pappabearbooks Chapter 21 Providence United Industries
Chapter 21 Providence United Industries
The earning power of Jenna's spinning machine was like a whirlwind that suddenly swept into the hearts of the thousands of Providence housewives present!
Even someone with poor math skills can calculate the benefits of increasing spinning efficiency twentyfold!
An extra one or two pounds a month is significant for the vast majority of urban families!
After all, most families earn an average of only two to three pounds a month, so a 2% to 3% increase in income is something no one can ignore.
However, the price of £49 for a 20-spindle Jenna spinning machine is simply too expensive!
If purchased individually, it would take at least two years to break even. So, some "smart" people in the crowd came up with the idea of "group buying" with their neighbors, with two or three families jointly purchasing a 20-spindle Jenna spinning machine.
Although they only own half and one-third of the property, they can use the machines 24/7 to maximize profits.
As for the 10-spindle Jenna spinning machine, it was only £10 cheaper, but its efficiency was halved. It only saved a little effort, and no one would consider it except for mothers who wanted their children to do chores.
Soon, the first middle-aged woman tentatively asked in a loud voice, "Dr. Robin! I believe you! You cured little Tom's cough and saved him from death... As a mother, I shouldn't doubt you!"
But £49 is really too much. I hope you can personally assure Lisa and me that this spinning machine will truly allow us to earn an extra pound per month!
Upon hearing this, Chen Wenbin on the stage smiled gently. "Mrs. Kelford, thank you for your trust. How is little Tom?"
After receiving an affirmative answer, he continued to explain: "My primary purpose in inventing and selling this spinning machine was to help everyone."
Because these days I have seen many ladies at home using old, inefficient hand-cranked spinning machines, which can only spin one thread of cotton yarn at a time. After a month of hard work, they can only get two or three pounds of cotton yarn. The harvest you get is far too little compared to your hard work!
But the Jenna spinning machine can end all of that!
I can solemnly promise that, as you have just seen, it can accomplish twenty times the work in the same amount of time.
As for whether it can earn you an extra pound a month, I must honestly tell you that I cannot give you a definite answer because the market is unstable and the price of cotton yarn fluctuates. You may earn more than two pounds, or you may earn less than one pound.
But one fact remains unchanged: the first users of the Jenna spinning machine were twenty times more productive than others. Before the market becomes fully competitive, the first users will inevitably reap greater rewards…
The person who eats the first crab reaps the greatest reward!
Such a simple truth can be understood even by the illiterate and housewives.
Before other places have Jenna spinning machines, produce a batch of cotton yarn, sell it, and make money; then you'll recoup most of your investment.
Most of the women present were knowledgeable; the cotton yarn produced by Jenna's spinning machine was not the ordinary coarse yarn that Chen Wenbin had mentioned, but rather a fine yarn of relatively good quality, which could fetch 6 to 7 pounds per pound (112 pounds)!
If two people take turns spinning yarn each month, the output can definitely reach 80 pounds or even more. If we calculate it this way, after deducting the price of raw cotton of 0.8 pounds per pound, the monthly income will definitely be no less than 3.5 pounds!
That's more than a male worker's monthly income!
So, starting with Mrs. Kelford and Mrs. Lisa, people started successfully placing orders together, and the number of orders increased from three to fifteen, then to thirty, until an hour later, the number reached one hundred!
On the morning of September 17st.
With Chen Wenbin personally promoting the products, Jenna United Textiles received orders for 118 20-spindle Jenna spinning machines and 6 10-spindle spinning machines, totaling £6016. The cost of completing the orders would not exceed £500!
If Chen Wenbin hadn't stopped accepting orders, citing a production schedule that was already booked for a month and a half ahead, the total order amount for today would likely have reached eight thousand pounds or even higher!
All of this stunned the shareholders of Jenna United Textile Company, as well as the local gentlemen and tycoons who had been closely following Chen Wenbin!
