Chapter 296: The Linchuan Business Group

“Greetings to the leaders of Linchuan City and esteemed seniors from all walks of life. I’m Jiang Qin, an ordinary 19-year-old college entrepreneur.”

“In the first half of this year, my group-buying company luckily achieved some unremarkable results, giving me this opportunity to stand here and show off. In truth, my heart is filled with trepidation.”

“I don’t consider myself a success. I’m just a lucky one who caught the internet wave.”

“Retail and service industries have always been traditional, existing since ancient times. But when tied to the internet, it became group-buying.”

On August 5th, the 15th day of the 6th lunar month, Wednesday, a seminar on optimizing industrial structure and promoting industrial upgrading officially commenced in the Linchuan Municipal Government conference hall.

The meeting room was filled with Linchuan’s outstanding entrepreneurs, all in their 30s to 50s, with shiny party emblems on their chests. They sat solemnly and seriously, nodding, shaking their heads, frowning and looking surprised from time to time.

But the person speaking on stage looked very young, with a face that even had a tinge of youthfulness, appearing to be only 18 or 19 years old, completely like a college student.

Young as he was, this person had great control over the venue.

Even with Linchuan’s top leaders sitting in the front row, he remained unflustered, his voice rising and falling, firmly grasping the rhythm of the entire meeting in his hands.

At that moment, everyone’s eyes were focused on him, including the waitresses serving tea.

“Yueyue, why is your face so red? Do you have a crush on him?”

A ponytailed waitress couldn’t help whispering.

“What? I’m so embarrassed. When Mr. Jiang arrived earlier, I thought he was our new colleague. I told him to stand aside and adjust the microphone for the speaker. Everyone laughed at me.”

The bun-haired waitress standing in the southeast corner bit her lip, her cheeks burning.

“Oh? You didn’t get scolded?”

“No, he was quite polite and even told me to call him by his nickname, Azu.” The bun-haired waitress’s cheeks turned even redder.

The ponytailed waitress giggled softly: “It’s not your fault. Mr. Jiang so young, who would’ve thought he’s a big boss specially invited by the leaders.”

“Not just looks young, he really is young. I heard he just turned 19.”

“What?”

“You know about group-buying? The one with ads all over the city recently? I heard he single-handedly started it as a college entrepreneurship project.”

The bun-haired waitress spoke while gazing at the young man on stage speaking fluently without notes. Suddenly recalling his warm and gentle smile like sunshine, softly telling her he was here for the meeting, her heart began to race uncontrollably.

Combined with his current imposing and eloquent demeanor, exuding elegant confidence, the bun-haired waitress couldn’t resist, her shapely stockinged legs rubbing together uncontrollably.

At the same time, Jiang Azu’s voice continued to resound throughout the conference room.

“TV stations seek ratings, advertising seeks exposure, and the new business model in the internet era is actually the conversion of traffic.”

“Why do I say Zhihu is number one in the world?”

“Because Zhihu itself is a vehicle for traffic. It has popularity, spread, and entertainment value. In other words, it’s a huge funnel that can pour all of the internet’s traffic into our plate.”

“And in the future internet era, traffic is cold, hard cash.”

“You should all know, Linchuan has a roast duck restaurant that’s super popular now. The boss even drives a BMW. But half a year ago, he had trouble paying rent.”

“What caused this change? It’s because he got the title of Linchuan Roast Duck NO.1 on the group-buying platform.”

“But in fact, this roast duck restaurant’s location is remote and the decor isn’t very refined. So why is it suddenly sought after by everyone? It’s actually because of this title. This title is traffic guidance, letting good wine no longer fear deep alleys.”

“I know all the bosses present are building your own brands, upgrading services while sparing no effort to improve product quality. But everyone feels powerless when it comes to expanding beyond Linchuan City.”

“In this era, monks from outside can’t recite scriptures well, because locals in other places only consume brands they’ve heard of, making it seem like local brands can only survive locally.”

“For example, General Manager Liu who runs a fast-food chain uses the best oil and freshest meat patties with an excellent taste. But after half a year of external promotion, six out-of-town branches have closed.”

“We have good things but can’t send them out, actually because the alley is too deep, diluting the fragrance of the wine.”

“Everyone can treat their brand like that roast duck shop and think, what do we need most now?”

He Yijun slapped his thigh: “Traffic? It’s traffic, right? Truly eye-opening!”

Jiang Qin nodded: “Manager He is correct. What everyone needs most now to expand beyond Linchuan is actually traffic, top-notch traffic that can let consumers nationwide see us.”

“I get it. No wonder Mr. Jiang abandoned group-buying to promote Zhihu. What Mr. Jiang really wants to do is the traffic business?”

“Manager He figured it out. Truly a business elite.”

He Yijun quickly waved his hand: “Figuring it out isn’t a skill. The real skill is being able to think of it. When I decided to reform Wanzhong, I was actually borrowing Mr. Jiang’s brilliance. In my view, Mr. Jiang, you seem to be able to foresee the future and clearly know the future direction of business. I bet on the right person.”

