Twenty-five years ago, China was in a hurry. The feasibility of market economy has just been recognized, and some people who have just got rid of the shackles of the old system have become the trendsetters of the times, and they have written the entrepreneurial legends of people in that era with their courage and passion. However, with the passage of time, the evil consequences brought by blind enthusiasm and self-confidence gradually emerged, entrepreneurs themselves despised the law and imitated western technology badly, and eventually many once-arrogant entrepreneurial empires fell apart and collapsed. At the same time, people can't help thinking, what caused the collapse of these commercial giants?
Here's a book, Wu Xiaobo's "The Great Failure", about some China enterprises that were once brilliant but eventually went into decline. It is said in the book that failure is the nourishment of the latecomers. By studying the "failure genes" of those once great enterprises that have vanished, we may be able to give some warnings to those enterprises that are struggling with dazzling network concepts all day long. At the same time, we should face and cherish the memory of every China entrepreneur who walked or fell in the storm with respect and piety.
on November 8, 1994, the media center, CCTV's first advertising time bidding meeting broke the news. Originally, I thought that the competition was between the two enterprises with the highest advertising exposure-Shandong Confucius Family Wine and Guangdong Sun God, but I didn't expect it to be won by a little-known Shandong Confucius Banquet Wine, which was involved in legal disputes due to brand problems, for 3.79 million yuan. At that time, almost all the domestic media reported it with relish, and the news effect was great, which surprised everyone. At the same time, it also allows everyone to see the potential name-building value behind the "Biaowang".
At that time, a strong woman named Tan Xisong was in charge of CCTV. During his tenure, CCTV's advertising revenue jumped from less than 1 billion to over 4 billion. Her trick is to take out the prime time of CCTV for national bidding, and she has prepared a vain and golden crown for the enterprise with the highest bidding amount: Biaowang. All ambitious entrepreneurs are willing to give a try for this title. After the previous Confucius Banquet Wine won the title of King Biao, its popularity increased greatly, its sales volume soared, and its profits and taxes increased by as much as five times.
a year later, on November 8th, 1995, the "two-hole" enterprises, Confucius Family Wine and Confucius Banquet Wine, were all in decline. The hero of the story, Qin Chi Winery in Linqu County, Weifang City, Shandong Province, won the title of the second standard king at a price of 66.66 million yuan. At that time, there were only two questions in people's minds. Who was Qin Chi? Where is Linqu?
Speaking of Qin Chi, I have to mention Ji Changkong. When he first came to Qin Chi, Qin Chi was just a dying small factory in Weifang. When there was no way out in Weifang, Ji Changkong set his sights on Shenyang: Northeasters have a large population and a honest and frank personality, and their consumption mentality is relatively immature, and they are willing to pay for daily necessities with low prices and large demand. With the advantage of low price, Ji Changkong, who is good at creating momentum, turned the winery into a profit in just one year and gained a firm foothold in Shenyang and even the "Three North" (Northeast, North and Northwest) markets. That dazzling laurel crown has naturally become his goal.
66.66 million yuan, equivalent to more than 3, tons of liquor, is enough to flood the luxurious Media Center to half a waist. But it turns out that this investment is worthwhile. In 1996, according to the data reported by Qin Chi, the company achieved sales revenue of 95 million yuan and profits and taxes of 22 million yuan in that year, which were 5 times and 6 times that of the previous year respectively.
A year later, Ji Changkong, who is famous all over the world, came to the Media Center to bid again. This time, with an astronomical figure of 321,218 million yuan, he won the title of Biaojing again. Note that this was in 1996, three "small goals" that we are talking about now. This is undoubtedly a crazy move. Qin Chi's bid price is 1 million higher than that of the second place. Compared with the previous year, Qin Chi is only 1 million higher than the second place. Even Ji Changkong revealed afterwards that the price was determined by his mobile phone number.
