Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883
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“Of course, all of these activities will be conducted between October 24th and 31st. After that, we’ll resume normal operations. “Holding a promotional event like that would make us more popular and get our brand name out there. It wouldn’t be too ridiculous to spend some money, right?”
Pei Qian was not actually speaking to the three men… but to the System.
Indeed, the System did not prohibit him from doing this!
The System drew a very blur line between ‘promotions’ and ‘free gifts’. As long as it looked like a promotional event on the surface and Pei Qian explained that he was trying to gain popularity by giving discounts, the System would likely turn a blind eye to his actions.
He could not help but feel moved. Physical industries were really the best!
He could do no such thing for the games.
Once research and development was complete, games required no more production costs. The more promotions one ran, the more one would earn.
On the other hand, one had to incur large expenses for manpower and rent to operate physical industries. On top of that, he could run huge promotional events and sell computer hardware at low prices. As long as he did not do this over an extended period and gained popularity and fame in return, the System would not consider it an intentional loss.
He had also mentioned he wanted to produce a large number of stocks. He would spend a lot of money to build up an excess of stocks, which Pei Qian guessed would not all be sold. Once they came up with new products, the excess stocks would have to be sold at extremely low prices. That meant another chance to incur losses!
Great!
After listening to Boss Pei’s explanation, Zhang Yuan could not help but raise his thumb. “Boss Pei, you are far-sighted indeed, and you make such bold moves!
“However, I have a minor suggestion.
“1024 is Programmer’s Day, but if we run a promotional event for that reason, it might not be as effective. After all, we are trying to target everyone… and not just programmers.
“Why don’t we call it ‘1024 Digital Day’? That would expand our audience and make it easier for us to advertise the promotion.”
Pei Qian nodded. “Alright, that works!”
He didn’t think that referring to October 24th as Programmer’s Day was appropriate either.
At first, he was only going to run promotions for take-out and delivery services. Referring to such an event as Programmer’s Day sounded far-fetched.
Now, the event would include take-out, logistics, and computer-installation services. Calling it 1024 Digital Day would be more memorable.
More people in Jingzhou would take note of it, and Pei Qian would incur more losses.
In addition to the manpower costs Pei Qian would incur during this period, he could be assured that he would be spending a huge sum of money.
Zhang Yuan was becoming very excited and highly motivated.
Boss Pei is amazing!
He trusts me! Before this, Zhang Yuan had thought about keeping the business low-profile. He wanted to go down the route of online computer-installation business and ride on Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s fame. He thought that he would be able to generate some revenue by targeting ballers.
He had not expected Boss Pei to be so generous. He was offering so much support that Zhang Yuan felt touched!
“Boss Pei, don’t worry. I’ll do this well!”
Pei Qian nodded. “Alright. As always, do not be afraid of spending money. Understand?”
Boss Pei had finally thought things through as well. Being stabbed in the back by his own employees was unavoidable.
The bigger his business was, the less he would be able to attend to everything personally. He also could not expect his subordinates to report every single thing to him. They could only offer updates every once in a while. Misinformation and time lags were to be expected.
He had so many employees under him; there would probably always be people who had nothing better to do and wanted to try their hand at starting a business.
After all, Boss Pei was treating them so well. Their lives were already stable and comfortable. Some people would seek to fulfill higher-order desires, such as achieving success in their careers. Pei Qian could not fault them.
Thus, Boss Pei had to take some responsibility for causing his employees to repeatedly stab him in the back-he had satisfied everyone too well.
Without any worries in the world, of course, they would have time to think about how to start their own business.
Pei Qian could not help but feel sorrow. Boss Pei was to be blamed for everything.
Yet, this was not a bad thing. The key was in what perspective he took.
If he saw things negatively, he could say that everyone was out to kill him. If he saw things positively, he could say that there was a chance they could help him spend more money if they worked blindly.
As the saying went, it was better to redirect the current than to fight it.
Take this incident for example. Zhang Yuan had wanted to run a low-profile business. He had thought about making use of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s fame and Upwind Logistics’ convenience to run his computer-installation business. Although such a business would not generate much revenue, it also would not incur much loss. The most likely outcome was that it would earn some money.
However, Pei Qian managed to use this opportunity to spend even more money during this cycle by making some adjustments.
He had turned a problem into a blessing!
Pei Qian giggled. It’s a good thing I’m a genius. Otherwise, I would be defeated by my own employees!
They discussed a general direction for the promotional event. Finally, preparations for 1024 Digital Day’s unstoppable promotional event was underway.
October 14th…
Zhongdian Chinese Network…
All preparations for the collaboration with Repent and be Saved had been complete.
Everything was done very efficiently. Most importantly, Ma Yiqun understood that traffic on Zhongdian Chinese Network was increasing rapidly thanks to Repent and be Saved’s popularity. He could not guarantee that this effect would remain for a long time. Thus, launching the event earlier meant being able to stabilize traffic on the website earlier as well.
