Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

February 20th, Wednesday.

Shanghai, Shengyun Express Corporation headquarters.

Shengyun Corporation’s upper echelons were having a meeting in the conference room.

Chairman Nie Yunsheng slammed the table and said very firmly, “That’s settled then. We have to start cutting off from Upwind Logistics immediately!”

“If you are indecisive, you will cause chaos. Shengyun Express and Upwind Logistics are highly dependent. If you continue like this, the reliance between us will only be higher. It will become more difficult as you go!”

“Upwind Logistics has been doing the air transport business for more than half a year. The business volume is increasing rapidly every day. If we don’t do anything, it will only be a matter of time before they overtake us with the terminal controlled by Upwind Courier stations!”

“What’s more, after nine months of planning, the delivery cabinet and community courier stations that we have set up in second and third-tier cities that Upwind Logistics have not completely occupied have finally surpassed Upwind Logistics in terms of scale. The conditions have basically matured.”

“After the meeting today, we will officially announce that apart from Jingzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and the other surrounding areas, we will officially prohibit the cooperation between the express delivery brands of all the subsidiaries of the company and Upwind Logistics. All express delivery companies will be sent to our own express delivery cabinet and community courier station!”

“As for these four strong areas of Upwind Logistics... our final goal must also completely replace Upwind Courier stations. However, we cannot rush it in the short term. We have to wait and see.”

“If the customers’ protests are not too intense, we can start cutting off from the Upwind Courier stations in these four key areas.”

The other Vice Presidents did not raise any objections to this. After all, this decision had been brewing in Shengyun Corporation for a long time. Now, it was just a matter of time.

Shengyun Corporation knew that Upwind Logistics was planning their own air transport business last May and was very vigilant.

However, at that time, the business dependence between Shengyun Corporation and Upwind Logistics was too high. Upwind Logistics had become the last link of Shengyun Corporation’s express delivery in many important cities.

For Shengyun Corporation, throwing all their parcels into Upwind Courier stations would undoubtedly reduce the cost of manpower. Thus, they cut off a portion of the express deliverymen in many places.

However, Shengyun Corporation also realized the danger and prepared to cut ties with Upwind Logistics after Upwind Logistics began to plan their own delivery business.

During these few months, Shengyun Corporation had invested a lot of money in the terminal layout through various methods, including financing. They had established a network larger than Upwind Logistics.

In fact, Upwind Logistics was still spending money to open Upwind Courier stations. However, they were not as fast as Shengyun Corporation.

That was because the two companies made express delivery stations. Strictly speaking, they were not the same thing.

Upwind Logistics’ Upwind Courier stations had to be delivered to their doorstep. Thus, the courier stations had to be equipped with express deliverymen and sorting personnel. They were all official and authorized employees. The process from recruitment to starting the business could not be done too quickly.

Every segment was strictly prohibited from the establishment of the various internet points to the official operations.

However, Shengyun Corporation was different. They used two methods: express delivery cabinet and community courier station.

The express delivery cabinet was very simple. It was to discuss cooperation with various districts and set up a delivery cabinet in the district. The express deliveryman would throw the express delivery into the express delivery cabinet and leave. Customers would scan the QR code to collect the items.

On the other hand, Shengyun Corporation’s residential courier station was different from Upwind Courier stations. The residential courier stations were franchises. Anyone could open a small shop.

The courier stations were not responsible for delivering parcels to customers’ doorsteps. Some courier stations were not even responsible for finding parcels for customers. After customers came to their doorsteps, they were purely busy themselves. They would find parcels on the counter, exit the warehouse, and bring them home. Sometimes, there were too many express deliveries. They would have to stick them together with tape or use the small cart at the entrance of the courier stations to push them home.

Upwind Courier stations was a loss-making business, but Shengyun Corporation’s district courier stations were not making a loss. Instead, they were making a huge profit.

That was because the people who opened the community courier station only needed to sit at the courier station. If the express deliveryman brought the items over, they would enter the warehouse and place them on the shelves according to the serial number. When customers came to collect them, they would find the items according to the serial number and exit the warehouse. It was simply a fully automated operation.

When the boss of the courier station was in a good mood, he would help to look for something. If he was in a bad mood, he would say that he had something on and let the customers busy themselves.

After that, the boss of the courier station could earn a portion of the money for each express delivery. With such a huge load of goods and some miscellaneous side businesses, even in a relatively small district, the boss of the courier station could earn thousands or tens of thousands of yuan each month.

Of course, this income was not stable income. How much money could be earned depended on the location and traffic of the courier stations. The more deliveries there were, the more money they would earn. Some courier stations might not be able to continue working and collapse. Some courier stations might earn 20,000 yuan a month. That was hard to say.

However, overall, these courier stations were obviously profitable. Thus, Shengyun Corporation did not need to painstakingly set up these express delivery points. They only needed to let go of their franchises. Naturally, many people who wanted to earn money would cooperate.