In just one morning, Chen Wenbin's estimated net worth rose from £1,500 (shares and patents in the textile company) to over £10,000, making him one of the richest people in Providence!
Moreover, judging from this momentum, as a major shareholder of Jenna United Textiles, Chen Wenbin's wealth will rapidly grow to tens of thousands of pounds!
It's worth noting that at that time, the wealthiest man in the North American colonies—Thomas Hancock, a shipping wholesaler in Boston and a member of the Harvard University Board of Trustees—only had a fortune of £20 to £30.
It's easy to imagine the value of tens of thousands of pounds!
"...Robin, I knew you were going to become very rich, but I never expected it to happen right before my eyes, within just one week!"
As the fat old man Franklin watched Chen Wenbin return to City Hall and receive compliments and congratulations from everyone, he felt more than just acid reflux; he was practically melting with envy…
My God!
Six thousand pounds!
I made money in less than two hours... I'm so fucking jealous!!
Thinking back to how he had previously advised the other party to focus on science and abandon business, he wished he could swallow all that nonsense back!
Surrounded by people in the middle of the hall, Chen Wenbin smiled slightly at Franklin's envious and jealous look: "My dear Franklin, I know you are very successful in the publishing and real estate industries, and you are also a millionaire in Pennsylvania."
"If you are willing, I agree to admit you as a new shareholder of Robin Union Textile Company..."
Then, turning to the group of Rhode Island colony gentlemen and tycoons around him, he declared, "Besides Benjamin, if any of you are optimistic about Jenna United Textile Company, you can also become our shareholders and share in our success!"
While everyone was still in shock, Henry Smith, who had been pushed to the edge of the crowd, suddenly shouted, "Dr. Robin! Are you serious? We can become shareholders of your company?"
"Of course, Mr. Smith!"
Chen Wenbin nodded to him, slowly scanning the crowd's gazes, some fervent, some expectant, before speaking in a firm tone:
"Everyone should know very well that the real market for Jenna spinning machines is not in Providence, or even in the North American colonies, but in Britain itself! In Europe!"
There are thousands of hand-weaving workshops in the UK, and they all need our Jenna spinning machines to improve their production efficiency. That's a market of at least tens of thousands of spinning machines!
Just think about the profits this market could generate! Can anyone tell me that figure?
No sooner had he finished speaking than Henry Smith exclaimed in shock, "My God! One Jenna spinning machine costs 49 pounds, 10,000 machines would be 490,000 pounds! I couldn't earn that much money even if I ran Smith Farm for a thousand years!!"
His reaction resonated strongly; who among those present had ever seen £49?
Even the wealthiest slave trader, Aaron Lopez, and West Indies shipping merchant, Metcalf Bowler, did not have a net worth exceeding £100,000!
However, the dozen or so people in the hall were all seasoned veterans, and unlike Henry Smith, they weren't particularly excited. Instead, they waited... because they knew that, given their status and influence in the Rhode Island colony, they could always get a share of the spoils.
Sure enough, Governor Stephen Hopkins, one of the original shareholders, coughed, looked at Chen Wenbin, and asked:
"...Robin, what exactly are your plans? Are you going to give up some of your shares?"
"That's right, my shares will decrease."
Chen Wenbin nodded and explained, "To be precise, all our original shareholders will have their shares diluted proportionally, and at the same time, at least 15% of the shares will be issued to the gentlemen who are now willing to invest in the company."
The new shareholders enjoy the same rights as the old shareholders, except for the valuation.
After all, the compensation for investing before the company succeeds will be different from that for investing now!
He then introduced the basic concepts of financing and shareholder rights to the group, and answered a few seemingly naive questions, such as how share ratios are diluted and calculated... There was no way around it; at least a third of these New World tycoons were semi-literate and had never attended school, so it was already good enough that they could understand the concept of ratios.
