Top of the big era

It didn't matter that the plane was borrowed by Shi Jinglin. Zhou Buqi planned to stay in Manchester for a few more days to take a good look at Manchester United's business.

If it works well, this is really a business empire centered around football.

Football does not make money, at least under the current systems of World Football Federation and UEFA, it is difficult to make big money relying on pure football business.

Unless it is completely commercialized like American sports.

That's not good either.

Everything based on profit will inevitably lead to too many "fake matches".

However, it’s not impossible to make money!

With football, you can build a brand.

And then rely on the brand to make money, such as Zhou Buqi’s investment in the American magazine company Playboy and its delisting. As the industry declined, Playboy magazine was no longer viable.

It’s hard to make money from magazines anymore.

what to do?

The plan given by the board of directors is brand licensing and a new strategic plan to earn profits for investors.

The magazine "Playboy" is no longer available, but the brand "Playboy" is world-famous!

The popularity and influence of rabbit ears are not even much worse than Disney’s Mickey Mouse.

Next, Playboy Company only needs to license the "Playboy" brand. Whoever wants to open a coffee shop can call it a Playboy Coffee Shop; whoever wants to produce wigs can also put a bunny ears logo on it.

Playboy just charges licensing fees.

Many companies around the world have adopted this strategy. If their own business is not doing well, or if they want to increase additional revenue, they license their brands to third parties and let them operate on their own.

For example, domestic Antarctic people's OEM clothes, such as Wuliangye's OEM wine. The more well-known are Hollywood's "MGM" and "Universal". They were originally MGM Pictures and Universal Pictures. After a series of copyright operations in the early years... Now, the largest casino in Las Vegas is At the MGM Grand Hotel, the "Miss Universe Beauty Pageant" is even more famous all over the world.

These are very normal and common business strategies.

Manchester United is similar.

Manchester United now has two major sections, Manchester United Business and Manchester United Sports.

This is the business after Zhoubu integration.

In fact, when Manchester United went public that year, it had four businesses, Manchester United Sports, Manchester United Commercial, Manchester United TV, and Manchester United Catering Company.

When Zhou Buqi acquired Manchester United, Manchester United had been delisted by the Glazer family. It was easy for him to deal with it, and he made some drastic business reforms.

A very important move is to integrate and reorganize Manchester United into two.

Football belongs to football, and business belongs to business.

The TV station and catering business are actually businesses, so they were all planned to be given to the big business of Manchester United Commercial. They could not make much money in bits and pieces.

The TV station refers to Manchester United TV, which is mainly for local audiences in the Manchester area.

There are advertisements here, and there will also be paid content. For example, if Manchester United plays a friendly match with another team, the audience can pay to watch it. Or a documentary about Manchester United, you can also lock this channel.

I can't make much money, I can barely break even.

It is mainly a promotion platform for Manchester United.

Manchester United catering mainly refers to Manchester United Cafe. The cafe in the Old Trafford stadium can bring in at least 80,000 pounds to the club every match day.

Not to mention, this is a chain of coffee shops. There are Manchester United coffee shops in many countries around the world, and most of them are authorized stores. For example, there are Manchester United coffee shops in China.

Through those authorized cafes, it can also be regarded as a kind of publicity for Manchester United.

This part of the business can bring about 3 million pounds of profit to the club every year.

This little money is really insignificant.

Fortunately, Manchester United will make big plans next, building a five-star hotel.

Manchester, a formerly industrial city, has shed much of its low-end industry over the years. Take Manchester United's Carrington training base for example. It was a heavily polluted factory area back then. Now it is a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters, birds singing and flowers fragrant. It is the place with the best environment in Manchester.

This will greatly benefit the development of local tourism.

If you want to do tourism, you must have supporting hotel facilities.

Manchester United's training base and Manchester City's training base are very close to each other. If you build a five-star hotel nearby, it will be difficult for business to prosper.

If the operation is good, the annual profit will be at least 20 million pounds.

So Zhou Buqi called Manchester United's commercial executives from London to Manchester, held a meeting, and made a new and detailed division of Manchester United's commercial business.

It includes Manchester United’s membership operations, brand planning, match day ticket revenue, advertising sponsorship, sales of jerseys, blind boxes and other derivatives, Manchester United TV, Manchester United catering, Manchester United hotels, Manchester United retail stores, Manchester United documentary and film and television copyrights, etc. 14 department.

The most important thing in managing a company is employing people.

Zhou Buqi doesn't care about the specific business operations, but he must make good rules in employing people.

Among these 14 departments of Manchester United's business, there is a line.

