Chapter 168 The Irreplaceable Kennard
Of course, life cannot always be smooth sailing, nor can it always be setbacks.
Although he encountered a bottleneck in the research and development of the engine, the bicycle that came with the engine gave him a big surprise with an astonishing sales volume that far exceeded Xu Yi's expectations.
Through seven consecutive days of advertisements and the promotion of the "Bonta Daily", when Kennard hosted another product launch of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce and announced that the bicycles were officially sold, it was only the first day, and the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce suddenly Received orders for a full 50,000 bicycles.
And a week later, that number was 100,000.
Xu Yi originally thought that bicycles were really incompatible with the Western fantasy world of Sainz Continent, which has magic, elves, and dwarves, so even if it was launched, it should not be very popular. The sales are so horrible.
You must know that because the cost of bicycles is not low, the price of bicycles by the New Flying Chamber of Commerce is not low.
This time, the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce has distinguished the products under its own name for the first time. The first batch of bicycles produced are divided into two categories: men's bicycles and women's bicycles. The price of men's bicycles is eight gold coins, and the price of women's bicycles is six. gold.
This price, even for the residents of Bangta City, whose income has increased a lot, can be considered very expensive, because buying a bicycle is likely to consume half a month's salary.
Not to mention that the monthly income of residents in other cities is far less than that of Bangta City.
However, when the bicycle was actually put on sale, both the residents of Bangta City and the residents of several surrounding cities flocked to this bicycle, and even went crazy for it.
The first batch of 10,000 bicycles prepared by the New Flying Chamber of Commerce in advance was originally intended to be sold out within a week, but it was sold out in one morning.
Looking at the large number of orders coming in next, Ankato, who was specially transferred by Xu Yi to be mainly responsible for the production tasks of this bicycle factory, didn't know whether to cry or laugh.
The New Flying Chamber of Commerce did not expect the sales of this bicycle to be so terrifying, so only one was prepared for the production line of the bicycle factory. Workers have only trained less than two hundred.
The factory's output is currently only about 5,000 vehicles per month.
Fulfilling the order for the remaining 90,000 bikes would be impossible even in a year.
Faced with this situation, Ankato and Sebas, as well as Heinze, who came back for the meeting, strongly suggested to Xu Yi to immediately add two production lines and continue to recruit workers. Good to meet the demand as soon as possible.
However, this proposal was opposed by Kennard.
"Everyone, please pay attention. This is the sales distribution map I made." Kennard hung a huge map on the board of the conference room and pointed to the dense red dots he drew on the map: " A red dot on it represents a thousand taels. If you look carefully, you can easily see a problem. That is, the orders we have received now are mainly concentrated in Bangta City and the surrounding cities, while in the farther cities local. Only the city of Anvilmar has more concentrated sales, as for the rest of the kingdom, it is very scattered."
Several other people in the conference room took a closer look at the map of the Kingdom of Lampari and found that Bangta City was almost completely covered by extremely dense red dots, and although there were also many red dots on the surrounding Karma City and Saltan City. It is obviously much sparser than Bangta City.
Apart from these three cities, the further away from Bangta City, the fewer red dots. Only in Anweimar City did the red dots become denser, but it was only roughly equivalent to Karma City and Saltan City, and still far less than Bangta City.
As for further out on the map, there are even occasional red dots or two. It means that the sales here are only one or two thousand.
"Seeing this sales distribution map, I think everyone should be very clear. Although the sales of bicycles exploded in the first week, we should also notice that ten days have passed since the first week. , but the sales volume has not even broken through 120,000. It can be seen that the current bicycle market is actually far less exaggerated than everyone thinks." Kennard said solemnly. "According to my estimation, after the initial outbreak period, the monthly sales will probably not exceed 5,000 units. So if you rashly increase the production line, it is actually a complete waste."
Ankato frowned: "It won't be that little, right? This thing is so popular in Bangta City and the surrounding cities, and even the people in Anweimar City like it so much, I think other places in the kingdom will definitely be as well. It's very popular. It shouldn't even be 5,000 cars."
"That's right, it's not so miserable." Heinze also said. "Kennard, Xu Yi has always praised you for your accurate judgment and long-term vision in front of me, but this time you may have misunderstood it. This bike sells so well in the front, and it won't be so miserable in the back."
Sebas didn't speak, just looked at Xu Yi, obviously wanting to hear his opinion.
Xu Yi didn't say anything, shook his head with a smile, and continued to look at Kennard, making it clear that everyone would continue to listen to what Kennard had to say.
Kennard was also rude, cleared his throat, and continued: "Ankato, Vice President Heinze, I can understand your thoughts, but the bicycle is not different from any kind of magical machinery that our chamber of commerce has produced before. Because the function of the bicycle is very significant, it can obviously improve the speed of people's travel, so as long as people who can't keep a horse and can't own a private carriage, they will generally have a great demand for bicycles."
"In that case, the future sales will only get higher and higher, why do you say it will become so little?" Ankato asked in confusion.
Kennard smiled slightly and replied: "There are actually two factors for buying and selling items. One is to look at his consumer demand, that is, whether he wants to buy this item. It depends on his spending power, that is, whether he can afford it. For bicycles, most people have this consumption demand. But...for the current Lampari Kingdom, most people do not have this. Spending power."
