Chapter 502 Opportunities in the Medical Industry
"Why do you feel that there are so many people wearing masks?" Yang Wendong asked with a feeling of discomfort in his heart.
Liu Huayu replied: "Yang Sheng, I heard that there are more people getting colds recently. It may be due to the change of seasons, plus it rains for a while and is sunny for a while, and the temperature changes too much. Basically, it happens every spring and autumn. This year It seems a little more serious.”
"Is it serious this year?"
Yang Wendong immediately thought of something not good, that is, the influenza was coming.
In human history, the most severe influenza was in 1918. It broke out in the United States and then spread around the world as the US military went to Europe. However, the Spanish media was more honest and was the first to announce this large-scale epidemic. Then the virus It was named by the area.
This flu killed more people than World War I, and even World War I ended in a hurry due to its influence;
After the Spanish Flu, there were two other major influenza outbreaks in human history. One was in 1957, and Yang Wendong may have had the same flu before he traveled through time; the other was in 1968.
Of course, the scale of these two events was far lower than that of 1918, but they still caused more than one million deaths. This is the data after insufficient statistical power in this era.
Yang Wendong also knows about this, but he doesn’t know the specifics. Is it going to start now?
"Yang Sheng?"
Seeing that his boss hadn't spoken for a long time, Liu Huayu reminded him.
"It's okay, then let's leave it like this here. We will develop the supermarket sector well, expand the number of stores and optimize the procurement chain. Our goal is various countries in Southeast Asia." Yang Wendong put aside other things in his mind and said.
If any large supermarket wants to gain a foothold internationally, it must have a basic base; Wal-Mart and Costco have a basic base in the United States, and the same is true for several European companies, but historically, Southeast Asia did not. Southeast Asia is more bulky, with individual countries separated by oceans.
Historically, many international giants also wanted to enter supermarkets here. Although they have established a foothold, no one has formed a continent-wide advantage. There is not even such a supermarket chain group in Southeast Asia;
Distance, ocean, culture, language, law and other factors make this market very difficult to conquer. Any international giant can only have advantages in one or two places, but cannot be comprehensive.
Yang Wendong also knows that this is very difficult, but he cannot stop doing business just because it is difficult. He must give it a try. If it doesn't succeed, he can at least capture part of the market.
Liu Huayu agreed: "Okay, once I confirm the situation in Malaysia, I will prepare a detailed investment plan."
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded.
He basically won't discuss these specific matters with his subordinates, not even himself, and both of them have so much property, he will not participate in such things;
As the boss, he only needs to decide whether to invest and how much to invest, and then his subordinates will put forward different suggestions for him to choose and decide. Unless an investment involves the development plan of the entire group, then he will be deeply involved.
At noon, after eating a simple dumpling at Changxing Plaza nearby, Yang Wendong arranged a convoy and set off to Shatin.
"Yang Sheng." Seeing the boss coming, Zhou Haoran naturally came out to greet him in person.
Yang Wendong smiled and said: "I'm here to take a look at the operation of the factory, and then I have two things to discuss with you."
"Okay, please come this way." Zhou Haoran said with a smile.
Afterwards, he took Yang Wendong and his party to visit several nearby factories, including grain, grain processing, ham sausage, instant noodles, sugar, beverage and other factories;
Although I only looked around each house, there were so many of them that it still took me 2 hours.
There is no big problem. Now all factories are producing at full capacity, and the ham sausages with insufficient production capacity are still expanding.
"How many employees do these factories have now?" Yang Wendong asked.
Zhou Haoran said: "There are almost 8,000 people in total. Among them, the instant noodles, ham sausages and Pepsi-Cola OEM factories have the largest number of people. These three companies have the best business, especially the ham sausages. They have been increasing production capacity in the past two years, but it is still not enough. Japan , the United States, and Europe are all in high demand.”
"Normally, it took several years for sticky notes to keep up with the production capacity." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Everyone can eat your ham sausage. The demand is much higher than that of sticky notes."
"Yes." Zhou Haoran added: "But many countries now have similar products, and they are also competing for the market. But in the short term, the entire market is still on the rise."
Yang Wendong thought for a while and said: "Countries like Europe, the United States and Japan have good economic conditions. Although they have strong consumption power, they have a relatively high choice, not only competitors, but also other foods;
I think you can try to focus on developing the Southeast Asian market. Although consumption in these places is poor, many people have not eaten many good things because of this. Ham sausage or convenience food are delicacies to them. And I am optimistic about the future development speed of many countries in Southeast Asia. If we open up the market here early and gain brand reputation, then their economy will improve in the future, and we can enjoy great dividends. ”
This logic does not require much explanation, just look at Master Kong in history.