However, behind the billions of dollars, there are unspeakable difficulties of this shrewd businessman. If Qin Chi doesn't win the bid for the second time, its sales performance will plummet. The first famous Confucius Banquet Wine, with the huge decline in Qin Chi's bid-winning performance, gradually disappeared into the eyes of the public, which can be described as a lesson from the past. At the same time, when he confidently told the public how Qin Chi's sales performance would reach a new high in the next year, Ji Changkong knew exactly what changes would take place in the next market. As Banquet Wine and Qin Chi won the bid, domestic liquor manufacturers, large and small, mushroomed. Qin Chi won the second place in the 3 million bid, but it was also an unknown enterprise that tried to become famous at a price of 2 million. Some experts pointed out that the excessive production of liquor may threaten the food supply. The state is ready to begin to restrict the production of liquor and the advertising of liquor.
just two months later, a sudden disaster happened. A reporter conducted a survey on the famous Qin Chi Winery and found that its production capacity did not reach the order of 9 million annual sales. The rest of the liquor was bought from the liquor produced in Sichuan. Together with the original liquor and alcohol from our factory, it was blended into low-alcohol liquor and sold to the national market. A series of reports spread all over the country like a prairie fire. Qin Chi, who has just won two consecutive titles, suffered the most dangerous and unprepared blow.
In the face of such a huge crisis, the immature Qin Chi showed her helplessness and powerlessness in public relations. Apart from the rumor that some people have said that they are willing to spend millions of dollars to buy this group of reports, there is no other measure. As a result, in the round after round of news bombing, Qin Chi's sales have been greatly reduced. From 1997, the sales volume was 65 million yuan, far below the expected 1.5 billion yuan, and in 1998, the sales volume was only 3 million yuan. Since then, it has never recovered and faded out of public view. In 2, a supplier of metal bottle caps accused Qin Chi of defaulting on the payment of more than 3 million yuan. The court ruled that Qin Chi lost the case and ordered the public auction of the registered trademark of "Qin Chi".
looking at Qin Chi for several years, its management has worked hard. Ji Changkong has been moving around for a long time, living in a basement of 1 yuan or even a few dollars. His monthly income is 8, and his bonus is 8% of that of front-line employees. Its investment in technology is enormous. The bidding fee of 32 million yuan was actually only 48 million yuan. By the end of 1996, the number of canning production lines in Qin Chi had increased from five two years ago to 47, and it also won the only "green food certification" in China liquor industry at that time. Even the media's criticism of Qin Chi seems unfair. "Sichuan wine into Shandong" has long been an open secret in the liquor industry, and Qin Chi is not the first one, and it is definitely not the largest one; "Liquor blending" is actually a revolution in the industry. Contrary to consumers' understanding, "blending" liquor based on edible alcohol is more advanced than the traditional solid-state fermentation process.
Qin Chi failed to get along with the media in a mature way. "China media has always had a tradition of sympathizing with the weak and admiring thinkers, but for the strong, it is generally fearful and disrespectful". Qin Chi, who won the bid twice, has been in the center of news for a long time as a strong man. Once there is any sign of trouble, reports and gossip, big and small, will chase after and fight for people's attention. Public opinion is a double-edged sword. Water can carry a boat or overturn it. In addition, Qin Chi, at the peak, didn't realize his own shortcomings in public relations. Before I could explain the intention of "blending" to consumers, I had already won a lot of money and died in the spit and accusation of the market.
There is a saying in Tao Te Ching that if you want to abolish it, you must revive it. This means that what seems to be prosperous may actually be on the verge of great danger. What a scene Ji Changkong had when he was awarded the title of "King of Standards". Who would have thought that Qin Chi would plummet in just a few months? In Game of Thrones, the Lannisters are famous for their wealth, and "Lannisters must pay their debts" is arrogant. But in fact, the gold mines in Lannister have already been exhausted, and there are many political enemies, such as Donne and Stannis, and many internal unstable factors, such as margaery tyrell and Bishop Sparrow, have not been well controlled. In real life, we can often see or hear some "local tyrants" who spend money like water, and all kinds of rumors describe them as the God of Wealth. Or some academic "great god" who has been honored by various auras and published numerous patents on papers, just like a fairy who doesn't eat human fireworks. However, if you carefully observe and think, it is easy to find that they also have shortcomings and worries, and their lives, finances and careers may also have various crises and hidden dangers. What we worship all day long may be just our primitive fear of the unknown and our unwillingness to explore the unknown. Although this unknown is around us, we only want to see the good side of this unknown.
whether at the peak or at the bottom, we are all human beings, and we all have troubles that we can't get rid of and hidden dangers that we can't realize. It's a stage to expand territory and grow wildly, but after making a blockbuster, it's another realm to discover hidden dangers in time, and quickly become a part of a new ecological circle and return to peace.
I hope this brave and great China entrepreneur's experience of exploring in the wind and rain in the unknown can bring us precious enlightenment.
after all, raw fish is worried, and dead fish is happy.