Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 143 - 140: The Art of Speaking (@Number One Mo Fan)

Chapter 143: Chapter 140: The Art of Speaking (@Number One Mo Fan)

Qin Shaohua had never thought that Yan Ling would ask him such a question.

Qin Shaohua had also never associated the price of the shoes in the factory with four-digit US dollars.

After all, the most expensive order previously had never exceeded the range of two-digit US dollars.

If Yan Ling had asked him if he was confident in taking more ODM orders and no longer accepting OEM orders,

Qin Shaohua would likely have scoffed and continued to ask Yan Ling whether he intended to lay off company workers or cut their salaries.

Qin Shaohua’s mood was average today; he just wanted to pick a fight, and Yan Ling walked in at that moment.

But the question Yan Ling had just asked genuinely piqued Qin Shaohua’s curiosity.

Qin Shaohua had never considered such a possibility, not because he doubted his own abilities, but because it was the first time he heard Yan Ling’s true thoughts.

Qin Shaohua didn’t know how he should react, whether he should laugh at Yan Ling’s wild ideas or look forward to a brand new future.

However, creating their own brand was entirely different from taking OEM orders.

Even after branding, the final selling price of shoes manufactured by Lingyan Shoe Industry never exceeded 300 US dollars.

Qin Shaohua seriously considered the possibility of selling Lingyan Shoe Industry’s shoes under their own brand for three times the price of the brands outsourcing to them, and still, he found it a bit fantastical.

"Do you know how much our shoe factory gets for the shoes we manufacture under an OEM agreement?" Qin Shaohua asked Yan Ling with a hint of skepticism.

"About 16 US dollars, the latest OEM order was 17.68 US dollars, thanks to your excellent order-taking ability, far exceeding the average export price of domestic leather shoes by more than twice," Yan Ling specified down to the cents.

"Do you know what these brands ultimately sell these shoes for?" Qin Shaohua’s tone contained less skepticism and more inquiry.

"I paid attention to this while in the United States; our outsourced leather shoes typically sell for around 200 US dollars. As for the newest order, since we haven’t finished making them, I can’t give you an exact figure for the final selling price," Yan Ling expressed his understanding of the current situation in shoe manufacturing and also explained why he couldn’t provide specific figures.

Qin Shaohua looked thoughtful as he watched Yan Ling.

So, this "Future Boss" wasn’t just talking nonsense or joking, but was there really such a possibility?

What kind of brand could sell for over a thousand US dollars?

And even if it were possible, the volume couldn’t be very large.

That means the factory would have to shut down at least 90% of its production lines.

Qin Shaohua was still somewhat skeptical, wondering if this "sophisticated pretender" raised on foreign concepts truly understood what he was talking about?

"Do you want to shut down the factory, lay off all the workers, and then start a luxury brand? A thousand dollars, what kind of shoes do you want to make? Where will you find such a brand? Even if someone buys them, how many pairs can you sell in a year?" Qin Shaohua, being straightforward, spoke his mind and asked several questions in succession.

"Why would I want to shut down the factory?" Yan Ling decided to address each question one by one.

"If we don’t take OEM orders, the factory will definitely have to shut down most of its production capacity," Qin Shaohua said, his tone no longer combative but subtly shifting.

"We’ve been taking OEM orders for so long, and we still have many unfinished, so it’s definitely not possible to just stop them all at once. After all, the company’s main cash flow comes from OEM orders. When did I ever say we should stop taking OEM orders?" Ending with a question was key to continuing the conversation smoothly.

"Mr. Yan and I talked about it many times, and you believe we shouldn’t take OEM orders. Mr. Yan asked me for my opinion, and I rejected the idea. Even if we stop taking international OEM orders, we would still continue with domestic private labeling, as you just mentioned, it’s a safeguard for our cash flow," Qin Shaohua was referring to Yan Ling’s father.

Qin Shaohua was not particularly easy to communicate with; this was evident from the gap in speaking styles between him and Yan Ling.

Although Yan Ling was speaking this way now, he used to be much more aggressive than Qin Shaohua.

But that was all in the past, and Yan Ling didn’t know exactly when he had started to speak in such a gentlemanly manner.

Whether it was due to his education in the United States or his work at McKinsey.

It might also have been because when he first went abroad, his English was poor, and the extremely fast pace of his Mandarin naturally turned into a super slow pace in English, which influencing one another, became his current style.

When Yan Ling was still in China, he was a trouble-making child, confident that his aunt would always cover for him.

This was why he was sent to the United States.

Sending such a mischievous child abroad at such a young age was a gamble.

Not every mischievous child, upon realizing there’s no one to cover for their misdeeds, starts to mend their ways and take responsibility for their actions.

Sending a child abroad too early to study alone, especially one who has always been rather mischievous, is often not the wisest choice.

Regarding Yan Ling’s gamble, it had paid off, but comparatively, many more children continued to cause trouble and disregard their studies after arriving in the United States.

"I did say the shoe factory shouldn’t take OEM orders, but when I said that, Lingyan Shoe Industry still had its own brand.

Given the current situation, I have no reason to stop you from pursuing OEM orders.

And I also think that, until we can improve our design capabilities to make ODM samples richer and more fashionable, OEM orders are more suitable for Lingyan in its current state.

However, the rise in domestic labor costs is an irreversible trend.

Most of the foreign trade outsourcing orders will gradually move to places with lower labor costs.

We’ve managed to operate smoothly so far because our shoe factory’s equipment is relatively advanced, and its automation level is relatively high, which means a lower proportion of human labor compared to most shoe factories.

Of course, more importantly, it’s because you’ve consistently brought in higher-margin OEM orders.

I keep hearing that the foreign trade department is the best-managed department in the shoe factory. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard anyone from the other departments mention it?" If what people say could be likened to a piece of art, then Yan Ling’s words were definitely among the finest.