Some businesses are closely related to football, such as match day tickets, online membership operations, documentaries, jersey advertising, etc. When choosing directors for these businesses, you must choose people who understand and love football.

Don't let people who don't understand football over-commercialize it and affect the competitiveness of the team.

There are also some businesses that have nothing to do with football.

For example, selling jerseys, selling blind boxes, selling stationery, selling pens and other derivatives with Manchester United elements, such as opening cafes, restaurants, retail stores, hotels... These businesses have nothing to do with football, they are just branded as Manchester United. The signboard does some traditional business.

These businesses don't need to have too many restrictions. Just choose the most capable people to work, and focus on running and making money.

Set the tone first.

Zhou Buqi's horizons are now higher and his appetite is bigger. Now that he has taken action, there is really no point in making small troubles. Don't go too far in football. The traditional power of European football is too strong to break through the resistance.

However, by leveraging the "Manchester United" brand and doing business that has nothing to do with football, there is every opportunity to make a big splash in the business field.

Shi Jinglin is different from Teacher Wen, Sister Bao, and Ning Yaxian. She can't sit idle. Even if she gives birth to children in the future, she will definitely focus on her career.

She may have lost interest in Yuanwei Group.

Let her find her own direction. She looked around but couldn't find it.

Zhou Buqi has already found a way out. If she really feels bored and has nothing to do, she might as well come to Manchester United to challenge herself and do some business that has nothing to do with football.

It's best not to start a new one from scratch, it's too hard.

After the meeting, Zhou Buqi and several core executives had dinner with the coaching team at noon, expressing their recognition of the team's performance in the past few games.

In the afternoon, Zhou Buqi went to the airport to pick him up.

Ning Lu and Mai Feixue accompanied them.

Hearing that he was going to pick up a strong woman named Zhen Yu, Mai Feixue's thoughts drifted away... Well, it's a woman again. Later, I heard that Mr. Zhen was one of the founders of Yuanwei Group and Jieyu Media, and was an important early partner of Boss Zhou. I was stunned at the moment, and all the desire to compare disappeared.

Zhou Buqi called out several times in succession, "Maizi? Maizi?"

"Ah?" Mai Feixue came back to her senses, "Oh, boss, did you call me?"

Several people were in cars at the airport, waiting for the plane to land.

This is a private airport, and it is obvious that this Zhen always comes by private plane. Is this the life of Boss Zhou? All transportation is private jet?

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "How's it going? Are you still getting used to it?"

Mai Feixue's face turned red and she whispered, "It's okay, but it still hurts a little."

"pain?"

Zhou Buqi was slightly startled.

Mai Feixue was a little embarrassed. She glanced at Ning Lu carefully and found that she had a laptop on her lap, checking information. Then she leaned over and whispered in the big boss's ear: "It's very comfortable. I I like it. This is my first time to fly, my first time to go abroad, my first time to watch a game at a stadium, my first time to live in a luxurious villa, and my first time... these first times are all wonderful. , I like it, I do it, I don’t regret it.”

Zhou Buqi couldn't laugh or cry, "Who asked you this?"

"Huh? What is that?"

"I ask you, have you adapted to the UK these few days? Are you still accustomed to the living habits and communication methods here?"

"Oh, oh..." Mai Feixue showed a bright smile, "It's good, everything is good, everywhere is good. I'm satisfied, I have gained a lot."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "The meaning of life is to constantly explore and discover. Life is like mountain climbing, which means you should make unremitting efforts. Every time you climb a step, the scenery you see will be more magnificent and spectacular. More charming."

"Um."

Mai Feixue nodded repeatedly, feeling that what the big boss said was really good.

Zhou Buqi continued: "Some people don't like to work hard and are unwilling to grow. They feel that they are satisfied if they stop at the foot of the mountain and live comfortably in the present life. Only mountaineers will understand that those who have stayed at the foot of the mountain have lost everything." What."

Mai Feixue's beautiful eyes were shining, and she said delicately: "Well, I want to understand too. My previous life was too pale. My life these days feels more colorful than my life in the past few decades. Life is more fulfilling.”

Ning Lu on the other side remained calm.

I thought the big boss was training girls again.

It's easy to go up the mountain but hard to go down the mountain.

Just like this Mai Feixue, she came to the UK, took a private jet, stayed in a luxurious villa, ate delicious food prepared by a five-star chef, enjoyed the living conditions of a nanny, driver, assistant, and security guard, and was still on the weekdays. The transformation from a girl to a woman was completed in the arms of the big boss.

This is not climbing a mountain at all, this is taking a cable car to a high place effortlessly and seeing the vast beauty.

Now that you've come up, can you still go down?