1. Dare to venture and dare to try
He is a real estate tycoon who dares to be the first in the world. He is an adventurer who bets 100 million with Jack Ma. He is the richest man in real estate in China. During the year, he topped the "Hurun Real Estate Rich List" twice, and is a philanthropist who has donated more than 2.8 billion in the form of a group. He is courageous, domineering, and a high-spirited entrepreneur. He threatened that only Wanda would enter the industry. , other companies have no chance to become the boss. He refused to imitate, boldly innovated, and was a veritable activist. He is Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group.
Influenced by his family, Wang Jianlin came to Northeast China from Sichuan at the age of 15, joined the army, and became a full-time regiment cadre at the age of 28. In 1987, in response to the country's call for "million-dollar disarmament", Wang Jianlin bid farewell to his 18 years in the army. After changing his career, Wang Jianlin came to Dalian City's Xigang District Government as the office director. But soon, Wang Jianlin, who thought he would have a promising career, abandoned politics and entered business. Taking advantage of the opportunity of corporate restructuring, he founded Dalian Wanda Group Co., Ltd.
After entering the real estate industry, Wanda’s first pot of gold was the renovation of shanty towns in the north gate of the Dalian Municipal Government. This was a somewhat helpless move. As a private enterprise, Wanda could not obtain the quota required for real estate development projects at the time, so it could only undertake the unpopular project of renovating the old city. Wang Jianlin made bold attempts, including aluminum alloy windows, security doors, renovating the living room, and setting up restrooms. These things that are now considered "pediatrics" were all pioneering efforts back then. Wanda was also scrutinized by the Discipline Inspection Commission for providing bathrooms in each room. At that time, this was only a facility for cadres at the bureau level and above. Wanda earned nearly RMB 10 million from this project. More importantly, it broke a new path and became the first company in the country to renovate old cities, quickly expanding its scale.
Becoming the first real estate company in the country to develop across regions is also a bold move for Wanda. Wanda's first off-site development was in Guangzhou. After five or six years, it didn't make much money, but it strengthened its confidence. Since it could stand in the so-called holy land and the birthplace of real estate at the time, what was there to fear? Since then, Wanda has "exercised its courage and become out of control" and has become the most cross-regional enterprise in the country, with presence in more than 80 cities.
Dare to venture and try is not foolhardy. Wang Jianlin defines the difference between the two: "To dare to venture and to try means to try without fear of failure; to act recklessly means to do it without purpose." "To have the right idea" means to grasp the general direction.
2. Long-sleeved and good at dancing
Not afraid of officialdom, easy to get around, natural temperament, and a personality that means what he says. This kind of "power" makes Wang Jianlin quite mysterious—— In the eyes of many, Wanda, favored by the government, seems to be out of touch with market competition. Wang's father was a provincial official. Such a family environment left Wang with no sense of mystery about the power system. His 18 years of military career and his experience in state-owned enterprises after his career transition also made Wang Jianlin well versed in the ways of government. He has always had a passion for major policies, industry trends, and development hot spots that far exceeds that of ordinary Chinese businessmen. He is an outstanding opportunity hunter in this era. He discovered the thickest snow - the lucrative real estate industry; the longest slope - several major opportunities in the process of urbanization and consumption boom. Wanda's success is not only due to the success of its products, but also because it can accurately capture the era.
Many developers’ understanding of commercial real estate is to collect rents from holding properties, which is much worse than Wanda’s. Wanda's commercial real estate is not just a rental property, but a product that changes the function and structure of the city. Mayors are pursuing Wanda Plaza because of its ability to turn urban non-centers into centers. It is an incubator for local government performance. Wanda Plaza opened 18 months ago, which meets the needs of local officials to see political achievements during their term of office.
3. Persistence in Innovation
Regarding Wanda, you can easily see its two sides: on the one hand, its products (real estate, cinemas, department stores, etc.) are all market-oriented ;On the other hand, it always seems to be favored by the government. In an industry where the government has a complete monopoly on resource supply, complete marketization is just a dream.
"Vanke, an idealist, bends passively; Wanda, a realist, bends actively but with dignity." Wanda's dignity comes from its ability to innovate. Wanda invented a commercial real estate development model with Chinese characteristics - the mixed-use development model. The industry commented that Wanda's Wuhan Chuhe Han Street project "changed the function and positioning of Wuhan." "The reason why I always want to innovate is that I want the government to come to me. If you go to it, it will be awesome. What will you do if you get stuck? Will you give it or not? It will be easier if it comes to you. Much more." Wang Jianlin said.
“I just don’t believe in evil.” Wang Jianlin said. Wanda's early commercial real estate projects were unsuccessful, so he personally learned from a shopping mall in the United States that was good at designing the flow of people in shopping malls. One of the things that impressed Zhu Qiwei, deputy director of Wanda Planning Institute, the most was that on the day before the Spring Festival in 2003, most of the employees had already left. Wang Jianlin asked Zhu to bring him the design drawings of the shopping mall and continue to study them during the Spring Festival. Both Wanda Cinema and department stores were not optimistic when they were first established, and even faced opposition from insiders, but Wang Jianlin did not waver. The Han Show in Wuhan has complex underwater machinery and equipment that only one Hollywood company could do initially. After the company learned that Wanda had decided to invest, it deliberately raised the price from US$15 million to US$45 million. "This kid has completely activated my innovative spirit. If it was $20 million, I would let him do it." When Wang Jianlin thought about being controlled by others in the future, he changed his mind and developed this thing by himself. "It will never be better than the Shenzhou Five." , Shenzhou VI is still difficult.” In the end, Wanda actually made this set of equipment by herself.
