Guangdong Businessmen's Success and Mercantile Culture

You changed Guangdong businessmen into Shanxi businessmen.

Advanced management concept

That is "controlling profits with righteousness and advocating credibility". One of the characteristics of Shanxi merchants is that intelligent and knowledgeable people always take the road of business and financial management. Under the influence of Confucian thought of righteousness and benefit, Shanxi merchants are honest, hardworking and trustworthy, and are known as "not rich but heavy on righteousness, and there is no market for doing business". In their business activities, they not only "pay attention to shame without losing dignity", but also evolved it into the principle of doing business. They are proud to be "good Jia" and "good Jia", and regard strict credibility as business ethics, which has been passed down from generation to generation. Shanxi merchants not only cherish their reputation, but also attach importance to their responsibilities. They are meticulous in management and they will never change their minds. Therefore, based on society, it has formed a long-term and stable position in business. This is in line with what we advocate today: "stressing honesty, keeping promises, satisfying customers and reassuring consumers". This should be the core and foundation of Shanxi merchants' hegemony.

Three kinds of entrepreneurship

That is, work hard and devote yourself to the cause; Take business as a big cause, strive to get married and start a career, prosper your ancestral business, be brave in hardship, strive for self-improvement, and never give up until you reach your goal; Loyalty, harmony and mutual assistance, pay attention to coordinating the relationship between commercial firms, enhance mutual friendship and unity, and attach importance to giving play to the group spirit of group strength. Because of this, Shanxi merchants dragged camels, trudged thousands of miles in the desert, braved the snow, broke through many obstacles and went north to Mongolia and Tibet; In the Qing Dynasty, China opened another international trade route on land after the ancient Silk Road, doing business in Siberia, Petersburg, Moscow, Iran and other places, and opening banks in Korea and Japan. With this spirit, Shanxi merchants launched Shanxi Draft Bank, which made Shanxi merchants gradually occupy a dominant position in China financial circles and became a decisive force in domestic commercial and financial circles at that time.

Three operational mechanisms

We can see from Qiao Zhiyong's explanation of "Baotou Crisis" and "Invoice Number" in "Qiao Family Courtyard" that the mechanism of selecting talents, rewarding contributions and capital operation has been used wonderfully by Shanxi merchants. The measures taken, such as strict inspection, attaching importance to recruitment, employing people without doubt, liberalizing operation and rewarding and punishing cash, have greatly enhanced the cohesion and competitiveness of the firm.

Four management systems

Shanxi merchants mostly started from small businesses such as selling tofu. From family and partnership management of three or five people to single store management, to regional management of general number and semicolon, until group management. In the long-term practice, a centralized and unified organizational management system has been formed. An employment system with clear responsibilities and clear rewards and punishments; Integrity-based, customer-oriented marketing system; An accurate, timely, flexible and efficient information exchange system. These systems make Shanxi businessmen have strong fighting capacity in the vast commercial battlefield.

Eight business skills

Most of the Shanxi merchants are brilliant and talented. They have adopted many clever and effective business skills in their long-term business practice. In particular, Ji Ran, the founder of Shanxi merchants in the late Spring and Autumn Period, benefited a lot from financial management and became the management soul of Shanxi merchants. The business skills of Shanxi merchants are highlighted as follows:

People abandon me and take it. Looking for business opportunities in people's casual weaknesses or abandoned businesses, from small to large. After being "strong", aim at the established goal and wait for an opportunity to move forward. Zhou Pu businessman Fan Shikui was born in a salt merchant family. When his parents failed in salt industry, he first bought and sold grain merchants, then turned to salt industry, and finally became a tycoon, and his reputation spread far and wide among women and children.

Keep pace with the times. Business can't be without rules, but neither can it be without rules. Dare to break the routine, be able to adapt to changes in the current situation, adapt to changes, and strive for initiative and continuous success. Among Shanxi merchants, Qu, an enlightened businessman who opened a shop to do business, is one of them.

Be brave in innovation. The "first person to eat crabs" is often a person with strategic mind and continuous progress. Those who dare to set a precedent are mostly people with superior wisdom. Lei Lvtai, the originator of the banking industry and Pingyao businessman, can be regarded as a business elite. He was the first person to eat crabs.

Push your luck. Liu Bai-year-old shop is a time-honored brand at home and abroad. The secret is that Liu's founder, Zhao's three brothers from Linfen Xishe, Shanxi Province, has always been "pushing your luck" in quality requirements, thus winning an unparalleled reputation.

Perseverance. Shanxi merchants have a new understanding of the old saying "Man proposes, God disposes", that is, "Man proposes, God disposes", which has become their business philosophy. Therefore, a spirit of "perseverance" and "dripping water wears away the stone" has been fully reflected in Shanxi merchants. It is a powerful example that Qiao Zhiyong, the owner, wants to "connect with the world", broaden the channels of doing business in a war-torn environment, and make business overseas in China.

Good at communication. According to "Qing Chao", it takes tens of millions of taels of silver to be the richest man in Shanxi. This person is not Hou, Cao, Qu, Chang, Li, but Kang of Linfen. Kang's rise comes from doing business. Business trip is exquisite, making friends widely, integrating information and diversifying management, so it has achieved the economic effect of "chemical reaction".

Use legends. Among the Shanxi merchants, there are many families with "nobles in the dynasty". For example, because he was an official in Korea, Zhang's business on the rich side of Xiezhou naturally made extraordinary achievements with the help of the imperial court. And it is difficult for ordinary people to know why, so there is a legend. Similar to today's award-winning "classics" written for successful people, they are greatly sought after by the world and add fuel to the fire.

Blending of Confucianism and Taoism. "'Confucianism in name, Jia Yili. "The boundary between the two is black and white, which is difficult to tolerate. However, Shanxi merchants integrated Confucian culture into businessmen and gave them wings to do business. This is the secret of Yuci wealthy businessmen living at home for hundreds of years.