I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Chapter 101, First Product

A Honda Accord drove through the non-governmental industrial zone in the North Lu district.

This is Tao Yinchu's car.

After the third-party testing agency took samples and conducted tests in accordance with its supervision, Shen Kang moved on to the next task of the day: visiting the factory address of Anjia Technology.

He entrusted this task to Tao Yinchu, and now he is riding in Tao Yinchu's car to go see the address.

After driving for half a day, Tao Yinchu stopped at a roadside park next to a cluster of small factories.

Tao Yinchu then began to report on the work: "President Shen, since we are an OEM manufacturer, we can cut and discard the production lines. Also, since we are a startup, I suggest that we focus on developing one product initially. Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, I think that an initial factory area of ​​400 to 600 square meters is more appropriate."

"Of the space, 50% is for R&D and testing, 25% is for office space, 15% is for private offices and meeting areas, and the last 10% is for showrooms and experience areas. This is a common layout used by OEMs in the industry."

Shen Kang nodded, signaling him to continue.

Tao Yinchu then pointed to the small joint industrial park next door and said, "The factory site was chosen in Beilu District because there are some electronics factories here, which is convenient for initial small-batch trial production and supply chain management. Of course, the rent is also relatively cheap."

"I've mainly looked at three addresses these past few days: basic, standard, and full. There's a basic one available in this small park next door. It's 560 square meters, with a ceiling height of less than 5 meters, and it comes with basic utilities. The rent is 4,500 yuan per month."

Shen Kang thought to himself that the so-called basic, standard, and complete versions were probably just low-end, mid-range, and high-end, which Lao Tao had beautified with his vocabulary.

He then asked, "So what's the difference between the standard file and the complete file?"

Tao Yinchu said, "The standard-grade one has an area of ​​550 square meters, a ceiling height of over 6 meters, and 380-volt industrial power distribution. In addition, its load-bearing capacity and spatial layout are also different."

Shen Kang had also studied the information of some domestic OEM manufacturers, and his findings basically matched Tao Yinchu's, suggesting three main options:

The first one is the low-end type, with a ceiling height of less than 5 meters, a load-bearing capacity of less than 0.5 tons per square meter, 220V electricity, and many space columns. It is suitable for small-scale assembly and simple processing, and is also the cheapest.

The second type is mid-range, with a ceiling height between 5 and 8 meters, a load-bearing capacity between 0.8 and 1 ton per square meter, fewer columns, larger column spacing, high space utilization, 380V power supply, suitable for growing electronics companies, and moderately priced.

The third type is the high-end model, with a ceiling height of over 8 meters, a load-bearing capacity of over 1 ton per square meter, no supporting columns, high space utilization, dual power supply, and a backup power supply. It has high power stability and is suitable for precision instruments and high-end manufacturing. Of course, the price is also the highest.

The three addresses that Tao Yinchu was interested in were all over 500 square meters in size, with monthly rents ranging from low to high: 4500, 7000, and 11000 respectively.

Afterwards, Tao Yinchu drove Shen Kang to see the other two factories.

Coincidentally, that complete factory building was right next to Yiyang Electronics Factory, just across the road.

After calling the person in charge, Shen Kang and his team went inside and took a look around.

The place is 530 square meters, and it has been emptied out, leaving behind some small equipment, some desks and chairs, documents and the like. It has the general atmosphere of a "bankrupt company".

"The basic conditions of this place are absolutely top-notch. The load-bearing capacity, electrical circuits, and ceiling height are all at a high level. In addition, the previous company has already done basic renovations. If you really want to rent it, you only need to do some simple cleaning and you can use it right away, which will save you a lot of money! ————"

The person in charge kept talking, trying hard to rent out the place.

The economic environment is really bad right now. Everyone is laying off workers or going bankrupt. Very few people come to see the factory. So naturally, we have to grab one person and try our best to sell to them.

Shen Kang looked around and compared the two places he had visited before. He still preferred this place. "The location is alright, but isn't 11,000 yuan a month a bit too high?"

Upon hearing this, the person in charge was overjoyed, thinking there might be a chance, and quickly began to plead, "Oh dear, eleven thousand is too high! If this were before, I wouldn't have given you thirteen thousand! I'm only giving you this price because I feel a connection with you, boss—"

The two sides then began to exchange blows, eventually reaching a preliminary agreement: a monthly rent of 10,000, payable annually, with a security deposit of two months' rent, a 3+2 model, meaning the rent would remain unchanged for the first 3 years, and increase by 3% for the next 2 years.

After the location was decided, Tao Yinchu took Shen Kang back to Ruifeng Electric Appliances. Shen Kang had driven there today, and his car was still at Ruifeng Electric Appliances.

After arriving near Ruifeng Electric Appliances, he didn't go to get the car. Instead, he asked Tao Yinchu to find a teahouse nearby, booked a private room, and started talking to Tao Yinchu about Anjia Technology's first product.

Tao Yinchu was well-prepared and immediately took out a stack of documents from his briefcase for Shen Kang to review.

He cherishes this job very much now and is naturally very proactive; he has done a lot of preparation these past few days.