"Spending power?" Ankato and Heinze looked at each other, a little puzzled. "A men's bicycle is only eight gold coins, and a women's bicycle is only six gold coins. How can you afford it?"
"I understand." Kennard still didn't answer. Sebas nodded and said: "Yes, there are indeed many people who can't afford it. Ankato, Mr. Vice President, because you are in contact with Bangta City and Karma City all day long, the income is relatively high. So I forgot. In fact, in our Kingdom of Lampari, the vast majority of ordinary people are very poor. Like our Bangta City, a random ordinary person may earn more than ten gold coins per month. In fact, It is unique. So from the sales distribution map given by the general manager, we will find that the city of Bangta sells the most, even more than the city of Anweimar. Moreover, the city of Karma and the city of Saltan are also the same. The city of Anvimar is similar, because most of the people in Kalmar and Saltan are now working in the major chambers of commerce in our city of Bangta, and their monthly income is also higher than before. They can afford bicycles.”
Ankato and Heinze looked at each other, and after a while, they couldn't help nodding in unison.
They figured it out, and Sebas was right.
In fact, to put it bluntly, most parts of the Lampari Kingdom are very poor, and even people in many places can't even eat enough to eat, so how can they have the money to buy such a bicycle that costs several gold coins.
Even Bonta City looked like this a few years ago. Think about it, if the bicycle was launched three years ago, even if Heinze, the small owner of the grocery store, earns less than 100 gold coins a year, how could he be willing to buy a bicycle.
After thinking about this, the two felt a little weird.
According to the situation shown in this sales distribution map. Does it mean that the people of Bangta City are even richer than Anvilmar City?
how can that be! Anvilmar City is the capital of Lampari Kingdom!
"No doubt, this is the truth." Xu Yi smiled when he saw the stunned expressions on their faces. "There may not be as many big nobles and big businessmen in Bangta City as in Anweimar City, but if you talk about the income of ordinary people, it has indeed surpassed Anweimar City. There is another very important factor, that is, Bangta. People in the city have a high degree of recognition of our Xinfei Chamber of Commerce. As long as it is a product of our Xinfei Chamber of Commerce, people in Bangta City are now almost 100% trustworthy. As long as they know the function of bicycles, they will buy them as soon as possible. . As for people in other cities, you still have to wait and see."
"Well, Lord President is right." Kennard said. "If we advertise well in the future, I believe that the sales of bicycles will still increase. But it should not reach the level that requires us to add two more production lines, so I think it is better to hold off on this proposal."
Ankato and Heinze looked at each other and nodded.
"I agree." Sebas also said.
Kennard and a few others looked at Xu Yi, and Xu Yi smiled lightly: "This kind of business decision is made by the general manager, and I will not interfere."
Heinze gave Xu Yi a strange look, but didn't say much.
After the meeting, Heinze immediately found Xu Yi alone, frowned and asked worriedly, "Xu Yi, do you really plan to hand over the Chamber of Commerce to Kennard?"
"Why not?" Xu Yi asked with a smile. "Kennard's ability is believed to be clear to you now, do you think he is incompetent?"
"I'm not doubting his ability, it's just him...he is from the Emma family after all." Heinze sighed. "He will return to the Emma family sooner or later. If he is allowed to control the power of our chamber of commerce, I'm afraid... I'm afraid it will be detrimental to the chamber of commerce in the future."
"You're thinking too much." Xu Yi patted Heinze on the shoulder, motioning him to sit down and talk. "First of all, I have great confidence in Kennard's character. After working with him for so long, I understand that he is a very ideal person, and in our chamber of commerce, his ideal can be realized, so he has shown me many times, In the future, he will continue to work in our chamber of commerce, and he is unwilling to return to the Emma family."
"I'm afraid this is not something he can decide." Heinze pouted.
"What if he eventually returns to the Emma family?" Xu Yi still looked relaxed. "He's just the general manager and doesn't own any equity in our chamber of commerce, so he can only be in charge of operation and management, and he can't intervene in other aspects. Besides, it's hard for a general manager with such excellent abilities to find someone to replace him. And even if you find someone to replace him, how can you guarantee that the person who replaces him will not leave?"
Heinze thought about it and found that this is indeed a very inexplicable thing.
The current Xinfei Chamber of Commerce is no longer the small chamber of commerce that it used to be. With the expansion of its scale, there are many things that need to be dealt with. I want Xu Yi to take responsibility for everything as before, even if he is cut in half. not enough.
And Heinze also knew very well that his own abilities were limited, and he couldn't help Xu Yi at all in this regard.
After thinking about it for a long time, Heinze could only sigh and said helplessly: "Okay, that's all for now. But we should try to find more suitable people to help you in the future, in case Kennard suddenly leaves. Now, the Chamber of Commerce will probably fall into chaos."
Xu Yi immediately smiled with relief: "You finally understand, Heinze. The Chamber of Commerce cannot solve all problems by me alone. Only by involving more and more people in the management is the correct solution. show you something..."
Heinze took a document that looked like a plan handed over by Xu Yi, took a closer look, and found a large line of words on the title of the document.
"The reorganization plan of the New Flying Chamber of Commerce."