Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

"Alright! Mr. Chen, you can start now, I'm ready!" Mai Xiaoyu sat cross-legged on the floor, a small notebook spread out on the coffee table, a pen in her hand ready to take notes, looking quite professional.

……

"You're making me a little nervous!"

"Why are you so nervous? Tell me now, or I'll lose my temper!"

……

"Okay..." An Xiaohai brewed a cup of tea and took the opportunity to organize his thoughts.

"When it comes to making money, there are two approaches, or two main directions: one is to sell your time or skills in exchange for payment, and the other is to produce or sell goods to earn profits."

If you choose the first option, you should try your best to sell your time at a high price or to sell the skills you have at a good price.

This requires that you, your abilities, or the skills you possess have a certain degree of scarcity and irreplaceability; otherwise, it will be difficult to sell yourself for a good price.

"I understand, the path you're talking about is actually just working."

If it's an ordinary job, you can be replaced at any time, so the salary won't be high; but if you have high skills and strong abilities, you can earn a high salary, right?

"Yes," An Xiaohai nodded, "So if you want to go down this path, you can carefully analyze your own abilities and what scarce technologies you have mastered."

"By identifying which of these capabilities and technologies is of greatest value, we can roughly determine the path we should take in the future."

"I know several languages, so I can work as a translator."

"Yes, you can be a translator, but translation is not irreplaceable. No matter how good your translation skills are, you may not be able to compete with overseas Chinese who were born and raised in that country."

Moreover, in many situations, the requirements for translators go beyond just translation skills. They also include comprehension, summarization, and familiarity with the culture of the other country, and even require very strong business acumen.

Becoming a translator isn't difficult; the challenge lies in reaching the top level. If you don't reach the top, you'll only earn a meager living.

"I get it. If I become a hitman, like joining Caos, making money will be much easier, right?"

"That makes sense, but I think joining Caos is a waste of your talent. The Abyss Organization is a better fit for you. If you were willing to join them, they would definitely welcome you with open arms!"

"..."

"In short, if you take this path, you're selling your time and skills."

This path is relatively stable with minimal risk, but it also yields the least profit, unless you become a top expert in a particular field.

For example, becoming a scientist, painter, musician, etc., allows you to transform your time or a particular skill into more wealth.

The most important thing you must remember is: try not to fall into the situation of selling your time. A person's time is limited. Even if you sell all your time, you only have 24 hours.

The core of taking this path is to increase the value of your time.

For example, if you want to open a flower shop, you need to do the math carefully.

What time do you open your flower shop each day? If you are open for 10 hours a day, how much revenue can you generate per hour?

If you calculate your investment, you'll know whether this industry is viable and whether it's easy to succeed in.

"I understand, just tell me the other direction!" Mai Xiaoyu said after thinking for a moment.

"Another direction is to sell goods to others and earn the price difference, which is doing business."

The general approach to doing business is: first, figure out how to determine the industry you want to operate in; then, understand your own strengths and the resources you already possess; and finally, determine what to do.

How do I determine the industry?

"Simply put, I personally divide industries into two types: essential and upgrade-oriented."

Essential items are those that people cannot live without, while upgrade items are those used to improve the quality of life after people have met their basic needs.

simply put:

Essential industries are those related to basic necessities such as food, clothing, housing, transportation, basic communication, and basic entertainment.

The "upgrading" sector refers to industries that enhance the quality of life, such as luxury goods, cosmetics, tourism, cultural products, finance, and high-end services.

The characteristics of necessities are that they are available in large quantities, have a very high frequency of consumption, and the demand will always exist and be very stable.

The characteristics of industries that are characterized by rapid profit generation and high added value are that they are more vulnerable to economic fluctuations.

According to this classification method, the flower shop you want to open belongs to the upgrading industry.

Flowers are not a necessity; I can buy them or not. Buying them can make me happy, but not buying them has almost no impact on my life.

Therefore, it is difficult for an individual customer to support a flower shop unless you have a deep connection with industries such as hotels and wedding planning, and cooperate with them in the long term to maintain a very stable income.

This is actually a very demanding industry. It requires a lot of effort to maintain customers and expand the market. It's not as romantic as you might imagine.

My opinion is that if you are already financially independent and just want to open a small shop that you like to pass the time, then you can choose to open a small but beautiful flower shop.

But making money is far from that simple.

Of course, you can also adjust your business strategy slightly. For example, you can use your authority to sign a long-term contract with major funeral homes to monopolize the wreath market, which can definitely make a lot of money.

Fresh flowers are not a necessity, but wreaths are.

"Shut up!" Mai Xiaoyu couldn't help but roll her eyes. What a disgusting businessman!

"So? Want to hear more?"

"Of course I'll listen!" Mai Xiaoyu said through gritted teeth. "I want to see what kind of crazy ideas you, this disgusting capitalist, have in your head! Go on, tell me."

"Now that we move on, which type would you like to hear about? Essential information or supplementary information?"

"Let's start with the essential ones."

"OK.

In essential industries, the most lucrative are those related to national welfare and people's livelihood, such as food, energy, electricity, transportation, tobacco, military supplies, steel, and high-tech industries.

These industries absolutely cannot afford to have problems. If problems arise, the entire country will become unstable. Therefore, the government will definitely keep a firm grip on these industries; not just anyone can do them.

