Is it more rewarding to take a step back?

Businessmen always demand more profits, and when they see the opportunity to make money, they will go forward bravely and don't know how to let go. But there are many mysteries in business, and it is difficult to extricate yourself from the trap if you are not careful. Only those who move like rabbits when moving forward and give up when retreating can be regarded as wise men in business.

Businessmen must be humble and polite if they want to win wealth. If you want to succeed in business, you must know how to retreat.

Business is like life. It's time to go forward, and it's time to retreat. Blind persistence is stubbornness, and countless business stars quickly fall in their stubbornness. Many times, it takes more courage to retreat than to advance, and it is easier for businessmen to find the right development direction.

Carnegie, the American steel magnate, once brilliantly defeated the arrogant Morgan with the strategy of "retrogression".

1898, US President McKinley used the explosion of the battleship Maine in Havana Bay as an excuse, when Cuba was in turmoil. Launched the Spanish-American War (Cuba was Spanish territory at that time). At the same time, Morgan, the leading brother of Wall Street, launched a fierce struggle with Carnegie, the steel king.

The outbreak of the Spanish-American War made Pittsburgh's steel demand soar, and the Spanish-American War ended in the victory of the United States, which made the United States famous internationally. In this context, Morgan's significance to Carnegie's steel war is even greater.

Seeing the bright future of the steel industry, Morgan also wants to make some achievements in the steel business, and sends senior managers to Yili Iron and Steel Company and Minnesota Iron and Steel Company as financing conditions, so as to control the real power of these two steel companies.

But compared with Carnegie's steel company, these two steel companies can only be regarded as dwarfs. Because the Spanish-American War led to a sharp rise in steel prices, Morgan was more interested in steel and decided to attack Carnegie.

Morgan, who wanted to control Crown Steel, began to attack Carnegie openly. First, he agreed to Potts' financing requirements as a million gamblers, merged a series of small and medium-sized steel companies in the Midwest of the United States, established the Federal Steel Company, and at the same time wooed the National Steel Pipe Company and the American Steel Mesh Company. Then, Morgan manipulated the affiliated enterprises of the Federal Steel Company and all the railways he owned to cancel the order for Carnegie.

Morgan thinks Carnegie will definitely cause great repercussions this time. On the contrary, Carnegie was not only unresponsive, but also surprisingly calm. As Carnegie, who started from stock trading, he knows better than anyone that calm is the best countermeasure, especially at this critical moment, facing a financial giant who can make a blockbuster in the United States. If he rushes to fight at this time, he will definitely suffer in the end.

Morgan soon realized that he had met with obstacles, so he immediately took the second step.

He threatened that the American steel industry must cooperate and whether to merge Beslaham is still under consideration. But it's only a matter of time before we merge Carnegie. This is equivalent to Morgan's challenge to Carnegie. He also threatened: If Carnegie refused, I would go to Beth Lahham.

It's okay to be challenged by others, but if Morgan really joins forces with Besraham, then Carnegie will be trapped at a disadvantage. After analyzing the situation, Carnegie finally responded: This merger is really interesting, and there is nothing wrong with participating. As for the conditions, I only want the corporate bonds of the merged new company, not the stocks. As for the corporate bonds of the new company, the current price of Carnegie steel assets is 65,438+0, not 65,438+0.5.

1 is greater than 1.5, which is too harsh for Morgan. But after consideration, Morgan finally agreed. We don't know what Morgan thinks. It may be that he is riding a tiger at this time, and it is more likely that Morgan is considering that he will get attractive high profits after monopoly. Negotiations soon reached an agreement that Carnegie's steel was owned by Morgan. According to the contract. The price of Carnegie Steel Company was paid off with the corporate bonds of the newly formed Federal Steel Company after the merger.

Carnegie saw Morgan's psychology clearly and grasped Morgan's weakness. Isn't Morgan eager to merge? Well, we should merge, but I'm still going to lead you by the nose. In this way, after converting the current price of Carnegie Steel Company's assets at the ratio of 1 to 1.5, Carnegie's assets rose from more than 200 million dollars at that time to 400 million dollars, almost doubling 1 times.

Shakespeare once said: "When people are satisfied, they will pay a high price." Satisfaction is a kind of psychological expression of people. Concession is to improve each other's satisfaction. How big is the concession, how big is the satisfaction of the other party. There should be an upper limit and a lower limit for the degree of concession. If we can successfully negotiate between the upper limit and the lower limit, we will achieve the goal of retreat.

Endure a moment's patience and avoid a hundred days' worries; Take a step back and broaden the horizon. Seeking survival and development by concession contains profound philosophy of life. Laozi said, "Whether there is mutual strength or not, it is difficult to complement each other, the length is in phase, the height is in phase, the sound is in phase, and the front and back are in phase." This kind of positive and negative constitutes the cycle of the world. And to seek the right, we must first seek the opposite. Similarly, if you want to make progress, you must retreat first, and then you can do nothing. Just like "put your hand into the ground and bow your head to see the water;" Physical and mental purity is the way, and retrogression is the way forward. Retreat for progress is the highest philosophy of business.

Cole, the manager of Uniliffe Company in Britain, has a basic creed in business operation, that is, "don't be bound by decency, but take common interests as the premise". According to this creed, he often adopts concession strategy in business operation and business negotiation. In some cases, people who are willing to compromise and regress in order to win the opportunity to develop themselves may take a step back or take two steps forward, or actually benefit themselves.

Youlifu Company has set up a large-scale Youlifu African subsidiary on the east coast of Africa for a long time, which is rich in fertilizer and suitable for planting edible oil raw materials peanuts. It is the treasure land of Unilifu Company and one of its main financial resources. After World War II, with the rise and development of African national independence movement, Unilever's fertile peanut planting area was confiscated by African countries, which made the company face great crisis. In view of this situation. Cole issued six instructions to African subsidiaries: first, the chief managers of all UNONET systems in Africa quickly enabled Africans; Second, eliminate the wage gap between blacks and whites and implement equal pay for equal work; Third, set up a business cadre training center in Nigeria to train African cadres; Fourth, adopt a policy of mutual benefit; Fifth, gradually seek a way to survive; Sixth, we should not be bound by the issue of decency, and we should give priority to creating maximum benefits. In the negotiations with the Ghanaian government, Cole gave up his cultivated land to the Ghanaian government in order to show respect for the interests of the other side, thus winning the favor of the Ghanaian government. Later, to repay him. Ghana appointed Unilifu Company as the buying and selling agent of edible oil raw materials of Ghana government, which made Cole monopolize the patent right in Ghana. In the negotiations with the Guinean government, Cole said that he would withdraw the company himself, but his frank attitude touched Guinea. So that Cole's company can stay in Guinea. In the negotiations with several other countries, Cole also adopted a concession policy, which enabled the company to tide over the difficulties safely.

Nowadays, shopping malls are cruel as battlefields. Under the condition of market economy, driven by the interest mechanism, both sides are competing for their own profits, and every inch of land is competing for it. In this case, it is difficult to talk about business. In business, necessary concessions can be exchanged for greater benefits; This "concession" is not to say that businessmen are cowardly, but a strategy.

Dark philosophy

The application of concession strategy should be timely and appropriate. We must fully grasp each other's psychological activities and give ourselves the confidence to win. At the same time, we should correctly estimate our ability to control the situation in order to better grasp and obtain more economic benefits.