Dongguan shoe factory owner: difficult to do business

He often heard complaints from the owners of private enterprises: “Who wants to do business? They are more tired than donkeys and their profits are thinner than paper.” However, in the eyes of Chen Zonghou, owner of Kunhong Shoes Factory in Houjie Town, Dongguan, even if it is difficult, business Still have to do.

Chen Zonghou's business story is not complicated. In 2009, Chen Zonghou, who had been working hard for more than 10 years in Houjie footwear trading company, was determined to start his own business with 500,000 yuan in savings and founded "Kunhong Shoes Factory." Since 2009, due to a year-long business environment, Chen Zonghou witnessed the demise of numerous shoe factories in Houjie Town. However, relying on his many years of accumulated professional experience and contacts, Chen Zonghou worked hard to create his own world in Houjie.

"I can't make a list on Houjie, and certainly no one can pick it up unless they are willing to lose money." Chen Wenzong, who looks good, smoked a cigarette and said lightly.

Make profit and earn money, "You can take a taxi to Sanjie Comprehensive Market Sanitation Station on Houjie Street." One day in mid-July, Chen Zonghou told reporters the position of the shoe factory on the phone.

The reporter went to the Santun Comprehensive Market Health Center and there was a small, inconspicuous building - if it wasn't the recruitment notice on the security door on the first floor, it was hard to find this is a shoe factory with more than 40 people: the second floor, The third floor is the production workshop and the fourth floor is the canteen. The office of the boss Chen Zonghou is located next to the workshop on the second floor: in the 20-square-meter office, only a desk, a black leather sofa and other simple furniture are placed. A plaque of “big show” is the only one in the office. Decorations.

There is no computer on his desk. He spent most of his time working on a sofa and receiving visitors. When the reporter entered the office, there were just guests from shoe factories, trading companies and suppliers. The shoe factory came to Chen Zonghou for help because of business difficulties.

The guests of the trading company said that they had just received an order from an Italian customer. A pair of shoes for 45 yuan was due to arrive at the time of delivery, but the schedule could not be reached. This does not have to be sent out to Chen Zonghou's factory. The price given to Chen is a pair of shoes with a processing fee of 10 yuan, a total of 2000 pairs, delivered the day after tomorrow.

As the current order is not saturated, Chen Zonghou promised to help. "This price gives us a small profit, but this shoe factory is definitely going to lose money." He told reporters that raw materials, transportation and other costs need 40 yuan, if their factories can all be made, but also basically no money to make . But you can't do it yourself. It's definitely going to lose money.

"This is a common phenomenon in shoe factories, completely disregarding their own production capacity, desperately ordering at low prices, and ultimately only lose money." He said, "The company is in a tough job, need to take care of workers, hope that the back of Can only make money."

The supplier customer is Chen Zonghou's friend for many years. He has been in the footwear industry for many years. This time, he hopes Chen Zonghou will help him out. “There is a shoe factory owner who has no orders and wants to use my technology and resources to get me into stocks, help with orders and stick with it. Do you think this can be done?”

Chen Zonghou immediately said: "You don't have capital, you can't control finances. It's very difficult to do it. And you don't know how long it will last." At the end, he asked, "The boss who last brought you in was not running. ?"

Difficult business During the interview, reporters continued to have guests coming and going out of Chen Zonghou's office. This time they came to Chen to ask for money. They just helped a group of shoes in the Kunhong shoe factory last month. Chen Zonghou told his wife in charge of finances to clear more than 20,000 yuan.

Chen Zonghou said that the shipment was started at the end of June, and many links such as hot drilling, shoe uppers and so on were made by suppliers, and they were formally shipped on July 3, and the factory received an estimate until August 10. And after July 3, there will be a lot of money from suppliers before the goods are paid.

“Go and take you to see the situation of our suppliers.” Chen Zonghou took the reporter to the factory residence where they helped the car's uppers. This is a typical home-style workshop. On the first floor of a residential building, there are 3 sewing machines. 7 workers use the glue, scissors, hammers and other tools to manually make the uppers.

“Many of our suppliers are home-based workshops, two or three small machines, investing 1 to 20,000 yuan, and employing 5 or 6 temporary workers. They are very flexible and have a lot of busy seasons. They can make money. Their prices are not It's easy to press, because they can't do it at any time. If they don't have a high price list, they won't pick it up. And we can't do it. We have so many machines and employees to raise." Chen Zonghou believes that the shoe factory is sandwiched between products. The price can't rise, the cost price can't press.