"Mr. Shen, based on my research, I would definitely recommend choosing from these three products: induction cookers, electric kettles, and electric fans. They're easy to start with, suitable for our company, and the market is huge. For example, the domestic market sold 5000 million induction cookers last year."

As Shen Kang listened, he flipped through the materials that Tao Yinchu had given him.

After explaining his reasons for choosing these three products, Tao Yinchu changed the subject, saying, "However, all of this is based on the premise that a normal OEM company wants to enter the market."

"A normal OEM startup can't compete with giants like Midea and Haier in terms of capital, technology, and scale. So, to enter the market, the only thing I can think of is to compete on cost-effectiveness with these three products and squeeze profit margins to the extreme."

"But with Mr. Shen, your home services will be different."

Tao Yinchu became somewhat excited as he spoke, and then took out a much thinner document from his briefcase and handed it to Shen Kang.

This much thinner document contains Anjia Household Services' current customer big data, which Shen Kang had previously given to Tao Yinchu.

Shen Kang's positioning of Anjia Technology and his strategic vision of "Anjia Housekeeping + Anjia Technology = Anjia Ecosystem" were also discussed with Tao Yinchu.

When Tao Yinchu heard what Shen Kang said, saw the big data on Anjia Household Services' customers that Shen Kang gave him, and then personally went to investigate the development of Anjia Household Services, he was astonished.

He had previously praised Shen Kang, saying that Shen Kang's "building sales channels before building factories was the greatest operation he had ever seen," but that was just flattering the new boss. However, after he learned about everything Shen Kang was planning, Tao Yinchu genuinely felt that President Shen's plan was truly brilliant.

As a result, Tao Yinchu's thinking was broadened, and he was no longer limited to his traditional ideas. It was like "a swordsman who had been stuck in the second-rate realm for a long time suddenly heard of an unparalleled divine skill and broke through to the first-rate master realm".

Holding the much thinner document, Shen Kang knew what it said without even looking at it. "So, what do you think we should do with our first product?"

Tao Yinchu had already thought about this issue for a long time and immediately said, "I suggest making electric toothbrushes. In terms of start-up capital, the electric toothbrush project requires very little initial investment, which is suitable for our startup. More importantly, in this field, Philips and Oral-Bee, two international brands, currently occupy an absolute market share. There are no major domestic brands yet, only some miscellaneous domestic brands."

"Upstream, international brands command too high a premium, so we can compete with them using more affordable prices while still maintaining a high profit margin. Downstream, we can leverage the established reputation of 'Anjia' among our clients to create a brand advantage over domestic no-name brands. Entering the market through this channel has the potential to make us a leading domestic brand in this field, allowing Anjia Technology to establish a firm foothold and subsequently expand into other home appliance products."

"Of course, the biggest problem with the electric toothbrush market right now is that the market is too small, with a penetration rate of less than 1%, and the education market..."

Acquiring customers is too costly, but that's not a problem for us.

"The so-called small market, less than 1%, is from the perspective of 14 billion people. However, Mr. Shen, your Anjia Home Service's customer base is entirely composed of middle-to-high-income individuals, who are the target group for electric toothbrushes! This is equivalent to carving out a mini-Europe within China, and currently, the penetration rate of electric toothbrushes in Europe is 47%!"

Tao Yinchu spoke excitedly about this: "Other electric toothbrush manufacturers are facing a market with a potential penetration rate of less than 1%."

If we're going to make electric toothbrushes, we're facing a market with a potential penetration rate of 47%! And this market hasn't yet seen any major domestic players; it's a huge blue ocean with immense potential, Mr. Shen!

Tao Yinchu was genuinely excited.

He originally joined Anjia Technology with the simple intention of finding a new job and avoiding unemployment, but after seeing Shen Kang's plan, he suddenly felt that this might be a great opportunity.

I might have a chance to create a new giant in the home appliance industry with an innovative business model!

Tao Yinchu was so excited that he forgot to flatter him.

Shen Kang laughed, "What you said makes me quite interested. Your theory of 'finding a mini-Europe within China' seems pretty apt, but currently Anjia Household Services' customer base is still too small."

Tao Yinchu appeared even more confident than Shen Kang: "From research and development to testing and product launch, it will take us four to five months. Given Anjia Household Services' current development, I believe that by then, we will be able to develop a sufficient number of clients to support Anjia Technology's survival!"

"Looks like I'll have to hurry up and run."

Upon hearing this, Shen Kang said, "Then let's make electric toothbrushes. Assemble the R&D team as soon as possible. I will find headhunters, and you should also recommend any capable people you have."

He also thought that starting with electric toothbrushes was a good choice. However, unlike Tao Yinchu's simple deduction, he had seen the development of the domestic electric toothbrush industry in the future, with the penetration rate soaring to 25%.

Many people who buy and use electric toothbrushes in later generations don't have high incomes; many earn around 3000 yuan a month. This is what supports the 25% penetration rate of electric toothbrushes in later generations. Currently, the vast majority of Anjia Household Services' clients have a monthly income of over 4000 yuan. Therefore, he is actually more confident than Tao Yinchu.

Of course, the final sales figures will largely depend on how fast Anjia Housekeeping operates.

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