Reborn: I'll Never Fail My Childhood Sweetheart Again

Chapter 552 - 209: The New Female University Graduate Employee at Headquarters (Part 2)

As the elevator ascended, the number of people inside gradually decreased.

"Ding!"

The elevator stopped at the sixteenth floor.

The girl noticed that the young man who had helped her earlier also stepped out.

"Oh, are you working on this floor too?"

She asked curiously.

"Yes!"

Su Zelin nodded.

"I’m with New Century Digital Co., Ltd., and you?"

"Haha, me too."

"Wow, what a coincidence, we’re colleagues then! I’m Li Meng, and you?"

"Su Zelin!"

"You look quite young, you must be a newcomer too, right?"

With a mature aura and a youthful hairstyle, the girl mistook him for a recent graduate.

"Well, here at headquarters, you could say I’m a newcomer too."

Su Zelin chuckled.

He indeed started his position at headquarters this semester, so in a way, he was a "newcomer."

Li Meng didn’t quite understand what he meant but didn’t ask much further, as they were already at the company entrance while talking.

Besides the main store on the first floor, New Century also rented several hundred square meters of office space on the sixteenth floor of Dingsheng Mansion.

Technically, this could be considered the true headquarters, a place for executives and administrative staff to work and entertain guests, whereas the first-floor store can only be called the main store.

If someone comes to discuss business cooperation, like franchising, it’s not ideal to talk inside the store. Additionally, staff like the training team don’t belong to any specific store, so they need a place to stay.

"Sister Yuying, good morning!"

The girl greeted the receptionist lively as she entered.

Although it was her first official day at New Century, she wasn’t new to working here; she had interned at the company during her senior year and decided to stay when she recognized its potential, successfully passing the interview afterward.

Li Meng was already acquainted with the receptionist, Zhang Yuying, during her internship, so they weren’t strangers.

"Oh, Xiaomeng, starting your official day today."

After the receptionist responded, her gaze drifted to Su Zelin next to Li Meng: "Director, good morning!"

Su Zelin had been promoted for two weeks and had visited the headquarters many times, so she remembered him.

"Director?"

Li Meng looked around, noticing only three people near the reception, besides Zhang Yuying and herself, there was only the handsome guy beside her.

"Director?"

Her eyes widened.

"Oh, you haven’t met yet?" Zhang Yuying actively introduced: "Xiaomeng, this is our New Century COO, Director Su!"

COO!

Li Meng took a deep breath.

She understood what this position represented.

In a large company, the Chief Operating Officer is certainly a significant role among the executives.

And she happened to be in the Operations Department too.

No way, our COO is so young!

I even asked him if he was new to the company, that was embarrassing!

"Sorry, Director Su, I’m really sorry for earlier!"

Li Meng apologized repeatedly, feeling terribly impolite.

"Haha, it’s okay,"

Su Zelin was used to such misunderstandings, and of course, he didn’t mind.

"I’m also in the Operations Department, new here, so I hope for your guidance in the future."

"Not a problem, we’re in the same department, let’s work hard together."

After leaving the reception, Li Meng dared not walk alongside Su Zeli anymore and fell slightly behind.

Hearing the employees they passed greet him as Director, Li Meng still found it hard to believe.

Despite having recruited and attracted many talents, forming the basic framework with a team of several dozens at headquarters, some high-level executives were still performing multiple roles at the moment, like Su Zelin’s COO position, which, if subdivided, could be split into Author Operations Director (ACOO), Brand Operations Director (BCOO), Content Operations Director (CCOO), User Operations Director (UCOO), and Channel Operations Director (COD).

However, the company’s scale hasn’t reached that level, so there’s no need to subdivide yet, otherwise it would become cumbersome. Now Su Zelin alone can handle all the tasks of the Operations Director.

Of course, with ongoing business development, the team will continue expanding in the future.

Entering the Operations Department office area, everyone’s gaze immediately fixed on him.

"Boss!"

