The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 97 Turbulence Begins

A storm has arisen out of nowhere.

Shuiyunjian has caused quite a stir not only online.

It has created a sensation in the beauty industry.

If we're talking about the city with the most developed beauty industry, then it's undoubtedly Shanghai.

Whether it's Wenfeng, a benchmark in the beauty and hairdressing industry, or Yongqi, both originated in Shanghai and expanded nationwide.

The reason why people in Hangzhou don't get haircuts is because they were brought there by teams from these two major brands.

To put it bluntly, these two brands were the first in China to operate a prepaid card-based beauty and hair salon chain.

The boss must be making a fortune, while the consumers are being ripped off and are crying their eyes out.

There are two main reasons for linking beauty and hair care.

First, hairdressing is a basic necessity with extremely low profit margins.

Beauty treatments are different; they are not a necessity but rather a high-end consumer activity, such as wellness clubs.

Although they often offer some particularly cheap discount cards, such as 99 yuan to experience three items.

Once you get to the beauty salon, even the smallest treatment card costs over a thousand yuan.

Combining beauty and hair services can easily solve the problem of a lack of customers for beauty services.

Using hairdressing to drive the beauty industry is the current state of affairs in this sector.

After all, anyone who truly understands hairdressing knows that the profit margin in hairdressing is too low, while beauty is a different story.

Absolutely high profits.

If we take the client to a cosmetic clinic, that single order could easily reach hundreds of thousands of yuan.

This is something that cannot be imagined from simply getting a haircut.

Inside a building in Shanghai, shimmering water reflects a dazzling array of flowers.

Han Qiudong, who was nearly forty years old, was also paying attention to the news from Shuiyunjian in Beijing.

Two knocks sounded, and someone was knocking on the door from the outside.

After Han Qiudong called out "Come in," the double-leaf office doors opened.

"Mr. Han, are you also looking at the news from Beijing?"

The visitor was also a bigwig in Shanghai's beauty industry, a very elegant woman.

Of course, Han Qiudong herself is also a woman.

"It's quite surprising that an outsider could overturn our beauty industry in such a short time."

"This guy is making such a big fuss, I think he'll be coming to Shanghai soon."

"It shouldn't take more than a year."

Han Qiudong turned off her computer. She had worked in the beauty industry for over 20 years, going through countless trials and tribulations to reach her current position as the vice president of the Shanghai Beauty Industry Association.

She wouldn't let anyone easily step on her plate.

"You should have already investigated this, right?"

Wearing a blue fitted suit and high heels, and sporting a Richard Mille watch worth over six million yuan, Yu Jinglian said:

“We investigated last month. The chairman of Shuiyunjian is Song Yanxi, but the real decision-makers are her husband. The speed at which this couple has risen in Beijing is nothing short of miraculous. The Feiyangyang Hot Pot Restaurant, which had a bit of a reputation before, is also owned by the couple.”

"They also have even bigger companies like Tengying Entertainment and Tengsheng Fruits in their hands. This couple are complete outsiders to the beauty industry, but by throwing money around like crazy, they have quickly broken into the high-end beauty market in Beijing."

"Several people I know say that Shuiyunjian is completely unconventional. They invited Yang Mi to personally endorse both events. Especially this socialite night, they went to the event and went crazy. At least 100 million yuan was sold on the spot."

This is indeed quite exaggerated. Han Qiudong and Yu Jinglian are both well aware that the beauty industry is extremely profitable.

It's still high-end consumption.

If you can run a high-end beauty salon well, earning tens of millions a year is not too difficult.

Not to mention these top-tier luxury beauty salons.

Because of the nature of their industry, countless wealthy women have come to invest.

Ten out of ten will lose money.

It's very difficult for outsiders to get in.

The fact that Han Qiudong and Yu Jinglian were able to develop from beauticians to where they are now is actually thanks in part to the help of outsiders.

That is, their own clients.

After all, those who are experts in opening beauty salons are 100% short of money, while those who are not experts lack the necessary skills.

Only by combining the two can there be a certain possibility.

Even so, it's no exaggeration to say that outsiders in this industry lose money on every investment they make.

This shows how deep the water is.

Han Qiudong pondered for a moment and said:
“I’ve done some research on this Shuiyunjian. They started by recruiting people from small places like Shacheng, and then Yang Mi became an overnight sensation. After that, as you and I know, they took over a villa of over 1,000 square meters in Beijing as staff dormitories.”

With a sneer, Han Qiudong continued, "The employees might think this is to provide them with the best accommodations, but we both know it's just indirect real estate speculation. We're speculating too, we just don't provide accommodations for our employees."

"This is where we fall short. What truly threatens me about Shuiyunjian is their pre-job training at headquarters. They spend six months hiring the best teachers to train hundreds of beauticians. This means they are ambitious and have a complete understanding of our industry. To serve top-tier women, you need top-tier skills. The educational qualifications in our industry are not high. They are raising the ceiling on cultural literacy."

"Now they're investing heavily in beauty academies, only recruiting students from top-tier high schools. During their studies, they not only provide room and board but also a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan. If you take a calculator, you can see how much money they're losing each month based on that standard."

"No need to calculate, it's at least five million every month."

Yu Jinglian said, "At least 60 million a year, that's more than 100 million in two years. And that's just what he spends on students. There are also so many top teachers, the cost is definitely not low. I estimate that at this rate, he will have to invest at least 200 million in two years."

"Yes, two hundred million."

Han Qiudong chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Back when we were beauticians, we never encountered a company like this. Even now, if Shuiyunjian hadn't emerged, we wouldn't have dared to imagine that anyone would spend so much money to cultivate talent in this industry."

"But what about two years from now?"

"He will gain a group of truly top talents in the industry, the kind who will stick with him to the bitter end. He will train them from scratch, starting from a blank canvas. He can cultivate employees step by step according to his needs, and that is the most terrifying thing."

"If such a group of people were to parachute into our Shanghai, and then utilize the resources of Tengying in their hands, Shanghai would welcome a real bigwig."

"This behemoth could potentially devour half of Shanghai's high-end market in one bite."

This is extremely frightening.

Both of them had anticipated this outcome; Shuiyunjian's arrival in the Demon Capital was inevitable.

Only by truly establishing itself in Shanghai can Shuiyunjian dare to call itself an industry benchmark.

If you can't even stay in Shanghai, you should go back to where you came from.

Competition in Shanghai has always been like this.

This place is rich, but you need the corresponding strength to take advantage of it.

It took them twenty years to establish themselves in Shanghai, and they don't want anyone to trample them down with one step.

Whether forced or to prepare for competition from Shuiyunjian, the two will inevitably have to improve the benefits and treatment of their employees.

If the gap is too big, people from your side will just go to his side, then what's the point of competition?

Why not just tie their feet up and let him kill them?

(End of this chapter)