Zhang Hongwei
Chairman of Wujiang Tutaike Textile Finishing Co., Ltd
I've asked a lot of entrepreneurs questions about wealth – what does wealth really mean to you?
The answers are naturally different for different people, but there are also similarities. The biggest similarity is that no one thinks that doing business creates wealth in order to indulge in material wealth.
As a social person, especially when faced with a professional visitor and camera, it is not difficult to understand the answers of various crowns.
This time, in Shengze Town, Suzhou, I also asked this question when I was communicating with Zhang Hongwei, chairman of Tu Tek.
His answer made me feel somewhat fresh. Wealth, he said, is social, but it can bring you all kinds of pleasures: you can enjoy pleasure in the process of creating wealth; you can also enjoy pleasure when you consume a part of your wealth; you will also have pleasure in the process of leaving wealth to your children and repaying society.
I am very satisfied with Zhang Hongwei's answer. At least, this answer is in line with human nature and does not pretend.
This conversation with Zhang Hongwei was not long, but it also asked a lot of topics. Many of his answers, like his attitude toward wealth, were quite frank.
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1.
Wang Xiaobo:
It's now past two o'clock in the afternoon, and I see you've just eaten. Is it so busy every day?
Zhang Hongwei: Yes, almost all of them are so busy.
In the 21 years of entrepreneurship, the company has also experienced a process of gradual growth. Coupled with today's environmental policies and stricter environmental policies than in the past, there are more things outside the business, so it will be much busier than before.
Tu Tek's positioning is to make outdoor textiles, is there fierce competition in this field?
Zhang Hongwei: Outside our office building, there is a very conspicuous advertisement called "Coating Expert from Taiwan", which is because when I ran this factory, our mainland market did not have the concept of outdoor storm jackets, so our equipment, management team and technology were all imported from Taiwan, but our factory is not a Taiwan-funded enterprise, but a completely local enterprise. At that time, it was probably only our family doing it, so we also reaped relatively good returns.
In recent years, more and more companies have entered the outdoor field, but fortunately, the market is also changing, starting to change from professional outdoor to daily home casual wear. That is to say, the clothes we usually wear will also want to be more functional, such as more comfortable, lighter and warmer, but do not have to go out hiking or climbing a mountain to wear outdoor clothes, so this market is growing.
Are there only brands in the supply chain at the moment?
Zhang Hongwei: Yes, it is called TTK, mainly in the field of fabrics. In addition, during the epidemic last year, we set up a new medical department and established a brand of terminal products, that is, TDK, to provide protective clothing, surgical gowns and isolation gowns. Now, in just one year, we have launched more than twenty series of products.
Affected by the epidemic, the outbreak volume of this area is very large. With medical products, our sales growth last year was amazing. However, while continuing to do this part of medical treatment, we will still return to the main business.
The main business is textile finishing, which refers to the processing of fabrics after bleaching, dyeing and printing processing, in order to improve and enhance the quality of fabrics, giving textiles new functions and added value.
At present, the combined scale of these two sectors is about one billion yuan.
2.
How big is the company at the moment?
Zhang Hongwei: Yes, our factory area is not large, only more than 30 acres of land. But there are already nearly 400 workers.
At present, mainly because of environmental protection reasons, enterprises have no way to expand. In fact, according to our current sales situation and future prospects, it is necessary to introduce new equipment and technology. So we also hope that the government can provide more support to growing enterprises, where they have enough capacity to control pollution, and allow us to properly introduce new equipment.
Our current device is still in the same state as 20 years ago, which is very sad for me.
understand. From the perspective of an enterprise positioning, what is the most important driving force for so many years to continue to move forward?
Chen Keqin: The factors behind it are mainly in several aspects, one is that the company has achieved the present, and the brand is a very critical thing. Brands encompass a lot of things, such as technology, quality, price and service.
It is said that "it is difficult for a woman to cook without rice", and for us, "rice" is equipment and technology. In terms of technology, we can dig up talents, and now we are also very popular with enterprises and a number of colleges and universities to cooperate, invite experts and professors to be our technical backing, and constantly provide us with technical support through scientific research projects. And the equipment piece needs to be solved by ourselves. In addition to solving the funding and venue, we also hope that the government will give support in the establishment of the project.
For Tu Tek, where does the biggest challenge come from?
Zhang Hongwei: There are more homogeneous products. In the past few years, the extensive development of the industry has led to overcapacity. The direct consequences of overcapacity are nothing more than two things, one is the vicious competition in prices, and the other is the increase in receivables. In this way, the industry is prone to fall into a vicious circle.
3.
Have you considered developing a successor?
Zhang Hongwei: Yes. Maybe I haven't had a taboo in management, or I haven't reached a certain height yet, so I still want my child to take over.
I have two daughters, the eldest of whom was sent to Shanghai to study when she was 5 years old. It was brutal for a 5-year-old, but it gave her a strong ability to be independent. Later, he sent her to study abroad, and after graduating and returning to China, he was responsible for foreign trade in the enterprise, which was basically a success.
In the future, the development of our company may be a way for the next generation and professional managers to coexist and shoulder the burden together. I think the best thing is not to give it all to professional managers, and not to give it all to your own children.
Wang Xiaobo
What is your ideal state of balance between children and professional managers?
Zhang Hongwei: Ideally, my child should be more loyal to the company than any professional manager. As a manager, it is important to have a very high level of loyalty to the business, so let your children take over the business, and they will not do anything that harms the business.
As for professional managers, I think they think about the problem from different starting points, there are solutions worth learning from, as well as the concept of long-term layout, which may not be able to do with my children. Therefore, the combination of the two can make the development of the enterprise better.
After so many years of entrepreneurship, have you enjoyed the process?
Zhang Hongwei: For entrepreneurs, enterprises are like children. I may not want it to be strong, but I hope it can be done for a long time and become a century-old enterprise.
How do you personally view wealth?
Zhang Hongwei: My understanding of wealth is actually very simple, to put it in layman's terms, wealth is social. It's just that in the process of creating wealth, you enjoy the pleasure; you also enjoy the pleasure when you consume a part of the wealth; and there is also a part of the wealth that you will definitely leave to your children and return to society. These are the main three aspects.
Relatively speaking, just now you saw me eating so late every day, in fact, sometimes I am too busy, but I don't have too much time to enjoy wealth. Basically, if you want to manage the business well, as a manager, you must participate in unlimited activities every day.
Huagang Joint Family Office
（Fargo Family Office）
An independent brand of Huagang Wealth Group, it provides professional and comprehensive offshore financial services to Chinese ultra-high net worth clients (UHNW) and their families, including but not limited to bank account management, investment advice, tax planning, asset inheritance, etc. The Huagang team develops personalized financial solutions for each client by deeply understanding their needs for family, business and wealth.
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Written by Wang Xiaobo, Dake