Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1275 How to Make Money

The group packed their things and went downstairs. Xiao Wei said, "The auction in Haikou fell through. It seems our judgment here was correct."

Wu Guolin said, "That's good, the cheaper the better."

Xiao Wei said, "Some departments here are used to making things difficult for people, imposing a bunch of conditions, and if you don't agree, it's hard to get the land certificate. We were just talking about this."

Liu Jiaming scoffed, "Why are we even thinking about all this? Just find a good location and get it done. Let him try it out."

Xiao Wei said, "This has happened quite a few times. I'm just letting you know because we'll probably have to rely on a few of you in this regard. If this problem can't be solved, it'll be hard to make a decision about the investment."

Wu Guolin said, "It's alright, leave this to us. You just need to figure out how to do it. We're not good at planning and management, but this is a piece of cake. It'll give us something to do, so we don't feel like we're just sitting around doing nothing."

Wang Lihua and Liu Jiaming both laughed, and Du An'an said, "People here are so poor they're afraid of this kind of thing happening quite often."

Downstairs, the group walked to Danzhou Village. At this time of year, this was the most bustling and prosperous area in all of Sanya, with entertainment, dining, shopping, and trade all concentrated here. At night, it was dazzling with lights, giving it a feel of a city that never sleeps.

The group didn't go inside the shop; instead, they found an outdoor spot to sit down.

Du An'an gestured south with her chin: "See that building? It was built by Airport Industry. I heard they're running out of funding and construction could stop at any time."

Several people turned to look. It wasn't completely dark yet, and they could see a nearly completed high-rise building standing in the afterglow.

"It's almost finished. The bottom two floors are being prepared for decoration. It covers 11 acres, has 31 floors, and also has an annex. It's truly the tallest building in Sanya. Interested?"

Chen Hui turned his head and asked, "Can you take it down? They're still building it; will we get the original price right now?"

Du An'an said, "How could that be? It's impossible to get it at the original price. But it's probably difficult to get it as low as other unfinished buildings. If you're interested, I can ask around for you. If we actually manage to get it, you can just give one floor to our company."

Xiao Wei was taken aback: "We'll take it? You don't want it?"

Du An'an shook her head and said, "We can't get involved, and it wouldn't be of any use to us. Even if you take it, you'd still have to invest more money to continue building, and it's uncertain when it will be profitable. Right now, there probably aren't many people here who can afford to rent this place, and even fewer who can buy it. You can use it yourself."

Xiao Wei said, "It's something we can consider, but it depends on the price. We were just talking about the future. If we build the resort here, you guys will have to take care of the customer base. You'll need to set up promotional booths in major cities across the country to attract customers. We won't get involved in that; you'll have to do it yourselves."

Xiao Wei said, "The resort here signs an agreement with your tourism company based on a price per person per day, including food and lodging, and some free activities. Then we build some paid attractions. You attract customers and set your own prices; we only charge according to our agreement."

You can manage the tourism company yourselves and split the profits yourselves. All profits from the resort will be divided according to our shareholdings. The only issue is that we can't decide on the initial investment amount yet; we'll see how it goes, and we'll figure it out together.

Liu Jiaming thought for a moment and said, "That works too. We don't need to set up locations everywhere, one per province will do. We can hand it over to local tourism companies and pay them per person. We can hire a manager to oversee it, but we're not cut out for that."

Wang Lihua said, "Do you think this is okay? We plan the destination, which is where we go to play, and then calculate the round-trip train, plane and food expenses, plus the local food, accommodation and entertainment costs. Then we set a time to depart from the provincial capitals of each province, for example, a group of people will go every half month."

Then we'll go to the local area and negotiate prices with them—how much we'll pay per month based on the number of people, and the remainder is ours. Do you think that's feasible? We'll earn two hundred per person, ten thousand for a hundred people, and that's thirty-odd provinces across the country.

Xiao Wei said, "It sounds like it should work. It's mainly about negotiating the price and getting good service. Let me give you my opinion, just take it with a grain of salt. I feel the most important thing is to make sure people have a good time and enjoy themselves."

Therefore, arranging transportation and accommodation is quite important; these need to be planned well. If someone comes from this place today and you think they're good, they can go back and bring a whole bunch of people with them. But if things don't go well, they can go back and complain, and you can imagine what will happen.

Wu Guolin said, "We also have to consider purchasing power. It varies from region to region. If it's too expensive, not many people will buy it. If it's too cheap, we won't make any money."

Liu Jiaming said, "I think the key is where to go. Deciding on the destination is crucial. Then you need to book places to eat and stay and negotiate prices. This requires assigning someone to run around and make connections. It's not something that can be done in a short time."

Wu Guolin said, "Nowadays, tour companies just hand over groups of people to local tour companies, collect a fee per person, and then leave it to them. After the tour, they put the group on the train and pick them up here."

Xiao Wei said, "It's hard to say about this method. Although this is how it's done now, how can you guarantee the quality of service? You hand it over and then you don't care anymore. You can't control how they arrange things. In order to make money, do you know what kind of arrangements they might make? Even if it's okay now, it will cause problems sooner or later."

Du An'an said, "Now, when people go south, to places like Hong Kong, they go there mainly to shop. The companies there make enough money from the commissions they get from shopping malls. I think we can do the same thing. Shopping is definitely more profitable than eating and playing."

Chen Hui said, "That depends on the place, and people have to want to buy things. You can't force people to buy things they don't want, can you?"

Du An'an said, "There really are. You need to eat and buy things. If you don't eat or buy, it won't work. There are many places like this now, and people still do just fine."

Xiao Wei smiled, shook his head, and said, "That's not the proper way to do business. We can't stop you from doing it that way, but we won't get involved, and we won't interfere in the things we do together. That's our bottom line."

As the waiter served the food, Wu Guolin reached out and moved the bowls and chopsticks around, then thought for a moment and said, "I'm starting to understand you guys."

Xiao Wei asked with a smile, "Understand what?"

Wu Guolin said, "I've studied you. You're all in the service industry, and your customer satisfaction is quite high. Plus, it's legitimate."

Xiao Wei said, "In today's society, making money is actually not difficult. Since it's not difficult, why bother with things that are impossible? Today, our elders are in positions of power, so we don't need to be afraid or worried, but what about tomorrow? Besides, these things are ultimately embarrassing to talk about."

It's an honorable thing to do, and it gives our elders face, right? Plus, our elders have more authority when they speak to us. Honestly, it's not easy to succeed in this society without connections, but whether you dig stones from a mountain or add soil to it is an easy choice, isn't it?

"Actually, I didn't think that much about it. I just felt that since you're making money off someone, you should try to make them happy. If they're happy spending their money, we'll feel more at ease earning it. We've come this far step by step over the years, and it's been alright, just so-so. We can't say everything has been perfect, but we've always been able to look ourselves in the mirror with a clear conscience."

Wu Guolin nodded, raised his glass to Xiao Wei, and said, "I need to learn from you on this point. Please give me more guidance in the future."

Xiao Wei clinked his beer with his and said with a smile, "That's a bit harsh. I don't have the right to say that."

(End of this chapter)