Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

He did not have enough money even after mortgaging his medium-sized factory, but he also added the previously accumulated 60% of the money that he got from his inheritance to the mortgaged funds of the company.

His medium-sized company immediately transformed into a large-scale manufacturing enterprise in the Empire. He also inherited the channels and deals with various raw material suppliers, giving him an edge in procurement, which instantly increased his profit margins to 30% from 20% without any effort. However, not everything was good.

The manager of human resources barged in with a panicked expression. "Director, we do not have enough skilled managers and technicians to run the factory. The old workers from the military enterprise are trained in producing military cooking utensils, which is acceptable, but the managers and technicians are not. We immediately need these guys."

Harihara was biting his nails and pacing in his room as various thoughts ran through his mind. ’Haven’t I already gone all in? What else do I have to be afraid of? Since I have already come to this point, I don’t need to worry about offending anyone.’

Harihara said with a serious expression, "Use all the remaining money we have to poach required talents from our competitors," the human resources manager nodded in agreement. However, suddenly, "Wait!" Harihara raised his hand, his eyes bright and piercing like that of a madman. "Focus all the poaching efforts on Naidu Kitchen Appliances Company."

The manager of human resources did not know what idea his director had, but he did not want to find out after seeing the crazy expression on his boss’s face.

Within a few days, the investors of Naidu Kitchen Appliances Company were surprised to discover that a significant number of their senior technicians had been unknowingly poached. When they inquired about what had happened, they were shocked to find out that Harihara had completely robbed them of their employees.

They were furious and lodged complaints with the ministry, only to be further shocked when the ministry took no action against Harihara, as he had not broken any rules or laws.

With all the pieces of the puzzle set in place, Harihara Kitchen Appliances Company, along with the military enterprises and their extremely well-trained, military-standard workers, was like a turbocharged beast, producing kitchen appliances at speeds the company had never seen before.

With the 25% discount, sales exploded and capital inflow skyrocketed. There were no competitors for Balwan in the market, It was a unilateral slaughter. Additionally, Balwan promised to take orders ranging from medium-scale, thousands of pieces, to ultra-large-scale, hundreds of thousands of pieces, and fulfil the orders within a few weeks.

This move immediately attracted many customers in the market for kitchen appliances to Harihara Appliances Company. Balwan received nearly 1.35 million unit orders for different kitchen appliances within 5 days of him deciding to provide discounts.

With this one move, Harihara mercilessly devoured the market for kitchen appliances in Europe. Including the 1.35 million units he had already sold, By the end of December, he additionally sold 825,000 units, bringing the total to a staggering 2.175 million units of kitchen appliances.

After Harihara managed to occupy over 70% of all kitchen appliance sales for export, he was surprised to find that the cost of raw materials decreased further due to his increased demand. His profit margin rose to 35%, a huge surprise for someone who had been prepared to only break even or even lose a little money.

He made a small profit of 5 million Varaha, an amount that was significant, as it equalled the same amount of money he had earned since the company was bought from the government.

From Harihara’s previous experience, He was able to understand some of the principles of supply and demand, so he immediately made another strategic decision that would ensure he was remembered in business history for many years to come.

"Let’s do 30% discounts for the New Year. Let’s fully suppress those five companies that always hinder our growth."

The managers in the meeting were shocked. They had heard of medical companies providing 30% discounts or more and understood it since those companies had profit margins of 80% or more. But could they do the same, given their profit margin was only around 35%?

Although they could understand their boss’s eagerness—since the newly purchased factory could still manufacture 30% more products—they were doubtful if the move was right, as the risk was too great.

Harihara did not consider the thoughts of his subordinates but directly stated his ideas. "For the New Year, one of our five competitors should be unable to hold on any longer and should be on the verge of bankruptcy. My most likely guess is Naidu Kitchen Appliances Company. After all, putting us aside, Naidu Kitchen Appliances Company is the weakest among our six companies.

Additionally, the damage we did by poaching their talents should have left a bloody wound; this should be the best time for us to take advantage of it. Also, unlike our company, Naidu Kitchen Appliances Company is not a single-holding company but has 12 shareholders, with the biggest shareholder, Ambati Naidu, only holding 32% of the shares." n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"We will acquire shares in Naidu Kitchen Appliances secretly, without Ambati Naidu catching wind of it. Just make sure that his uncle, who holds 7% of the shares, does not know. You can try to pay as much as possible to the remaining shareholders in order to get things done quickly.

