At dinner time, Fang Bai closed the shop and went with his father to an old restaurant to order food.
"Son, isn't Tingting coming over after school?" Fang Shi sat down at the table and poured a cup of tea for himself and his son.
Fang Bai replied, "Dad, it's up to her. She probably won't come out these two days."
Sometimes he was too busy to even eat dinner, and his sister was waiting, so she probably didn't want to disturb him while he worked, which is why she came out less often.
After the father and son finished dinner, as they were returning to their rented accommodation, Fang Shi said, "Eating out every day is too expensive. There's a kitchen in the rented place, we can just buy some groceries and cook ourselves."
"It won't cost much. We're busy all day, where would we find the time to cook?"
"Tomorrow there will be more people. Eating at a restaurant will cost at least ten-odd yuan, but cooking ourselves would only be a few yuan."
"The food we cook ourselves might not suit everyone's taste. That restaurant's dishes are decent, and the prices are reasonable," Fang Bai explained. He understood his parents wanted to save money. "Dad, you'll get used to it. If we have dozens of people later, it's impossible to cook ourselves. We'd definitely hire a chef, or eat at small outside restaurants."
"Then it's up to you."
After eating, the father and son took a short walk on the street before returning to their rented place.
After Fang Bai returned to his bedroom and sat down, he considered how to sell televisions.
He planned to sell televisions from a street stall, but found several issues that needed to be resolved.
First, customers buying second-hand televisions would definitely be concerned about the warranty period. What if it broke down a few days after they bought it?
Fang Bai didn't have a real physical store. Could he use his current rented shop as a repair shop?
That definitely wouldn't work!
Customers would take one look and realize that the television they bought was completely assembled from foreign junk! A refurbished item!
They would most likely demand a return and refund.
Therefore, his shop would normally keep its main door closed, only opening the small door. Not too many people should know that he was assembling electronic foreign junk there.
Second, finding a place to set up a stall would definitely require pulling electrical wires to borrow power. This was a bit troublesome, but still manageable.
Third, there were no packaging cardboard boxes for the televisions. It was too late now; he would order from a cardboard box factory when he had more funds.
Fourth, the issue of transporting televisions. He would have to buy a tricycle himself, or rent a vehicle for transport.
Customers would definitely worry about transporting the television after buying it. Delivery and installation?
It seemed that this had nothing to do with Fang Bai.
In those days, who delivered televisions to your door!
Fang Bai slapped his head; he really didn't need to deliver to their door.
Of course, if he could deliver to their door, he would probably sell better, but there were no conditions for that. Customers could pay a little themselves to hire a tricycle to take it home, though they might not trust the television to reach their home safely.
There were also many detailed issues Fang Bai needed to resolve. He talked to his father to keep him informed, as his father was on the front line of sales.
Fang Bai liked to plan and arrange things in advance, considering potential risks and problems beforehand. This allowed him to better mitigate risks and avoid unexpected situations, so he wouldn't be flustered when they arose.
"Dad, if street stall sales aren't good, we can only try selling from a storefront."
"Alright, you arrange it. Dad doesn't know much about these things."
Fang Shi saw his son interviewing and recruiting people, arranging things in an orderly manner, which he himself couldn't do. So he simply stopped offering advice and became a listener, just focusing on the work.
Bragging was fine normally, but when it came to the family's development, he didn't dare to act recklessly.
The next morning,
The part-time students arrived at the shop on time to repair televisions. Today, 6 people came. Fang Bai had them first remove the back covers of the televisions, then he drew out the problems for them to repair.
These part-time students had all been interviewed by Fang Bai and had some basic electrical knowledge and hands-on ability. After Fang Bai briefly explained, they knew what to do.
Assigning tasks only took Fang Bai a little time. Afterwards, he took the opportunity to read in the adjacent room. Employees could call him if they had any problems while working.
Fang Bai arranged for his father to scout nearby for suitable places to set up a stall and to buy the necessary tools for it.
That day, the 6 part-time repair workers repaired and cleaned 21 televisions.
On the first day of work, the efficiency was a bit low.
Fang Bai's requirement was for each person to repair and clean 5 televisions per day. Completing 21 televisions on the first day barely met his requirement.
He wanted to test the waters with sales here in Oubei first, to absorb the purchasing potential of the local residents.
