Chenguang, small stationery makes a big enterprise

When I decided to make Chenguang stationery made in China in this issue, I told my colleagues and friends about this company. Almost everyone says they know this company, have used the stationery they produce, and have seen Chenguang Stationery’s store on the roadside?? But almost no one really understands that this company, which specializes in stationery, is actually invisible in the domestic stationery industry. Champion, currently plans to achieve annual sales of 10 billion yuan in 2016 and become a world-class leading stationery supplier.

From downtown Shanghai, I took two subway rides, and then took a taxi. We had to go all the way to Fengxian, a suburban area, before we arrived at the headquarters and Shanghai factory of Chenguang Stationery. The factory area is very grand. In a later interview, Chenguang Marketing Manager Li Shuangfeng told reporters that there are more than 10,000 Chenguang employees here, including more than 3,000 employees and about 7,000 workers, while the entire Chenguang China has more than 20,000 people. .

Focus on Perseverance and Become a Hidden Champion The concept of Hidden Champion was put forward by Herman Simon, one of the most prestigious management guru in Europe. The outstanding enterprises are some unknown and muffled industry champion enterprises. These enterprises occupy 50% or more of their market share in a certain regional market. What is particularly outstanding is that such companies are no matter in terms of operation level, product In terms of technology and innovation capabilities, it is not weaker than the top 500 companies, and even unique in some aspects. Chenguang is a very typical invisible champion company. It has been in business for more than 20 years, with brilliant achievements and many honors, but this company is rarely seen in the media, far from the hustle and bustle of the capital circle, silently and dedicatedly doing what it is good at. Chenguang's chairman Chen Shengxian and president Chen Shengming are twin brothers.

In the late 1980s, I started as a stationery agent, started my entrepreneurial career, and quickly turned from an agent to a stationery manufacturer. Chen Shengming said that the question of whether to become a manufacturer was actually considered for a long time at the time. Because he started as an agent, he was very familiar with channels and distribution. It is a question whether to develop upstream or downstream retail terminals. Later, it was finally decided to develop upstream and open a factory. The reason is to develop towards the terminal. If you can have your own brand and products, you will be more proactive, and will not be damaged due to the failure of suppliers or other problems. Therefore, in Shanghai and Guangdong A production base has been established, but at the same time, the circulation field is also taken into account.

More than ten years ago, the domestic stationery market was in a period of chaos. At that time, the large and small stationery manufacturers that started with Chenguang were basically busy doing OEM processing and making quick money. The Chen brothers insisted on being their own brand, built products and construction channels calmly, persisted, and eventually became the king. They are very low-key, but not deliberately low-key, but focused on their careers. Xie Shuangfeng introduced, "Our boss is a simple, sincere and pragmatic person, and our corporate culture is also very simple, which is to focus on doing a good job in the stationery business. After so many years, from the board of directors to the company's senior management, we have experienced many temptations, from the foundry fever , investment fever, real estate fever to financial fever, but we have always focused on the stationery industry and have not moved other thoughts."

Core advantage: How did the corporate culture Chenguang reach today? Technicians like to analyze their strong channels, or appreciate the rich product line of Chenguang. This is indeed the advantage of the morning light. As a fast-moving consumer goods company, Chenguang Stationery has established 28 provincial distribution centers, with more than 1,800 channel partners, 35,000 retail terminals, and 100% coverage of KA stores. We have established long-term cooperative relations with all large supermarkets and convenience stores. The in-depth and powerful marketing network ensures that the products of Chenguang Stationery can reach every city in China within 7 days. Creativity is also one of the core competitiveness of Chenguang. The core value of Chenguang's brand is "Menguang always has new ideas". The annual investment in research and development of Chenguang exceeds 3% of the sales revenue of the year. It has a world-class design industry room in South Korea, Shanghai and Japan, with more than 100 designers, and has established a global "market research center", from From consumer value design, product industrial design, product mold development, packaging image design to product promotion and communication design, Chenguang has established an integrated work structure and habits, enabling Chenguang to quickly transform ideas into products and achieve sales. But the people of Chenguang believe that the biggest core advantage of Chenguang lies in the corporate culture of Chenguang. "The channel can be copied, as long as there is enough investment, but the corporate culture and brand are difficult to copy and control. This is not clear. A standard, something that cannot be objectified".

What's so good about culture? We invite the morning light people to talk about it themselves. Xie Shuangfeng said that as soon as you enter the gate of the Chenguang factory area, you can see the words "sincere cooperation, pragmatic and win-win" on the building. There is nothing new about such slogans. Many companies have similar slogans, but after staying in the company for a long time, he can really feel the difference. Chenguang is a typical company that "walks the talk" and has a sincere corporate culture. moved him. When referring to dealers in Chenguang, the terms dealers, agents or customers are not used, but partners. In one meeting, a new employee repeatedly mentioned "dealer" when reporting on work, "Our boss reminded him that he was a partner, he kept saying wrong, and the boss repeatedly reminded me that I was next to me. ". At first glance, it may seem a little too literal, or nitpicky.

Why does it have to be called a "partner"? Chenguang's marketing policies and practices have taken into account the interests of dealers. "When there was Chenguang, they were there. This kind of cooperation is not driven only by interests, but by corporate culture. He trusted us and believed that following Chenguang was promising." "We introduced the channel distribution model of fast-moving consumer goods into stationery. Industry, combined with the direct sales model of the insurance industry, launched the 'fast-moving consumer goods circulation model + direct sales model', forming the unique 'partner pyramid' model of Chenguang." Chen Shengming introduced. The traditional stationery market channels are quite complex and chaotic, and the awareness and cultural level of the operators are relatively low. It is unrealistic to force them to instill a new awareness of management.