Don’t hesitate to provide a little premium; their shareholders should now be depressed as the value of the company has suddenly plummeted with so many talents leaving. Making our offer should be like providing them with a way out."

Harihara couldn’t help but shiver with excitement and a pure adrenaline rush at the very thought of the possibility.

"Also, when Ambati Rayudu ultimately discovers that his company is no longer his, it will be our time to completely kick him out."

"It will also be our golden opportunity to acquire our competitor and merge it into our own company. This will eliminate one competitor, make our company much bigger, and establish us as the largest and strongest kitchen appliance manufacturer in the Empire. This will also provide a foundation for us to venture into other fields, such as house appliances."

A bright light shone in Harihara’s eyes. "We have a bright future ahead of us, gentlemen. Let us work hard!"

All the managers were excited, their hearts thumping loudly, unable to contain the vigour they were feeling.

However, there was one person who had a hint of worry in his eyes. "Director, this is a good plan, but we don’t have too many funds. All our funds are now being redirected to inventory and manufacturing, we don’t even have surplus money to pay back the loan. " It was the manager of finances, "Are you going to find new investors?"

The excitement of everyone died down, and they all looked at their director with worried expressions.

Harihara shook his head. "Not an investor, but I am going to continue to mortgage the company assets. Didn’t we recently acquire the large-scale military manufacturing company in the Narmada-based industrial zone as a whole? Now I am going to fully mortgage this to get the money."

"I spoke with the general manager of Raya Bank in Visakhapatnam. According to him, our Harihara Kitchen Appliances company’s valuation has gone up by 30% due to all the sales we have made and by merging with the large-scale Industrial Factory."

"Also, the general manager is willing to provide us with a long-term loan at an interest rate of 5%, on the condition that we keep our company’s accounts in Raya Bank and use the bank for large-scale transactions."

"This matter is not too difficult, so I agreed. Hence, the matter of money is not too important. What is now important is to immediately start secretly acquiring the shares of our competitors and find a way to further reduce the manufacturing costs of the appliances."

Everyone’s faces were solemn as they knew that their director was making a high-risk move. If it succeeded, their company would suddenly become the largest kitchen appliances manufacturer in the Empire; if they lost, they would go bankrupt, and all they could do was be acquired by some rich merchant willing to venture into the kitchen appliances industry.

The result?

It was January 1st, 1658.

The dominance of Harihara Kitchen Appliances Company continued, and a surprising incident happened that caught the people of the market off guard: the plaque of Naidu Kitchen Appliances Company had been removed, and the plaque of Harihara Kitchen Appliances Company had been added instead. By successfully acquiring 52% of the shares, Harihara was able to force Ambati Naidu to give up the company.

Now, Harihara Kitchen Appliances has undoubtedly become the leader in the market, occupying over 85% of the market share, while the remaining 15% was held by the rest of the four companies. They were depressed, but there was nothing they could do about it, so mergers and acquisitions took place, reducing four companies to two.

The battlefield was once again brought into some sort of balance, with Harihara Kitchen Appliances Company on one side and Reddy Appliances Company and Shetty Appliances Company on the other side, forming an alliance.

All that had happened only took place in the span of a week, not giving anyone a chance to understand what occurred. However, the people in the Department of Industry and the Raya Royal Bank knew exactly what had happened. They were all impressed by the ruthlessness and strategies shown by Harihara.

Although when the news came out, the people did not like the decisions made by Balwan Harihara, his reputation was completely different in the business circles. Even though he was a kitchen appliances manufacturer, which was not too advanced, his experience in business management was taught as lessons in various business classes at universities.

Furthermore, his wish to receive credit for coming up with the innovation of discounted prices for special events and bold red discount plaques was publicized, making him popular overnight.

For a moment, he had become a miracle worker who created a wealth of tens of millions of Varaha from a small medium-sized company worth a few million Varaha after showing bravery and decisiveness in taking advantage of special conditions, along with a lot of luck.