4. Be good at taking advantage of the trend
“To run a business, you must follow the trend and not go against it.” Wang Jianlin said. He is good at taking advantage of opportunities. In 2002, Wanda tried to transform into commercial real estate, and first thought of cooperating with Fortune 500 companies. In order to convince Wal-Mart, he personally visited the relevant person in charge several times, but was not allowed to enter the door. Later, it was through the help of government figures that cooperation was finally reached. During Wanda's initial expansion, Wanda, a small company that stood with Fortune 500 companies, increased its leverage in negotiating with the government to acquire land.
Nowadays, the host and guest have changed. If Wal-Mart wants to visit Wang Jianlin, it must make an appointment some time in advance. During the period of rapid expansion after 2008, Wanda made full use of the government's potential; and by acquiring AMC, it took advantage of the boom in the cultural industry. "Be close to the government and stay away from politics" is Wang Jianlin's famous saying. He believes that Wanda has achieved extraordinary development because it can do "things that state-owned enterprises cannot do and private enterprises cannot do." For many of the projects Wanda has undertaken, state-owned enterprises do not have the relevant capabilities and talents; and with investment ranging from tens to tens of billions, the threshold for private enterprises is too high. Wang Jianlin once gave lectures to many state-owned enterprise leaders at a state-owned enterprise training bureau. He said in the class: "Today's private enterprises are no longer the past. If a group of enterprises with a scale of 50 billion and hundreds of billions in the future emerge, private enterprises can also do great things, and state-owned enterprises It will be completely out of business.”
5. Cash is King
The outside world has always been very concerned about Wanda’s expansion speed and capital chain. Wang Jianlin believes that “expansion definitely involves this risk. It wouldn’t be a business without risks. There are risks in everything you do. The business itself is a coexistence of risks and opportunities. That means that if you control risks well, you may develop better.” Wanda is getting bigger and bigger. The (expansion) speed does not seem to be slowing down. Many people are worried. The core of our main internal control is to control cash flow, which is to ensure sufficient cash flow and precautions. Just like a family, you must save some money to prevent unexpected events. The same is true for a business. In addition to normal cash flow, you must have enough cash flow margin to prevent unexpected events or uncertainties, because otherwise If we invest so much every year, Wanda’s cash flow is the lifeline and first priority of the enterprise.
6. Professional Philanthropist
Among the many dazzling titles given by the outside world, Wanda Wang Jianlin only loves the title of philanthropist. In fact, Wang Jianlin, who "with great power comes great responsibility," has his own plans and has a distinctive view on the purpose and innovation of charity.
In his view, charity itself is not a source of fame. As for the years of charity, it is nothing more than the company's growing cash flow strength, and perhaps the annual planning budget is a little more in this regard. At the same time, he also formulated a detailed plan for Wanda: "Our recent plan is to arrange 2 billion from 2011 to 2015, with an average of 400 million per year, and have a dedicated team to operate this matter."
“If my commercial real estate is listed, I may announce that I will donate my shares in the commercial real estate group to create a large charity fund. This asset is roughly equivalent to my assets in commercial real estate. 90. Charity is a profession, and it is wrong for us to just regard it as Oxfam behavior. I will find a team to run this matter," Wang Jianlin said.
In addition, Wang Jianlin personally wants to support more youth entrepreneurship as a philanthropic development direction in the future. "From 2000 to now, there have been almost no successful entrepreneurs. I think if there are successful entrepreneurs in China, The emergence of epoch-making may be more dangerous to the country than policy mistakes, so from this perspective, I am willing to support more young people to start their own businesses." He believes that only when more people start their own businesses can the country have hope.
7. Attaching great importance to integrity
Wang Jianlin regards honest management and paying close attention to project quality as the foothold of starting a career. In 1991, Wang Jianlin led Dalian Xigang District Residential Development Company (the predecessor of Wanda Group) to develop Dalian Civil Affairs Street Community, which became the first community in Northeast China with excellent residential project quality and was recognized by the organizing committee of the first "China Quality Journey" event. Awarded the only "Quality Residential Project" medal in the country that year.
In early 1996, in response to the common phenomena of poor quality, shortage of area, and fraudulent sales in the real estate industry at that time, Wang Jianlin took the lead among real estate companies in the country to propose the "Three Commitments" to protect the interests of consumers. On June 29, 2000, six units including the Ministry of Construction and the China Consumers Association held a meeting of 1,000 people in the Great Hall of the People to promote Wanda Group’s experience in selling affordable housing. Wang Jianlin, as the only representative of housing companies, gave a typical speech. This was a sign of reform and opening up. This is the first time since the Ministry of Construction introduced the typical experience of a real estate company.
8. Caring for employees sincerely
In the development of Wanda, Wang Jianlin has always adhered to the "people-oriented" concept, caring for employees wholeheartedly, and recruiting talents from all over the world. Wanda Group's key employee turnover rate is the lowest among large enterprises in the country. Wang Jianlin was named "National Outstanding Private Entrepreneur Who Cares for Employees" by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. Wang Jianlin’s approach: First, provide first-class benefits. The salary level of Wanda employees is among the highest in the same industry in China. Wanda Group implements a unique seniority wage system for grassroots employees. In addition to normal income, employees will receive an additional 1,200 yuan for each year of service. In terms of salary, grassroots employees who have worked for five years can earn 6,000 yuan per year from their seniority salary alone. The second is to establish a training mechanism, investing hundreds of millions of yuan in employee training every year, and investing 700 million yuan in Langfang to establish the first-class Wanda Academy in China. The third is to pay attention to humanistic care. Wang Jianlin required both the headquarters and subsidiaries to set up employee canteens to provide employees with free working meals; he launched a happy vacation system, which reimburses outstanding employees selected by the group and their families for two round-trip air tickets and accommodation expenses, and they can choose a Wanda hotel anywhere for vacation.