“It’s almost time. Post the official notice.”
Ma Yiqun nudged Li Yada subtly, and both posted the notice at the same time.
The notice clearly explained all the details of the combined event.
Zhongdian Chinese Network would launch a seven-day login event. New users would only have to complete several simple tasks in order to get unimpeded access to all novels on the site, Repent and be Saved’s Look-Changing Pills, and other rewards.
The official notice on Repent and be Saved notified players that their accounts had been linked throughout all of Tengda’s sites. They could now use the same account to access Zhongdian Chinese Network and claim their rewards.
On top of that, Ma Yiqun also instructed his editors to notify all authors.
Traffic on the site would explode in the next few days; everyone had to work harder!
When Zhongdian Chinese Network was set up, Ma Yiqun began guiding the editors in their work. The editors had also been reviewing manuscripts non-stop since then. They already knew the better writers among the full-time, low-tier ones.
Later, Zhongdian Chinese Network offered to top up elite writers’ remuneration so that they could earn as much as they would if they had been writing on larger sites. That move offered great motivation for the group of elite writers.
Now, since there was going to be more traffic on the site, writers would stand to earn more money if they wrote more chapters. Naturally, all the authors on Zhongdian Chinese Network became ecstatic and motivated to work harder.
A good number of authors had also written more chapters in advance. They kept these chapters, waiting to release them all during the combined event-in the hopes that their novels would
race up the ranking charts and become popular!
“The website has traffic and a number of good novels on the shelves. Whether it succeeds or not depends entirely on this!”
Ma Yiqun was nervous but excited.
He had wanted to give up his career in online literature. Boss Pei was the one who renewed his confidence and put Zhongdian Chinese Network in his hands.
More than three months had gone by since then. Ma Yiqun had been working hard and pulling all stops. Finally, he had an opportunity in front of him-an opportunity to repay Boss Pei and turn the website’s loss into profit!
[1] This is a slang for products that appear to be of high-quality but are actually low-quality and have low durability.
Chapter 294 - Keep the Money and Don’t Transfer it Back!
Chapter 294 Keep the Money and Don’t Transfer it Back!
An announcement was posted on Zhongdian Chinese Network, Repent and be Saved’s details page, and Tengda Games’ official Weibo at almost the same time. Soon, they caught the attention of many players.
“Eh? Repent and be Saved’s developers are working together with a small online novel website?”
“Isn’t that the website which published Repent and be Saved’s official novel?”
“The rewards for this combined event are so awesome! Not only can we get unimpeded access to the novel website, but we can also get rewards in-game items.”
“Look-Changing Pills? They can change the characters’ looks? Holy sh*t, don’t stop me, I’m going to get them for sure!”
“The accounts have been linked? That’s great; we won’t have to register for a new account.”
“I’ve been keeping up with this website. The books were trash in the beginning, but their more recent novels look quite good. They’re not far off compared to the elite novels you find on Infinite Chinese Network. You can read them when you have nothing better to do.”
“For the sake of the Look-Changing Pills, let’s go!”
Everyone seemed quite excited.
At the end of the day, one had to admit that the rewards were well-chosen!
The protagonist in Repent and be Saved was just an ordinary man. At the moment, players could not customize their characters. After all, Pei Qian had been trying his best to deter sight-seers from the game back then.
That made being able to change their characters’ looks that much more important to players!
There were several NPCs in the gameespecially female ones—who looked quite similar to the protagonist.
Once players heard that they could turn their character into a female, they became more excited!
Of course, given the game’s theme and design, female NPCs could not look that attractive. They were worlds apart from adult games, which prioritized the characters’ looks.
Still, players of Repent and be Saved would be used to seeing monsters and corpses thanks to the game’s background story. Any female NPC would look outstanding and attractive against such a backdrop.
Thus, hoards of players logged onto Zhongdian Chinese Network to finish their tasks, in hopes that they would obtain Look-Changing Pills at the end of the seven-day period.
They did not even have to spend money on an item like that-all they had to do was log in for seven days in a row. It would be an absolute waste if they gave it up!
At the same time, Zhongdian Chinese Network released a bunch of elite novels.
Under the editors’ tireless guidance, there were bound to be a few lousy authors who would achieve breakthroughs and produce pretty good novels.
Based on the backend figures, Ma Yiqun picked out these good seedlings and topped up their remuneration using the sum of money that Boss Pei had transferred to him. The payment that these authors received was comparable to what they would earn if they had written for other large websites; thus, they became very motivated.
Many authors began to update their novels quicker during the event period, causing readers to become hooked more easily. Thus, Zhongdian Chinese Network had both the right quality of novels and the right number of readers. A virtuous cycle had been established!
Many gamers who had been reading novels on Infinite Chinese Network were happy to add another novel website to their list. They could read different novels on each site concurrently.
