Since the financial crisis swept the world in 2008, the world economic environment has never been completely out of the haze. Affected by this environment, China's economy is also in a state of structural deceleration and periodic deceleration. Under the circumstance that the internal and external environment is not ideal, China's jewelry enterprises are also facing great pressure. Many enterprises generally feel the arrival of the cold winter in the industry. How to survive the crisis, or even "reborn" in this crisis, may be a problem that every jewelry company is thinking about. We haven't been in deep contact with the domestic jewelry market, so we dare not talk about it rashly. However, I personally have some experience in the American market over the years, and I would like to share it with you here.
1. Slow and steady, lay the foundation.
1989, we went abroad to do business in the United States on the other side of the ocean and went back and forth for several years. 1996 We set up Ande Company in America. 1996 to 2000 is a difficult initial stage. At that time, the American jewelry market was very depressed, which was similar to the current international economic situation. At this stage, we have no choice but to resist the pressure and prepare for the future development of the company. After 2000, the American jewelry market gradually improved. With the solid preparation in the first five years and this upward market force, we brought the company into the right track and accelerated its development.
20 12 China jewelry yearbook
Looking back on the 16 years since the establishment of the company, we have also encountered many storms, but solid preparation and reserve in the initial stage and continuous enrichment and consolidation have always been the foundation of our survival. The depressed market is not terrible. If it is difficult to make a breakthrough in the outside world, we need to change inward, adjust the rhythm and plan carefully. When the economy improves in the future, we can "accumulate wealth without advancing" and quickly seize the opportunity in the market competition.
2. Identify the market and take the initiative.
When we talk about laying the foundation, we also include the interpretation of the future market, and whether this interpretation is accurate or not will greatly affect the future direction of the company. Although we are a jewelry company in the American market, the initial difficulties of every new company must have been experienced by all entrepreneurs. At that time, the state of the company was that there were no funds, no customers and no products, but there was a clear idea that in an unknown, unfamiliar and mature market like the United States, the company must have its own core competitiveness to survive. "What are our resources" and "What are our characteristics" have become the questions we often ask ourselves at the beginning of the company's business. We have made many attempts on the way to find characteristics, such as small pieces of Nanyang jade carvings and Buddha beads, but these products are not competitive in the American jewelry market, and can only last for a period of time and cannot be operated for a long time. The resources we had at that time were olivine, topaz and aquamarine, and the market structure of these faceted gems in the United States was also very chaotic, which could be roughly divided into two extremes. The low-end was suppressed by Indian companies, and the price of finished products was even lower than our processing fee, but the disadvantage was that the technology was very poor, so the price war was not used as a means of competition from the beginning. The high-end aspect mainly comes from German enterprises. Although the technology is excellent, the price is extremely high.
20 12 China jewelry yearbook
After such a period of repeated comparison, weighing and observation, we finally defined our market position and found the gap to cut into the market-the mid-range colored gems market. The further explanation is the Sebao processing market, with good quality and moderate price, which can accept bulk orders. We tried to give full play to all the advantages at that time. First, 1996, China's labor cost is relatively low and it is very competitive. Secondly, the company's production technology is far better than that of Indian companies, but it is not much worse than that of German companies. Most mainstream customers have great demand for such products.
3. Resist loneliness and hold the market.
20 12 China jewelry yearbook
Although the industrial chain of jewelry industry can't compare with large resource industries such as oil and electricity, every link in the industrial chain is very professional. Although it is small, it takes a long time to accumulate experience to operate well. Whether at home or abroad, we often see some enterprises engaged in manufacturing and wholesale business gearing up, eager to extend their tentacles to brands, retail, manufacturing and mining when there is a slight improvement. It is good that such an attempt has succeeded, but most of the results are that the original advantages have not been well preserved, and the newly opened fields cannot be developed because they are unfamiliar, which is not worth the candle. Therefore, we are not very good at this development idea of dispersing superior resources to do areas where we are not dominant.
