Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King

Chapter 833 - 562: New Opportunities (Part 2)

"New equipment for the lab again? I’ve noticed that this year, the big investments from the company are all being poured into the lab! And what’s with the focus on the snowflake powder market? Can’t we just procure it normally? Why does it need special attention?" Old Zhao didn’t understand the relationship in Zhang Yang’s words, so he looked a bit confused.

Zhang Yang exhaled a smoke ring and smiled slightly: "It’s true that we’re spending a lot, but we can’t deny that making money is what we do best. Not to mention, just the small medicine kits from the lab occupy a large share of the company’s total sales performance.

As for the snowflake powder market I mentioned, maybe you didn’t catch on. With spring here, we’re focusing on fishing in reservoirs. I’m planning to target another fish species, as the market share for old-style corn has basically hit a standstill. The next main target species is the silver carp!

"Silver carp? Is that reliable? There aren’t many anglers around here who fish for bighead, are there?"

Old Zhao’s skepticism is also reasonable. Because silver carp is easy to catch and manage and doesn’t require much feeding, it’s usually a standard species in stocked reservoirs. No matter where you fish in a reservoir, it’s generally not allowed to fish for silver carp.

Furthermore, these fish move in schools, and once a school arrives, they eat bait very naively, making it not very challenging to catch. Any angler with a bit of pursuit wouldn’t show much enthusiasm for silver carp.

However, Old Zhao’s view only represents his judgment and cannot represent everyone.

Zhang Yang, with memories of his past life, knows that the trend of fishing for silver carp exists. In his past life, after Deng Gang faded out of competitive fishing, he relied on fishing for silver carp in reservoirs to make Boss Pan popular on Douyin.

Anyone with a sharp eye can see it’s staged, but fans and fishing friends just love it. Exciting content, coupled with professional operation and appropriate funding, created Deng Gang’s terrifying Douyin account with over 20 million followers.

Leveraging the powerful advertising effect of fishing for Boss Pan’s silver carp, Wuhan Tianyuan’s floating bait for silver carp sold out in a flash, becoming hard to find.

According to the rumors Zhang Yang heard, just the single floating silver carp bait alone brought Tianyuan at least a billion in profit. What a concept.

Now it’s 2018, and Deng Gang hasn’t focused on operating short videos on Douyin yet. Zhang Yang certainly won’t miss this huge business opportunity.

It’s safe to say that in this lifetime, Zhang Yang plans to take a hefty share of the silver carp bait market.

Zhang Yang explained: "In addition to education, self-media can guide the concepts and even behaviors of fan users! The silver carp niche is quite widespread, and with proper guidance, there’s no worry about no one following suit.

Moreover, fishing for silver carp has a major advantage: it requires a large amount of bait, so as a factory, the repeat purchase rate and profit margins are very considerable! In the next phase, I want to shift to this mindset and guide the popularity!"

After hearing Zhang Yang’s reasoned analysis, Old Zhao no longer had doubts.

Zhang Yang is right; silver carp bait has a large volume and high profit margins. If it can trigger an industry trend, it’s definitely possible to earn handsomely.

Currently, the sale of pit bait and small medicine has gradually slowed. After all, there are only so many anglers willing to spend money on pit fishing, and the ceiling is relatively low. In contrast, there are over ten times more people in lake, reservoir, and wild fishing. Famous Fishing Tackle Company’s foundational business operations are already very solid, and attempting to expand into new areas is imperative.

Old Zhao: "Alright, let’s continue with the old routine. You handle the strategic direction, and I’ll take care of the execution!

We still have over ten million in the account. If the lab needs equipment procurement, have Yu Dong come to me for a sign-off. I’ll also give the factory a heads-up about the procurement!"

"How... how much? Over ten million? Did we rob a bank?" Zhang Yang was stunned when he heard the number from Old Zhao and felt like he missed something.

At the end of last year, most of the company’s funds were distributed as dividends. There was also a distribution in the first half of this year. It’s just September now, so where did over ten million come from? Zhang Yang, being hands-off most of the time, had no concept of the company’s account balances.

"Look at you, acting like you’ve never seen the world! That’s all thanks to your accomplishments! The Yellow Storm Bait is so popular in the black pit market right now, it’s unbelievable!

With just this set of bait, our company’s black pit products have basically covered offline agents nationwide! Our products are even sent as far as the Tibetan regions!

The cash in the account is just a small fraction; there are plenty of agents in line waiting for shipments! The factory has been running three shifts, 24/7, nonstop, yet we still can’t meet demand!

If we collect all the payment in advance, another one or two million in a short period wouldn’t be a problem!"

With Old Zhao’s explanation, Zhang Yang finally understood the massive impact Yellow Storm Bait had on the market. In such a short time, profits in the tens of millions—anyone claiming a fishing tackle company doesn’t make money should be buried with cash.

"Got it! Since we have so much money, we should expedite the expansion of the factory’s production lines. I’ll organize my thoughts later and think about introducing some new elements and highlights into the live broadcasts!"

"Okay!"

...

After the meeting, all the employees of Zhang Yang’s fishing tackle company quickly got busy.

Those responsible for preparing accounts resumed account operations and started organizing previous content materials, all busily engaged.

Among the company employees, possibly the happiest was Yu Dong, who had recently complained to Zhang Yang about the lab’s equipment being inefficient. He had his eye on new imported equipment, thinking it would be hard to get funding approved from Old Zhao with expenditure in the hundreds of thousands, but soon got a call from Zhang Yang instructing him to prepare the groundwork, and take the procurement model and budget list to Old Zhao for approval.

Everything was progressing smoothly along their respective paths. After returning from the FTT competition, the competition team members improved their fishing skills with over ten days of intensive training. A nearby city soon hosted a Category Four competition, and Han Mocheng led the team out again and managed to clinch first, third, and fifth places this time around.

During the free time, Zhang Yang enjoyed a leisurely life, occasionally visiting the company, the club, and following up on progress at the lab. The rest of the time was mostly spent socializing in various circles, so life wasn’t dull.

As time continued to pass, the 2018 outdoor fishing season was closing as temperatures gradually dropped.

By November, temperatures dipped below freezing, and the black pit business at the company entered its off-season, with competitions also gradually coming to a halt.

With winter setting in, Zhang Yang found his activities reduced. When free, he would hang out at the Winter Fishing Hall, wagering some fish, and on weekends gather friends at the store for hot pot and drinks, fully embracing the wintering mode.

The main team began their winter rest, but progress on other key matters didn’t stall. The Douyin account’s setup progressed even faster than expected.

Accumulated materials from before, after being edited and adjusted, were re-released on the Douyin account. In less than two months, the follower count for the account Zhang Yang was preparing to live stream had already surpassed three thousand.

On the other front, the production line expansion at the bait factory, after months of hard work, was completed.

An additional factory building was constructed, expanding with three new production lines, effectively doubling the factory’s daily bait production from five tons to ten.

Everything was moving towards better outcomes, and three days before New Year’s, Yu Dong delivered another big gift to Zhang Yang.

The cricket peptide extract project, which had been under research for a long time, achieved a significant breakthrough!