The next day, when reporters came to the office on the second floor of Kunhong Shoes Factory, Chen Zonghou was collecting employee's ID card.

"According to the government's requirements, it is necessary to give new employees a chance to do it. It has been urged that no one should do it for a long time. The staff's attitude is that if they are asked to pay, they will not do it." Chen Zonghou shook his head and said, "So the money is all ours. Come out, one person more than 4,000 a year."

An objective factor of Chen Zonghou's courtesy to employees is that it is really difficult for employees to recruit. Therefore, to retain employees, the treatment has to be improved. “We are all fixed wages, and we are still paying wages in the off-season.”

On the recruitment notice on the first floor of the company, the reporter saw that the frontline workers were paid between 2,500 and 3,000 yuan, including food and bag, 80 yuan per month for full attendance, and a year-end bonus for working full year. The average monthly wage for workers is more than 3,000 yuan, which is about 15% higher than last year."

On the way back from the shoe upper factory, Chen Zonghou received a phone call from a trade company. He excitedly told reporters: “There is a big bill to quote and see if you can win!”

Into the trading company, the trading company boss is using English to communicate with foreign customers. After sitting for a while, the boss brought a pair of women's casual leather shoes with red linen to Chen Zonghou. “You calculate and come up with a price.”

Chen Zonghou picked up his shoes, looked at the inside and outside of the shoes, and began to skillfully calculate the price. In less than five minutes, he wrote a detailed quotation on paper: $17.6 for a face, $8 for a face, $1.37 for a lunch, and two 11.2 yuan, logo 3 yuan, toe 3 yuan, bottom 12 yuan, outsole 8 yuan, the other 10 yuan, plus artificial, hydropower, rent and profits, to 110 yuan a pair can do.

"It's too expensive. This client and I reported $80," said the trading company's proprietress. "I let the company take charge of the nuclear price and count it for you."

Afterwards, the employees of the trading company began to pay a one-off price with Chen Zonghou and kept the prices down. After several rounds of confrontation, Chen Zonghou showed a showdown to the boss: "We offer the lowest 100 yuan."

“This price is too high for us to report to our customers. Huidong’s offer is much cheaper,” the boss said hard.

In the end, the two parties failed to reach an agreement and a large single slipped from Chen's fingers.

Chen Zonghou told reporters that this single must be $95 to be able to do it, and if it is lower than this price, it will lose money. Now the prices of customers are very low, and last year's order prices this year have barely risen. "We are also not good at raising prices and we are afraid of losing orders."

Huidong County, Huizhou is taking away a lot of Houjie orders with a low price. Chen Zonghou told reporters that Huidong’s labor is cheap, so it is possible to accept orders at a low price. “Laowai customers also know this, but now Europe and the United States have a bad economy. Their customers can only accept this price, and Houjie can’t do it. They get Huidong to do it.”

The boss of Pao Lu talked about the Rongye shoe factory that had just closed in early July this year.

This factory established by the Taiwanese boss has been in Houjie for nearly 10 years and is a large factory with more than 200 people. However, not long ago, the boss suddenly ran off and owed more than 7 million yuan in arrears. This became a hot topic for the owners of the Houjie shoe factory.

Regarding the reasons for the boss’s running, He Ying, the owner of Open Source Trading (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., who had previously worked with Rongye, told reporters last year that foreign customers were flying orders, and the company’s capital chain had problems and had to borrow it. . This year, the shoe factory does not make money. It can't fill in the gaps, and it can only run.

He Ying said that at present the factories are very fragile. The exchange rate of the *** exchange rate has risen. The wages of workers have risen and the cost has been rising. However, the price of orders has not risen. Under all kinds of pressures, the funds are very tight. Once customers fly orders and banks fail to make loans, they will have difficulty turning over.

According to Chen Zonghou, the main factors that can survive today are large factories and small factories. “Small factories have good U-turns, and large factories have government support.” The middle-sized shoe factories sandwiched between them are in desperate life, with many equipment and workers. The cost is higher than that of a small factory, and there is no government support or banking**.

"We owe two months' rent and two months' wages." "After the Taiwanese boss ran on the road, he was told to follow him for many years in the evening and let them quickly pull the machine out to sell it. It was also the final account of these veterans. "The bosses of Houjie Town came together to render various details. But inside, they must also be worried about their destiny. Who knows who the next one will be?