For this reason, Chenguang Stationery adopts the traditional teaching method of "hand-in-hand" and "mentor-apprentice system" from the headquarters to the branch, sorts out the channels little by little, and conducts training, planning and training for the distributors in the primary market. Team building, after years of channel construction, finally established a solid and strong channel advantage, and then used the same method to build secondary and tertiary markets through the primary market, until the township and rural markets. This model combines tradition and modernity, and is highly efficient. Because the stationery channel is very traditional and China is too big, it requires a lot of manpower to go deep into the third- and fourth-tier markets, and the management of the company is also very troublesome. The model is integrated into the corporate culture and skills, the effect is outstanding, and the input-output ratio is very high. This "Menguang Partner Pyramid" model adopts the concept of "responsibility at every level and sharing at every level", and makes Chenguang and all its partners a "community of interests" for symbiosis and win-win results.

Mengguang's actions are related to the company founder's experience as an agent, and they can understand the agent's mood and requirements. Zero Loan Steady and Steady Chenguang is one of the few companies that maintains the "zero loan" business philosophy, and is far away from the capital market and does not conduct capital operations. In this regard, Zhou Xiang, vice president of the well-known new investment bank Huaxing Capital, commented: If the company's own cash flow can support the development of the enterprise, it is not necessary to choose the path of borrowing, financing or listing, which can operate more stably and reduce operating costs. , to ensure that the expansion rate will not be out of touch with various conditions.

Chen Shengming mentioned that he had heard during Huawei's communication that when Ren Zhengfei was interviewed by a leader, he was asked what Huawei's core strengths were, and he replied that there were actually no advantages. Everyone thought it was inconvenient for him to speak, so they asked again and again. Mr. Ren said that if he had to say "advantage", it would be "I have been thinking that Huawei will not go out of business tomorrow." This left a deep impression on Chen Shengming. He has also been thinking about what the core advantages of Chenguang are. He once told his employees, "From my personal point of view, why do I want to do a good job of Chenguang? The first is The sense of crisis, the second is the sense of mission and responsibility, so many people follow me, as well as the family and society behind them, this is what I consider." Chen Shengming does not think that stationery is a low-threshold industry.

The technical content of making a writing fountain pen tip is very high, even higher than the parts of a watch to some extent. For example, when writing a length of 1,500 meters, the rubbing between the pen and the pen holder is 300,000 times. This precision standard is very high. Therefore, the pen head of Chenguang is made by a precision lathe imported from Switzerland, which is very elegant. The parts of the watch are solid, and the external tolerance can be measured by the measuring instrument, but the pen tip is hollow and cannot be measured with the measuring instrument. It can only be monitored by far infrared plus a 50x microscope. Every year, the Chen brothers take their teams to study abroad, ranging from excellent dealers to middle and high-level managers, to help them improve their realm and develop ideas.

It has been more than 20 years since its establishment, but Chenguang still maintains the passion and style of an entrepreneurial enterprise. Xie Shuangfeng said that this is completely the projection of the boss's character. The boss has done this, and the people below will naturally do it. "We are very tired on business trips. Every time we go out, we have to solve some problems, which is much more tired than in the company. When we go on business trips, everyone is in a state of excitement. Anyone who goes on business trips has to go to the market and store to store. , from 7:00 in the morning to 90:00 in the evening, then hold a market analysis meeting with the local area, and may have to communicate with the local business manager in the early morning. This is the case for everyone, because the vice president and the boss are like this, from top to bottom Following by example, Chenguang's tradition and corporate culture have been formed." It is this kind of steady progress and dedication and diligence, and the development of Chenguang Stationery has a good momentum.

During the financial crisis, Chenguang Stationery Group not only did not lay off staff or reduce wages, but also launched the "hundreds and thousands of projects": introducing 300 fresh college students; adding more than 1,000 grassroots jobs; developing 1,800 franchise stores, thus Create 10,000 jobs. Chain retail: "7-11" in the stationery industry In 2008, Chenguang formulated the strategic goal of transforming from a traditional manufacturer to a modern service provider, took technological innovation and product structure adjustment as the development direction, actively developed Chenguang stationery chain retail business, and deeply cultivated domestic market. The Group launched the Chenguang stationery chain retail project pilot, and opened more than 1,000 franchise stores in Shanghai in 2009; during the same period, the group's traditional sales achieved an increase of over 30% for five consecutive years, laying a solid foundation for the development of Chenguang's chain retail business. Assure.

The reporter randomly interviewed several Chenguang chain retail stores. Wu Jie, the owner of the Dalian West Road store in Shanghai, told reporters that he was the first franchised store owner of a chain retail store. Before that, he also opened a stationery store. The reason why he chose to join Chenguang is because he trusts the brand of Chenguang. Chenguang has helped him in many aspects such as brand, service, display and store design. Switching to Chenguang's franchise also made his sales indeed increase. He said that he would continue to cooperate with Chenguang. Ma Peinan on Shangzhong West Road operates a chain retail store of more than 30 square meters. He was transferred from another brand store to Chenguang in October 2009. He said that joining Chenguang is aimed at strong brand advantages and complete follow-up support.

“This is also an opportunity to improve the quality of retail terminals. In the past, these retail stores were equivalent to the original tobacco stores or oil, salt, sauce and vinegar stores, without any shopping environment and image. We now hope to sell stationery stores. Grocery stores have been upgraded from the original situation without any positioning, no features, and no shopping environment, repackaged, established a unified image and unified product positioning, and brought China's stationery stores to a higher level." "It is expected to start in 2009. Within 7 years, we will establish 30,000 Chenguang stationery chain retail franchise stores, each with an average annual sales of 360,000 yuan, which can achieve annual sales of 10 billion yuan." Chen Shengming is confident: "Our current position is to do The '7-11' of the stationery industry."