Even though it took some time to understand the concept of financing, everyone's investment impulse was particularly strong, but there were serious disagreements on company valuation.
Chen Wenbin and Pastor Jason, along with other original shareholders, insisted on financing at a valuation of £6, because it was obvious that Jenna spinning machines could secure at least several thousand orders in New England, and £6 was already a serious undervaluation.
However, investors insisted that imitators would soon appear, and that Chen Wenbin had not yet obtained the patent rights in the UK.
Chen Wenbin's response was his strategy of "only being a supplier of spinning machines, not a market participant," which pointed to the huge profit potential of millions of pounds in the UK and European markets.
Finally, after an afternoon of intense negotiations, the new company, which was officially renamed Providence United Industries, successfully raised a total of £8,000 in cash from seventeen new investors that evening at a valuation of up to £40,000!
The reason why investors accept this high valuation is naturally inseparable from the amazing sales performance of £6,000 in one morning, the coordination of Governor Hopkins, and most importantly, the huge market potential of several million pounds!
Of course, millions of pounds is just a pipe dream. These investors would be content if the company earned a few hundred thousand pounds after obtaining the British patent rights.
Forty-three years had passed since the South Sea Bubble, but all the wealthy were still wary of it. To dispel their doubts, Chen Wenbin had to promise that after completing today's £6,000 order, he would immediately distribute half of the profits to all shareholders as dividends.
Furthermore, the company's articles of association stipulate that shareholders holding more than one percent of the shares have the right to inspect the company's accounts, and shareholders holding five percent of the shares have one seat on the company's board of directors. The company's board of directors has the power to appoint and dismiss all company employees, including the general manager...
In short, it is basically the structure of a modern company, with some adjustments made by Chen Wenbin based on the characteristics of the times.
But in any case, as soon as this company was born, it undoubtedly became the most promising and advanced company in the world, without exception!
That's right!
Even the British East India Company, with its vast wealth, couldn't compare to Providence Associates, because the latter controlled the core technology and the future!
If we consider a different timeline, Providence Associates, which can increase spinning efficiency by twenty or even eighty times, is roughly equivalent to Nvidia, which has mastered the computing power foundation of the AI era.
While Nvidia in the 21st century cannot establish a colonial corporation, Providence Associates can emulate the British East India Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, owning its own corporate territories in undeveloped lands such as South America, Australia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the west coast of North America...
Thinking of this, Chen Wenbin closed the company's articles of association, which had been signed by all the shareholders, and felt a surge of emotion!
The celebration dance that evening.
Chen Wenbin, who created a miracle, naturally became the focus of everyone's attention, especially the unmarried ladies, whose eyes were fixed on this super rich and super handsome Tang Monk.
However, upon seeing the equally dazzling noblewoman beside Chen Wenbin, these female demons could only bitterly abandon their impulse to pounce on her.
The contrast is so stark that no matter how rich a country girl from the New World may be, she can't compare to Diana Spencer, who came from a British aristocratic family. They are on completely different levels in terms of both looks and temperament.
"...Darling, look at them!"
Diana, arm in arm with Chen Wenbin, chuckled and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Am I getting in the way of your happiness? Some of them are very beautiful!"
Chen Wenbin knew she liked to make these kinds of jokes, so he played along with a hum: "You know that's good! I won't let you off the hook tonight!"
Diana's smile froze instantly. Then, realizing what was happening, she looked up, her light blue eyes fixed on Chen Wenbin, and said earnestly:
"Aren't you going to reconsider? Robin, with your current wealth and status, you could easily marry a real countess. I know many impoverished nobles who have nothing but titles and castles. I can help you... Waaah!"
Chen Wenbin didn't let her continue. He hugged her, lowered his head, and silenced her with a kiss. People nearby were stunned. Even among the aristocracy, such behavior was considered bold!
However, they wisely pretended not to see it, including Pastor Jason, whose eyes even held a hint of relief.
This kid has finally figured it out!