sbdcsierra Chapter 31 The Wholesalers' Fate
Chapter 31 The Wholesalers' Fate
Seeking advice from Factory Director Mao could wait; she had an urgent matter to attend to right now—she simply couldn't handle it all by herself.
If a store can sell 1000 orders a month, it means that she has to handle thousands of buyer inquiries by herself. These inquiries can pop up anytime, anywhere, regardless of day or night.
Besides that, she was also busy packing and shipping orders. With over a thousand packages, she often made mistakes in the rush, and filling out the wrong waybills was a common occurrence. Several negative reviews on the shop were due to incorrect order addresses, causing buyers to miss deliveries.
So the question is, how much should you spend to hire a customer service representative?
In 2008, the average monthly salary in Hangzhou was around 1,500 yuan. Upon seeing this figure, Yang Xiaofang gasped, feeling a pang of heartache. She could only earn 5,000 yuan a month working herself to the bone. Was it worthwhile to allocate 1,500 yuan to hiring people? Would it be a worthwhile expense?
At that moment, Yang Xiaofang suddenly understood how her mother had made her work for free at the stall when she was a child.
It turns out that business owners, deep down, can't help but want to cut costs.
Even though it hurt, she had no choice but to spend the money. As the shop's business grew, she knew she would eventually break down if she continued to take on multiple jobs.
After deciding to hire, Yang Xiaofang's first thought was of her mother. Her family had been in the wholesale business for many years, and it was doing quite well; her mother had accumulated a considerable pool of reliable human resources.
Yang Xiaofang was thinking about whether she could ask her mother to help find an honest, hardworking, and reliable employee, preferably a woman in her forties or fifties. That way, she could further negotiate the salary and keep it around 1,100 or 1,200 yuan per month.
Thinking of this, Yang Xiaofang gave a bitter smile.
Just a few months ago, she complained that her mother paid the store's employees too low wages, below the market average, and called her a complete capitalist. She never imagined that in just a few months, her views would undergo such a dramatic change.
Having decided on her goal, Yang Xiaofang went to a jewelry store and spent 800 yuan to buy a gold ring before returning home.
The wholesale stall at home was bustling with people. A middle-aged woman was sitting on a chair at the stall, leisurely watching TV.
Yang Xiaofang stepped forward and deliberately raised her voice, saying, "Mom, I've come to see you! Aren't you surprised? Aren't you surprised?"
The middle-aged woman was startled. She looked up and stared at Yang Xiaofang, her brows furrowing instantly, her eyes filled with concern: "Girl, how come you've lost so much weight, and you have such heavy bags under your eyes? I haven't seen you around lately, where have you been having so much fun?"
Yang Xiaofang replied confidently, "I didn't go crazy having fun, I went to make money!"
As she spoke, she knelt down beside her mother, took a red jewelry box from her handbag, and slowly opened it. A gleaming gold ring lay on the red velvet cloth, exceptionally eye-catching.
"Mom, I made money running my own business! I earned five thousand yuan a month. As soon as I got the money, I rushed to the jewelry store to pick out a gift for you. How about that? Surprised? Touched?"
The woman was indeed overjoyed, but along with her gratitude came greater worry. She frowned and pressed, "Xiaofang, what kind of business did you start that earns five thousand yuan a month?"
Her concerns were not unfounded. She knew her daughter too well; she was always lazy and loved to eat. Given her temperament, it was hard to believe that she could earn five thousand yuan steadily.
Yang Xiaofang pouted, looking somewhat aggrieved, and said, "Mom, you look down on me too much! This is money I earned honestly through hard work!"
Then, Yang Xiaofang recounted in detail her experiences of running a Taobao store selling stockings and working day and night for the past month.
After listening carefully to her daughter's story, Yang's mother said with a face full of relief, "It's the stockings you mentioned to me last time. You said they were selling very well online, but I didn't pay much attention to it at the time."
Yang Xiaofang nodded in agreement.
Yang's mother said with relief, "That's amazing, truly amazing. I'll accept this ring without any worries."
Yang Xiaofang chuckled and said, "Mom, I want to ask you for a favor."
Yang's mother paused, then pushed the gift back, saying, "This gift is too hot to handle. Tell me what it is first."
Yang Xiaofang pushed the gift back, and the mother and daughter passed it back and forth, putting on a show of maternal love and filial piety. She smiled and said, "Mom, it's nothing serious, don't worry. It's just that I'm really too busy to manage everything by myself, and I was wondering if you could introduce me to a reliable auntie to help me out."
Mother Yang nodded knowingly: "I happen to know an older woman who came from Sichuan to work. She used to work for me for many years. A few days ago, her daughter-in-law gave birth, so she went back home to take care of the baby for a while. Now she's back looking for work. I don't have many positions available for her, so I'll introduce her to you. Please don't mistreat her."
Yang Xiaofang patted her chest and assured her, "Don't worry, Mom, I definitely won't mistreat her."
Yang Xiaofang asked for her aunt's contact information and then got up to leave.
After she left, Yang's mother couldn't wait to put on the gold ring and turned to Aunt Lin at the next stall, showing it off: "Old Lin, look at my ring, isn't it beautiful?"
Aunt Lin rolled her eyes and said, "I heard that, I heard that. Your daughter earns money to give to you, that's all."
Yang's mother said proudly, "You don't know, do you? Let me tell you, my daughter opened a Taobao store and earns five thousand yuan a month! She can support herself now and is so filial that she specially spent money to buy me this ring."
Aunt Lin looked helpless and could only listen silently to her nemesis nagging and rambling in her ear.
That evening, Yang's mother specially took her daughter home for dinner and introduced her to the aunt from Chuancheng.
After finishing all that, Yang Xiaofang returned to her place and took a rare half-day off. She was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally, after a month of hard work, and just wanted to rest.
At the dinner table, Yang's mother suddenly asked, "I took a look at your Taobao store when I had some free time, and the photos are really nice. By the way, what's the wholesale price of these stockings you sell?"
Yang Xiaofang raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong, Mom? You want to get into wholesale too?"
Yang's mother nodded and said frankly, "It's foolish not to make money when you can. I originally thought online business was unreliable and was afraid you'd be scammed by your bad friends, so I didn't think about getting involved. But now it seems that the quality of these stockings is indeed good, and they have the potential to become a bestseller, so of course, your mother wants to make some money too."
Yang Xiaofang said, "Mom, the wholesale price for these stockings is 100 pieces or more, at 10 yuan a pair. If you can wholesale 1,000 pieces, you should be able to negotiate the price with the factory manager, and maybe you can get it down by another yuan."
Yang's mother clicked her tongue in surprise: "Ten yuan a pair at wholesale price? That's so expensive! Xiao Fan, you weren't taking a cut, were you?"
"That's not true." Yang Xiaofang quickly explained, "This is a high-end brand product exclusively supplied to Europe and America. Its production cost is not low, and you can't find another source of the same product in the entire market."
Upon hearing this, Yang's mother's eyes lit up with great interest, and she immediately decided, "Alright, Mom will take a hundred pairs to test the waters first."