国际经贸高级英语17课件.pptVIP

TEXT The Launching of A Business Matsushita began his business in 1917 with savings of 100 yen and with four assistants, including his wife, Mumeno. None of the five had the equivalent of a high school education. More basically, not one of them knew how to manufacture an electrical socket. The Matsushita “factory” was established inside his two-room tenement house. Total space available for working and living equaled 130 square feet. With no revenues and very limited financing, they scrambled to manufacture the new socket design. The insulation required inside the product proved to be a major problem. To overcome their lack of technological know-how, they worked long hours, seven days a week. Assistance finally came from a former Osaka Light colleague, who had learned how to make insulation and explained how to do it. In the middle of October 1917, after four months of work, they succeeded in creating a few samples of the new design.; But wholesalers received the product coolly, if at all. Their concerns were the same as those startups often hear today. “Come back when you have a track record. I can’t afford to take you on if there is a risk that you might be out of business in a few months.” “Having only one product is a problem. If I bought each item I handle from a different manufacturer, I would have to deal with thousands of suppliers, and that wouldn’t work. Come back when you have a broader line of products.” To generate much needed cash, Matsushita and Mumeno pawned clothes and other personal items. They also worked furiously to build the failing business. Matsushita attempted to improve the design of his attachment plug and to invent additional products.; A wholesaler who liked the young entrepreneurs learned that one of his suppliers was having a problem. Kawakita Electric was shifting from using porcelain insulation plates as electric fan bases to less break