Xu Xianxin: Timing of change

Absrtact: He is China's first mother and child brand founder, 2004, by virtue of "Directory + website" The killer, he pioneered a new combination of sales channels, so that vertical subdivision of E-commerce in China become a possibility. Once, he was with fish before long

He is the founder of China's first mother and child brand, 2004, with the "Directory + site" The killer, he pioneered a new combination of sales channels, so that vertical subdivision of E-commerce in China is a possibility. Once, he and before long fish when, holds the ear of the top Jingdong Mall to stand at the same starting line, and is called the vertical electronic commerce market "troika", but now, in the fast-changing Internet industry, has not heard him and "The red Child" the more sound in two years.

Two years ago, a pioneering brothers also shouted his eldest brother, now, once together to fight the world's four swordsman left him alone. He was saddled with too many alone. With a good education and family background, he looks like a returnee professional manager, confident, but will often in the excitement under the explosion of foul language, he invested in the "Qiao Courtyard", but also has a unique Virgo nervous nerves, do not want to appear frequently at the podium, also do not want to use individuals for the company to do publicity.

He is Xu Xianxin, founder and CEO of Beijing Red Children Company. Now he wants to unload his robin and lead his "red child" to the road of corporate governance.

Reflection of Savage growth

We had an annual meeting at the beginning of 2008, when the atmosphere was particularly good and I had a special feeling. As a result, after the meeting, a colleague to VC made the comments, said you see old Xu in the above speech, the following are boiling, all stood up and drums, said that everyone to the old Xu is not a bit of personal worship. When I knew it, I didn't take it seriously, and I found a chance to run the man.

Then, in the March quarterly meeting, I found out that we were making a profit in that quarter, and that this was a bit of a bad profit. Do E-commerce, early must be done scale, profit is not very right, and who also said not understand why the profit.

Red children set up in 2004, creating a Chinese mother and child supplies to the precedent, plus the directory marketing and Telemarketing channel combination of innovation, red children develop very quickly. By 2008, our sales were about 1 billion yuan, and the growth was still swift. But this kind of growth is a feeling of being pulled, that is to say, we use the general trend of the whole industry development, secondly, our catalogue and branch shop is also quite wide. However, healthy businesses need to be driven by internal and external growth, requiring a sustainable exerting force.

Now put that time period business back to look, you can find that the Red child's product portfolio, gross margin, logistics and distribution, customer feedback is not as good as we expected the coordination. It's like driving, the car is still running, the speed is very fast, but the speed, oil meter are not coordinated.

To re-examine the company, I first feel that the company's culture is a bit wrong, a lot of qualified old managers, as well as former brothers, but also called my boss. I think this is a kind of culture, frankly speaking this is not a kind of cottage culture? Is it Robin?

I am now particularly grateful to the annual meeting to VC comments on the person, is he let me start to reflect, this culture is good for the company is bad.

Good place needless to say, the initial stage of entrepreneurship, the cottage culture is conducive to the unity of the Organization, we strong together to make, rapid reaction ability is also very strong, less flow. But the bad part? If continue, at least two disadvantages, first, the future of my bottleneck must be the bottleneck of the company; second, after this culture break, can the company still function? I hope this company can go well, not to mention hundred years old shop, giant company, But I hope that this company can at least be a good, socially contributing company.

Eliminate system vulnerabilities

2008 "51" holiday when I went to Seattle, to the Amazon, to the Zappos, to Wal-Mart. One of Wal-Mart's top global vice presidents is our advisor, and I went to the United States to visit him. I remember the scene, he had a friend flew over from Harvard, evening there is a family reunion, originally we agreed time is from 1 o'clock in the afternoon to 5. We talked very excitedly that day about what the future of retailing is, what the core of retailing is, and finally chatting until 10 o'clock in the evening. Let's talk about why Wal-Mart has the lowest price in America because its supply chain is complete and the system is one of the world's best. So, back from the United States, I learned the second question about the company: Our information operations system does not support its continued development.

At that time the situation is not afraid of everyone jokes, in fact, by 2008, we grow rapidly, we are not clear financial accounting, how are not clear. No way, I called the Deloitte people over to audit. Deloitte people over there and I said, Lao Xu, you do not judge, your IT system has problems. It turns out that the income statement and cash flow statement that we've been looking at are fake.

I hurried to ask the following people to find out how chaotic our IT system was. At that time, our branch was responsible for mining, such as a product has 16 suppliers, the 16 suppliers within one months of the price is different, we actually earned how much money, do not know. The front desk is there to do the promotion, how much to reduce the amount, to the end of the lost or earned is not come out. 2008 years ago we were pursuing innovation, but it felt like a fist hit cotton. Why? system not supported. This only then the company on the SAP and other systems of the story.

