6: Chapter 6 Market Investigation! Local Tyrant Breaks Contract

The motorcade drove along the bumpy road, with dense tin houses on the roadside. From time to time, some black children ran barefoot after the cars.

Occasionally, one could see a few people holding Nokia phones, anxiously looking for something on the side of the road.

"They are looking for a place to charge," Chen Hai said suddenly.

Shen Fei looked in the direction he was pointing. There was a long queue in front of a makeshift shed, and a sign hung outside the shed: "Charging, 50 Naira per time." (Approximately 0.3 USD)

Shen Fei picked up the binoculars and took a look. Inside the shed, dozens of mobile phones were plugged into dilapidated sockets, and next to them was a humming diesel generator.

"Diesel power generation. With so many customers, this is indeed a very promising market... We can combine it with our official stores. Li Qing, have the design team work on a proper design..."

[System Prompt: Detected that the host is gaining an in-depth understanding of local market demand. Task progress +5%]

Shen Fei was stunned for a moment. So, in-depth market research could also advance progress?

"Stop the car," he said suddenly.

"Mr. Shen, it's not safe here," the security captain advised against it.

"Just 5 minutes. And with so many of you, can't you protect the few of us?" Shen Fei pushed open the car door and walked straight toward the charging shed.

The people in line looked curiously at these well-dressed Asians.

Shen Fei asked a middle-aged man in the front of the line in English: "How long does a charge last? Do you have frequent power outages here?"

This local successful businessman glanced at him warily, but in front of Shen Fei's greenbacks, he chose to answer.

"Two days. If you only make calls, maybe three or five days. As for power outages, you should ask when there is electricity."

The group behind Shen Fei nodded, and then Shen Fei continued to ask: "What model is the phone?"

This middle-aged black man took out a Nokia 1100 from his pocket like it was a treasure. The casing was worn white, but as a Feature phone, this wear and tear was harmless to it.

Shen Fei nodded, handed him the money, and then turned back to the car.

"Let's go to the local mobile phone market to have a look."

Bal Market in Lagos, Nigeria's largest second-hand goods trading center.

This place was like a huge maze, with narrow aisles piled high with all kinds of goods: "Old clothes, old TVs, old tires, and... piles of old mobile phones."

Shen Fei stopped in front of a stall. The stall owner was a refined young man, who was using crude tools to dismantle a Motorola.

"Boss, how much for a Nokia 1100?" Shen Fei asked in English.

The young man didn't even raise his head, continuing to fiddle with the Motorola in his hand: "40 USD for a new one, 20 USD for an old one. Both are guaranteed; if they break, I'll fix them for you."

"What about these?" Shen Fei pointed to the piles of various small parts on the stall.

"Batteries are five USD, chargers are 2 USD, screens are 8 USD. I only want USD, no Naira."

The young man finally looked up and saw the security personnel behind Shen Fei. His eyes instantly became alert: "Which gang are you from? I've already paid the protection fee."

"No, we are a mobile phone manufacturer." Shen Fei picked up an old battery. "How long do these batteries last?"

"It depends on luck. Good ones can last a year; bad ones, a few months." The young man stood up, wiped his hands, and looked in Shen Fei's direction with some vigilance.

"Judging by your clothes, you shouldn't be locals... You probably don't look down on these phones, so we shouldn't have any intersection, right?"

Shen Fei smiled: "I want to cooperate with you."

"Cooperate?"

"Yes." Shen Fei pointed to the stall: "It's similar to what you're doing now. You help me sell phones, and I supply you. As for the price, it's definitely more than what you earn scavenging these pieces of junk. If you feel it's risky, you can also become our employee, and we will pay you a fixed monthly salary."

The young man's eyes widened instantly, and his hands were a bit at a loss. For him, this news was no different from a pie falling from the sky.

But how could such a good thing fall on him? "You... you aren't tricking me, are you?"

"What do you have that's worth tricking you for? I don't look down on this junk, and I'm giving you a second, more secure option. Of course, the premise is that you can't lose the goods, otherwise... you know the consequences; after all, I'm not doing charity. Think about it, come to the Ramori Hotel to find me tomorrow. I believe you can make it."

The young man nodded a bit dully, seemingly stunned by this news.

After leaving the stall, Li Qing said in a low voice: "Mr. Shen, relying on such small vendors, can we really secure the channel? Even if we do, how many units can they sell in a day?"

"But he knows all the vendors on this street." Shen Fei waved his hand. "If he can make money, others will follow suit. What we need to do is not to directly secure big channels, but to build a network composed of countless small nodes. That way, the channel will be established."

He looked at the market, the crowds bargaining: "At any time, in any market, trust is gradually transmitted. Nobody believes what big merchants say, but if neighbors say it's good, then it's truly good."

Just as everyone understood Shen Fei's meaning, and Li Qing was preparing to return to his room to write the plan, planning to leave the Africa market after meeting with this small vendor tomorrow to confirm the channel, Wang Jianguo came knocking on the door again!

He went back on his word! He was not satisfied with the profit sharing of the charging station! He wanted exclusivity! And it was the exclusive agency right for the whole of Nigeria!

"The exclusive agency right must be given to me, otherwise don't even talk about the charging station. I won't distribute those 10,000 mobile phones for you either. Go find whoever you want." Wang Jianguo said, slapping the table.

"Mr. Wang, for a new brand like Transsion, we need more partners." Shen Fei's face showed no signs of anger; in fact, all of this was within his expectations.

"Lagos has 8 districts. I previously gave you exclusive agency for three districts; this condition is already very generous. As for the charging station, it must be a 70/30 split; this issue is non-negotiable."

"That's not enough!" Looking at the tough-talking Shen Fei, although Wang Jianguo felt a little guilty, he still stood up forcefully, with that confident smile: "Mr. Shen, you are not familiar with Nigeria at all. Without me, your goods won't be able to hit the market at all."

"Is that so?" Shen Fei smiled, a laugh full of mockery. He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip unhurriedly.

"Mr. Wang, are you really that confident? Can you really cover the sky with one hand in Nigeria?"

"Can you really compare to our Chinese capital?" The last sentence was transmitted word by word to Wang Jianguo's ears. At this moment, Shen Fei's aura dominated the entire room.

This was completely not the same person as the refined man during the day. Wang Jianguo's face changed slightly. He had seen the terror of capital before. Could this young brat... No! This must be a trick.