He won 900 million in the lottery.

Chapter 163 Supply Chain 3

Having connections in the central government makes things easier.

This is called a relationship.

With the foundation of the previous company, the warehouse was directly expanded and leased on the South Outer Ring Road.

Rental fleet.

With enough money and the right connections, ZG's integrated warehousing, logistics, and distribution supply chain can be built.

I approached Zhou Fei: "Brother Fei, could you perhaps arrange a meeting with two supermarkets?"

The Zhou family's connections are incredibly strong; even if you don't respect the monk, you have to respect the Buddha.

Zhou Fei made a call to someone, and the deal was finalized in just a few words.

"That's all. The managers of the company's four supermarkets will be here this afternoon."

"Efficient enough."

in the afternoon.

The managers of the four supermarkets arrived on time.

Let me start with a brief introduction: "Good morning, everyone. Whatever your reasons for being here, please let me finish. My surname is Shen, and our company provides integrated warehousing, logistics, and distribution services. Of course, we also offer financial bridging. In short, we help supermarkets solve problems related to funding, products, warehousing, logistics, and cargo costs—all within our service scope."

The four bosses looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Mr. Shen, we were called here for no reason. We only came because we heard that it could solve our funding problems. We are not interested in your integrated warehousing, logistics and distribution service."

I snapped my fingers: "Bingo, if we're short on cash, let's talk about money. What's your surname, sir?"

"No need for formalities, my surname is Zuo."

"Mr. Zuo, you said you're short of money. Now I'm asking you, how much? All of you bosses are listening to my conversation with Mr. Zuo. If you feel that our company is of no use to you, you can get up and leave immediately after listening."

Mr. Zuo: "I'm short 100 million in working capital."

"What are you working capital for? Payments to suppliers? Rent? Or workers' wages?"

Mr. Zuo: "The company expanded last year, and part of the payment was used for goods. Now it's difficult to settle accounts with suppliers. If we don't settle accounts, they will stop supplying goods, which will affect my business."

Me: "Be more specific, what are the prices for each of those items?"

Mr. Zuo seemed annoyed by my questions: "We have rice, flour, and cooking oil, about 120 million."

Me: "I'll take care of the rice, flour, and cooking oil issues, and I'll also take care of the 120 million yuan funding, but Mr. Zuo, could you grant me one request?"

Mr. Zuo: "Mr. Shen, what do you say?"

Me: "I'll supply the rice, flour, and cooking oil! The price will be the same as your previous purchase price, or even lower, and the quality will remain the same, but the brand might need to be changed. Of course, I'll try my best not to change it!"

Mr. Zuo frowned: "Mr. Shen, this is no joke. It's not easy for supermarkets to establish trust and payment terms with suppliers. If you're just replacing a supplier for short-term gains, and then you quit, I'll be the one who suffers the loss."

Me: "You have the 120 million working capital. Provided it doesn't violate the agreement, the losses I incur from stopping supplies will be deducted from that 120 million. How about that?"

After thinking for a long time, Mr. Zuo couldn't find anything that would be detrimental to him, so he nodded with some doubt.

I looked at the other three supermarket managers and said, "If you have the same problem as Mr. Zuo, I will offer the same solution: I will pay for it, supply the goods, and cover the payment terms. The price and quality of the goods will remain the same as those of the previous suppliers."

"My payment is for beverages."

"Mine is also for beverage payments."

"Mine is frozen food."

Listening to the four people's accounts, it's clear that the supermarket's main pain point is usually the payment cycle and difficulty in cash flow.

"Add Pan Ling on WeChat. Our finance department will send her the purchase orders and supplier settlement statements for the past six months for all your loss-making, profitable, and niche SKUs. The company will verify the data's accuracy. Next week, we'll be holding a supermarket industry seminar, which will not only solve your cash flow problems but also allow me to slightly adjust the supply prices, so you'll earn even more!"

"real?"

"Alright, Mr. Shen, please remember to let us know when the time comes!"

That's how the supermarket supply business works.

If the quality is the same, use whichever is cheaper.

At the same price, use whichever one has better quality.

Given the same quality and price, choose the one with the longer payment terms.

The relationship with the leader should be explained first.

It also aligns with their own interests.

After the owners of the four supermarkets returned, they took the matter seriously and soon sent over the SKU list for the next six months, as well as the settlement statements from the supermarkets to the suppliers.

"Manager Xu, could you spend a few days identifying the profitable, customer-driving, and loss-making SKUs in the supermarket and create a database analysis? We'll contact several more supermarkets next week, and you can then conduct a unified review."

"Yes, Mr. Shen."

A week later.

Zhou Fei brought someone to the company.

"Tianyi, let me introduce you. This is Pang Kai, Director Pang, from the Market Supervision and Management Bureau."

"Young Master Shen. Young Master Zhou mentioned you several times before we came. You are truly young and promising."

The words "Young Master Shen" and "Young Master Zhou" made me realize that Pang Kai must be a distinguished guest of the Zhou family.

"Thank you very much for your cooperation, Director Pang. I'm new here and haven't paid you a visit yet, which is my fault. I'll treat you to drinks tonight."

"Of course, of course."

Pang Kai took the lead and found 14 supermarkets, all of which were individually owned and not chain stores.

I can understand that. Behind every chain store, who doesn't know a leader?

meeting room,

The managers of 14 supermarkets were sitting below.

Director Pang of the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau was in the first row.

He doesn't need to say anything; his presence and sitting here says it all.

ZG Company does have talented people. Xia Xing, the business manager, made a PPT that stood out among everyone in the business department.

"Most of the business owners here run small to medium-sized supermarkets. The pain points of small and medium-sized supermarkets are that they have weak purchasing power and high costs for some low-selling products, chaotic warehouse management, and rely entirely on manual inventory. Popular items often face insufficient inventory, while poorly selling items often have excess inventory. This not only wastes warehouse space but also requires price reductions, resulting in product spoilage. According to the operating principle of supermarket retail, not making a profit is equivalent to losing money. In fact, some items are sold at a loss."

The bosses below nodded in agreement. The PPT presentation was very accurate, and these were basically the shortcomings of small and medium-sized supermarkets.

Seeing the boss's reaction, Xia Xing confidently continued, "Operating small and medium-sized supermarkets involves multiple aspects such as sales, purchasing, warehousing, personnel, and finance. Often, store managers' energy is consumed by non-core tasks, staff efficiency is low, labor costs are high, and it's common for one person to wear many hats, while wages can't be kept up. This affects employee motivation and work performance, thus impacting store sales."

I was sitting down there too. Xia Xing's report was based on an in-depth investigation of the supermarket.

Every word he uttered struck a chord with the business owners present.

After explaining the pain points, the supermarket owner felt empathy.

Xia Xing: "So, from now on, our company will be dedicated to solving this headache for all of you bosses!"