Needless to say, the importance of market positioning requires considerable manpower and material resources for research and certification, so once it is determined, it is best not to change it in a short time. The market situation is changing rapidly, so enterprises should have clear goals and not go with the flow, otherwise a little carelessness will give up all previous efforts.
Since 1996, the company has been focusing on the preparation of production and wholesale, including the large-scale storage of raw materials, the training of skilled workers, and the expansion of the factory building. It lasted five years. In the past five years, the market has been depressed, the company has just started, the prospect is uncertain, and everything is in an unknown state, but we have gritted our teeth, concentrated all kinds of superior resources, and adhered to our firm belief in market positioning and long-term planning.
4. From scratch, cultivate core competitiveness
4. 1 Pay attention to and continue to pay attention to the development of new products.
We often say that "innovation is the driving force of all development", which is not an exaggeration in any industry or any enterprise. Some people may think that design and R&D are the tasks of designers, and only companies that make brands need to consider things. Factories that make products and wholesale products do not need innovation? In fact, no matter where in the industrial chain, innovation is essential.
Now that innovation is mentioned, let's not just talk about it. Take the road taken by our company as an example: how to establish a complete and effective innovation mechanism within the enterprise is the most important. Although the company mainly accepts orders for wholesale, it is not only passively accepting market demand. For example, we will regularly provide our major customers with newly developed gemstone cutting or carving shapes. These new products have been tested many times and are mature technologies when they are presented to customers. Once customers are selected, they can immediately design unique products and put them on the market in combination with the brand's own image. Therefore, when attending the Hong Kong International Jewelry Fair, our new products are generally snapped up quickly.
20 12 China jewelry yearbook
The road to innovation is of course the best, but it is also the most difficult. We have also faced the situation that we have invested a lot of money and manpower, but the results are not satisfactory. But it doesn't matter, no input, no output, every failure is to accumulate experience for success, and once a set of innovative mechanisms suitable for enterprise development is summed up, it will bring immeasurable benefits to the development and growth of enterprises. Our approach may not be the most pleasing, but it is the safest and most practical.
20 12 China jewelry yearbook
4.2 Talent Pool
Innovation and development need not only the decision of the leadership, but also the support of talents. Because the cultivation of innovative talents often requires enterprises to spend a lot of resources, many enterprises often have such concerns, fearing that employees who have made great efforts to cultivate will quit once they learn skills. In fact, the overall broad thinking of employees plays an important role in improving product quality, and once the company forms an innovative cultural atmosphere, employees will interact and drive each other, and even attract talents from society to join, thus forming a virtuous circle.
Our company's reserve of innovative talents began at the beginning of its business. During the preparation of 1996~200 1, our technicians kept trying to develop new patterns and sculptures for a long time, and it didn't matter if they were unsuccessful. After several years of training and running-in with the market, a group of technical backbones have gained considerable design experience. At this time, the company transferred them to designers and gradually became the most backbone design force of the company. For these designers, they put their enthusiasm into product development in this field, and formed an inertia under the company's innovation mechanism, and the next design work naturally came. In short, the sooner you train your own innovative talents, the better, which can not only reduce the training cost but also improve the talent's sense of identity with the enterprise.
Based on the present and looking forward to the future
At present, affected by the global economic crisis, not only the jewelry industry, but all industries are in a relatively weak state. Many people deeply feel that their enterprises are in crisis, but we believe that the crisis contains both dangers and opportunities.
Some people say that "this is the best era" and some people say that "this is the worst era", but in fact, in the final analysis, "this is an era in which dangers and opportunities coexist". There is no so-called success model to apply. Only by constantly innovating and doing your homework in a down-to-earth manner can we survive in the harsh and ever-changing market environment. Innovation and change are the only way out, whether for us in the American market or for our colleagues who are upgrading their industries in China. Finally, I want to express my encouragement with this sentence.