Darkstone Code
Chapter 218 - 0216 Classification, Refinement, Splitting

Chapter 218: 0216 Classification, Refinement, Splitting

On Tuesday morning, Lynch held a shareholders’ meeting.

Mark, the tall and thin one, Asir, and other local investors arrived at the company’s conference room, along with representatives from Curilan City’s investors.

Although it was called a shareholders’ meeting, there were only eight people, but a shareholders’ meeting is a shareholders’ meeting, regardless of the number of participants.

Sitting in the chairman’s seat, everyone’s focus was on Lynch. He flipped through the materials in his hand for a moment, about a minute or two, before turning his attention to the meeting.

"There are two matters to discuss at this shareholders’ meeting. The first issue is the development plan for the next stage..." he said while observing the people around the conference table.

The representative from Curilan City looked as if he didn’t care but would faithfully report back, and he had prepared a notebook and pen to record the meeting’s content.

Mark still had an exhausted look on his face. It’s said that this guy has been doing well recently. He holds a large amount of food vouchers, and his food factory has taken on the task of producing food. For people at this stage, food vouchers are equivalent to money, and every bag of food Mark produces is money. His factory is like a money printing machine spitting out cash.

Lately, he has been close to two female hosts from Sabin City’s TV station. Judging from his weary appearance, those two women are not easy to deal with, which is a pity for those who revere the two female hosts as divine beings.

The local investors didn’t show much emotion, with some worry still lingering on their faces. The financial tsunami has severely impacted them, and everyone’s days are not going well.

Asir seemed inconspicuous, but he was a smart person. He and Lynch didn’t exchange many glances, even though everyone in the room was aware of the unusual relationship between him and Lynch.

Once Lynch’s gaze moved away from the last person, he began the main topic of today’s meeting.

"Everyone has witnessed the growth speed of the Interstellar Trade Company. Even before the major strike, our work never stopped. This strike has proven that my model is successful, so we were not affected too much by the strike."

He spoke of cooperation; everyone is his partner. He doesn’t have a single employee. If these people want to strike, they would only be striking against their own work, and Lynch wouldn’t suffer any losses—only they would.

This made the company operate very smoothly, overcoming the strike crisis in a way unimaginable to ordinary people.

People around the conference table nodded in agreement; they couldn’t deny this fact.

Lynch paused for a moment before continuing, "The company will soon enter a faster development phase. The dual impact of the strike issue and economic problems will make it difficult for most families to sustain themselves. Their needs will increase, but budgets will decrease, and a large influx of goods will enter the market."

"It’s not just ordinary families; some factories and capitalists are also facing bankruptcy. They will be included in our targets as well."

"Buying more goods at lower prices and then selling them at prices that ensure our profit—we only bear short-term capital accumulation."

"However, this also brings in a new problem. If our purchase speed of goods exceeds our shipment speed, a large amount of money will be piled up in warehouses and unable to circulate, and that’s something I can’t tolerate."

"So I have an idea to split the Interstellar Trade Company’s main business, the second-hand goods trading auctions, into the second-hand goods trading fair and the second-hand goods auction..."

The young girl temporarily filling in as a secretary began distributing materials to everyone. These were specially prepared by Lynch, detailing the effects and possibilities of splitting the business.

It must be said that he made the materials very well—not only with seemingly realistic and detailed survey data but also with some intuitive graphical charts.

Surveys show that the more someone is in a boss-like role, the less patience they have for scrutinizing each word. They prefer intuitive things, such as bar graphs and line charts.

"After splitting the business, the ordinary second-hand goods transactions will not occupy more of our funds. We only need to provide the venue and collect various fees."

"At the same time, through studying the auction records during this period, we will gradually focus on valuable goods that can bring more profits."

"The advantage of this approach is that we don’t have to waste limited funds on potentially unsellable goods, and the auctions can become more professional, bringing more profits."

He specifically added, "In fact, we’re not only splitting the business but also the target audience."

After saying this, he gave everyone time to understand and think—something he had been considering for a long time.

The biggest drawback of the current trading auctions is that high-end and low-end participants are mixed together. Sometimes, low-end participants disrupt the auction order of valuable goods, such as by increasing the bid too quickly.

In an auction, fast price increases are not a good phenomenon. It seems like many people are competing for the same thing, giving an impression that it’s in high demand.

But in reality, this might make some give up the thought of aiming for it because there are too many competitors, and they think they might not succeed.

Even when there aren’t many final bidders, and the price hasn’t reached their psychological limit, they might think even if they bid, others would follow up.

Conversely, auctions with fewer bidders where prices catch up and are more outstanding in performance.

Let low-end consumers attend the trading fairs and let high-end participants participate in auctions that provide more profit. More accurate positioning can provide more profit.

The tall and thin one discussed for a while with the person next to him and then asked, "How do you plan to solve the trading fairs?"

Lynch pointed to the materials in front of him, "Even if you didn’t ask, I was going to say." After looking at each other for a few seconds, Lynch said, "Please turn to page seventeen of the materials..."

With the orderly sound of turning pages, Lynch began to express his idea, "I noticed that our city, and other cities, so far lack a formal second-hand goods trading center."

"Most second-hand goods transactions are completed on dirty, poor, and chaotic streets, and many of these goods are stolen."

"We only have to do three things: standardize, legalize, centralize!"

"Our profits also come from these areas: regular stall and store leasing fees, specific transaction commissions, and insurance business..."

Lynch explained everything in great detail, as if he had done a lot of work and only reached this conclusion after repeated scrutiny and research.

Such conclusions combined with these intuitive materials are full of persuasive power, and these people were already convinced.

Even the tough-to-handle tall and thin one felt satisfied with Lynch’s plan. He thought Lynch was right. Splitting the business and the customer groups, using more targeted ways to make more money, is the real attitude of making money.

He watched Lynch speak eloquently, a little puzzled, wondering what’s in this young man’s head?

Lynch didn’t know that the tall and thin one was taking a bit of interest in his brain matter. After he finished discussing the business split, and no one expressed explicit opposition, he slightly smirked at the corners of his mouth.

"Considering that we have more tasks in the next stage, I propose that the currently split business should operate independently as a separate subsidiary."

After saying this, there was no significant change on Mark’s face. He wasn’t concerned about it; he only thought about those happy things.

As long as his uncle remains in Sabin City without losing his power, he doesn’t need to worry about being sabotaged by others, as such things won’t happen.

Curilan City’s representative showed no reaction. The outcome of this meeting wouldn’t be decided immediately; only a few, like the tall and thin one, showed a thoughtful expression.

A moment later, the tall and thin one asked, "Mr. Chairman, is it necessary to do this?"

He was referring to the separation of the business into an independently operated subsidiary. He felt it was unnecessary, but he wanted to hear Lynch’s explanation—as persuading others was something Lynch excelled at.

With a smile radiating from his face, Lynch said, "Of course. Let me explain the differences in detail..."

Soon, through his description, everyone understood why Lynch wanted to do this, as well as the pros and cons of doing so—any decision has two sides, but as long as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, people can ignore the drawbacks.

After spending a little more than half an hour, the tall and thin ones finally understood Lynch’s idea, but they didn’t immediately express their stance. They had to go back and discuss it further, as it involved some new changes, and they needed to consult with others to confirm.

After sending these people off, Lynch dismissively glanced at the materials on the table and casually tossed them into the trash can. He already knew the outcome.

These people wouldn’t reject his proposal for one simple reason—they looked to split the company to make more money. As long as merchants haven’t given up on pursuing profits, they won’t refuse.

Greed has brought them extensive wealth but has also made them credulous and blind.