In the 1990s, people in mainland China had just reached the level where they could eat enough, but they didn't eat anything else. Then Master Kong's braised beef instant noodles became an instant hit, earning billions in a few years.
Today's economies in Southeast Asia are different, but some areas can be compared to the mainland in the 1980s and 1990s. The only problem is that they are too fragmented and have different languages, which has caused difficulties and high costs in corporate brand operations.
"Okay, I have been cooperating with Changxing Trading to develop the market in Southeast Asia." Zhou Haoran replied.
Yang Wendong added: "The Southeast Asian market is also the market we will focus on exploring in the next ten years. The first thing I want to tell you is also related to Southeast Asia, Malaysia."
Zhou Haoran also listened to the boss's description, and after he finished speaking, he said: "Yang Sheng, the sugar industry in Malaysia has just begun to develop. I heard that the government there is planning to focus on developing this industry. If we invest in building a sugar factory in the past, it will definitely be very popular." A good deal.
However, I don’t think it is necessary for a beverage factory. The quality requirements are very high. It is safer to place it in places like Hong Kong or Singapore where the per capita cultural level is higher. ”
"Okay, let's build a sugar factory first." Yang Wendong nodded and said: "The sugar production there is definitely much cheaper than in Hong Kong, and it happens to be able to do export business to many countries."
Zhou Haoran said: "Then I will also send people to Malaysia to conduct an investigation."
"The factory should be built in Kuala Lumpur. The capital will always be much safer." Yang Wendong added.
Although the core purpose of its factory is to build its own industry, it also hoards land to make huge profits without affecting itself. Even if it does not develop it in the future, it can just sell the land directly, just like the original Shao in Hong Kong history. Rong Iron and Steel Company directly sold its factory land to Henderson Land for RMB 8 billion in the 1990s. It is estimated that Shaorong Iron and Steel Company may not have made so much money after decades of operation.
As for Southeast Asia, he is not very familiar with real estate fluctuations. Unlike Hong Kong, he knows everything clearly. So just be conservative and just choose the capital. As long as the country's economy takes off, the land price in the capital will be guaranteed. This is an economic law.
Zhou Haoran agreed: "Okay."
Yang Wendong continued: "The second thing is your medical device factory. Is the main business now still band-aids and bandages?"
Many of his subsidiaries will also develop their own businesses. Yang Wendong will not interfere in this. Anyway, he will vigorously support them if they succeed. After all, such a large consortium cannot rely on Yang Wendong alone. Maybe his subordinates try. An industry is successful.
This is also similar to the future venture capital model. If you invest in a hundred Internet companies, if one company makes a profit, it will be a bloody profit; of course, because it is your own industry, you will not really cast the net casually, and there are possibilities. Marching again.
"Yes, there are only these two businesses at present, but the scale is not large. Last year's turnover was only a little over 2 million. This is thanks to the strong channels of Changxing Trading." Zhou Haoran was a little confused as to why the boss suddenly asked this.
A factory with an industrial scale of 2 million is considered good in Hong Kong, but within the Changxing Group and even Watsons, it is far behind;
However, it can also be profitable in itself, and the market is huge, so just keep it up for now. There may be opportunities to grow bigger in the future. This is also the group's internal operating philosophy.
Yang Wendong asked again: "Have you ever thought about doing anything else?"
"After thinking about it, we can actually do a lot of medical equipment, but we don't have any advantages, including bandages and band-aids, so the results are very average." Zhou Haoran added.
"This business has just started, and foreign competitors are very strong, so it's normal for it not to be big." Yang Wendong nodded, and said: "The second thing I came to see you about today is about this. I want you to Start making masks here.”
In industries without technology or creativity, it is difficult to compete with established companies, even if the price is cheap. Hong Kong's industry has developed for decades and labor costs are low enough, but in the end most factories will be reduced to doing work for others. Working part-time, only a few can build their own brand.
"Mask? Is it because there are more colds recently?" Zhou Haoran asked: "My son has also caught a cold recently. They said that many classmates in their school have also caught a cold."
"Yes, I think the demand in this area may always exist in the future." Yang Wendong nodded and said: "In addition, I will also ask Changxing Trading to fully expand the channels in the mask market. You can rest assured to produce."< br>
The 1968 influenza pandemic will last for 2 years. Although we don’t know what will happen in the process, when this happens, the requirements for basic masks must be very high.
If you produce your own masks, you can at least reduce the price within Hong Kong and benefit the Chinese in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia;
From the perspective of my own interests and the safety of most ordinary people, this business is a good deal. It may save some people's lives invisibly, but no one knows it.
It's just that there's no way to say this.
"Okay, the main material of masks is gauze, and there are a lot of them in Hong Kong." Zhou Haoran said: "It is not difficult for us to produce them in Hong Kong, and some factories in Hong Kong are also producing them."
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of chapter)