How does the American regiment do the first?

The right strategic direction, healthy cash flow, technological innovation and the introduction of talented people, created today's American regiment.

By April 30, 2014, the United States Regiment's monthly turnover of more than 2.6 billion yuan, the market share has already exceeded 50%, from the turnover, market share, the number of business indicators, the U.S. group in the group buying market in the first position has been very stable.

Reviewing the past of a company helps to better understand the company and the future of its industry. At the end of 2010, the group was still struggling to enter the first three of the group buying market, becoming first in the early 2012 and leading the way to a number of rivals. Wang and his American regiment, what exactly did the right things, realized the later in the home? In the last eight or nine months, I interviewed Wang, the United States regiment almost all senior executives, some mid-level and Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu and other front-line staff, "Wang Decade" (temporary name) a book will be listed this summer, the following material from the book.

First, ensure that the strategic direction is correct. At the end of 2009, Wang ready to do the United States network, he elaborated in the company's four longitudinal three transverse theory:

Information

Communication

Entertainment

Business

Web1.0 Search

Baidu

Tencent

Grand Games

Alibaba

Web2.0 Social

Sina Weibo

Renren

Happy

？

Web3.0 Mobile

？

？

？

？

Still unable to see the trend of mobile Internet, he put the network of the United States to the social and business intersection. From the later development of the United States, the network should be placed in the mobile Internet and business intersection.

On the basis of the four vertical three horizontal, he continued to expound the profit model of group buying: Internet Marketing mode, the first stage is the portal site, the profit model is the display of advertising, the target customers are able to put expensive advertising large enterprises. The second stage is the search engine, services to small and medium enterprises, as long as you have tens of thousands of dollars can buy keywords, advertising, a sudden drop in the threshold of a lot of, precision is also high a lot. The third stage is to buy, through the transaction to the consumer more accurate promotion, service businesses are local small enterprises. This constitutes the pyramid, the tower is the business of group buying services, the spire is a portal service business, the middle is the search engine services business. Group buying profit model is to reduce the advertising investment, this part let out, so that consumers accounted for a part of the cheap, group buying site can also share a part of the profits.

2012, after two years of groping, Wang proposed group buy "three low" theory, he is more independent of the understanding of group buying, even with the beginning of the United States Regiment teacher Groupon opposite. Groupon is a high margin, high cost operation of the company, and the United States Mission positioning: to provide consumers with high-quality, low-cost services, to this end, the company to achieve high efficiency, low cost, High-tech, low margin.

Wang's understanding of group buying is the root cause of the group's difference from other group buying sites. This passage can be said to be a ruler, used to measure the company's operations encountered in various problems and treatment, used to rectify the problem. Each time the subtle difference of rectification, finally let the United States and other competitors accumulated moat Gap.

In the competition of large-scale online advertising, the United States network did not play, they mainly in the Internet advertising, pay more attention to social networking site Word-of-mouth spread.

At a time when competitors were the strategic focus of a high margin commodity group, the United States Group Network adhere to the provision of low Maori local life services for the strategic focus, because in the purchase of goods, can not establish their own core competitiveness, if there is no long-term competitive advantage, short-term rapid growth will not have a future.

Second, maintain a healthy cash flow. Wang in the founder of the network when the capital chain broken problem, forced to sell the company; The pain of lack of money to make him unforgettable, causing him to do in the United States network when learned the lesson. His description of the CEO's job is this:

"The responsibility of the CEO to get someone else to do it is, first, to design the company's overall vision and all its strategies to ensure that it is communicated to all stakeholders, not just the management, but all employees, not only the in-house, but also the shareholders, consumers, merchants and partners." Second, recruit and retain the best people. Third, make sure that the company always has enough cash, which is the same as the air. Other things should be the most professional, the best people to do. ”

In July 2011, after the United States Regiment completed the 50 million U.S. dollar B-round funding, the first round of financing 10 million U.S. dollars also lie in the account. Wang even posted a bank account at a press conference to prove to the public that their financing was real. At that time, the U.S. regiment also has a pre-contract, group buying will soon encounter the capital market of winter.

That's true. In the second half of 2011, Winter fell. Rely on capital Strength fatten Group purchase website, immediately exposed Puffiness Foundation, began large-scale layoffs, arrears merchant account period. At this time, the United States launched a winter offensive, pushing employees to pay overtime visit businesses, on the list, a retreat, the U.S. group leaped into the industry first.

