Film and Television World Life Record

Others may not know, but her son knows a great many good teachers.

However, despite her pride, Zhou Chunhong still didn't take it to heart.

“She was a perfectly good teacher, but she was willing to resign and start a training course with me.”

Li Mu said, "Why wouldn't they agree? Teachers' salaries aren't high these days. If the conditions are right, someone will definitely be willing."

Zhou Chunhong was still a little hesitant, or rather, lacked confidence.

Li Mu suggested, "Mom, how about I select a few to test the waters first?"

"Eat quickly!" Zhou Chunhong added another piece of sweet and sour pork ribs to his plate.

She neither objected nor agreed, probably because she didn't know what to choose.

Chapter 51 Preparations

Two more days passed, and Li Mu returned from the Children's Palace, feeling that he had mastered the skills.

"Mom, do you know Mr. Zhang, our math Olympiad teacher?"

Zhou Chunhong was taken aback for a moment: "I know him, I saw him when I registered you, he was quite refined."

Li Mu said, "Teacher Zhang's name is Zhang Dongsheng. He was a college student in the 1990s. He is a very good teacher, and the students in the training class all love to listen to his lectures."

"He's also very capable. I've inquired about him, and he has a very good reputation. He's humble, low-key, and dedicated to his work..."

Zhou Chunhong felt something was off as she listened, and quickly interrupted Li Mu: "Chaoyang, you didn't actually go and find a teacher for Mom, did you?"

"What you should be doing right now is studying hard and not letting anything else distract you."

Li Mu said, "I know, Mom, I promise I won't let it interfere with my studies."

"However, I mentioned the training course to Teacher Zhang, and he was quite interested and said he wanted to meet with you in person."

Zhou Chunhong was stunned for a moment, not expecting her son to be so efficient, even finding manpower for him.

Somewhat helplessly, she said, "I haven't decided about the training course yet, you... sigh..."

Li Mu said, "Mom, this is a good opportunity. How will you know you can't do it if you don't try?"

"Besides, Teacher Zhang is really very capable. With his assistance, you will definitely be able to get things done."

Zhou Chunhong was somewhat moved by her son's words, and just as she made up her mind, she began to feel anxious again.

"Son, do you think such a good and capable teacher would be willing to come? I don't know anything about this."

"Even if we offer good terms, what if he works for a while, sees the potential in this industry, and then leaves us to start his own business?"

Li Mu said, "Mom, this is what I'm thinking: don't treat him like an employee. Give him shares and make him a partner. If things go well in the future, he won't want to leave."

"Give us shares?" Zhou Chunhong asked, puzzled.

"Yes, give them shares."

Li Mu further explained, "I recently read a management book in the library that described advanced management methods from abroad, including how to retain talent."

"Don't let him become just a simple employee. Give them stock options so that the company's interests are tied to his own. With a sense of ownership, he will naturally work hard."

Upon hearing that she would also be given shares, Zhou Chunhong hesitated. To her, this meant giving away her own money to outsiders.

Li Mu continued, "Mom, the shares aren't given away for free. They're an incentive system that benefits the company's development."

"For example, we could allocate 25% of the shares to create an incentive system for Teacher Zhang, establishing a five-year reward plan."

"We'll set a profit target for this year, and if Mr. Zhang achieves it, we'll give him five percent of the shares. Next year, we'll set an even bigger target, and if he achieves it, we'll reward him with another five percent of the shares."

"If this continues for five years, and Mr. Zhang achieves all the set goals, the size of the company at that time is unimaginable. Even if he only retains 75% of the shares, he will have made a fortune."

“By then he will have become one of the shareholders. Even if the stock incentive system is no longer in place, he will not leave because his interests are already tied to the company.”

"If he fails to meet his targets and the company's development is unsatisfactory, he won't get any shares, and he can't complain. That proves he's not really capable, so why should we keep him around!"

After her son finished speaking, Zhou Chunhong remained silent for a long time, feeling that he made sense. However, her petty-bourgeois mentality prevented her from giving away the shares for nothing.

Li Mu advised again, "Mom, you need to think long-term. Sometimes giving up some shares can lead to greater gains. A company worth one million, you can own 100% of it; a company worth ten million, you can own 75% of it."

"You can choose, which one do you want?"

Zhou Chunhong naturally understood her son's meaning: what's the use of keeping all the shares if the company can't grow? By distributing some shares, the partners will be more motivated, and as the company grows, the value of the shares in her hands will actually increase.

It's not that she doesn't understand this principle; it's just that having been a grassroots employee her whole life, she has some petty-bourgeois mentality and can't see things from a higher perspective.

It is difficult to make a suitable choice when faced with immediate and long-term interests.

Fortunately, Zhou Chunhong was not a stubborn person, and after her son said that, she understood.

Once the shares are given away, they are gone. If the training program is run well and the pie is expanded, there will be even greater gains in the future.

