Li Ka-shing the first bucket of gold

Li Ka-shing

Age: 81 years old

Business time: Founded in 1950, Changjiang Plastic Factory

The first bucket of gold: plastic flower business

In times of adversity, you have to ask yourself if you have enough conditions. When I am in adversity, I think that I have enough conditions because I am diligent, frugal, and persevering. I am willing to know and be willing to build credibility.

Li Ka-shing: Plastic Flower Legend

In the autumn of 1940, the Li Jiacheng family fled from Chaozhou to Hong Kong and lived in the watchmaking line. Li Jia originally had no commercial tradition. Before arriving in Hong Kong, his father was a principal of the National Primary School. The grandfather was the last scholar of the Qing Dynasty. The two uncles obtained a Ph.D. from Imperial University of Tokyo in the early years of the Republic of China. Li Jia can count the book Xiangmen, who is respected locally.

But these were not worth a bit of value in Hong Kong at the time, and even brought pressure to survival. The family was as humble as an ant. The 13-year-old Li Ka-shing had to go out of school and be an apprentice. There are endless work during the day, and at night you have to move furniture and sleep with other folks.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan captured Hong Kong. Li Ka-shing’s mother had to return to her hometown with her younger siblings, leaving their father and son. The bigger misfortune is that the poor and depressed father actually contracted tuberculosis and died after half a year. One day before his father passed away, he did not explain things to him, but asked him what he said. "I comforted my father and told him that 'we will all be very good.'" Li Ka-shing, 14 years old, faced his father's death alone, "as if he was forced to grow up in a flash." After falling through the family, the young school is out of school, his father passed away, and the lonely and strange land, forced Li Ka-shing to compress and grow in a short period of time.

In order to realize his commitment to his father, Li Ka-shing felt that only by redoubled his efforts. To be a leader, learning is the only weapon. He began to teach himself. While working, self-study, although hard, Li Ka-shing feels very fulfilling. "I was modest when I was young, but I was very proud. Because you see people around you stay the same, and your knowledge is getting better."

The opportunity of Li Ka-shing is finally here. In 1945, one day after the end of World War II, the boss of his factory needed to send a letter, but the clerk took time off, and Li Ka-shing was recommended for help. The outstanding performance made the boss treat him differently, transferred him from the small labor to the warehouse manager, and then became a salesman with great performance, then rose to the manager, and became the general manager at the age of 19. Li Ka-shing also learned more about the entry and exit of goods, prices, as well as product management, sales and other skills.

Because of the business relationship, Li Ka-shing has been subscribing to the English plastic professional magazine, which improves the English by the way, which also allows him to grasp the possible business opportunities of the industry. With the economic recovery after World War II, the market demand for plastic products was very strong. Li Ka-shing believed that it was a must-have and decided to start his own business. In 1950, he used his savings and his uncle's loan of a total of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars to open the Yangtze River Plastic Factory.

In 1957, Li Ka-shing was inspired by the industry magazine to go to Italy for an inspection and return to Hong Kong to switch to plastic flowers. Thanks to the consumer environment at the time, the business developed rapidly. As the products continued to innovate, Li Ka-shing became the plastic flower king of Hong Kong and the world. Now this has become the classic plot in Li Ka-shing's wealth story. After that, Li Ka-shing also took advantage of the opportunity of the industry, and began to become a "superman" reborn upgrade.