Rebirth 03: Starting a Business After Giving Up a Secure Job

Chapter 133 Chengdu Station Launch

When Lin Feng's plane landed at Shuangliu Airport, it was drizzling in Chengdu.

As Lin Feng stepped out of the arrival hall, the damp, cold air hit his face, and he instinctively wrapped his coat tighter around himself.

Shenzhen has a constant temperature year-round, and he hadn't experienced the unique chill of Chengdu's winters for a long time.

Xu Qiang and Su Wan were there to pick them up at the airport. Xu Qiang had gone to Shenzhen to provide support, but he had returned to Chengdu first. The two stood outside the railing at the domestic arrivals exit. Xu Qiang held up an A4 sheet of paper with two large characters written on it in marker: "Lin Feng".

Su Wan stood next to him, holding an umbrella, her long hair tied back, wearing a dark blue woolen short coat.

"Brother Feng!" Xu Qiang quickly stepped forward and took the suitcase from Lin Feng's hands.

"The journey was smooth, I think," Su Wan said.

"It's alright, just over an hour." Lin Feng looked at her. "Why are you here too?"

Su Wan smiled and said, "It's been almost half a year since we last saw the boss, and everyone misses him very much."

Lin Feng smiled slightly, just then his phone beeped with a text message notification.

It was a message from Lin Xiaowen: "Has it arrived?"

He replied, "I've arrived. Just got off the plane."

Lin Feng's company in Chengdu was short-staffed and didn't have a car yet. The three of them walked towards the taxi queue.

The line wasn't long; I only waited seven or eight minutes. The driver was a man in his forties.

"Boss, should we go back to the company first or go back to Hongguangyuan to drop off our things?"

"Let's go back to the company first."

After getting the address, the taxi drove out of the airport parking lot and onto the airport expressway. Chengdu unfolded slowly in the rain and mist outside the car window. The ginkgo trees along the roadside had long since lost their leaves, and the bare branches looked exceptionally clean in the rain.

Lin Feng leaned back in his chair, looking out the window. He had walked this road countless times. At this time last year, he was still living in the dormitory of Sichuan University of Technology, taking the bus to Taisheng South Road to pick up goods from Lao Liu, and then selling MP3 players in his dormitory on the way back.

Now, not only are MP3s sold nationwide, but the ringback tone business also earns millions of yuan in net profit every month, and the local life website has also made a great start in Shenzhen.

His next task is to expand the local online community platform to the whole country.

The taxi drove for forty minutes and arrived at the Pidu International Building office building, not far from Xichuan University of Technology.

Lin Feng's Fengchi Digital Technology Company headquarters is located in office area 602 on the sixth floor of Pidu International Building.

The three people entered the lobby. The elevator area was paved with light gray marble tiles, and the walls were covered with company nameplates for each floor.

The plaque on the sixth floor reads "Fengchi Digital Technology Co., Ltd.", and next to it is a newly added bronze plaque that reads "Tongcheng Life Network," which Xu Qiang just nailed up last week.

Lin Feng glanced at the bronze plaque and pressed the elevator button.

The elevator reached the sixth floor, and as soon as the doors opened, there was the company's glass door and reception area.

A young woman with a ponytail was standing at the front desk. When she saw Lin Feng and the other two enter, she immediately stood up and greeted them with "Hello, Mr. Lin".

Lin Feng nodded to her, and Zi Guang looked over the partition at the reception desk into the office area. The office was much larger than when he left. Wang Peng had rented rooms 601 and 603 next door as requested, and the wall between them had been knocked down, expanding the office area to more than 600 square meters.

To expand the local life network—Rongcheng Station, we first need to recruit a large number of people, and we must reserve enough workstations in the office area.

There were six or seven people sitting at the row of workstations by the window; some were typing on keyboards, and some were answering phone calls.

In the office area of ​​Fengchi Digital Online Store, Wang Peng sat in front of two computers. The screen on the left showed the back-end interface of Fengchi Digital Online Store, while the screen on the right showed the test page of Rongcheng Station of Tongcheng Life Network.

He was speaking into the headset microphone, saying, "Please wait a moment while I check the inventory," when he looked up and saw Lin Feng come in. He immediately stood up to greet him.

The finance office is located on the east side of the office area, with the door ajar. Zhao Ling sat in front of the computer, several stacks of bank receipts and a pile of bound ledgers spread out on the table. She was checking the MP3 sales revenue line by line with a pencil.

Liu Qian sat next to her, with a thick stack of invoices in front of her, arranged by date.

"Zhao Ling, come to my office." Lin Feng called out as he passed the finance office.

"Okay, boss."

When Lin Feng returned to his office, the first thing he did was call in the finance manager, Zhao Ling.

He put his suitcase aside and had just sat down when Zhao Ling knocked on the door and came in with the company's financial statements.

In the fourth quarter of 2004, the company's MP3 business achieved total sales revenue of 4130 million yuan and net profit of 1260 million yuan.