If you have connections in these areas and can get a share of the profits, you will definitely become rich and powerful very quickly.

For example, Li Chenghang and his wife work in the energy industry, and the window of opportunity I previously covered also falls under the energy industry.

These industries naturally possess a certain degree of monopoly. If you can find connections to create a loophole, you might earn in one go what an average person couldn't earn in a lifetime.

"I think I understand..." Mai Xiaoyu nodded thoughtfully: "Actually, those truly wealthy people are all engaged in this kind of industry, and they can't live without food, clothing, shelter and transportation!"

For example, so many supermarkets, farmers' markets, and grain and oil stores sell clothing and food;

Hu Haikong's real estate business, to put it bluntly, is about housing, while those who make cars and ships, to put it bluntly, are in the transportation sector!

As long as it's a basic industry like this, and not a state monopoly, the opportunities are huge, am I right?

"Yes, and also, you must not overlook another basic human need: the need for communication."

Communication is a fundamental human need, and telecommunications and the Internet fall into this category, fulfilling this need. These two industries are still in their infancy and will see tremendous growth in the future.

If you have the interest and resources in this area, pursuing these two careers would be an excellent choice.

Another very important point is that we need to broaden our horizons and understand the basic needs of clothing, food, housing, transportation, and communication more deeply, rather than just looking at the surface.

I'll use food as an example.

Food can refer to physical food or spiritual nourishment. Rice, noodles, grains, oil, and vegetables are physical food, while music, movies, TV series, games, and so on are spiritual nourishment.

Both are indispensable to humankind.

"If we take housing as an example, what other examples are there besides real estate?"

"There are many things to consider, such as renovation and design, various home appliances, and housekeeping services, all of which can be categorized as housing."

"Okay?"

"Tourism, aviation, public transportation, automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, shipbuilding, including electric vehicles or other means of transportation that may emerge in the future, can all be included in this industry."

"I understand now. Your explanation makes things much clearer! If it were you, what would you choose to do?"

"That depends on my purpose. Whether it's building a career or making money, I'll have different choices."

"How so?"

"If I were to build a career, I would choose the internet and mobile phone industries. If I just want to make a quick fortune, then that's a different approach."

"So what you really believe in is the communication-related industry, right?"

That's not entirely true.

My decision to pursue this path wasn't solely based on its promising future; more importantly, these industries are relatively new, and the government is likely to regulate rather than monopolize them, leaving immense room for growth.

"If you wanted to make quick money, what would you do?"

"It's very simple. Find a relatively new concept, attract some investment, then hype up the concept endlessly, enter the capital market as quickly as possible, and finally wield the sickle, harvest the profits, and leave."

……

Is this a good idea?

"It's not good, but it's really fast. We might have to use this method if we want to deal with the Abyss."

But I digress. Let's get back to choosing an industry.

Once you have a clear understanding of various industries, you can choose which industry to enter based on your own characteristics and preferences.

In this process, my advice is that you should try to choose industries that you are familiar with to enter. When facing unfamiliar fields, you must be extra careful.

Just like when you go to an unfamiliar place on a mission, the first thing you need to do is familiarize yourself with the environment. If you are not familiar with the environment, it will be difficult to win the battle.

Secondly, it's best to keep making money and pursuing hobbies separate.

If your primary goal is to make money, try to choose an industry that you don't particularly love, but also don't dislike.

Why is that?

"Because if you are too passionate about an industry, you will pour too much personal emotion into it;"

Once you invest too much emotion, it will affect your judgment and cause you to adhere to some inexplicable principles. As a result, you may violate business principles and fail to perform well.

But if you really hate doing something, don't do it, because you'll feel a strong resistance in your heart, and this resistance is impossible to eliminate, let alone do it well.

Of course, if you're a genius, then disregard what I said.

"This is so difficult!" Mai Xiaoyu said, frowning and pouting.

"Of course it's difficult! Making money isn't that easy!"

However, I have high hopes for you. You are now an excellent special security officer in the security department. You have reached the top in this industry, which means you have the ability to become a leader in the industry.

If you can excel in one industry, it's easier to excel in another. There's a complete difference between someone who has succeeded and someone who has never succeeded.

As long as you combine your own resources and strengths, I believe you will definitely succeed.

"So, what resources and advantages do you think I have in the business field?"

"I think your biggest advantage in business is knowing Mr. Chen Maogan. Mr. Chen is likely to come up with a brand new project to trap Xu Chonghua and the Abyss Organization."

This project absolutely cannot be just a facade, otherwise it won't fool these people. And you, Secretary Xiaoyu, are President Chen's secretary, the future board secretary, and one of the initial founders of the project.

The task is completed, but the project is still ongoing! Why don't you just take over?

Anyway, I most likely won't take this project. Then the chairmanship will be yours. Once you're chairman, you can recruit all those retired elites from the security department. Then who can compete with you?

"Yeah, how come I didn't think of that!" Mai Xiaoyu's eyes widened.

"So, stop messing around and don't overthink it. Just follow me and do your best. You can do it!"

"Yes, I'll do my best! I'll do my best!"

Mai Xiaoyu nodded seriously, then became a little lost in thought, perhaps envisioning a bright future.

An Xiaohai quickly grabbed his teacup and slipped away. If Mai Xiaoyu realized what was happening, he might get a beating!