Shengyun Corporation only needed to spend a very low cost to build a community courier station.

Coupled with the fully opened express delivery cabinet, Shengyun Corporation had finally established a express delivery network that belonged completely to them after this period of rapid expansion.

At the very least, he did not have to worry about not being able to deliver parcels to some second- and third-tier cities now that he was completely cut off from Upwind Logistics.

Shengyun Corporation had also been trying and observing during the process of establishing this network

These pilot projects and observations were mainly in some second and third-tier cities and county cities.

That was because the advantage of Upwind Courier stations was in Handong Province and some more developed first-tier cities. The coverage of Upwind Courier stations in these places was high. Most consumers had already formed a habit. If they abruptly cut off all cooperation with Upwind Courier stations, it would easily cause an intense rebound.

On the other hand, the conditions in second- and third-tier cities and county cities were much more suitable.

There might be Upwind Courier stations in these places, but Upwind Courier stations had not covered all of them. What’s more, many customers had not completely relied on Upwind Courier stations.

The result of the pilot project was that although there were some complaints, the delivery cabinet and community courier stations were doing quite well.

That was why Shengyun Corporation felt that the time was almost ripe. They had to cut off from Upwind Courier stations as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would only become more difficult to cut it off in the future.

Nie Yunsheng immediately decided seeing that all the executives had no objections. “Alright, inform them immediately. This matter involves the survival of the entire Shengyun Corporation. They cannot be ignored. They have to be fast!”

In the afternoon, at the headquarters of Upwind Courier stations...

“Boss Lu, Shengyun Corporation has made a move! According to reliable news, Shengyun Corporation’s headquarters has already released an internal notice that all second- and third-tier cities and county express delivery companies are no longer working with Upwind Courier stations. Instead, they are all sent to the express delivery cabinet and Shengyun Corporation’s own residential courier station.”

A staff came to Lu Mingliang’s office and briefly explained the situation.

However, his tone was not flustered or nervous. Instead, he sounded very excited.

Lu Mingliang immediately slammed the table. “It’s finally here. F*ck, I’ve been enduring this group of people for a long time!”

“No matter what, I’m a second-generation heir of Tengda Games. I’ve been cooped up at Upwind Logistics for so long, but I haven’t found a breakthrough. I was waiting for this group of people to make a move. In the end, they were all too slow. They used this method to set up the express delivery website for more than eight months. Their efficiency was simply too slow.”

“Do as we planned and let them know why the flowers are so red!”

Once Lu Mingliang gave the order, the entire Upwind Logistics headquarters became busy. The employees began to carry out the plan that they had already decided on in an orderly manner.

Shengyun Corporation was well-prepared, and so was Upwind Logistics.

In fact, Lu Mingliang had understood that Upwind Logistics would sooner or later separate from these express delivery companies, including Shengyun Corporation, when Shengyun Corporation began to set up express delivery cabinets and community courier stations.

This was exactly what Lu Mingliang wanted.

Why could Upwind Logistics only eat the leftovers from the last mile? What’s more, this business was a loss-making business. Upwind Logistics was burning money crazily. They spread these express delivery points across the country. In the end, the bigger their business, the more money they burned.

Lu Mingliang had thought of many ways to expand the scope of Upwind Courier stations’ business. As the scale expanded and the cost decreased, the amount of money spent would be lowered to a relatively low level. However, that was still a loss!

If he wanted to make money, he had to snatch the business from express delivery companies like Shengyun Corporation.

However, this matter was not that easy. That was because the structure of other express delivery companies was from top to bottom. They could use the franchise to expand quickly. However, the structure of Upwind Logistics was from bottom to top. They had to first build courier stations to ensure the entire area’s delivery experience. Then, they could establish a perfect logistics system.

This difference caused Upwind Logistics to take every step steadily but very slowly.

That was the biggest disadvantage and shortcoming of Upwind Logistics.

After more than half a year of rapid development, Upwind Logistics’ air transport business had stabilized. With Jingzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou as the center, all four areas had been covered by logistics. What’s more, the speed and efficiency of logistics were obviously superior to express delivery companies like Shengyun Corporation.

Upwind Courier stations in other regions were also opening rapidly.

In fact, Lu Mingliang had been holding his breath the entire time. In terms of experience, he was the second chief designer of Tengda Games after Huang Sibo. Even though Upwind Logistics, which he was in charge of, was also one of the most important departments in Tengda Corporation, he had not turned his losses into profits. He had only been silently spreading the express delivery network. This made Lu Mingliang very minded.

Lu Mingliang felt a little uncomfortable as he watched the other department heads show off.

However, he could not leave Upwind Logistics. Wouldn’t he be admitting his failure if he left now?

Thus, after making preparations, Lu Mingliang waited.

He was waiting for the other party to strike first.

That was because whoever made the first move would be in the wrong.

Now that the other party could not take it anymore, it would not be overboard to engage in legitimate self-defense!