The revenue from the ringback tone service was 526 million yuan, with a net profit of 420 million yuan.

As of December 31, 2004, the company's bank account had a total of RMB 3126 million in readily available cash and short-term financial products.

In addition to summarizing these data, the financial report clearly lists the relevant inflows and outflows:

The costs include MP3 production costs, channel fees, promotion expenses, online store sales, ringback tone revenue sharing, local life network construction expenses, personnel salaries in Shenzhen and Chengdu, office rent, server hosting fees, business tax, etc., with each item marked with its amount and percentage.

Zhao Ling is consistently meticulous in her work, her details are clearly categorized and easy to understand. Lin Feng was very satisfied and said, "Thank you for your hard work!"

"It's all part of the job." Zhao Ling was very happy to receive the boss's affirmation.

Lin Feng instructed, "Notify all department heads to meet in the main conference room in five minutes. I have something important to announce!"

"Okay! I'll go inform them right away." Zhao Ling got up and left Lin Feng's office.

Five minutes later, Zhao Ling knocked on the door and said that everyone had arrived.

The large conference room can seat about twenty people.

When Lin Feng entered, both sides of the long table were already full.

Wang Peng, Xu Qiang, Su Wan, Zhou Zhongcheng, Zhao Ling, Tan Zhao, Li Xiaowei, and several newly recruited managers have not yet officially met Lin Feng.

Everyone looked at him. Lin Feng sat down in the main seat and began to speak: "I've gathered everyone here today to announce something. Starting today, the company's core business will be adjusted. The MP3 and ringback tone businesses will continue, but the company's focus will shift to the nationwide expansion of 'Local Life Network'."

"The first batch of expanded cities includes: Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Huizhou, and Wuhan, five first- and second-tier cities."

"Tongcheng Life Network is a local life information platform that I built brick by brick with my team in Shenzhen over the past six months."

Currently, the Shenzhen platform has four core sections: housing rentals, recruitment, secondhand goods, and domestic services. All four sections rank among the top three in market share among similar internet platforms in Shenzhen, with housing rentals and recruitment firmly holding the number one position.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"Starting today, everyone should work on establishing the local life services network in Chengdu. Chengdu is the headquarters, the base camp. If it can't be done here, all the other cities are just empty talk."

"Let me first talk about the overall restructuring of the company. Wu Wenjie will continue to serve as the general manager of the Shenzhen office, and will be fully responsible for the daily operation of the Shenzhen station, as well as the preparation work for the Huicheng station."

The Technology Development Department will remain in Shenzhen to provide backend technical support for all city stations across the country.

The Chengdu branch serves as the company headquarters, overseeing all national operations. Effective today, Xu Qiang will step down as Manager of the MP3 Business Channel Sales Department and assume the role of Station Manager for the Chengdu branch of Tongcheng Life Network, taking full responsibility for its construction and management.

The work of the original channel sales department has been transferred to Deputy Manager Liu Huan.

Xu Qiang immediately replied, "Okay, boss. I will definitely do my job well and get Rongcheng Station up and running as soon as possible."

Xu Qiang was the former head of the external relations department of the Digital Music Club and a key member of the team. Over the past year, whether at the Digital Music Club or in the company, he has learned a lot from Lin Feng.

Among the veterans who transferred from the digital music club to the company, Xu Qiang performed the best, making remarkable progress in building the nationwide channel for the MP3 business.

Six months ago, he was seconded to Shenzhen by Lin Feng for a few months. In the early stages, he worked with Lin Xiaoqiang to lead the ground promotion team and participated in the construction of the Shenzhen station of Tongcheng Life Network.

This time, Lin Feng sent him back to Rongcheng to lead the construction of Rongcheng Station. This sudden promotion filled Xu Qiang with joy and boundless enthusiasm.

Lin Feng continued, "The organizational structure of the Chengdu station is modeled after that of Shenzhen, with four business segments: housing rental, talent recruitment, second-hand goods, and housekeeping services, plus online promotion, customer service, and administrative and logistical functions."

"Next, I'll talk about the staffing. The initial staffing for the Rongcheng station is tentatively set at 85 people. There are 60 people in the field promotion team, 15 people in each of the four sections. There are 5 people in online promotion, 10 people in customer service, 5 people in administration and logistics, and 5 people in charge of each section. This staffing is not fixed; it can be increased or decreased according to actual needs as the operation progresses."

Zhou Zhongcheng quickly took notes in his notebook.

"Loyalty, your core task before the Spring Festival is to recruit people." Lin Feng looked at him. "Eighty-five positions, you must complete the placement before the Spring Festival, and they must be on duty immediately after the Spring Festival."

"Recruitment standards are based on Shenzhen's experience. Local residents or those who have lived in Chengdu for at least two years and are familiar with the city's streets and university locations. Must be hardworking, articulate, and unafraid of rejection."