……

The following day, through Li Mu's introduction, Zhou Chunhong and Zhang Dongsheng officially met.

Zhang Dongsheng cherished this opportunity, seeing it as the only glimmer of light in his bleak life, and placed high hopes on it.

Zhou Chunhong respected Zhang Dongsheng a lot. After her son praised him, she knew that he was a capable person and that the future development of the training class would depend on him.

The two had a very pleasant conversation.

Sometimes, you don't know the limits of your abilities until you're pushed to your limits.

Zhou Chunhong was like that; after a long talk with Zhang Dongsheng, it seemed to ignite her ambition, and she planned to build a professional training institution.

In addition to math olympiad classes, we will also offer English training classes, calligraphy training classes, music training classes, and painting training classes.

Zhang Dongsheng was naturally overjoyed. As the person in charge, the larger the training institution was, the better he could realize his ideals and ambitions.

Especially after hearing about the stock incentive plan, he became very excited. This was a rare opportunity for him, and he absolutely could not miss it.

If he achieves the established development goals, he can receive equity rewards and become a shareholder of the training institution.

Having experienced family upheavals, he understood a fundamental truth: a man cannot live without a career; Xu Jing was a stark example of this. Love that abandons material considerations and practical realities is nothing but a castle in the air.

This made him place even greater emphasis on his career; he wanted to make himself stronger.

Zhang Dongsheng is very decisive; once he makes up his mind, he takes immediate action. Two days later, he officially resigned from the Children's Palace, putting aside family matters and devoting all his energy to the training institution.

Zhou Chunhong was also busy. In the days that followed, the two became increasingly busy, running around registering training institutions and selecting suitable venues in Ningzhou.

Finally, they settled on a three-story building with convenient transportation and a bus stop nearby. It used to be owned by the Ningzhou Design Institute, but they had just moved out recently and it was now vacant.

The building has three floors, each floor is over 400 square meters, totaling over 1,200 square meters, and also includes a small courtyard.

The rent is also good, 320,000 a year, with a ten-year contract signed at once, and the annual rent increase cannot exceed 10%.

It's a space that was previously used by a design institute, so it comes with its own decor, a nice style, and is pleasing to the eye. It only needs a little more simple renovation before it's ready to use.

Next, under Zhang Dongsheng's direction, another 300,000 yuan was spent on a simple renovation, adjusting the layout and adding some children's elements, but the effect was not good.

Then they started adding various tables, chairs and teaching equipment, which cost another 800,000 yuan.

The training program hadn't even been established yet, but more than a million yuan had already been spent, which pained Zhou Chunhong greatly.

Li Mu won a total of 3.84 million yuan in the lottery. He spent more than 1.2 million yuan on buying a house, a car, and various other expenses during this period.

Originally, only about 2.6 million remained.

Since the start of preparations for the training course, the rent, renovation costs, and expenses for purchasing office desks, chairs, and teaching equipment have totaled 1.5 million yuan.

Fortunately, all the hardware is in place, so there shouldn't be any major expenses going forward.

After discussing it, Zhou Chunhong and Li Mu took out another 300,000 yuan as the future daily operating expenses of the training institution.

After taking out the 300,000 yuan, the family's savings were reduced to 800,000 yuan. Zhou Chunhong began to feel anxious and said that she would never invest any more money in the family, in order to maintain the family's standard of living.

Li Mu had no objections; this was more than enough. Once enrollment began, with proper management, it would be a money-printing machine that never stopped generating revenue.

There's a saying that goes, "Women and children's money is the easiest to earn."

Chapter 52 Fundraising

Having worked at the Ningzhou Children's Palace for eight years, Zhang Dongsheng has dealt with many training teachers, something that initially seemed pointless.

But after the training institution was established, he became the person in charge, and his usefulness increased significantly.

The Children's Palace has a prestigious reputation, but the teachers there don't earn much. Take Zhang Dongsheng, for example, a highly skilled math Olympiad teacher, whose income is so low that he is looked down upon by his relatives and friends, and even his wife dislikes him.

As a veteran who has worked at the Children's Palace for eight years, Zhang Dongsheng knows that there are many highly skilled training teachers at the Children's Palace who are paid very low wages.

Zhang Dongsheng used to sympathize with them, but he himself was also frustrated and helpless.

Now, things are different.

With the tacit approval of Zhou's mother and Li Mu, Zhang Dongsheng categorized and ranked the teachers at the Children's Palace, selecting the most skilled ones and privately visiting them one by one. He led them on tours of the newly renovated and fully equipped training base, promising them salaries several times higher than their current ones.

The results were very good; 60% of the teachers accepted the invitation, and many more agreed to work part-time.

For training institutions, the most important thing is good training teachers.

As long as the teacher teaches well, students will continue to come by word of mouth alone.

Moreover, the teachers they recruited are all highly skilled from the Children's Palace. If they switch jobs, a little publicity will attract many students to join them.

……