With the revenue earned from readers, the website would no longer need to rely on Boss Pei for subsidies in the future. Slowly, it would be able to turn losses into profit.
As Ma Yiqun watched the backend figures on the website increase, he felt pleased and comforted. “I’ll report this good news to Boss Pei!” Ma Yiqun dialed Boss Pei’s number, feeling increasingly proud of himself. “Hello…?”
Boss Pei’s voice sounded very nasal over the phone.
Ma Yiqun paused. “Boss Pei, do you have the flu? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be disturbing you now.”
Every Tengda employee was extremely concerned about Boss Pei’s health. After all, he was like a mentor to all of them.
Pei Qian answered, “It’s no big deal. Is there trouble with the website? Quick, tell me.”
Ma Yiqun was not sure if he was just imagining things, but there always seemed to be a hint of hopefulness in Boss Pei’s voice.
Did he hope that there would be trouble with the website?
That’s impossible. Boss Pei must sound like that because he’s sick. I must be hearing things. Ma Yiqun could not help but grin. “Boss Pei, I have some good news! “Starting next month, you won’t have to provide so much money to top up our authors’ remuneration! At the end of this month, I intend to return a portion of the money you transferred to me as well. In three or four months, Zhongdian Chinese Network might become self-sufficient!”
Boss Pei remained silent for a long time before he responded. “Huh?”
Ma Yiqun continued, “Boss Pei, you’ve directed a huge amount of traffic to Zhongdian Chinese Network through Repent and be Saved. It’s proving effective!
“We saw many gamers visiting Zhongdian Chinese Network during this period. It made our website much more popular than it was. “Thus, I thought about organizing a combined event with Li Yada. It looks like we’re seeing some results!
“There’s been an increase in the number of registered users and active users on the website. On top of that, more readers seem to be following various novels. This means that gamers are not just visiting Zhongdian Chinese Network to browse through the official novel. They’re staying behind and reading other novels on our site!
“With the revenue generated by these readers, the website would probably earn much more during this period. That’s why I don’t think we’ll need to spend as much money to top up our authors’ remuneration.
“That’s also why I’m thinking about returning a portion of the money you transferred to me. That way, we can spend the money more meaningfully…” Before Ma Yiqun could finish speaking, Boss Pei turned his suggestion down.
“There’s no need! Don’t do that!”
Ma Yiqun was confused. “Huh?”
Pei Qian cleared his throat, trying to calm himself down. “The money is not important. Repent and be Saved is selling so well; why are you still worried that Tengda would lack funds?
“In any case, the money would be better spent on Zhongdian Chinese Network!
“What stage are we at now? We’re only seeing signs that our losses could be turned into profits. We’re still a long way from becoming giants in the online literature industry, like Infinite Chinese Network!
“Keep the money and don’t transfer it back.
“No matter what, you have to think of ways to spend all that money this month! Shouldn’t we be giving our new readers some benefits?
“Shouldn’t we give our authors a greater bonus, given that they’ve been working so hard over the past few months purely for the sake of their passion?
“Our employees have been working extremely hard as well. Shouldn’t we organize some team-building events and bring everybody clos
er?
“We could also look for more programs and improve our website and mobile application. Are our server and bandwidth still good enough now that we have so many new readers? Otherwise, spend money to upgrade them.
“There are still so many avenues to spend money. Why are you always thinking about holding back and saving on capital? It’s not your own money that you’ll be spending; don’t be so stingy.
“Spend as much as you want! If you don’t have enough money, ask me for more!”
Ma Yiqun felt ashamed upon hearing Boss Pei’s words.
He was such a letdown!
Ma Yiqun had only thought about turning the website’s losses into profits and saving money for Boss Pei.
After all, the website had been burning money on the editors’ salaries, the website’s operating expenses, the authors’ remuneration, and the like for the past couple of months
This made Ma Yiqun deeply uncomfortable. He couldn’t stop thinking about how to earn all that money back for Boss Pei.
Now, Boss Pei’s words had shaken him awake.
It was important to generate profits, but the website’s development was even more important!
Zhongdian Chinese Network was one part of Boss Pei’s larger plan. It was still considered small-scale at the moment. Even if Ma Yiqun could turn the losses into profit, the website would probably only generate a small profit. One could not compare Zhongdian Chinese Network to a giant like Infinite Chinese Network.
Tengda Games was already way ahead of Zhongdian Chinese Network. It was almost as if that latter was the younger sibling, trailing behind the older sibling and copying everything it did.
At a time like that, the younger sibling should be thinking about sharing the older sibling’s burdens and maturing as quickly as possible. Ma Yiqun was deeply moved, not only because Boss Pei seemed to already have a bright plan for Zhongdian Chinese Network’s future, but more so because he seemed to trust Ma Yiqun a lot as well!