Fiery Manufacturing

The 19th century could certainly be called a paradise for entrepreneurs. In this era of advancing industrialization, investing in industry yielded substantial profits.

Although the risks were also very high, for Ernst, they were practically nonexistent. After a year of back-and-forth negotiations, Gillette razors were at least well-known, and existing customers were firmly retained, with repeat business visible.

Gillette had embarked on the path to profitability. Of course, Ernst wouldn't stop there. In his previous life, Gillette's true growth and strength came from the opportunities presented by the World Wars, when the American military propelled Gillette worldwide.

Ernst had also arrived at a good time. Bismarck, as the Iron Chancellor, paid considerable attention to the military and, upon taking office, proposed the famous "Blood and Iron Policy."

This policy entailed increasing industrial construction to serve the military while simultaneously strengthening the union of military forces among the German states.

According to Ernst's knowledge of history, next year would mark the prelude to Prussia's war to unify Germany. They would ally with Austria to declare war on Denmark, reclaiming the two northern duchies of Schleswig-Holstein.

Therefore, as Prussia consolidated its military, Ernst personally went to the Prussian Royal Palace to promote Gillette razors to King Wilhelm I.

Ernst primarily emphasized the urgency of time should war break out. Traditional razors were not only unsafe but also difficult to operate, and the blades required separate maintenance time. Gillette, however, only needed blade replacements, saving all that time.

Naturally, to allay King Wilhelm I's concerns, Ernst proactively offered to provide twenty thousand Gillette razor sets at a loss to support the Kingdom's military development.

Whether it was a loss or not was unimportant; the key was for these Prussian soldiers to experience the convenience of Gillette.

People are inherently lazy; they'll sit if they can stand, and lie down if they can sit. Ernst had deeply understood this during his university days in his previous life. Just buying cigarettes, for instance, often felt too much effort to even leave the room.

Thinking of this, Ernst suddenly froze. Right, cigarettes. Ernst felt his mind was about to explode!

However, still at the Royal Palace, Ernst tried to calm himself. After discussing the trial use of Gillette razors by the army with King Wilhelm I, Ernst's mind was no longer solely focused on the order.

Leaving the Prussian Royal Palace, Ernst sat in his carriage, beginning to fantasize. How had he not thought of cigarettes, a business with almost no cost? "No," he thought, "I need to really squeeze my brain."

He should write down some things from his previous life. If he could produce these things in the future, wouldn't he become rich?

Cigarettes did exist in this era, but they were handmade. Machines for large-scale cigarette production had not yet developed or become widespread.

For Ernst, all he needed was to find some experts to tackle the technology for mass cigarette production. Then, he would be the first to seize the opportunity.

Moreover, cigarettes, which satisfied a human need on a psychological level, had immense market potential. Although there were competitors, how could expensive and inefficient manual labor compete with mass machine production?

Ernst decided to find partners immediately upon his return and to write down many things from his previous life that made life convenient but had low technical barriers, intending to develop them early.

Yes, it was also time to establish a new company. Currently, Gillette was solely a factory producing razors.

In the future, if he developed more products, there would surely be more than one factory. How would he manage these factories? He would need to hire professionals to help run them.

As the Prussian army began equipping with Gillette razors produced by Ernst's factory, just as Ernst had predicted, these common soldiers greatly favored the time-saving and labor-saving razors. The blades, being consumables, had a usage limit, but their low price and practical convenience masked this drawback, and orders for blades followed.

This allowed for the synchronized increase in the Prussian army's equipment with new razors and the procurement of blades. Ernst, meanwhile, was not idle.

Besides Prussia, there were other German states. Ernst naturally wouldn't let them go and began to increase the promotion of his razors among their armies.

"What, you don't need them?" he'd imply. "Even the Prussian army uses them and says they're good, how can you not?" The successful adoption by the Prussian army became a classic case study for Ernst's product promotion.

"If you don't believe me, you can personally visit the Prussian barracks." With this, Ernst successfully promoted his razors in many smaller states.

Good things always came in succession. The razors promoted in the military soon caught the attention of observant individuals, and some factory owners producing precision instruments began to adopt them.

Hair was a significant problem for precision instrument factories, and requiring workers to shave was necessary. Now, these factories mandated that their workers use Ernst's Gillette razors.

The new razor industry had entered a fast track of rapid development, and the ambitious Ernst began planning even bigger ventures.

The newly established Hohenzollern Development Company began sending sales teams to other countries, with the Austrian Empire and Russia being key markets.

For a relatively conservative country like Russia, Ernst emphasized that the sales team members should focus on the progressiveness of the new razors, presenting them as a crystallization of industrialization and a symbol of hygiene and safety.

At this time, Russia was still in the Tsarist era. It was well-known that Russians yearned for the West, especially during the Tsarist period.

As for the Austrian Empire, the sales team primarily used the advantages Prussia gained after equipping with these razors to persuade Austrian officials.

Simultaneously, Ernst actively developed markets in other countries, with his main business covering all of Europe, while also seeking agents in North America.

North America was the true stronghold of Gillette in his previous life, and Ernst couldn't personally go to America to oversee factory construction.

Patents alone were a huge issue. America at that time was a complete haven for knock-offs, and Ernst didn't want to test the conscience of Americans.

He decided to establish an office in North America and cooperate with American capitalists.

With its background as a European aristocratic entity, the Hohenzollern Development Company had some influence in the Americas. At least, no one would make things difficult for this small company with Old World aristocratic roots.

Furthermore, Gillette razors had not yet been widely promoted, and capital had not yet directly entered the market. Through discussions with an American capital group, Ernst successfully got Gillette razors equipped within the US military, though this was a future event.

It was merely a patent license, but the Americans would handle the factory and construction funds, and Ernst would receive a 10% annual cut in US dollars.

This was already a good outcome. As for when Gillette would eventually explode in popularity, Ernst wouldn't have to rely solely on this one venture. According to Ernst's vision, the Hohenzollern Development Company should have already become a large, diversified company.

Ernst had now received good news: his large-scale cigarette production line was complete.

Soon, the rolled cigarettes from his previous life (though without filters at this time) would appear in convenience stores and factories across Germany, and of course, in the military, a major consumer.

In this era, no one paid attention to the harms of smoking. Ernst didn't even need to print "Smoking is harmful to health" on the packaging.

Of course, industrialization caused the large cities of Europe to be filled with black chimneys. The dense smoke and dust were arguably no less harmful to health than smoking.

While selling Gillette razors, Ernst had already begun targeting the production of various small commodities.

For example, flush toilets, which were not yet widely popularized. Ernst planned to set up a separate factory. Britain already had mature products, and Ernst would primarily be responsible for increasing their promotion, making it reasonable to establish a contract manufacturer and later pursue OEM.

With cigarettes secured, lighters were a must. Ernst decided to develop kerosene lighters first, which would also be a flagship product for the Hohenzollern Company.

He had many other ideas he wanted to bring to fruition, but his current capabilities were insufficient, and the funding alone carried some risk.

Ernst had moved past the startup phase; stable expansion was the priority now. With war looming ever closer, the good times were still ahead!