Chapter 41: Absolute Monopoly
A thought sparked in Brent's mind, and he immediately envisioned the scene of those noble ladies and young women casually picking up a hat or a pair of shoes after purchasing cosmetics. He couldn't help but marvel at the Crown Prince's business acumen.
Beside him, the bespectacled old man suggested, "Your Royal Highness, nearly half of yesterday's customers were noblewomen from Versailles. Would you consider opening a branch there?"
"There's no need," Joseph replied with a smile, shaking his head. "Making them travel all the way to Paris to purchase our products further emphasizes the preciousness and irreplaceability of Paris Angel. At the same time, Parisian nobles, seeing their frequent visits to our store, will also follow suit and make purchases."
After discussing product sales, Brent added, "Your Royal Highness, over the past few days, Count d'Albret, Duc de La Vallière, Marquis de Montes, and six others have expressed interest in franchising with Paris Angel. What are your thoughts on this matter..."
Indeed, from the very first day he planned the exclusive store, Joseph intended to expand Paris Angel through a franchise model!
Opening stores one by one himself would be slow, painstaking, and laborious.
Before he could open many, capitalists with keen noses would quickly follow suit and imitate him, creating competition.
Although Joseph held the core technology of Salicylic Acid and wouldn't fear competition, it would still divert a significant number of customers.
Therefore, he wanted to use the franchising model to rapidly seize the cosmetics market across France, and even all of Europe, ensuring that Paris Angel left not a single opening for competitors in any aspect—from product efficacy to promotional strategies and market scale!
Moreover, his cosmetic products boasted extremely high profits, ranging from approximately 800% to 1300%. Offering a fifth of that to franchisees was completely acceptable to him, and for the franchisees, they would be laughing themselves awake in their dreams!
Finally, by leveraging Paris Angel's agents, a complete sales channel could be established. This would allow him to rapidly distribute goods and recoup costs quickly for any future ventures.
Joseph nodded and told Brent, "The franchise matter is entirely entrusted to you. All the franchise conditions and negotiation techniques are outlined in the document. I trust you've already memorized it. Just bring me the finalized agreements for my signature."
Joseph never underestimated the wisdom of people from this era; they merely lacked the vision and concepts of later generations. Once taught these things, they would perform no worse than people from the future.
Especially those who, like Brent, were leaders in their professional fields.
Joseph's future energy certainly couldn't be wasted on the commercial operations of Paris Angel, so it was crucial to train his subordinates early and delegate authority to them.
"Thank you for your trust," Brent said, bowing with a hand over his chest. "I will not let you down!"
Rue Serpente, Paris.
The headquarters of the Paris Angel Company welcomed several influential guests that day.
Among them were Count d'Albret, Duc de La Vallière, and Marquis de Montes. These individuals were either old nobility with deep pockets or new money capitalists who had amassed great wealth. Each of them was highly reputable in Parisian business circles.
They had all gathered here today for the same reason—to franchise with Paris Angel Company.
Brent first led them on a tour of the company's production workshop, which immediately left these business elites gazing in awe.
This wasn't just a workshop; it was practically a grand villa!
The workers' uniforms were clean and neat, and they sat on carved chairs, working at a relaxed, unhurried pace. Both the raw material warehouse and the filling stations were made of high-quality oak, exquisitely crafted and spotlessly clean.
After viewing the production facilities, Brent escorted them into the conference room. He first presented a large oil painting depicting one of the company's exclusive stores and announced loudly, "Franchising is quite simple: it means each of you will also own such an exceptional and distinctive store!"
Then, he smiled slightly: "I understand that you may be concerned about achieving such outstanding results. Please rest assured, you won't need to worry about the renovation, layout, or any other details of the new store; Paris Angel Company will handle all of it. What you receive will be a store ready to open its doors immediately.
"You won't even need to concern yourselves with store managers or staff; Paris Angel Company will train them, supervise them, and even provide their uniforms!
"In other words, all you need to do is sign the franchise agreement, and then simply count your money every day."
Count d'Albret, Duc de La Vallière, and the others exchanged knowing smiles.
Brent immediately added, "I can reveal a secret to you all: the Paris Angel exclusive store on the Champs-Élysées achieved its highest single-day sales of 126,000 Livres."
Even these business elites, accustomed to handling large sums of Livres, widened their eyes in astonishment at the news.
The store's daily revenue was even higher than the monthly income of their large-scale factories!
Brent continued, "The company will open only three franchised stores throughout Paris, and the distance between each store must not be less than two kilometers."
This distance was designed to sufficiently ensure they wouldn't compete for customers.
"Oh, and for the first franchisee, the company will offer a discount, with a franchise fee of 150,000 Livres. Subsequent franchise fees will be 180,000 Livres. For franchisees outside Paris, the price will be 110,000 Livres."
The business elites immediately whispered among themselves.
To be honest, the franchise policy and prospects were highly appealing to them, especially after personally witnessing the astonishing grand opening of the Champs-Élysées store. However, they had never encountered the franchise model before and still had some reservations.
Duc de La Vallière, with his deeply etched laugh lines, said, "Mr. General Manager, who can say what the future holds in these times? If it can sell 120,000 today, perhaps tomorrow it will only sell 1,200. I'm rather pessimistic about its profitability."
"Your Grace, you underestimate ladies' obsession with beauty. They'd rather starve than neglect their faces. I can assure you, Paris Angel has no off-season."
"Then I hope to be able to sell other goods in the store," Count d'Albret said.
"Oh, you're putting me in a difficult position..."
As everyone haggled, a young man sitting in the corner clenched his fists.
His name was Baudoin. He had taken over the family's textile industry just three years prior, but last year, the French government and the British signed a trade agreement, reducing tariffs on almost all industrial goods to near zero.
A massive influx of high-quality, inexpensive British textiles poured into France, leaving his factories utterly helpless.
In just over a year, he had lost more than half of his enormous family fortune, finally making the painful decision to sell off his remaining dozen or so textile factories as a package deal, intending to lower his flags and silence his drums, becoming a wealthy gentleman and living out his days in comfort.
He hadn't initially intended to franchise with Paris Angel; an old friend had dragged him along to take a look. But at that moment, he suddenly recalled Paris Angel's newspaper slogan: 'Perhaps pessimists are always right, but only optimists make money!'
He suddenly stood up, his eyes fixed intently on Brent, and declared, "Mr. General Manager, I've decided to franchise. As the first franchisee, I receive the 150,000 Livre opening discount, so I want to invest 300,000 Livres to open two franchised stores!"
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