a little better.

There was a guy nicknamed "Oil Gourd" who looked dejected but seemed a bit clueless.

He raised his right hand, looking as if he was reluctant to speak, and didn't utter a single word.

When Xiao Tao noticed this, she couldn't help but be angry at his lack of self-confidence and slapped his hand away.

"Are you mute? You're still waiting to raise your hand to speak."

Unexpectedly, the guy suddenly plopped down on the sofa and frantically pounded his thigh with his left hand.

"My hand, my hand." He still held up his right hand, his fingers twitching as if scratching. (End of Chapter)