Bad reputation

Shen Rou looked at President Chen and cautiously reminded him.

She was naturally aware of the recent reports about hygiene issues at the Canned Food Factory, which had been making quite a stir.

Hearing Shen Rou's words, Chen Mo shook his head indifferently.

"It's fine. Don't always look at the downside of things. Perhaps this canned goods incident might turn out to be an opportunity for us."

"An opportunity?"

Shen Rou looked puzzled as she listened to President Chen.

"That's right, an opportunity. The various negative reports about Canned Food Factories circulating online have already affected many small and medium-sized ones, and some have even shut down."

Chen Mo asked.

"Yes!"

Shen Rou nodded.

Because of the exposure of hygiene issues in Canned Food Factories, many had indeed gone under.

"Exactly. You only see the bad situation of Canned Food Factories closing down. But have you thought about what those closures actually mean?"

Chen Mo continued to press.

"What do they mean?"

Shen Rou was still puzzled.

"Canned Food Factory closures mean less competition. For example, imagine a big cake that 100 people were supposed to share. If 20 people die due to an illness, that means there are 20 fewer people to share the cake."

"The situation with the Canned Food Factory is the same. Right now, the industry is like it's caught a sickness. As long as we take over a factory now and survive, we will have the chance to get a bigger slice of the cake."

Chen Mo said slowly.

"But the reputation of this Zhenhao Cannery is already terrible. If we take it over, it will have a huge impact on sales!"

"If President Chen really wants to establish a Canned Food Factory, you could build one yourself or find one without any negative reputation. That way, at least there wouldn't be any issues with its name."

Shen Rou was still a bit worried.

What President Chen just said did make sense; many small and medium-sized Canned Food Factories closing down did indeed reduce competition.

But this is competition, not just dividing up a cake.

How much cake you ultimately get still depends on your own competitiveness!

But how much competitiveness can a Canned Food Factory with a ruined reputation really have?

Obviously, not much.

Listening to Shen Rou's persuasion, Chen Mo looked at her seriously and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Shen Rou had ultimately been influenced by those sly foxes.

She used to be such an obedient assistant, doing whatever he asked.

Now, he was just investing in a Canned Food Factory, and she started offering advice like this.

"President Chen, is there a problem?"

Seeing President Chen look at her seriously without saying anything, Shen Rou couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy.

Chen Mo came back to his senses upon hearing this and looked at Shen Rou seriously.

"Of course there is a problem."

"You ask why I'm taking over a Canned Food Factory at this time? It's precisely because this is the easiest time to do so."

"Take this Zhenhao Cannery for example; the investment proposal already states that as long as we invest and ensure the factory survives, they can accept any conditions."

"Could you have achieved this before the Canned Food Factory ran into trouble?"

Shen Rou shook her head. If the Canned Food Factory hadn't had any issues, it certainly wouldn't have been easy to acquire one; the price alone would likely have taken a long time to negotiate.

"But President Chen, this factory has a tarnished reputation. If we take it over, it will be a major problem for our future sales!"

"You don't need to worry about that. Reputation is just a matter of hygiene and some ingredients not being very healthy. Once we take over, we'll improve the hygiene and use the freshest ingredients for production. Won't that solve it?"

"Alright, let's settle it this way. You go and contact the person in charge of that factory; we'll go and inspect it tomorrow."

Chen Mo waved his hand, feeling a bit weary, and finalized the matter.

"Alright, President Chen."

Seeing this, Shen Rou knew President Chen had made up his mind. She also realized she had spoken too much; with President Chen's vision and perspective, how could he not see the problems with those Canned Food Factories?

It was just that President Chen had his own strategies, and her reminder was undoubtedly superfluous.

With this thought, she quickly turned and returned to her office.

Seeing this, Chen Mo sat back down at his desk and rubbed his temples helplessly.

…

Zhenhao Cannery, in the boss's office in the office building.

A middle-aged woman looked at the people in the office.

"Because of the cannery's reputation, no one pays any attention to us, whether we try to sell it or seek investment."

"This can't go on. The employees in the factory need to work to earn money; they can't afford to wait if we keep dragging this out."

"So, let's just dissolve the Canned Food Factory. I still have some savings; let's give the employees some severance pay."

As she spoke, the middle-aged woman took out a bank card and placed it on the desk.

She felt very bitter; she never expected to be betrayed by the two people closest to her.

One was her husband, and the other was her own younger sister.

She couldn't understand why this had happened.

She and her husband had started this Canned Food Factory together, building it up bit by bit.

The factory's performance had been good recently, and they had made some money, so she brought her younger sister over to do some clerical work. Rather than clerical work, it was basically just recording attendance at the factory.

It was fine for her to watch TV and play games in the office every day.

But she never imagined that her younger sister and her husband would get involved with each other, especially just when the Canned Food Factory was having problems.

Her husband ran off with her younger sister, and of course, he took most of the money with him.

Now, because her husband had taken all the money and Zhenhao Canned Goods had suffered reputation issues, the products couldn't be sold at all.

If the canned goods couldn't be sold, there was no revenue, and without revenue, there was no way to pay the workers.

Due to the lack of funds, the Canned Food Factory had been shut down for a week, but the workers still needed to work to earn money; it wasn't a sustainable situation to keep it shut down.

And if it went on for too long, the workers certainly wouldn't be happy.

So, having no other choice, she called over some of the management staff, prepared to take out her savings to compensate the workers.