Dressed in simple cloth shoes, riding a tricycle, and smoking only 18 yuan a pack of economic tobacco, this seemingly simple figure has repeatedly ranked first on the list of the rich; While other entrepreneurs were busy laying off employees, he insisted that he would "not lay off any employees aged 45 and above"; Despite his wealth, he never pursued a life of luxury; This contradictory figure has single-handedly created the glory of Wahaha Group.
February 25, 2024"Zong Qinghou died of illness"As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused an uproar on the Internet, and the end of this Zhejiang business giant was undoubtedly shocking. What is even more puzzling is that he was constantly involved in various activities during his lifetime, but little is known about his health. Today, let's work together to ...... the business legend of Zong Qinghou
Poverty did not dampen his ambitions, and even after becoming famous, Zong Qinghou still chose a low-key lifestyle, which is closely related to the poverty experience of his childhood.
Zong Qinghou showed extraordinary maturity when he was a child, and when the local neighbors and aunts saw him, they would often ask jokingly: "What are you worrying about frowning at such a young age?" In fact, Zong Qinghou's seriousness is not for no reason, but because of the hardships of family life. Upon closer examination, Zong Qinghou was originally born in a prominent family, and he is the 36th generation descendant of Zong Ze, a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Regrettably, this family background has declined. On October 12, 1945, Zong Qinghou was born, and his birth brought great joy to his parents, because he was the eldest son in the family.
Zong Qinghou (in the middle of the back row) takes on the role of his older brother.
At first, Zong Qinghou's father worked in the national **, and his mother was a primary school teacher, and the family conditions were relatively good.
However, after Zong Qinghou's father lost his job, his beautiful childhood life came to an abrupt end. There are also three younger brothers and a younger sister in the family, and many family members live on their mother's meager salary, and life is inevitably difficult.
Zong Qinghou still remembers the depressed sigh when his mother came home from work and faced with an empty rice bowl. Sometimes hunger is unbearable, and the whole family can only rely on a large pot of polenta, seasoned with a little salt, and a few bowls to fill the stomach.
When he is hungry, Zong Qinghou likes to lie in bed and fantasize about all kinds of delicious food. Once in a while, it is a great happiness to be able to enjoy a roast chicken in a dream.
Despite the material scarcity, Zong Qinghou's spiritual life was unusually rich. Thanks to his mother's role as a teacher, he has received good education and guidance since he was a child, and his academic performance has always been at the top of his class, and he often stands out in his class.
Not only did he excel in his studies, but he was also extremely disciplined, and he was loved by his teachers and has been a class leader since elementary school. After the young Zong Qing, there was always a group of friends to follow, and the leadership temperament was revealed from an early age.
As he grew older, Zong Qinghou understood his mother's hard work more and always did his best to help his parents with housework.
Zong Qinghou's mother had a profound influence on him, and in his memory, his mother always kept tidy no matter how hard her life was. His mother taught him from an early age to have a backbone and be honest, and these teachings made Zong Qinghou grow into an outstanding young man.
Despite his excellent academic performance, Zong Qinghou's difficulty in going to higher education was not due to substandard grades, but to poor family background.
In the year of the high school entrance examination, he was full of expectations to apply for a free normal school, but was coldly rejected, and since then he has become an unemployed young man.
Just staying at home is not a long-term solution, how can Zong Qinghou not be anxious? Fortunately, in 1963, he finally waited for his chance.
At that time, Zhoushan Mamu Farm began to recruit workers, "as long as you are educated, welcome to join", so Zong Qinghou immediately decided to sign up.
In fact, Zong Qinghou's mother was very opposed to him going there at first, because they learned that Mamu Farm was remote, the conditions were difficult, the work was mostly manual labor for a long time, and how could Zong Qinghou's mother bear to let her son suffer.
But Zong Qinghou was resolute and enthusiastic, and this became his first job.
Elites can emerge from all walks of life.
After arriving at the farm, Zong Qinghou, who was originally fair-skinned, soon fell off from the sun, especially when he was lying on the hard bed in the dormitory at night, the pain all over his body was unbearable, but he endured it silently and persevered.
Zong Qinghou worked as a salt drying worker, this job was not only tedious, but also extremely hard, many people could not bear this pain, and finally chose to go home, but Zong Qinghou persevered to the end. He was also named an "activist" by the farm for his outstanding performance.
From the first job to the last job, Zong Qinghou has always followed a principle, that is, to complete every task conscientiously and responsibly, "all walks of life can produce elites". It may be this persistent spirit that made his life brilliant and ultimately brilliant success.
There will always be twists and turns on the road to work, and Zong Qinghou, who was originally active in Mamu Farm, suffered from the reduction of manpower in the farm and lost his job again. Later, through the introduction of a co-worker, he switched to join the Shaoxing Tea Farm and was still engaged in manual labor.