The plan was good, but it couldn't keep up with changes.
In the evening, Fang Shi returned from outside and reported to his son: "Son, the place with the most foot traffic is outside the bus station. The passenger ferry terminal is nearby, so there are too many people coming and going every day."
The bus station was only three or four hundred meters from their shop. It was a turn at the intersection of their street, then walking south for one or two hundred meters. Continuing straight south for a few dozen meters more was the passenger ferry terminal.
There was a street near the bus station, which was the main route for people traveling to and from the city. Pedestrians came and went, and there were many small vendors setting up stalls there. Fang Bai, of course, knew that location; he used to take the ferry across the Oujiang River from the passenger ferry terminal when returning to Oubei from the city.
People who commuted daily between Yongjia County and the city generally had better economic conditions and purchasing potential.
The only downside was that everyone was rushing in the morning, so they had little desire to buy. It would be impossible to sell in the morning, so it would be better to set up near a wet market.
But the advantage was the large foot traffic. Most people had free time when returning in the afternoon. The target audience was primarily people commuting to and from the city, not those rushing to catch a bus at the station.
The stall should still be set up on that main thoroughfare. Only a fool would sell televisions at the main entrance of the bus station.
As long as promotion and advertising were done well, stimulating passersby's desire to buy, someone would always make a purchase.
Now, when setting up a stall, one didn't need to worry about city management; just be more careful about petty theft.
The public security in Wen City was quite good. If it were another place, Fang Bai would truly be afraid of hooligans and gangsters causing trouble.
After thinking it over, Fang Bai said to his father, "Dad, let's settle on that spot. We'll go there to set up the stall tomorrow after lunch. It's just a bit troublesome to find a place to pull electrical wires.
We should still buy a tricycle; it's more convenient for transporting goods."
"Alright then, I'll go buy it tomorrow. You stay home and read."
"Okay, once we buy it, we'll take it to those auto repair shops to modify it so it can carry more goods." Fang Bai took out his backpack and pulled out a thousand yuan to give to his father.
Buying a tricycle wouldn't cost that much, but he gave his father more to be prepared, as there were many places where money was needed.
Fang Shi took the stack of ten-yuan bills, feeling its weight. He hoped his son's business would be an instant success and recover its capital quickly.
The next morning, Fang Shi left in a hurry to run errands.
Around nine o'clock in the morning, the two girls responsible for sales arrived. Fang Bai reiterated some precautions to them.
Besides the two of them, there were also two students responsible for watching the site and moving televisions.
These two boys had a relatively rugged appearance; from their looks, ordinary hooligans wouldn't dare to provoke them.
They could serve as door gods and also move goods, making them perfectly suited.
Paving the way with money, hoping everything would go smoothly without trouble.
This was Fang Bai's idea: spend more money, make more connections with people who could help him, avoid trouble, but also not be afraid of trouble.
After marking the televisions that needed repair today, he rode his bike out. He wanted to survey the site to feel more confident.
A moment later, he arrived at the pier, gazing at the rippling waters of the Oujiang River not far away, accompanied by a faint sound of waves.
On the river, boats came and went, piled high with goods. The spaces at the bow and stern of the boats were filled with people traveling between the two banks.
The pier was bustling with people, and goods were piled up like mountains.
Workers in worn-out clothes and shoes carried goods on shoulder poles, their vests soaked with sweat, busy and determined, occasionally shouting to encourage themselves.
The scene at the pier made Fang Bai feel the vitality and vigor of this era. Having come to this era, he wanted to brave the waves and carve out a career for himself.
To provide a more comfortable life for himself and his family, and also to contribute to this country.
After watching for a while, Fang Bai rode back and came to the street near the bus station.
He circled the area and still found quite a few open spaces suitable for setting up a stall.
An open space in front of a small restaurant was very good. Fang Bai directly approached the owner to discuss, first offering a cigarette to reduce the other party's hostility, and then getting to the point.
A few minutes later, Fang Bai and the restaurant owner reached an agreement.
Fang Bai said that he would pull electrical wires from the restaurant, and the electricity fee would be five yuan a day, which included renting the open space in front of the shop. It wouldn't affect the owner's business and could even attract customers, increasing his reputation.
The other party was a businessman, so he had to communicate with him from a businessman's perspective, ensuring the other party didn't lose out.