Timing of change

In order to win the competition in the future, we must first of all the internal skills to practice well, the first to solve two problems: first, the company's corporate culture must be from Robin culture to the road of corporate governance; second, IT systems must have, still good. And these two points are interlinked, the combination of soft and hard to do.

So, 2008 years in the board, I made a very difficult decision, I hope the Director agreed to give the company a period of time, let the red child slow down the pace of development, give me two years of it transformation and corporate culture reengineering.

Many people feel that the red child has gone to the professional manager this way prematurely, and today I still feel the time. 2008 E-commerce just up, not like today on the scale of the outbreak, then do better than now.

In fact, every company goes through a phase like a red child, just to see when they choose. For example, when your sales go up, scale up and then do this, the risk factor is different.

If not slow these two years, according to the speed at that time, today we do 3 billion absolutely no problem. Then according to 10% of the industry average loss, I need 300 million yuan cash flow to support. September 2007 We got a 25 million U.S. dollars in the Kelly Peng venture capital, planing to daily use, still left 20 million U.S. dollars, also about 150 million yuan, not to support to 3 billion yuan of sales, my cash flow is broken. What does cash flow mean for the retail sector? Look at Loudou's home world, the retail industry has not lost its death, only cash flow Du Xia.

It transformation is not what you think is the last system. On the system, the company means not the people, but the process, the system is the boss, plainly, this for many people with vested interests is the seizure of power. The success rate for SAP in China was 35%, when Lenovo had been tossing it for more than 3 years. In addition to the system, to the standard governance structure of the company transformation, the introduction of talent is essential, even more important. Therefore, I set a goal for myself, with two years to correct the enterprise before the correct process and rules, to establish a set of companies can carry the larger development of the process, the completion of the company's professionalism, legalization of the transformation.

In 2008 years, the Red child also introduced a batch of new professional managers, Tina (Red Children incumbent CTO Xu) is the first one I introduced personally. The first time I saw Tina was in Procter and Gamble, when we listened to the lectures in Procter and Gamble to learn advanced experience, she is the lead of the Procter and Gamble IT project, responsible for us to talk about information, I think she is particularly suitable. Then I flew 3 times in Guangzhou, 8 o'clock in the morning more planes, 11 to Guangzhou, lunch with her, chat, 4 o'clock in the afternoon flight back. It can be said that Tina and our reconstituted technical team, is our building information, and operating system foundation.

October 4, 2008, I came back from the United States, first found one of the founders of Li Yang Talk, the conversation is that he and his wife must walk one, not the couple a tube procurement, a tube sales. Then there will be a big adjustment of 35 executives nationwide. I am grateful to the brothers, the brothers have feelings for me, have feelings for me, in our major surgery did not rebel, during that time, red children basically refused all the media interviews, we need to quietly deal with these things. Not afraid of other, the outside too much attention to the red child internal changes, the whole company's morale will be too bad impact.

It is difficult for outsiders to imagine the whole process of emotional conflict, the emotional conflict between me and the people, the conflict between the old and new people, the conflict between new and new people, each conflict will affect others, will also affect the overall situation. Solve these problems are very tired, and emotional damage is very large, 2009 to 2010 I have a lot of time and energy are here, I often say, I am our company's largest hr.

The process of walking the brethren, my heart also experienced a self-denial process. The former brothers in the entire professionalization process is not suitable, we have to consider what he has a career development, the company is not able to find a more suitable for his position, we think the right position is consistent with his self-development direction, and his psychological state at that time. I am also a person, people follow me to start a business for me desperately, when I leave, I certainly have the obligation to take good care of their emotions.

We had a delivery agent, 2005 earned 2000 Yuan salary, and later because the performance is particularly good, grew into a distribution manager, to the distribution manager, and then to the deputy general manager of the company, and finally to the General Logistics manager, management of the company's distribution business, he is very capable, we create a tacit, He can come up with a few sets of plans on his own.

Later, the company's a boss and everyone to discuss, feeling he is not suitable for the general manager, the management of such a big business, he was not effective when also very uncomfortable. He knew that after he told me: "I understand the boss of the company's feelings, I was watching the company grow up step-by-step." I might not be in a position to do that now. "I was particularly miserable the day he left, and I was miserable when every brother went away," he said. In fact, every enterprise will go through this stage. Ma Yun's 18 arhat now has a few still around him.

The red boy has changed so much, I hope it can make a change. But I never said that the red child is from the entrepreneurial culture into professionalism, I just say that the robin culture into professionalism. Professionalism and entrepreneurship are not contrary to the spirit of the spirit of the spirit, culture is culture, entrepreneurial spirit is constantly expected to the future, have a dream, and have a strong will and practical action to solve. (This article is organized by Parta interview)