Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

August 3rd…

Pei Qian brought Lu Mingliang and went to the Upwind Courier station near Ming Yun Villas.

Ever since the idea of Upwind Courier stations had been raised the previous month, almost three weeks had passed. At present, many Upwind Courier stations had already been opened.

The preliminary preparations had been rather troublesome. All hundred Upwind Courier stations needed to recruit branch managers, express deliverymen, purchase warehouse racks, and office supplies; contact had to be established with all the various express delivery companies and custom-made software for the movement of goods had to be ordered as well.

Finally, most Upwind Courier stations could now begin operations.

Pei Qian took this matter very seriously. After all, there were risks in creating games; the risk of accidentally making profits from games was rather huge.

If he really wanted to lose much money, he had to rely on Upwind Logistics.

This type of labor-intensive industry was a sunset industry in Pei Qian's eyes. Fish-Catching Take-Out's consistent losses since their openings were an excellent success case.

Of course, it wasn't that Fish-Catching Take-Out didn't have clients. More and more people were ordering meals, and repeat customers were increasing.

However, as labor costs were rather high and there were cases of cutlery getting lost or destroyed, only a huge number of users could help to fill this hole and generate profits.

Furthermore, Fish-Catching Take-Out's reputation was gaining. However, further expansion plans would also require more labor. Once profits went up a little, more investments would be needed as well.

Hence, to date, Fish-Catching Take-Out was still making losses and was maintaining such quite decently.

Having this successful experience, Pei Qian had a lot of hope for Upwind Logistics.

He had brought Lu Mingliang today to familiarize him with the operations so that he could take over as soon as possible.

The initial hundred Upwind Courier stations needed at least three workers and one branch manager (who were supposed to hold the fort and received deliveries from other companies, inflow and outflow of goods, receiving customers, and brand publicity) and two express deliverymen. The salaries of these workers would already be around ten thousand.

As a cut could be taken from other express delivery companies involved in the delivery process, the profits from these were sufficient to cover the most part of Upwind Courier stations' rent. The hundred Upwind Courier stations could at least result in a million loss monthly for Boss Pei.

As for the location of these Upwind Courier stations…

They were primarily in dense residential areas and buzzing economic districts in Jingzhou City.

In Pei Qian's eyes, this was entirely a matter of public interest: if they wanted to serve more people, they naturally had to open in places with significant human traffic. The more deliveries were made, the more losses he could make.

Of course, Pei Qian had his ulterior motives. He had opened Upwind Courier stations near his parents' place as well as near Handong University.

Regardless of where Pei Qian was at, there would always be express deliverymen that could service these places; and he wouldn't need to make the trip himself.

As for Shenhua View and the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes, express delivery companies basically could deliver to the front desk. There wasn't a need now to open Upwind Courier stations near them.

As they reached Ming Yun Villas' Upwind Courier station, Pei Qian first took a look at the storefront. This courier station was behind a Fish-Catching Internet Cafe in a rented shophouse; its location was very good.

Near this place were newly renovated and soon-to-open bar and mahjong and chess parlors. Although this area was actually rather deserted—after these three shops opened, this place would become rather happening!

As for why this location was chosen, the main reason was that Upwind Courier stations were not normal shops. Strictly speaking, these stations were just warehouses. No matter how good their locations might be, that would not earn them money; conversely, more rent had to be made.

Lu Mingliang followed Pei Qian to the front of this Upwind Courier station, and his first impression was one of shock.

This place seemed to be rather huge!

Originally, when Lu Mingliang had heard that he was to be responsible for logistics, he had instinctively thought of express delivery.

He had seen some other express delivery companies' stations. They had not been very professional and didn't even have proper signboards done up; some didn't even hang signboards.

As for the interior of these stations, they were basically warehouses that were extremely messy and filled with goods. No one was really maintaining the cleanliness of the place, and the ground was filled with dust.

The express deliverymen inside were wearing dirty-looking uniforms and were hurriedly tossing all sorts of express delivery boxes into motorized tricycles and then transported to nearby destinations.

However, that was how other companies' stations looked like.

Upwind Courier stations were entirely different.

A rather decent shop had been rented while the signboard outside was custom-made. It even had English words 'Upwind Station' on the signboard. The look of this place was even slightly nicer than the bar nearby.

Of course, the bar's decor was sleeker; perhaps it was a little gaudy. Upwind Courier stations' decor was more down-to-earth and had a certain standard to it. It was not that eye-catching though it could hold its own.

At the entrance of the courier station, two uniformed express deliverymen and the branch manager of this courier station were already waiting.

Near them were two motor tricycles that cost below three thousand; it was part of the initial investments. The motor tricycles were custom-made with Upwind Logistics' logo on them as well.

Through the glass windows, the situation inside this Upwind Courier station could be seen. A huge counter was at the entrance of the shop with a beautiful office computer on it. That was where the branch manager would work normally.

On the counter were some simple office supplies as well as a special code reader. Once barcodes on goods were scanned, items could be deposited or retrieved easily.

Further in the shop were rows and rows of racks divided into sections.

According to the size of the parcels, they would automatically be divided up and stored in different sections. Some larger parcels were specifically stored in a designated area as well.

After taking in all these, Lu Mingliang could only think of one thing.

High-class, westernized!

This was miles apart from other express delivery companies.

The branch manager reported the preparations done to Lu Mingliang and Pei Qian as well as the current state of operations of this courier station. The courier station was still working on an eight-hour shift from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. If overtime had to be done, extra pay would be given.

At the same time, there would be additional incentives for each express deliveryman according to the number of items delivered and ratings from customers. Two express deliverymen's daily responsibilities were to continuously deliver items from this courier station; when they were free, they were to keep the place clean and tidy.

The branch manager's job was more complex. Besides handling the storage and retrieval of goods and related matters, he still had to calculate the latest express delivery numbers and to keep up a rapport with other express delivery companies' express deliverymen. He also had to promote the courier station in the area as well.

Naturally, as Pei Qian had not made any stringent working criteria, if some branch managers wanted to slack off; Boss Pei wasn't going to mind as well.

The branch manager and two express deliverymen looked very energized.

They all had experience working in other express delivery companies. This time, they had switched to working for Upwind Logistics because of the attractive starting pay which was significantly higher than other such companies.

Furthermore, the working environment was also a plus point.

Upwind Logistics wasn't like other express delivery companies where they had to run all about the city. They were only responsible for a small area, and so it wasn't that taxing on them.

After taking a look at the whole place, Pei Qian and Lu Mingliang returned to the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe as they ordered their coffees and drank them.

"From now on, you will be responsible for Upwind Logistics. If you have any questions, you can ask me directly; you can settle the trivial matters on your own.

"You can keep the million-yuan Dream Fund. If you feel that the work in Upwind Logistics is not suitable for you, you can try your hand in another industry.

"As for any additional funds—if you feel that there's a need, just say the word. However much you require, it will be provided."