The affectionate nickname contrasted with the greetings from earlier employees, as these people were directly managed by Su Zelin and called him that.

Upon taking on the COO role, Su Zelin naturally assembled a new team around him.

Cutting his hair into a youthful look wasn’t without reason, as he’d frequently face not the college students from the financial store, but this team.

Even though New Century headquarters staff tended to be younger, they were still between twenty-five and thirty-five years old, young adults; sporting a quiet, lovely boyish style would clash with this identity, thus bidding farewell to that style.

"Senior, Director Su is so young. How did he become our Operations Director?"

Li Meng whispered to an old employee she had a good relationship with since her internship.

"Shh, lower your voice, don’t speak carelessly; don’t underestimate him. When New Century’s first store opened, Boss was already working alongside President Yang and President Kang, and he’s truly amazing!"

"..."

After spending some time in the Operations Department, Su Zelin went to the CEO’s office and asked Kang Baohong for a report.

The back-to-school season promotion was over, and managers of all direct stores had sent their sales data to headquarters. Naturally, it was necessary for Su Zelin to get familiar with it.

"Since adding the mobile phone business, our store revenues have significantly increased, and sales at the main store are particularly good, not confined to seasonal peaks; sales remain stable every day!"

"Yesterday, an investor from Ningbo contacted us, interested in franchising, and will be coming to Lin’an in the next couple of days!"

"President Yang flew to Shenzhen to meet a manufacturer, hoping to further reduce procurement costs this semester!"

"..."

While Su Zelin reviewed the report, Kang Baohong also briefed him on recent developments in New Century.

All in all, everything was on a good track.

The phone business increased sales and profits, combined with the numerous stores, profits from one back-to-school season were considerable.

Moreover, with continuous advertising offensives on TV and newspapers and other media, this digital store’s name was becoming well-known across the province, attracting investors from various cities eager to franchise. Three companies have already been engaged in discussions, inspection teams assessed their conditions, and they were essentially backed by local influential investors, so funding wasn’t an issue, nor was the scale for setting up stores on campuses, hence all were approved.

The franchise fee charged wasn’t high, just symbolic.

New Century doesn’t thrive on franchise fees.

What is truly profitable?

Supply!

Headquarters negotiates directly with manufacturers under the corporate name; due to large quantities, it’s easy to obtain favorable discounts, and then other direct stores and franchise stores must uniformly source supplies from the main store. This is, in fact, more advantageous than individual stores sourcing from agents, thus creating a win-win situation.

In a sense, franchise stores are New Century’s distributors, only New Century doesn’t produce digital products itself but sells others’ products.

Su Zelin’s ultimate goal is to be the largest digital channel provider. When you possess thousands of stores nationwide, your channel becomes extremely formidable. Even when the e-commerce era arrives, there’s no need to worry about becoming obsolete.

Take a simple example: the well-known blue and green factories. When Xiaomi perfected internet marketing, and other phone brands tried to emulate it, the blue and green factories quietly cultivated offline stores, building networks so vast that even in the smallest urban neighborhoods you could find their stores, often several.

After internet marketing lost momentum, the blue and green factories surged ahead, leaving Xiaomi behind and becoming two of Xia Country’s most formidable phone brands, thanks to this extensive store strategy.

Those stores scattered on every street, within sight of consumers, constructed the formidable channel of the blue and green factories.

This is the power of channels!

No matter how the market changes, those products unable to adapt are the ones that get eliminated, yet powerful channels aren’t so easily phased out.

As many brands are dependent on large channels to sell their products, you then have the leverage to negotiate directly with manufacturers, like requesting unified online and offline retail pricing for their products to ensure offline interests, is entirely possible.

This is what Su Zelin is building—a channel like this!

But the steps must be quick, needing to strategize comprehensively before the coming of the online shopping wave.

By the same time next year, I must ensure New Century flourishes throughout Zhejiang Province, with direct and franchise stores in every major city across the province!

...