Yesterday, I spoke with a client who always seems to think of himself as just a small operation—as if anyone would look down on him because of his small scale—and he comes across as lacking in confidence.
We must never think this way. To put it bluntly, those of us who run small factories are experts in our respective fields. Don’t let your small scale lead you to see yourself as just a “small workshop,” and don’t assume that just because a company is large, its technology is necessarily superior, its product quality is guaranteed to be excellent, or its products are automatically high-end.
In reality, large companies often produce low-end products, while small companies produce high-end ones.
Because large companies have high production volumes, they can only produce low-end, high-volume products to leverage their cost advantages. Small companies, on the other hand, tend to produce products with smaller order volumes but higher technical requirements.
In China, there are many so-called “small workshops” of very modest scale, but their owners all have what it takes.
Think about it: if you didn’t have what it takes and your technical skills weren’t up to par, how could you have started a factory in the first place? The fact that your factory hasn’t been weeded out by the market amid severe overcapacity proves you’re capable—your technology and products must be top-notch; you just don’t realize how great you are yet. Don’t assume that just because a company is large, its technology is necessarily cutting-edge or its products are necessarily excellent. Many of these big companies rely on specific technologies from small businesses like ours to solve their problems; they’re just “giant babies” standing on our shoulders.
We shouldn’t look down on our own small factories. In today’s environment, owning a factory is the greatest asset. As I like to say, a factory is a gold mine.
Many businesspeople talk endlessly about product selection—isn’t that precisely because they don’t have their own factories?
Many people know how to sell products and run e-commerce, but they lack good products—isn’t that because they don’t have their own factories?
Having our own factory means we have both manufacturing and R&D capabilities. We can control quality and create products that stand out from the competition—and that’s often the most crucial factor.
Anyone who can run their own factory, maintain steady performance without a decline, and even achieve continuous growth—all while thriving despite a very challenging economic climate—must have top-notch technical skills and real expertise in certain areas. However, we Chinese are a reserved people—we work with high standards but conduct ourselves with humility. Some are even technically brilliant yet never boast about their skills.
Many small factory owners are versatile technical experts. We must have confidence; we aim to build small yet refined, small yet strong factories that can weather economic cycles. Our goal is to survive for 500 years, not to make it onto the Fortune 500 list.
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Wu Dejian’s tool steel, the chief of staff of the user, bought everything he had used.