'Hey,' Jin Bao waved his hand in front of Feng Yiping's eyes, 'I'm talking to you, do you hear me?'
'I'm listening,' Feng Yiping blushed when he saw Liang Yonggao's girlfriend Xiao Cai's teasing eyes.
Just now, when I was thinking, I saw at the front desk a female exchange student who was casually dressed, with blonde hair and fair skin, and not bad features. Looking over, her face was unusually freckle-free, with a prominent bust and a curvy behind. She was buying coffee in Mandarin, which I could still understand, so I couldn't help but stare a few more times.
Anyway, nowadays, the majority of international students at school are still from South Korea, and it's really not common to see such a pretty European or American girl. Of course, she doesn't have to be an international student.
'You're looking at her with such a starry gaze, why don't you go up to her and ask for her number?' Xiao Cai said to Feng Yiping with a smile.
'No, I just think she looks a bit like a celebrity, but I can't think of which one for the moment,' Feng Yiping decided not to continue the conversation. 'I've read all these proposals,' he said, pointing to the pile of folders on the small table in front of them. They were everyone's proposals for various projects over the past while.
The tutor, Mr Jin, had mentioned it in particular, and Feng Yiping also wanted to use this method to unite some of the students and discover some suitable talent. Today, he took the time to discuss the plans made with everyone.
'Let's talk about them one by one. I don't think we need to consider a chain video store. The reasons are clear to everyone. You sell genuine products, right? They're so expensive, how many people will buy them? If you sell pirated copies, the risk is huge. If you get caught just once, the punishment will be enough. What do you think?'
Personally, Feng Yiping has never bought a legitimate disc since the internet became popular. What's more, it's not easy to buy a legitimate disc in an ordinary audio-visual store.
And he feels that those celebrities don't seem to expect to make much money from buying albums. They are actually similar to Feng Yiping's magazines. As long as they are famous, they can easily earn as much as most people earn in a lifetime by taking on just one commercial and participating in commercial performances from time to time, as long as they are popular for a year.
Unexpectedly, this plan, which he thought would be easy to agree on, was firmly opposed by Xiao Cai, the only woman in the group. There was no other reason for her opposition than the fact that it was another plan proposed by the girls after the bookstore.
They all felt that these two businesses had both a future and were elegant, and perhaps the key was in the elegance.
The bookstore plan was rejected by Feng Yiping in just a few words, so how could the audio-visual store plan be any different?
'In terms of the general direction, China's accession to the WTO is imminent. I believe that after joining the WTO, the country will increase its protection of intellectual property rights. At the same time, especially those consumers with class – that is, our main target customers – will definitely also increase their awareness in this area.
In addition, genuine audio-visual products, whether in terms of sound quality or picture quality, are several orders of magnitude better than pirated products, and we believe that people will pay for them.
Moreover, since most audio-visual stores mainly sell pirated products, this will in turn help high-end audio-visual stores like ours gain popularity.' When it comes to these opinions, Cai Xia doesn't have the gentleness of a Jiangnan girl at all, and she can't wait to roll up her sleeves.
Feng Yiping has a headache. He finds that he has misjudged the situation. He thought it would be an easy task, but he didn't expect to encounter such strong opposition from the start.
'I understand your thoughts. Let me put it bluntly. You want to do something and make some money, but you also want to do it in a more elegant, less vulgar way, right?
In fact, there are actually quite a lot of people like this in reality. Otherwise, why would it become sensational news when graduates from famous universities set up stalls to sell meat, no, pork, or open a snack bar? Even if their income is much higher than that of many of their classmates in foreign companies who may be working overtime and risk sudden death, they are still considered to be working in glamorous jobs.
'I think that starting a business as a student is to distinguish yourself from those who start businesses in society. There is nothing wrong with that,' said Xiao Cai.
'That's debatable,' Jinbao said. "Entrepreneurship, whether you're a college student or illiterate, ultimately has one goal: to make money. The way to make money is the best way, so what's the point of distinguishing between them?'
