MY Masochistic CEO-Chapter 137 Expanding horizons

"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"They are beautiful and have advantages, but they are only suitable as decorations, not as employees. You should understand this logic, right?" Mary continued. "In a startup company, you need employees who are proactive and eager for money, not these mediocre decorations!"

I said, "But clients like that kind of thing."

"Yes, clients appreciate it, but... those are small clients. Is your company solely focused on small business? For multi-million or multi-billion deals, do you believe these decorations can secure them by cozying up to them?"

"Let alone whether they can, in the end, these people will definitely corrupt the company’s culture. How will you reorganize then? Fire all of them and recruit a new batch of people?"

I shuddered, feeling a sense of dread.

Mary was right: I had been thinking wrong. If the company was filled with such people, wouldn’t it be a mess?

How could I continue to expect their arduous struggles?

If the company succeeded, it would grow its operations, and I couldn’t allow a few bad apples to ruin everything.

"Mary, you are truly my wise helper. Without you, I would probably have continued to make mistakes."

I hugged her and kissed her deeply. "Meeting you is a blessing beyond measure!"

Mary blushed at my words but was still happy. "Actually, your ideas are good but not comprehensive enough."

Sensing that she had more to share, I inquired, "Mary, I’m certain you have some great ideas, don’t you?" When unsure, seek advice. I’m just a regular marketer, not as experienced as Mary. Despite her seeming indifference, every word she uttered was insightful. Without Mary, I might have squandered over a million dollars without ever considering starting a business.

"Hire ambitious individuals who are motivated by financial success, as they will be crucial to your future success. Additionally, consider bringing on an experienced financial expert: offering a slightly higher salary can result in significant savings, particularly in the early stages of your business. A skilled tax consultant can also help simplify various complexities and provide you with peace of mind."

"Next, select a few of those decorations from earlier, negotiate separately, offer a higher salary, and establish a separate public relations department. If they refuse, recruit from major clubs; they all work at night, so they have plenty of free time during the day!"

With Mary’s words, everything suddenly became clear to me.

The public relations department wasn’t referring to crisis management, but rather the type typically found in clubs. In a sense, it could efficiently generate leads and offer security for the marketing department employees.

"Mary, you are so helpful!"

I truly adored her, she always gave me excellent advice.

Mary continued. "Don’t get too excited yet, next, you need someone who can oversee everything as a general manager."

"Can’t I do it myself?"

"You can, but the key is, do you have the energy to monitor everything all the time?"

She also mentioned, "Furthermore, you are overlooking the most crucial aspect, the fundamental advertising department! This necessitates someone with negotiation skills and highly professional talent."

"Offline advertising company partnerships and online advertising, placement cooperation channels are what you lack. Therefore, you require someone to constantly monitor the overall situation and expand your territory. Finding such individuals is challenging. If you engage a headhunting firm, the salaries they propose will be substantial. Therefore, you should consider offering shares. Increasing salaries with stock bonuses, or granting them original shares to integrate them into the company as stakeholders rather than solely as employees."

I nodded. Indeed, these were things I hadn’t considered, or rather, things I had considered but didn’t know where to start.

She was correct, I was truly overwhelmed. One individual couldn’t possibly handle all of this, particularly in a media company. Without connections, who would even pay attention to you? While being a broker may generate income, you also have to split the profits. Why not undertake it independently?

My thoughts became clearer and clearer. With Mary’s words, I instantly felt the game’s difficulty decrease by more than tenfold. All I had to do next was follow her instructions.

The office was becoming too crowded, requiring me to hire additional salespeople for field visits and secure a negotiation room.

At the very least, I needed to rent another office space. Initially, I had a simplistic plan of starting a shell company, but with the recent expansion, I decided to go all out. Mary was eager and pushed for renting the office next door. Unable to resist her insistence, I contacted the property management and leased the adjacent office space.

"Mary, let’s have a meal first, and then we can do other things."

Without a second thought, I grabbed her hand and went to a small restaurant on the first floor for a quick meal.

She didn’t mind at all; in fact, she thoroughly enjoyed the meal. I truly admired her. She was down-to-earth, rational, and resourceful, always looking out for my best interests. If I were to betray her, not even the heavens would forgive me.

From that moment on, she became like Kristina, the moonlight in my heart.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Mary, do you think you owed me a lot of money in your past life, and now you’ve come to repay the debt by my side?"

"Not at all, if anyone owes, it’s you who owes me."

"Alright, then, let’s consider it mutual debts; you owe me, I owe you!"

She blushed and glanced around. "So many people and you’re not embarrassed."

"I’m just sweet-talking my future wife. Why should I be embarrassed?"

"You’re so smooth-tongued: who said I’m your future wife? We haven’t even started anything." She gave me a playful look.

"Whether my tongue is smooth or not, you know it well." I chuckled.

She handed him a chicken leg, saying, "Eat up: you never stop talking."

After a satisfying meal, she took me directly to a second-hand office supplies market and then to a flower market. She believed the company was too dull and needed some greenery to brighten it up.