Liu Xiliang, the boss of Burger King, couldn’t help but speak up: “Mr. Jiang means that when Zhihu spreads nationwide in the future, this traffic will easily help us break regional barriers and make our brands well-known to the public?”

Jiang Qin glanced at him: “Manager Liu is right. I hope everyone can join me in nurturing this Zhihu platform, first grasping nationwide traffic, then directing the traffic to each of your brands. In the future, our Linchuan Business Group will prosper together.”

“Linchuan Business Group?”

“Similar to the Zhejiang Business Group and Chaoshan Business Group.”

“We don’t have such an organization.”

“We didn’t before, but today is perfect. Linchuan City leaders are here, industry veterans are also here. If everyone agrees, the Linchuan Business Group will exist starting now.”

“…”

As his voice fell, the entire conference room was silent. Everyone was looking at each other, their eyes alternating between bright and deep.

There are no businessmen who don’t know the concept of the three major business groups. Even the TV show “A Family from Wenzhou” is actually about the story of the Zhejiang Business Group. These merchants of the same origin have been tightly united since ancient times, supporting each other and flourishing individually, prospering together.

If someone pays close attention, they’ll find that many of the richest people, when traced back to their origins, actually emerged from these three major business groups.

The reason their wealth can accumulate faster and faster, even lasting a hundred generations, is actually because of one phrase: with many people gathering firewood, the flames high.

Today, using the meeting on industrial upgrading and the topic of the traffic era, Jiang Qin directly proposed the concept of the Linchuan Business Group, indeed evoking some yearning.

Even more excited were the Linchuan City leaders. They felt that if this business group could really be established, it would truly be a huge success.

Political achievements were a minor issue. It might even be possible to leave a name in history.

“Mr. Jiang, I want to remind you that Linchuan has its own Chamber of Commerce.”

“I know. The members of the Linchuan Chamber of Commerce gather every New Year’s Day to chat and drink, not going home until they’re drunk. They also say they want to sell cotton shoes to Africa. Pretty good.” Jiang Qin had a face full of sarcasm.

The one who spoke, Director Zhao, coughed and thought to himself that he’d better not speak out of turn.

“I see no one shaking their head, so let’s assume everyone tacitly agrees. Is that okay, leader?”

The top leader of Linchuan nodded: “I think this proposal is good. How about this, the Linchuan Business Group will be led by our government and set up as soon as possible. The first task of our business group is to support the promotion of Zhihu.”

Jiang Qin was so moved he almost shed tears: “Leader, you trust me too much.”

“The internet era has arrived, and the industrial landscape is constantly changing. We need someone with vision and boldness to lead the way. As Manager He said, if Mr. Jiang truly has foresight similar to precognition, then you are the only candidate.”

“Since the leader trusts me so much, I will be an explorer for everyone.”

The top leader of Linchuan turned to look at the people behind him: “Linchuan is an industrial city with rich mineral resources, which has always been our advantage. But recent policies will soon tighten. Industrial upgrading and adjustment of development direction are of utmost importance. But I won’t force to unite, it’s entirely voluntary.”

Liu Xiliang couldn’t help nudging Zhao Linghui, who ran a Western restaurant: “Old Zhao, what do you think?”

Zhao Linghui lowered his voice: “Mostly hype.”

“Why?”

“According to Jiang Qin’s vision, all of us Linchuan businessmen unite to help him establish Zhihu, grasping nationwide traffic. But how high can the conversion rate be? I have no confidence.”

Liu Xiliang nodded: “I also think so.”

Zhao Linghui took a sip of water and continued: “I spent several million on TV commercials recently and didn’t even make a splash. Even if Zhihu can really be established, what ability does he have to convert all the traffic to us?”

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

Liu Xiliang suddenly pointed ahead: “Look at that on the screen.”

Zhao Linghui raised his head and looked ahead, noticing four characters written on the PPT slide – Nongfu Spring.

They were familiar with this brand, currently a red-hot giant in drinking water. Especially last year after changing its advertising slogan, it had been advancing fiercely with unstoppable momentum.

Many people felt that this advertising slogan directly established Nongfu Spring’s image, considered one of the most classic advertising cases in history. But neither Liu Xiliang nor Zhao Linghui knew why this brand would appear on Jiang Qin’s PPT.

“I know everyone still has doubts, thinking that even if we grasp the traffic, how to successfully convert it is also a problem, fearing the effect won’t be good.”

“Then everyone please look at this case.”

“To be honest, I wrote this marketing advertisement. It’s nothing special, but it seems to be quite effective, right?”

“All I’m saying is, if we can get traffic and create a similar marketing advertisement, it shouldn’t be a problem to expand nationwide, right?”

Zhao Linghui: “…”

Liu Xiliang: “…!”