African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 5 Hot Manufacturing Industry

  The 19th century has to be said to be a paradise for entrepreneurs. In this era of increasing industrialization, the income from investing in industry is very considerable.

  Although the risk is high, it is basically nothing for Ernst. After a year of tug-of-war.

   "Gillette" razors are at least well-known, and customers who have already purchased are also firmly grasped, and repeat customers can be seen.

"Gillette" has embarked on the road of profit, of course, Ernst will not stop here. In the previous life, "Gillette" really became bigger and stronger, relying on the opportunity period of the world war, the US army brought Gillette to worldwide.

   Ernst also caught up with the good times. As the iron-blooded prime minister, Bismarck paid great attention to the army. After taking office, he proposed the famous "iron-blooded policy".

   That is to increase industrial construction to serve the army, and at the same time increase the combination of military forces of the states in Germany.

  According to the history that Ernst is familiar with, next year will be the harbinger of Prussia's unification of Germany. It will unite with Austria to declare war on Denmark and take back the two northern duchies of Schleswig-Holstein.

  So when Prussia integrated the army, Ernst went to the Prussian royal palace in person to sell the "Gillette" razor to William I.

Ernst mainly focused on the urgency of time when a war broke out. Traditional razors are not only unsafe, but also difficult to operate. The blades also need separate time for maintenance, while "Gillette" only needs to replace the blades, and it can Save that time.

  Of course, in order to dispel William I's concerns, Ernst offered to provide 20,000 sets of "Gillette" razors at a loss to support the construction of the Kingdom's army.

   It doesn't matter whether you lose money or not, the important thing is to let these Prussian soldiers feel the convenience of "Gillette".

  People are inert, never stand when they can sit, and never sit when they can lie down. Ernst had a deep understanding during his college life in his previous life. When it comes to buying cigarettes, he basically didn't even bother to go down the stairs.

  …

  Thinking of this, Ernst suddenly froze, um, "smoke". Ernst felt like his brain was about to explode!

   But he was still in the palace at the moment, and Ernst was trying to calm down. After discussing the military trial of "Gillette" with William I, Ernst's mind was no longer only on the order.

  Out of the Prussian royal palace, Ernst sat in the carriage and began to imagine why he didn't think of the almost costless business of cigarettes. No, I still have to squeeze my brain well.

   Write down some things from the previous life, won’t you be rich if you produce these things in the future?

  Of course there are cigarettes in this era, but handmade, mass-produced cigarette machines have not yet been developed and popularized.

  For Ernst, he only needs to find some experts to overcome the technology of mass production of cigarettes, and then he will be the first person to eat crabs.

  And cigarettes, which satisfy human needs on a spiritual level, are too marketable. Although there are competitors, they rely on relatively expensive and inefficient manual and machine-based mass production to compete.

   Ernst decided to find someone to cooperate with when he went back, and he had to write down a lot of things that were convenient for life in his previous life but low-tech, and make them out in advance.

   Well, it's time to set up a new company. At present, "Gillette" is actually a factory that only produces razors.

  In the future, if I make a lot of things, there will definitely be more than one factory. How to control these factories at that time, I still need to hire some professional people to help take care of them.

Then, the Prussian army began to equip the "Gillette" razor produced by Ernst's factory. Sure enough, as Ernst expected, these big soldiers liked this time-saving and labor-saving razor very much. There are restrictions on use, but the low price and convenience and practicality cover up this shortcoming, and orders for blades follow.

  In this way, the follow-up Prussian army can increase the equipment of new razors and order blades simultaneously, and Ernst is not idle.

  In addition to Prussia, there are other states in Germany! Naturally, Ernst would not let it go, and began to increase the promotion of his razors in the armies of various countries.

   What don't you need? The Prussian army agreed to use it, why are you so embarrassed? The successful use of the Prussian army has also become a classic case of Ernst's product promotion.

   I don't believe that I can go to the Prussian military camp to see for myself, so that Ernst successfully promoted these razors in many small countries.

  Good things always keep coming. The razor promoted in the army quickly attracted the attention of interested people, and some factory owners who produced precision instruments also began to introduce it.

   Hair is a big trouble for precision instrument factories, and it is necessary to require workers to shave. Now these factories require workers to directly use Ernst's "Gillette" razor.

  The new razor industry has entered the fast lane of rapid development, and the ambitious Ernst started a bigger plan.

  The newly established Hechingen Development Company began to send sales teams to other countries, among which the Austrian Empire and Russia were important markets.

  In a more conservative country like Russia, Ernst emphasized that members of the sales team should focus on the advancement of the new razor. This is the crystallization of industrialization, the representative of hygiene and safety.

  Russia is still in the era of Tsarist Russia at this moment. It is well known that Russians yearn for the West, especially during the Tsarist Russia period.

  As for the Austrian Empire, the sales team mainly used the advantages of Prussia equipped with this razor to convince the Austrian official.

  At the same time, Ernst is also actively developing markets in other countries, its main business is the whole of Europe, and at the same time it is looking for agents in North America.

  North America was the headquarters of "Gillette" in his previous life, and it was impossible for Ernst to go to the United States to direct the construction of the factory himself.

  Patents alone are a big problem. The United States is a complete copycat country at the moment. Ernst doesn't want to test the conscience of the Americans.

   Simply set up an office in North America to cooperate with those big capitalists in the United States.

  The Hexingen Development Company, which has a European aristocratic background, still has some influence in the Americas. At least no one is embarrassing this small company with an old continental aristocratic background.

Moreover, the "Gillette" razor has not yet been promoted, and the capital will not end it in person. Through communication with a US capital group, Ernst successfully equipped the "Gillette" razor in the US military. Of course, this is the future. thing.

   It is just an authorized patent, but the factory and construction funds are handled by the Americans, and Ernst can get 10% of the US dollars for nothing every year.

   This is already a good result. As for the outbreak of "Gillette" in the future, Ernst will not have to focus solely on this single seedling. According to Ernst's vision, the Hechingen Development Company should already be a large company with diversified operations.

  Now Ernst has received good news that his large-scale production line of cigarettes has been completed.

   Soon, the cigarettes of the previous life (of course, there are no filters yet.) will appear in convenience stores and factories all over Germany, and of course the military needs it.

  In this day and age, no one pays attention to the dangers of cigarettes. Ernst doesn't even have to put the words that smoking is harmful to health on the packaging.

  Of course, industrialization has caused the big cities in Europe to be full of black chimneys, and thick smoke and dust are not necessarily less harmful to the body than smoking.

  While selling "Gillette" razors, Ernst has begun to focus on the production of various small commodities.

For example, for flush toilets that have not yet been popularized on a large scale, Ernst is also planning to build a separate factory. The UK already has mature products. Ernst is mainly responsible for increasing the promotion of this product. It is not too much to set up a foundry. Can get OEM.

  With cigarettes, there must be a lighter. Ernst decided to make the kerosene lighter first, which is also Hexingen's flagship product.

   There are still many ideas, and Ernst wants to come up with them, but the current ability is not up to it, and the funds alone are somewhat risky.

   Ernst has passed the start-up stage, and now it is enough to expand steadily. As the war is approaching, good days are yet to come!

  (end of this chapter)