Educational background is not a strict requirement; a high school diploma or above is acceptable. However, strong communication and stress management skills are essential.

Priority will be given to hiring heads of various business units. These heads must have at least two years of experience in the relevant industry, be familiar with the market, and have experience leading teams.

He would say one thing, and Zhou Zhongcheng would write it down, the pen tip scraping against the paper with a fine, rustling sound.

After Zhou Zhongcheng finished taking notes, he looked up and said, "Time is very tight before the Spring Festival. I suggest we recruit in two batches: one batch before the New Year, consisting of heads of various departments and key business personnel, and the second batch after the New Year."

In addition, the station managers for Beijing, Shanghai, and Wuhan were finalized before the end of the year. Chengdu will serve as a base, and will also be used to cultivate leading talent for nationwide expansion.

Lin Feng instructed him to recruit station managers who must understand the local market, have experience in leading people, and be able to withstand the cold start period from scratch. He preferred to have fewer but better candidates.

"Tan Zhao, your task is to provide office logistics support. Based on the new organizational structure and staffing, set up corresponding workstations and network cabling, and procure office supplies. Also, purchase two vehicles to meet the company's business needs."

"Su Wan, the online pre-launch and brand promotion for the Chengdu station are all your responsibility. Li Ying from Shenzhen has already compiled the copywriting templates and forum promotion scripts for the graduation season theme into an operation manual and sent it to you. You are in charge of localizing it. The Chengdu station's logo and overall visual design will follow the Shenzhen branding plan, but it needs to be optimized specifically for university student users."

Su Wan nodded; she had already contacted Li Ying in advance.

Lin Feng rested his hands on the edge of the conference table, looking directly at everyone: "Gentlemen, we started from scratch in Shenzhen and became an industry leader in just six months. Chengdu is our home base, and we must do even better here, becoming number one in Chengdu!"

After the meeting, Lin Feng asked Zhao Ling to stay behind for a while.

The two sat in the conference room and went over the startup budget for Rongcheng Station again with the financial briefing.

Personnel salaries: how much is spent per month for 85 people, calculated on a quarterly basis; Promotion expenses: online pre-launch activities, offline events, material printing, and the establishment of service points in universities, each accounting for one-quarter.

Office expenses will be adjusted appropriately, referencing the level at Shenzhen Station.

Travel expenses, including round-trip airfare and accommodation for the Shenzhen training group to Chengdu after the Lunar New Year, will be subsidized at the standard rate of one person per day.

Zhao Ling added and subtracted items one by one, and finally wrote down a total at the end of the budget sheet and handed it to Lin Feng for review.

There was no revenue in the initial stage, only investment, but Shenzhen has already proven its model, and Chengdu will not be any worse.

The meeting ended around 5 p.m.

In Chengdu, it gets dark early in winter, and the streetlights on Hongguang Avenue outside the window are already lit.

Zhou Zhongcheng compiled the key points from the meeting into a meeting summary, submitted it to Lin Feng for review, and then forwarded it to Wu Wenjie and Zhou Bin in Shenzhen as requested by Lin Feng.

Wu Wenjie replied with a text message: Received, preparations for Huicheng Station have started simultaneously.

When Lin Feng finished dealing with his business and came out of the Pidu International Building, it was already dark. He pushed his suitcase and walked along the sidewalk towards Hongguangyuan.

As I approached the entrance of Hongguangyuan residential complex, a sweet voice suddenly rang out: "Brother Feng, you're back?"

Lin Feng looked up at the sound and saw a girl in a white down jacket standing under a tree at the entrance of the residential area, waving at him.

It turned out to be Shen Jingyi.

"How did you know I was back?" Lin Feng walked up to her.

"Su Wan told me." Shen Jingyi lifted the plastic bag up a bit. "I bought groceries. You haven't been back for so long, there's nothing in the fridge."

Lin Feng looked at the plastic bag in her hand, which contained vegetables, a carton of eggs, pork belly, a small bag of rice, and two cans of beer.

The weather in Chengdu was very cold, and her fingers, which were gripping the bag, turned red from the cold.

"Let's go inside, it's cold outside."

The two people walked into the residential area and went up to the third floor.

Lin Feng took out his key and opened the door. Shen Jingyi followed him in and bent down to put the plastic bag next to the shoe cabinet while changing her slippers.

She straightened up and looked around the room. It had three bedrooms and a living room, a traditional layout, a fabric sofa, a glass coffee table, and an old television on the TV cabinet.

She picked up a plastic bag and went into the kitchen. She skillfully took the vegetables out of the bag, sorted them, soaked the greens in a basin of water, placed the pork belly on the cutting board, tied on an apron, and began to wash the rice and cook.

"When did our musical prodigy learn to cook?" Lin Feng crossed his arms and looked at her with a surprised expression.

"I have many secrets that you don't know! I've been helping my mom cook since I was little." Shen Jingyi smiled smugly and continued chopping vegetables.