Tool King Boshen Chen Huairong: How a small workshop became an industry leader
Boshen Tools Co., Ltd. only had a dozen workers 15 years ago, borrowing 300,000 yuan from here and there. The "small workshop" with capital has developed into the largest diamond tool manufacturing enterprise in the country with more than 1,800 employees and annual sales revenue of nearly 400 million yuan. Chen Huairong, chairman of the company, said that no matter how small a private enterprise is, it must establish the integrity concept of a large company when starting a business and win the market through continuous technological innovation. When an enterprise has strong strength, it should not always think about expanding its scale or becoming bigger, but should think about doing it with high quality and for a long time.
? No matter how small a private enterprise is, it must first establish the concept of integrity when starting a business?
At the end of 1994, 40-year-old Chen Huairong and four colleagues resigned from the state-owned Shijiazhuang Coal Mining Machinery Factory and went to work. , founded Boshen Tools Co., Ltd. They spent all their savings, borrowed money from relatives and friends, and took out loans from banks to collect a registered capital of 300,000 yuan. At that time, the factory buildings and equipment were rented, and there were only a dozen workers.
Diamond tools are the only high-quality and efficient tools for cutting and polishing non-metallic hard and brittle materials such as stone, glass and concrete roads. my country's diamond tool industry started late. At that time, the domestic market was mainly occupied by Japanese products. There were no national standards, no special equipment and process formulas for this kind of products in China, and basically no mature technical data could be applied.
Chen Huairong, chairman of Boshen Company, said that after the first batch of products were produced, he personally led his employees to the market to sell them door to door. Because they were not recognized, he was often kicked out. By May 1995, the products could not be sold, the money could not be returned, and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. He was so worried that he cried. Is it life or death? ?No matter how small a private enterprise is, it must first establish the concept of integrity when starting a business. No matter how difficult it is, we can't learn to be fake. ? Chen Huairong said. They walked in as soon as they saw the door, coaxed them out and went back in again, until they could put them on store shelves or in factories for trial use. They also tried products and paid after use. Gradually, they gained sales, and by the end of the year, they actually completed 6 million yuan in sales. Forehead.
With its genuine products at reasonable prices, Boshen Company achieved sales of 12 million yuan and profit of 4 million yuan in 1996. Chen Huairong said that at that time, each shareholder had hundreds of thousands of yuan in his name. Some people advocated buying a house or a car, but he still persuaded everyone to decide to acquire land in the Shijiazhuang Development Zone to expand production scale. In 1998, Boshen Company had its own production workshop, built a scientific research building, a quality inspection room, purchased large-scale equipment, and achieved sales of 40 million yuan. They jointly conduct project research and development with internationally renowned companies, own more than 90 national patents, and have more than 20 product projects listed as national, provincial, and municipal key projects.
As long as you have core technology, foreign markets are not scary?
By 1999, Boshen Company, which had developed into a national industry leader, began to plan to enter foreign markets. Chen Huairong said that in the eyes of some foreign businessmen, Chinese products are regarded as "mainland goods", which is synonymous with low-end products.
? Foreign markets are not scary, as long as you have core technology. We have fully proved with practical actions that "Made in China" is not just about low-end goods. ?Chen Huairong said that if you want to change people's ideas and let the market accept you, the key lies in your own excellent products and accurate market positioning.
The development of an enterprise cannot be separated from the support of talents. While Boshen Company has introduced a large number of advanced equipment, in order to keep pace with the development of the world's diamond tool industry, it has hired and recruited more than 100 university students from all over the country. Graduates and senior technical talents, the company currently has 8 doctoral and master students, and has also hired the chief scientist in the field of national high-tech new materials and several experts in the field as the company's permanent technical consultants. Every year, a large number of scientific researchers are sent abroad for training and research, and extensive technical exchange and cooperation relationships have been established with the world-famous British De Beers Company and German Feiyu Company. At present, Boshen Company has established cooperative relationships with merchants from more than 30 countries in Europe, America and Asia.
? Don’t seek? Be bigger? But seek? Be long-lasting?
Chen Huairong said that he often thinks about a question: Why can many of the world’s top 500 companies thrive for hundreds of years? The key is to have advanced and sustainable management. He warned himself and his employees: Don't always think about expanding the scale or becoming bigger, but think about doing it with high quality and for a long time. He likes this kind of "simple and eternal".
Chen Huairong said that running a business and making money are completely different concepts. In the past two years, someone in the company proposed that if the company has money, it can invest in real estate, mine and make more money. He resisted this. temptation. In 2004, he also spun off a 60 million yuan petroleum machinery subsidiary in order to focus solely on the production of diamond tools.
In order to embed advanced management concepts into the company, he persuaded the four veterans who started the business with him to step down and become directors. He hired more than 40 talents with management experience as senior executives at high salaries. . Most of the mid-level and senior-level backbones hold company shares, and the shareholding ratio is relatively even. Reasonable equity arrangements not only reduce agency costs, but also prevent the disadvantages of family control and dominance, and more effectively motivate the work enthusiasm of the company's middle and senior employees. ;