Third, the use of technology to improve efficiency and reduce costs. These years of group buying competition, can be divided into three stages. First stage, rely on capital expansion, who has more money who can quickly lay down the line team can get more market share; the second stage, relying on business expansion, who can get more quality business, can provide consumers with more choices, can get more market share; the third stage, Compete with product innovation and technical level. Group buying site to provide the same quality of the business, if the product user experience better, background verification, refund faster, faster knot, will attract more consumers and businesses gathered in this site.

Here again, Wang's "Three Low" theory, using technology to improve efficiency, reduce operating costs, the United States to make High-tech companies, IT systems as far as possible in the company's various departments, links, posts.

In order to write "Wang pioneering decade" (temporary name) a book, I follow the United States Regiment of the land to see, sign the contract, push directly out of the ipad or smartphone, open the United States team backstage system, directly fill in, select the merchant information, the contract and document photo upload to the system, that is, complete a single business, the whole process flowing, Coherent, it takes 20 minutes. This is the American Regiment launches the Lightning to go to work. Do not like before, back to the company to use Excel to make forms, submit a list. This saves a lot of time pushing. Editing is the same, and now editing the text page is also done online.

The United States Group also developed a variety of resource management systems, found that businesses, choose to focus on business, follow-up business interviews, tracking the various market data. As far as the business reflected in my follow-up, they generally believe that the United States to the business and consumers to provide a better system. And the United States Group's financial system, so that the United States Financial Department in the number of 30 people (2013 data), the same period of a peer-site finance is about 70 people, the proportion of the two sides turnover is about 8:1.

In group buying this seems to be coolie live, need a lot of offline employees rely on two legs to run the business industry, the value of science and technology in the short term, but in the long run, many people underestimate the value of technology in this industry.

Four, carefully introduce the talented person.

In the 2011, the United States team introduced online marketing leaders, financial Controller, customer service Director, Vice President of mobile strategy, as well as COO and other positions. Originally in the United States Regiment, the feeling of each introduction of a talent, the United States Regiment management on the last step. Wang like to split to the atomic level to think of the way of thinking, so that the introduction of the United States Regiment more cautious, each introduced a person to spend several months. Some competitors have not been able to introduce effective professional managers, and some of the disorderly introduction. The introduction of a good executive is absolutely on a step, the introduction of the wrong on the next step, a gap in a retreat to pull open.

For example, the introduction of COO Canga Wei, the United States and the group spent 4 months. If the United States Regiment's sales team was based on the implementation of strong and laid the foundation of market share expansion, after the expansion of the team, relying on Canga Wei implanted mature Direct Sales Ground team management, to achieve today's scale.

In "Wang pioneering decade" (temporary name) a book, I spend a lot of pen and ink to describe how people around Wang how to do things, in the entrepreneurial process played a role. Wang 10 years of entrepreneurship, and these people's efforts are closely related, but also because of their efforts to achieve today's Wang. Now is not the era of personal heroism, a good entrepreneur behind the inevitable have a good team to support him.

On the other hand, how the team is, can explain how the CEO is. The level of the CEO is to look at the level of people around him. If the CEO always get some mediocre talent huddled in his side, the CEO level is also not go. Only by gathering the best people in their own side, the CEO level can go up.

Since the beginning of the 2010, The Thousand-Regiment war can be said to have ended, the United States Regiment's battlefield has shifted from group buying to O2O this larger battlefield. In this battlefield, the United States to face the opposition is already Baidu, Tencent this level. After winning the lightweight final, the team will be close to melee with heavyweight opponents. "In the 2014, we are facing an unprecedented and powerful internet competitor," Wang said in a 2014 meeting with the US group. I think this is a glorious thing because there is not much opportunity. ”

According to Wang's own words, he and his companions need to be always trembling, treading on thin ice and doing better: "The company is forever bankrupt for six months." I say this is not alarmist, not to say that the United States is an unreliable company, but this industry, this era, the world changes particularly fast. A company without a sense of crisis, a firm that is not jittery, and no matter how powerful it may seem now, is dangerous, and it is more dangerous than the companies and people who are small but always vigilant. If a company thinks it's safe, it's not far from dead. ”

That means he needs to look further strategically, find more talented people, and run faster on technological innovation.

In the summer of 2014, the "Wang Decade of Entrepreneurship" (temporary) will be published, I will be picking up a series of content sent in my micro-credit "entrepreneur Watch", which is a series of second, first: Wang: The spirit of contract is the foundation of entrepreneurship (see "Entrepreneur Watch" April 9)

Patrick Public Number: Entrepreneur Watch (QIYEJIAGC).

Author: Patrick Business writer

Focus on new business changes and new business leaders.

Contact Email: next1066@vip.sina.com

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