His declaration bore heavily on the people in the conference room. It was indeed true that any kind of verbal declaration simply would ring hollow, still, they expected him to make the effort, at least.
"We can revisit these criticisms once the sales are out," Cæ remarked. "I believe that any decision I make regarding how to alter my leadership in this company should be made after the results of the first season of sales are out. Wouldn't you agree?"
Meriam simply shrugged lightly. "I suppose that's true. I simply wished to voice my personal opinions on your leadership style and presence in this company. However, that does beg the question…"
Her eyes sharpened. "What will you do if the sales are lackluster?"
Cæ simply gazed at her with a calm expression. "Examine the reasons why and, should my actions have directly caused them when easily avoidable, take responsibility."
"If you don't mind me asking," she continued. "What exactly does that mean? I don't mean to be rude, but I have heard those words many times."
"Well, for one, I don't mind giving a greater stake to Seliphaz and Feidin," he turned to them with an acknowledging nod. "I don't mind altering my way of doing things and accepting new ideas, I would have to since their voices in this company would be stronger."
A wave of surprise washed over the people seated around in the conference room.
None of them had expected that he would offer to give away a part of his stake to the other owners of the company. That was not a consequence that a lot of leaders set for themselves voluntarily.
The fact that Cæ was willing to set this condition for himself indicated, more than anything else, a strong confidence in his ability to achieve success with the current way of doing things.
"…I see," Meriam replied with a surprised tone. "Well, if you're willing to go that, then I'll leave this matter at that."
Cæ nodded. "I appreciate your candor and your willingness to speak up without hesitation. It is helpful. Now…"
His gaze swept over all of them. "Let's begin the preparations for sales. For now, we have three hundred and twenty-eight haven units in preparation. That makes for about six to seven haven units per district on average. Feidin, be sure to weigh haven allocation to districts based on population. Larger districts will need more haven units for them to be known all over, while smaller districts will not need nearly as many."
Feidin nodded seriously. "That makes sense, I will be sure to have a population-weighted haven allocation table ready by the day."
"Good. Just to reiterate, our sales operations will be door-to-door offering of haven units, while these maybe very unpopular in the inner city, they are the quite normal in the slums, vegetable vendors carry carts filled with vegetable each morning through their respective localities, calling out the residents," Cæ explained, drawing from his experiences in the slums. "There are no real shops and complexes for obvious reasons, and so they have not cultivated a shopping habit of any kind. And for the actual sales operations…"
He fiddled with a remote in his hands, causing the screen behind him to light up as a simple image depicted with arrows and locations, exactly what actions and processes comprised sales.
"We will conduct daily shipments for the first week," Cæ replied. "The sales operations will commence once the daily output of the haven units is produced here in the factory. Once produced and encased, they will be docked on a truck by our sales team, with whom we have contracted daily slots of time. Then, they will be transported along with the sales team to each of the forty-eight districts where our sales individuals will engage in manual sales of each of the Haven products. After our product catches steam and blows up, we will have the leverage to alter our modus operandi and adopt a more convenient way of selling haven products by having our customers come to us, but until then, we will have to make do."
The people gathered around the table nodded attentively.
"Each transaction will, of course, be physical," Cæ continued. "The hard cash isn't the problem itself. The problem will be the security that comes with trading haven units in the slums. And for that, I will be arming each of the sales team with protective enchanted items and some…"
He shrugged. "…other protective items."
He couldn't openly talk about ensuring that they were armed, of course.
However, it was an open secret that these laws weren't enforced in the slums to the slightest degree. Cæ didn't particularly have any scruples with this as long as it wasn't endorsed or supported by the company in any way that could potentially hold it liable.
"These should keep them safe against some of the more predatory people of the slums," Cæ remarked. "While things are dangerous, many of the people in the slums simply cannot afford to purchase enchanted items for the same reason that we made sure that the haven product is devoid of enchantments; it requires continuous magical energy."
"Are you sure that these people will be safe with these means?" Seliphaz asked with a concerned expression.
Cæ nodded. "Yes. Note that despite the fact that there have been a few confrontations and conflicts between certain bad actors in the slums and our advertisement team, none of them suffered any injuries with these measures and their own understanding of how to deter and de-escalate conflict in the slums."