During the work on the farm, the day was tiring, and in the evening young people gathered to either drink or play cards, and the nightlife was quite rich. However, Zong Qinghou is different, whenever others play cards, he always secretly picks up a book alone and hides outside in the bedroom to read. Many people even gave him the nickname, "Zong Baoyu", but Zong Qinghou didn't care, and still read intently, without outside interference.
Zong Qinghou has been studying all his life, and he deeply regrets that he was not admitted to the university, so he supplements his knowledge anytime and anywhere, in order to be able to make great achievements in the future.
After working on the farm for more than ten years, Zong Qinghou worked during the day and studied at night, never thinking about his life's events. It was not until 1978 that with the implementation of the policy of returning to the city of educated youth, Zong Qinghou finally returned to Hangzhou.
At this time, Zong Qinghou was already a 33-year-old adult. In those days, being unmarried at this age basically meant being single for life. Zong Qinghou's mother was very anxious and began to introduce partners for her son everywhere.
After Zong Qinghou returned to Hangzhou, he took over the position of his mother's school, but failed to become the teacher he wanted. Due to his academic qualifications, he was eventually placed to work in a small school-run factory, transforming himself from a farmer to a worker.
At this time, Zong Qinghou's elementary school teacher, who was also a good friend of his mother, began to act as a matchmaker and introduced him to a girl named Shi Youzhen, who was beautiful. It's a pity that due to years of busy work and study, I have delayed my lifelong events.
is destined to meet thousands of miles away", when Zong Qinghou saw Shi Youzhen for the first time, he was deeply attracted, and the two looked at each other and smiled, and they couldn't help blushing. The matchmaker looked at it and felt that the two were very compatible, and then they naturally came together.
Zong Qinghou is an honest person, although he has no rhetoric, but due to family difficulties, he has always believed that he is not worthy of Shi Youzhen. Therefore, on the day of the wedding, Zong Qinghou promised Shi Youzhen: "I have no other skills, but I am absolutely single-minded towards my wife." This sentence made Shi Youzhen laugh, and since then, they have spent their lives together, and Zong Qinghou has indeed fulfilled his promise.
Accumulate steadily, and achieve great achievements.
After getting married and starting a family, Zong Qinghou had heavier responsibilities on his shoulders, especially with the birth of his daughter, he began to work harder, because he understood that only through his own efforts could his family live a good life.
How can a small school-run factory thrive? However, as the only young man in the factory, Zong Qinghou always worked diligently. Every day, he rides a beat-up tricycle and makes deliveries to the school.
Even in order to improve the performance of his own factory, Zong Qinghou also tried to be a salesman, and even set up a stall, and he also did these jobs. In Zong Qinghou's view, there is no need to care about face in business, as long as you work hard and look for business opportunities everywhere, you can always find business**.
This is Zong Qinghou, no matter what kind of work he is engaged in, he can always work down-to-earth, honest and diligently. It wasn't until he was 42 years old that he ushered in the pinnacle of his career.
With the rich business experience accumulated in the work, when the school-run enterprise decided to adopt the contract operation method in 1987, Zong Qinghou did not hesitate to undertake the project.
Reform and opening up provided him with opportunities. From that year on, Zong Qinghou completely transformed into a businessman and became one of the successful entrepreneurs in the early days of reform and opening up.
Although Zong Qinghou is now a big entrepreneur, his business had only two employees, and both of them were retired teachers wearing reading glasses. Zong Qinghou is not only the general manager, but also a salesman, or a delivery man, in the early days of the business, Zong Qinghou almost alone took on the work of three roles, and later when he was too busy, he called his wife into the factory, and his younger brothers and sisters also joined to help.
Zong Qinghou is very business-minded, he advocates small profits but quick turnover, coupled with many years of business experience, let everyone know that he is a kind person, so everyone likes to cooperate with Zong Qinghou, he quickly occupied the marketing network of the surrounding market.
At first, Zong Qinghou was mainly responsible for selling other people's products, and his performance was quite good, setting a goal of annual profit of 100,000 yuan.
However, in the process of consignment, Zong Qinghou found a business opportunity, decided to create his own brand, ran around, and finally founded "Hangzhou Baoling Children's Nutrition Food Factory".
Zong Qing had the foresight to be, and this children's nutrition food factory achieved a high profit of 220,000 yuan in just one year after its establishment.
Zong Qinghou experienced hunger in his childhood and knew the consequences of malnutrition, so once he had funds, he invested in the research and development of a special children's nutrition solution, and then launched the popular "Wahaha Children's Nutrition Solution" in the post-80s childhood, and the advertising slogan is still fresh in my memory: "Drink Wahaha, don't worry about eating".
As the business continued to expand, Zong Qinghou became more and more busy, and every day he was the last person to leave the factory. And every morning, he always hurriedly bought a baked cake for breakfast and rushed to the factory.
Despite the continuous expansion of the business, Zong Qinghou has always adhered to his principle, that is, to be loyal to his original intention.
He has only focused on one thing in his life, and that is to build his own brand - Wahaha. Treating employees, Zong Qinghou has always maintained the greatest kindness.