Chapter 449 — The Company's Plans
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Well... so long as it works, any of them will sell," Guan Xuewen said. "Take the common cold medicine, for instance—if you could formulate a traditional Chinese medicine with few side effects, it would sell just as well. But those already have established formulas and long-standing pharmaceutical companies behind them. For us to enter and fight for market share would be pointless."
"The formulas for cold and flu medicines are indeed fixed. Even if I improved on them, there wouldn't be much gain. The best approach would be to supplement them with acupuncture or cupping, but that's only feasible in a clinic—a pharmaceutical sales operation couldn't manage it. We can hardly sell cold medicine and throw in silver needles and cupping jars as gifts, can we?" Wei Zhao nodded with a smile.
"Actually, I'm no expert in business myself—I'm just offering my personal opinion," Guan Xuewen said. "You really ought to hire a management specialist to run the company."
"That's true, but professional managers aren't easy to find on demand." Wei Zhao knew Guan Xuewen was right. "First, whether the person can be trusted; second, whether they're truly capable... after all, whether the pharmaceutical company makes a splash on its first outing depends entirely on this professional manager's ability."
"On that point, I think you should ask Mr. Lai—the one from just now. He's been in the business world so long, he should be fairly experienced. Asking him to find a professional manager shouldn't be difficult!" Guan Xuewen said. "At least it'll be easier than us looking on our own."
"You have a point..." Wei Zhao nodded.
About half an hour after Fatty Lai had left, he came charging back in a frantic rush, several bags of Chinese medicinal herbs in his hands, and burst into Guan Xuewen's study: "Divine Doctor Lin, I've bought them—bought them all!"
With that, Fatty Lai set the several bags he was carrying down on the tea table in front of Wei Zhao.
Wei Zhao stared at the pile of bags before him with a rather peculiar expression. Why were there so many? Even if a full catty of every herb on his list had been bought, it still would not have come to this much.
Wei Zhao opened one of the bags and checked the quantity of herbs inside. They had all been weighed out in five-ounce portions according to the prescription he had written, and he could not help finding it odd. "Isn't this enough? What's in all the other bags?"
"The other bags are the same, only they were bought at different stores!" Fatty Lai said, panting for breath. "There are so many cheats these days, and I was afraid I might get fake herbs if I bought everything from one shop, so I figured I'd try a few more places. Bound to be some genuine ones in among them, I thought."
"..." Wei Zhao was momentarily left speechless by Fatty Lai's words. These herbs were not cheap, yet Fatty Lai had been willing to spend freely enough. Then again, when he thought about it, the man had given him an entire building outright just to curry favor with him; a little money on herbs was nothing by comparison.