A Triumphant Start

Time flew like an arrow; the sun and moon raced by.

In the blink of an eye, the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed.

September 28.

The first-floor conference hall at headquarters.

The company's month-end review meeting was held here.

As the temporary head of the Sales Department, Li Zhou was the first to take the stage and report on this month's eel fry sales.

"Chairman, colleagues, good morning. Let me briefly report on this month's sales."

"The Eel Farm's existing eel fry inventory has sold approximately 7.48 million fry, with total sales of 19.8283 million yuan, at an average price of 2.65 yuan per fry;"

"We sold 26 tons of specialized Glass Eel feed, with total sales of 224,400 yuan, at an average price of 10 yuan per kilogram."

"This month's revenue was 20.0527 million yuan."

Clap clap clap... Jiang Miao personally began applauding.

The rest of the employees also applauded enthusiastically.

Next, Zhang Xinyi, head of the Online Store Department, took the stage. Perhaps because it was her first time facing dozens of people, she was somewhat nervous and spoke with a slight stammer.

"Good morning, everyone... I'm Zhang Xinyi from the Online Store Department. I'll report... on this month's sales."

"Because because the company isn't well-known enough, nobody has patronized our online eel fry business. As for Eel Canned Food, we sold 273 cans this month, with revenue of 4,095 yuan and an average price of 15 yuan per can."

Clearly, compared with the Sales Department's performance, the Online Store Department's results did not even amount to a fraction of theirs, leaving Zhang Xinyi rather embarrassed.

Jiang Miao did not blame her. Instead, he smiled and said, "The Online Store Department should keep up the good work, but don't put too much pressure on yourselves. The company only has a few products right now. Eel fry and specialized feed are unsuitable for online sales, and relying solely on Eel Canned Food is indeed a little weak. Still, things will definitely improve gradually in the future."

"Thank you for understanding, Boss." Zhang Xinyi felt as though she had been pardoned and hurried back to her seat.

Jiang Miao went onstage and encouraged everyone to keep working hard in the coming days.

He then announced the decision to expand operations. No one objected. Clearly, they all knew the company had to expand as quickly as possible in order to seize the largest slice of the pie before others developed imitation technology.

However, he did not reveal the details of the expansion plan.

Jiang Miao looked at everyone and continued.

"Everyone has worked hard these past few months. I won't make empty promises. Every first-batch employee will receive a bonus equal to one month's salary, while every second-batch employee will receive half a month's salary. Keep up the good work, and by year's end, you'll receive at least three months' pay!"

"Boss is so generous!"

"Long live the Boss!"

"Awooo..."

The meeting room instantly erupted with excitement, as lively as a marketplace.

Although Hai Lu Feng Company had only recently been established, Jiang Miao attached great importance to its internal systems and had begun building and refining them over the past few months.

At present, the company divided employees into five major grades: D, C, B, A, and S.

Each major grade was further divided into four subgrades.

From D1 to S4, there were twenty grades in total.

At present, all employees were in the D grade. D1 paid 3,500 yuan per month, D2 paid 4,500 yuan, D3 paid 5,500 yuan, and D4 paid 6,500 yuan.

The Sales Department and Online Store Department received sales commissions ranging from 0.1% to 2% of sales revenue, with the commission rate tied to the employee's grade.

For example, as the head of the Sales Department, Li Zhou had generated 8.36 million yuan in sales this month as a main contributor. His employee grade was D3, so his commission was 0.3% of 8.36 million yuan, totaling 25,080 yuan.

Including his D3 base salary, Li Zhou would receive around 30,000 yuan for September.

Besides the Sales Department and Online Store Department, the factory and Eel Farm also had performance incentives.

More precisely, every department had performance incentives, though each department used different standards.

The factory and Eel Farm were assessed based on total product revenue.

Other departments were assessed based on departmental operations.

In the current poor economic climate, Hai Lu Feng Company was able to grow against the trend while paying employees such salaries, which was already quite good.

A starting salary of 3,500 yuan was considered average in Hai Lu Feng, though it certainly could not compare to the Pearl River Delta.

But Jiang Miao had no way to offer starting salaries of over 10,000 yuan right away. He could only make up for it through housing and meals.

At the same time, he used the company's triumphant early profits to give employees bonuses, soothing their concerns and strengthening the company's cohesion.

After the large meeting came the smaller meeting.

Jiang Miao called his brother-in-law, Li Xinhua, the head of the Eel Canned Food Factory, Li Zhou, Wang Feng, Jiang Haibo, who handled legal affairs and human resources, and Ye Meijing to the chairman's office on the second floor.

"Take a seat."

After everyone sat down.

Jiang Miao went straight to the point. "For this Eel Farm expansion, prioritize nearby locations and acquire as many fishponds in Yan Cun Village as possible. Manager Zhang will handle this."

"Leave it to me." His brother-in-law nodded.

Jiang Miao continued, "Hai Bo, besides drafting contracts, you need to expand the company's workforce, especially in sales and at the Eel Farm. We definitely won't have enough people going forward. Ask the other departments as well whether they need more staff."

"Alright, I understand." Jiang Haibo accepted the task.

Jiang Miao then looked at the sun-darkened Li Zhou. "A-Zhou, you'll serve as Sales Department manager from now on. Your Sales Department needs at least ten people. Divide the regions based on the distribution of Eel Farms, and temporarily establish two offices: the Domestic Sales Office and the International Sales Office."

"International? Boss, are we entering overseas markets so soon?" Li Zhou was somewhat surprised.

Jiang Miao nodded. "That's right, and we have to move quickly. We can't give other fish fry cultivation companies time to react. The core overseas market for eel farming is Japan, so the Human Resources Department needs to recruit two salespeople who speak Japanese."

Jiang Haibo noted the matter in his notebook.

"Besides that, we also need to divide the domestic market into regions. The preliminary divisions are: Lingnan District, Southern Fujian District, Qiongzhou District, Guinan District, Zhedong District, Ryukyu District, and the Online District. Assign two to three salespeople to each physical region, and they can also serve as purchasers. The Online District will be attached to the Online Store Department."

When Jiang Miao mentioned purchasers, he looked at Wang Feng again. "A-Feng, your Purchasing Department also needs more staff. In addition, the domestic salespeople will need to coordinate their work with your Purchasing Department."

"Understood." Wang Feng hurriedly replied.

"Meijing will be in charge of the Finance Department. You might not be able to handle it alone, so add another two people."

"Yes!" Ye Meijing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Jiang Haibo recorded the staffing requirements one by one.

Jiang Miao then looked at Li Xinhua. "Manager Li, the Canned Food Factory will definitely only be able to operate at low efficiency for the next half year or so. You need to manage the inventory properly."

"Understood." Li Xinhua had previously managed a canned food factory, so he naturally understood the ins and outs. However, he took the opportunity to suggest, "Boss, although the Canned Food Factory's management is already quite thorough, there is still a need for certain disinfection and cleaning areas. Since our operating rate will be low these next few months, why not gradually improve those facilities?"

Jiang Miao thought for a while. He understood that adding such facilities to the Canned Food Factory was necessary, so he nodded. "Alright. Write up a proposal and submit it to me."

"Okay." Li Xinhua secretly sighed in relief. At least the Boss was willing to improve the factory facilities, unlike the owners of some small factories, who cut corners wherever they could—even where they should not.

Li Xinhua had previously worked for several small bosses, all the sort who had no bottom line when it came to money. He had felt too guilty to continue, which was why he had quit one job after another.

Jiang Miao had heard Li Xinhua speak of those experiences before. Having a manager who valued production safety and hygiene was also a good thing.