People in the slums, looking for an easy target, understood that some people were not good targets. They could evaluate with a single glance whether someone was a lick or an easy target or not, and, as long as egos weren't already involved, would usually avoid trying anything funny.
The most important factor was how one carried oneself.
It was why the slums were more dangerous for outsiders who weren't familiar with them than the native residents, who weren't all exactly savage fighters, but had long grown up understanding how to conduct themselves in the slums.
"Is the reason for the absence of customer support and warranties due to the environment of the slums?" Meriam asked with an interested expression.
"Yes," Cæ replied. "It's virtually impossible to have either of these systems in place simply due to the fact that they live in the slums and do not have access to the maginet and magitechnology. It isn't really something we can tackle by ourselves. Nor is it an expectation of the people in the slums, either. When you buy anything in the slums, it's yours and yours only."
He gestured back to the screens. "The most crucial and important operations are the actual distribution operations, because these will be time-consuming and will require us to be swift and accurate with them. I imagine that there will a lot of delays initially as we figure out all the details and unforeseen impediments and other overhead costs."
He turned back to the gathered people. "Once the demand for the product rises, we should be able to increase our profit margins just enough to absorb all these overheads in the long run."
Of course, he couldn't tell them yet that the spending power of the people was likely to experience a surge in power due to a cut in interest rates and increased sub-prime lending.
"We will need to have smooth workflows to ensure that all these operations occur subsequently without any lags," Cæ remarked. "It's something that will require time, but once we perfect the model, we will be able to apply the improved efficiency to all other factories and outlets that we have. And one more thing…"
He turned to Feidin with a knowing expression. "Keep a lookout for contract manufacturers and begin pursuing a potential deal for manufacturing our haven unit."
Feidin's eyebrows lit up with a hint of interest. "You are considering contracting with external manufacturing to increase the production of haven units?"
Cæ nodded with a knowing expression. "There's a chance that the demand for haven products will blow up beyond any reasonable ability to manufacture on our part. In that case, it will be best for us to have this option ready. Thankfully, contract manufacturers tend not to be very time-consuming in their contracting process, specifically if the product in question is blowing with high demand. You'll just need to sign a partnership agreement and a licensing deal, and it will be set up."
Feidin nodded with a considerate expression. "I think that, at least in the short term, this is a very viable path forward. Frankly, our profit margins are much lower than those of others who operate in the magitech sector. We will need to have large volumes in sales to gain the massive profits that we seek. So I think that it is prudent to look to maximize and expand sale volumes no matter what, even if that means partnering with contract manufacturers in the short-term."
"For now, however," Cæ replied with an affirming tone. "We are limited to the production capacity of this base, which is good enough for now."
He turned back to the diagram depicting the sales operations with a nod. "We have our operations, procedures, and protocols. It is time."
His gaze returned to his fellow partners and employees seated around the table with a determined gaze.
"The time has finally come."
His tone was heavy.
It carried with it the weight of the sheer amount of time and effort that had gone into getting this far with Trinity Housings. It had gone from merely an idea that Cæ had had a year and a half ago to a fully realized company that had developed its own product and was now about to embark on it.
Such was the reality of business.
Very rarely was a company set up, fully operational and developed, and fully prepared for large-scale sales within six months of the conception of the idea. Each business was like a baby that needed to be nursed and raised with painstaking attention and care, until it was ready.
And now, after months and months of hard work and effort, Trinity Housings was finally ready to commence its sales.
And it did.
The very next day, all three hundred and twenty-eight haven units were gathered from the inventory of Trinity Housings. Cæ and Seliphaz utilized their magic to gently lift and guide the haven units into the various transportation trucks that waited outside, standing at the curb of the sidewalk.
WHOOSH
They waved their wands gently as a large line of haven products emerged from within the gray headquarters of Trinity Housings while the various employees and pedestrians watched with eyes of envy and expressions of jealousy.
By the time they were done, the various members of the distribution team comprised many of the same members of the advertisement team, albeit assigned to different districts. They wore enchanted clothes and a determined expression as they boarded the other trucks.
"Good luck," Feidin wished them with a smile.
"Be safe." Seliphaz wished them nervously.
Cæ simply directed a knowing, meaningful nod to all of them.
VMMM…
The trucks revved to life as they drove off, commencing their journey across the borders of the slums.