'Yes, what I just said may be a bit extreme, but if you take a good look at our proposal, it's really informative and really promising." Xiao Cai opened the proposal they had carefully prepared for them to take another look.
'The plan is very detailed and standardised, but personally I feel that what is lacking is data from on-site investigations. Okay, let's put the plan on hold for now. Take some time to visit a few audio-visual stores and conduct on-site investigations. If you still think it can work, we can discuss it again.' Feng Yiping used stalling tactics.
No one is visiting, so what's the point of perfecting all your plans for investment, procurement channels, and post-launch publicity?
'As for the lottery store proposal, I think it's fine for individuals to start their own business, but if you want to open multiple stores, you need to ask everyone if they have a strong relationship with the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the General Administration of Sport, otherwise you won't get the chance to open one store after another.' Feng Yiping's words actually rejected the proposal again.
As an individual investment, if you have connections and can find a good place to open several lottery stores, the profits are actually quite good. But it is not easy to expand, and to be honest, the requirements for opening a lottery store are not high, which does not fit their main objective.
Everyone unanimously approved of this plan, especially Xiao Cai, who thought that having girls sitting behind computers, mechanically helping people to play the lottery, was not the kind of business they had in mind.
'A fitness club is a good direction to go in, with a lot of room for future development. However, the investment is also large. First of all, the venue needs to be large, at least 800 to 1,000 square metres, if it's rented on the second floor, the rent will not be cheap.
There is also the main equipment. Let's just say a few things that everyone knows: cardio equipment, let's say treadmills and spinning bikes, 20 units, right? Add ellipticals and whatnot, at least 300,000 upwards. Add strength equipment, and combination equipment, and this is even more unpredictable. However, including furniture, all together, if you're tight, 500,000 should do.
Add in rent and renovation costs, and it's a tight 1 million. The investment is too high, and it will cost each of us nearly 20,000.
However, the advantage is that if it is run properly and there are many members, the money will come back quickly. All in all, this plan will be kept for the time being, and we will consider it again when our other projects pick up and we have an income. What do you all think?' Feng Yiping asked.
'I think it's fine. It's a big investment, so it's good to hold off for now. But, having heard what you said, I'm personally very interested. We can open one at that time, and let Xiao Cai take her classmates to come and patronise it more often. We won't have to worry about recruiting members.' Liang Yonggao expressed his opinion for the first time, and then was pinched hard by Xiao Cai.
'I think the bicycle store idea is good. Bicycles haven't been phased out even in the US, and there is a market for them, especially around schools. We could also consider a second-hand bicycle business, which doesn't require a lot of investment and is not ideal, but you won't lose much if you resell it.
In addition, our school is famous for its engineering department, and the members of the club come from all departments, such as Xiao Cai. We are very good at design. In the long run, we can pool our ideas and design one ourselves, and then commission a factory to produce it. What do you think?'
'I think that's a good idea. If possible, I can go back and organise my classmates to start designing a unique one,' Xiao Cai was very interested after hearing this.
Feng Yiping, who had too many plans in his head, wanted just this. He was really eager to recruit talented designers.
'The restaurant idea is also not bad. Don't underestimate it. Someone who can run a restaurant well is definitely an excellent manager. At the same time, the investment is not large and the risk is small. Not to mention anything else, just the 60-odd people in our club can patronise it and it can support a small restaurant.'
'Yes, this is a good idea. Not only does it train people and make money, it also solves our problem of where to eat.' Jinbao, the big-bellied man, is most interested in this.
'In the end, I still want to recommend the dry cleaning project I mentioned. The market prospects are good, the profits are good, and the investment is not large. Just open a flagship store first, and an investment of 300,000 is enough. Evenly split, that's less than 5,000 for each of us. What do you think?'
'It seems good, but I think it also needs the support of data from on-site investigations,' said Xiao Cai.
'No problem,' Feng Yiping patted Jin Bao's shoulder, 'the boss is working on it.'
...
What Feng Yiping didn't know was that, at the same time, in the county, the leaders were talking about him again.