Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 405 Building a Team
“Yes,” Sun Lei nodded, “The developer is still trying to borrow money from suppliers, promising 20% ​​annual interest. No suppliers are lending now, but I estimate that towards the final stage, when the roof is nearing completion, some suppliers will have no choice but to lend out a portion, gambling and going with the flow. Now, if General Manager Zhu wants to get half of the steel back, the other suppliers will stop him, because if he does, construction will halt, and everyone will suffer losses.” Sun Lei finished speaking, and the rest was unnecessary to say.

Some ships, once you get on, are not so easy to get off.

"Overall, there's still hope. Following this trend, the best outcome is that we won't lose money later. If we happen to catch a rise in local property prices, there's even a chance to make a profit." Yan Hui sighed. "We can't guarantee we won't encounter similar problems in the future, especially given the local government's policies."

Yan Hui didn't continue speaking; he didn't want to treat Zhu's matter as a joke.

Although he said that it would be a good lesson for President Zhu to learn from it himself, as an observer, he would try his best to avoid such a lesson.

“Yes, but when it comes to things at the government level, there’s basically nothing we risk control people can do.” Sun Lei shook his head; there are some things that can’t be said.

“If one day I want to enter the real estate industry, find me 10 cases of bankrupt companies, and then I will carefully consider them.” Yan Hui sighed softly.

The capital market is indeed bloody; everyone is only concerned with their own survival, and when it comes to life and death, no one cares about others.

This real estate company is like a fragile egg; anyone who tries to crack it will break it, exposing the yolk, and the bank will absorb all the losses. Right now, all we can do is appease it and let it hatch slowly. If it hatches successfully, and we raise the chicken a little bigger, then there will be enough for everyone to share. What we'll face and what we'll need to invest in during this process, nobody can predict.

"We'll see when the time comes. I feel that steel supply is a very risky project. If I approve this project, I'll be in big trouble," Sun Lei said, feeling some pressure.

Although Yan Hui told him that if there were problems with risk control, all bonuses would be forfeited, Sun Lei actually knew that if the company suffered losses of tens of millions, the boss would definitely not be so easy to talk to.

"Don't feel pressured. You're just in risk control; I'll make the decisions," Yan Hui said with a smile. "My current projects are divided into three main parts. The first is chemicals, the second is tiles, and the third is steel trading. Besides these, I also have a few smaller projects, such as foreign trade and plywood. Right now, with the steel trading, if we run into this mess, it'll be over 800 million—well, let's say 1000 million. If we do, we'll just have to accept it."

At this point, Yan Hui, for the first time ever, told the story of his own business venture.

Few people know this story, and even people in Jinan rarely know the details, since it's a shameful thing.

Maybe it was Lao San and Boss Teng's fault, but nobody cares about those things in business. If you fail, you're considered incompetent; if you succeed, a bunch of people will swarm around you. That's how realistic it is; nobody cares about the process. Just like this time, Boss Zhu suffered a huge loss, but he didn't dare to tell anyone or admit it to Yan Hui. He could only grit his teeth and bear it, and even had to help the people who had wronged him.

The reason I told Sun Lei this story was twofold: firstly, I felt that Sun Lei was a man of few words and unlikely to spread it around; secondly, I wanted Sun Lei to get to know me better, which would be beneficial for future mutual trust and cooperation.

The relationship with subordinates is not a simple management relationship. Sometimes, subordinates will turn down many opportunities in order to avoid making mistakes, which is not good.

"My God. If it were me, I probably wouldn't be alive." Sun Lei was a little nervous when he first heard Yan Hui tell this story. He put himself in the shoes of that 20-year-old young man from back then, and he couldn't imagine how someone could still stand up in that time.

"So, we need to record Mr. Zhu's matter in the company's office archives, and we should also collect similar cases at all times. In the future, it's inevitable to suffer losses, but we can't afford to suffer the exact same losses that others have suffered," Yan Hui said with a smile.

“That makes sense. There are some problems we’ve never encountered before. Once we discover issues with cooperation, we can only try to minimize the losses.” Sun Lei nodded, becoming more relaxed.

"That's right. If we really encounter this, the first thing we do is minimize the losses. For example, if we encountered this situation and hadn't received payment for a month, we would immediately send someone to investigate in detail. We can't give them the chance to delay until the second month. Then we would try our best to halt their construction and get back at least 500-600 million yuan worth of steel, without giving other suppliers time to react. After that point, who survives or fails is irrelevant to us. The two or three million yuan worth of steel already lost is a price we can afford." Yan Hui laughed as he said this, "But I'm just saying this casually. If I really encountered this situation, it would be difficult for me to have this overall perspective, since the information I had at that stage wouldn't be as abundant as it is today, haha." "Mr. Yan, your last sentence shows more strategic thinking than the previous ones," Sun Lei agreed wholeheartedly.

Hindsight is not true skill; true skill lies in knowing that you might not be Zhuge Liang after the fact.

"Haha, I'll take that as a compliment." Yan Hui checked the time. "Our project has been going smoothly these past few days. We have a few steel contracts coming up, and we'll be participating in the bidding process in about a week. I can take a few days off now. The house in my hometown is finished, and I'm planning to go back for a visit."

"Okay, just let me know if there's anything going on with the steel. I'm doing pretty well working with Lao Wang."

The two were chatting when someone suddenly knocked on the door.

"Come in." Since they had basically finished talking here, Yan Hui called the people behind him to come in.

"It's me," Wang Yongjun said hurriedly as he entered. "President Yan, I have something to tell you. I heard that President Zhu, who won the bid for that project, has run into trouble!"

"What's going on?" Yan Hui asked. He didn't directly refute Wang Yongjun's words; everyone has different sources of information, and Wang Yongjun might know something else.

Wang Yongjun quickly recounted a few details, but Yan Hui found that they were far less detailed than what Sun Lei had said, and that the information was filled with various speculations and rumors, making it not very reliable.

After hearing this, Yan Hui nodded: "So now you know why I didn't submit a bid?"

"President Yan, you are truly amazing! My God. If we win this bid, I will be a sinner!" Wang Yongjun was genuinely terrified.

He was so determined to handle this project himself back then!

"From now on, you should work well with Mr. Sun from our risk control department." Yan Hui did not criticize Wang Yongjun.

Wang Yongjun's abilities are what they are, so it's not fair to be too demanding.

As a leader, you can't expect your subordinates to leapfrog in ability. Therefore, all problems stem from your own failure to use the right people; you can't blame anyone else.

With this, the steel trading team was officially established, and the subsequent cooperation between Wang Yongjun and Sun Lei would undoubtedly be excellent. Yan Hui could finally rest assured about the steel trading business. Next, he could focus his energy on further integrating and improving the tile factory.

(I wonder if everyone has felt the same way about these chapters~)

(End of this chapter)