On the morning of January 4, 1973, the city of Oakland was across the sea from San Francisco.

Evan Brandt, head of the business unit of Magnavox, was busy as soon as he arrived at the company, and the high-level meeting the day before yesterday had just approved the sales target for the year, and he had to complete the refinement as soon as possible, and then send down to the salesmen in each region through the regional managers.

Generally speaking, a company should set sales targets for the next year, which should be completed by the end of the previous year, and Mirohua is no exception, only this year is a special case.

Because on August 1 last year, the company publicly launched an epoch-making new product to the United States: the Odyssey (Odeyssey) video game console.

The product that Sanders Asso came to promote was a huge success that no one in the company could have imagined.

In the four months to the end of '72, shipments reached 100,000 units.

It was precisely because of the waiting for the data of Christmas, the peak sales season, that the management delayed the development of sales targets for the next year.

Despite the tedious and arduous work today, Brant is happy that it was because of his strong persistence last year that the company finally agreed to work with Sandoz to develop and promote this seemingly unattractive product.

At this time, whether it is the Odyssey or himself, he can see the sweet fruit in front of him.

Now Mi Luohua, as the chairman of the board of directors and president of the founder's eldest grandson, but he rarely appears in the company, most of the company's departments are in their own situation, and the business departments that contribute the most to the company do not receive due respect and preferential treatment.

Brandt has long been worried about this.

Perhaps, the gentleman who has a good baby will give up the meaningless position of president and put it in the hands of the most suitable person, so that he can enjoy his happy life more easily.

And I, who is the most suitable person!

With a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree from Harvard Business School, and nearly 5 years of experience in consumer electronics sales, Brant, who is just 35 years old, is extremely confident.

Under my management, Mirohua will definitely be able to reorganize the mountains and rivers and rejuvenate them!

The most important thing is that at the end of the first quarter, I have to come up with a report that is so perfect that everyone has nothing to say.

Which areas can be added to the number?

California, NY......

The phone rang suddenly, and Brant, who had been interrupted from his train of thought, frowned and threw away the pen in his hand.

Yesterday, I convened a business meeting, and I have communicated and coordinated with various regional managers in the early stage, and today I have formulated detailed indicators, and these guys should not bother me again.

Maybe it's from the big boss, after all, the sales of the Odyssey were the biggest highlight of Mirova last year, even if he doesn't care about anything, he should always know that how much money he can spend this year depends largely on this project.

Brandt smiled wryly, picked up the phone, and the main station told him that a representative of a Xiangjiang company came to the door and wanted to negotiate business with the boss.

Brant subconsciously wanted to refuse, but suddenly thought about it and said, "Let them in." ”

Maybe he came to negotiate the agency rights of the Odyssey region, he was a little complacent in his heart, Xiangjiang is a small region, and it doesn't matter if the conditions are about to be released, he is most concerned about Europe and the RB market.

There were two Chinese who came, and to his surprise, the leader turned out to be a young man who looked underage, and was so handsome that people were secretly jealous.

Because his family lives near San Francisco's Chinatown, Brant has frequent contact with Chinese people in his life, and does not have face blindness to Chinese people like most Americans.

After the two sides exchanged business cards, he motioned for the other party to sit down, and said frankly: "The boss is usually not in the company, and I can decide most of the business matters, maybe you can talk to me." But I'm sorry for the start of the new year, and I'm only going to give you 10 minutes. ”

The visitor named Zhang Heng did not talk as much as the Chinese he usually saw, and he said happily that his company wanted to buy the Odyssey project, and hoped that Brant could convey this intention to the boss, and they would wait for two more days in San Francisco.

Brant couldn't believe his ears, and after reconfirming the other party's intentions, he instantly became angry, almost roaring: "Do you know how much revenue the Odyssey generated last year?"

"$9.9 million!" Without waiting for the other party's reaction, he immediately reported the number loudly, full of joy and ready to see the shock and despair of the other party being slapped in the face.

The young man was indeed a little stunned, but quickly returned to normal, and asked, "As far as I know, the Odyssey was licensed to your company by Sandoz, I wonder how much gross profit you can leave for each Odyssey after deducting the license fee, channel profits, and manufacturing costs?"

It was Brandt's turn to be speechless, as the top head of the business department, he naturally knew the Odyssey's gross margin very well.

The Odyssey uses the best materials for both the case and the movement, so the manufacturing cost is as high as $45 per unit, Sandoz's license fee is $12 per unit, and the channel profit is 25 points or $25 per unit.

Mirova earns only $17 in gross profit per Odyssey and a gross profit margin of just 17 percent, which is unsightly low for a pioneering electronic entertainment product.

The retail price of $99 is the result of Brandt's insistence, and he believes that this new type of entertainment product can only quickly open the market by relying on low prices, thus forming a snowballing positive feedback.

Therefore, even though he has achieved good results, he is still criticized by other department heads within the company.

If it weren't for the fact that the total profit was very good, which already accounted for more than half of the total annual profit of Mirohua's whole products, the big boss would definitely forcibly order the price adjustment.

Brandt, who is well aware of his habits, is very sure of this, which is why he threw out the ambitious goal of doubling the sales target this year at the high-level meeting.

In any case, he had to do it!

And the person in front of him wants to dig up his life, which is absolutely intolerable!

Even if they paid more, how would it help him?

Will the big boss give him a hefty bonus as a reward for finding a gold mine?

With a few sneers in his heart, Brant didn't hesitate any longer, and asked them to leave with a cold expression.

As soon as the two with ugly faces walked out of the door, he picked up the phone and called the engineering department, "Lenon, the optimization scheme of the Odyssey's internal circuit, I need to know your latest progress, right away." ”

Be sure to find ways to improve your gross profit margin!

It is difficult to change the license fee and channel profits, reducing manufacturing costs is the only feasible way, and the shell can not reduce the standard, otherwise it is not conducive to the product image, then there is only to improve the internal circuit to reduce the cost.

I hope you can surprise me, my friend.

Brant frowned at the cost analysis table, his temples throbbing, just as his mood fluctuated.