With people's attention and generous investment in children's education, it has effectively promoted the rapid growth of children's English training industry and provided opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop. In 2004, Longman children's English course "Crown Diamond" was introduced into English education, which brought children's English learning in China a course synchronized with children's English training in the world. Today, Longman Children's English course has covered 100 major cities in more than 30 provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government, with nearly 300 learning centers.
The person who introduced this course was Yang Dengke, President of Longxun International Education Group.
Different from the past, the competition facing Langxun is more intense now. However, Yang Dengke is still full of confidence. "After six years of preparation, Langxun has the strength and enough brand appeal to stand out among its peers." Today, Longxun has completed the initial accumulation process of enterprise development, and the next goal is clear, which is to continue to enhance the brand influence of Longxun and further occupy the children's English training market.
Reporter: You are not in the education industry. If IT is just investment, why not choose IT and medicine industries with higher profit points and faster returns, and choose education and training industries with large initial investment and long return period?
Yang Dengke: I started with processing trade. This industry has a low entry threshold and quick return at the beginning, which has accumulated the first bucket of gold for my later entrepreneurial transformation. But in the long run, the processing trade industry is not suitable for a long-term operation of a development-oriented enterprise, and the processing industry is also very risky. When the economic crisis came in 2008, processing trade was the first to bear the brunt.
When the initial accumulation is completed, I have been looking for opportunities for transformation. When the opportunity came, I seized it. It was also an unexpected opportunity to meet some friends and business opportunities. Before that, I had been in contact with other industries, such as medical care and IT, but I finally chose education (English training for children).
At that time, the education industry was already a very promising market. First of all, the market demand is large. There are as many children as there are in China. 2 1 century Most parents of teenagers have received higher education. They attach great importance to their children's education and pay attention to the ways and means of education. China's traditional education model is not suitable for modern English teaching to some extent. After all, English is a second language besides mother tongue, so it is very necessary to introduce foreign courses and improve the domestic educational environment, which is also needed by consumers. This is our business philosophy of Langxun: "catering to market demand, catering to consumer demand and catering to the trend of the times"
Secondly, the whole education industry was a craze at that time. Especially in 2004, many investment institutions were very interested in the education industry. The education industry is an industry that adapts to the educational reform and the improvement of the quality of the whole country, so it has some openness in policies and so on, so I choose the education industry.
Of course, the education industry is still a relatively unfamiliar industry for our entire management team, because the education industry was still a new industry in 2004, and we were also in the transition stage, and the whole team was relatively young, so we were all groping for progress during that time. However, due to the previous foundation, we still survive and develop in the highly competitive market.
Reporter: There should be gains and difficulties in the process of groping forward. What do you think is the biggest headache in the whole process of starting a business?
Yang Dengke: So far, personally, I don't think I have encountered too many difficulties in business operation. Of course, if an enterprise wants to survive and develop, it will certainly encounter some stumbling problems, which is inevitable, but we can all overcome them.
For enterprises, most of the difficulties are * * *, one is talent and the other is capital. Talent is the core of enterprise development, and capital is the driving force of enterprise development. When I started my business, the funds in my account were only a few thousand yuan, but I didn't lose heart because I had a good team and a good project.
Moreover, from the perspective of investment income, the education industry itself is a "slow fever" industry. It needs a lot of funds as support in the early stage, and the return period will be longer, so it is not so ideal in terms of funds. Therefore, we didn't have enough financial support in the early stage, and we couldn't operate like other companies with strong backgrounds, so we had certain disadvantages in enterprise operation. However, my team and I have adapted to this situation. At the beginning of the project, we didn't invest money in the first-tier cities that need high publicity investment, but started from the third-tier cities, which laid a solid financial foundation for our subsequent development and cultivated a large number of loyal consumers.
Reporter: Since its establishment in 2004, Langxun has experienced many difficulties and twists and turns, which is really not easy. What is the secret of your business operation?
Yang Dengke: Actually, there are no secrets. At first, we also made progress in our studies. When we encounter problems and solve them, if we really want to talk about them, one is to innovate constantly in constant exploration; The other is the entrepreneurial team and leader of the enterprise.
Innovation is a necessary condition for the development of every enterprise. Being content with the status quo and stagnating means going backwards. There is an old saying: "Learning is like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat." The same is true of enterprise development. Especially we are engaged in the education industry. Education means that you must master the latest curriculum system and the best teacher resources in order to gain a foothold in the industry. In particular, the development of many new teaching applications, such as the Internet and multimedia, really overwhelmed you. You should understand and grasp these new models or trends in time, and fully combine your own enterprise advantages to ensure that you will not be eliminated by the market and find new development opportunities. If there is any "management secret", it is "always keep the passion for innovation and dare to break old habits to meet the needs of new markets and development". Especially in the children's education industry, new teaching content design and business models emerge one after another. The market is providing more and more educational service products to customers in an unprecedented state, and the needs of customers are fully mobilized in this environment, so now it is full of opportunities. In other respects, Lucent attaches great importance to the customer experience. In all the products and services of Lucent, the emphasis on customer experience and the improvement of details can be said to be "crazy". For example, in teaching, the movements and amplitudes of every body part used by teachers, even the eyes, tone and intonation, are required to be incisively and vividly, and these requirements are solidified into basic teaching standards, which are constantly improved in continuous practice, in order to pay close attention to each child attentively and bring them the happiest learning experience. At the same time, we must keep track of the new teaching mode and new ideas, understand and master them first, and then penetrate into the education process.
Reporter: Besides product innovation, what other innovations does Langxun have?
Yang Dengke: In addition to the innovation of products and services, Langxun will also innovate management methods according to the development of enterprises. I think that different stages of enterprise development should have different management styles and different events should be treated differently, so as to combine the standardized management mode of modern enterprises with the humanized and personalized management needs of Chinese enterprises. From the initial development to today, Langxun has probably experienced two or three different management styles. On this basis, different management strategies are implemented around the core of the management system, and different incentive mechanisms are implemented at different stages to promote the enthusiasm of employees.
Another innovation is in the management system and incentive mechanism. Management system is an important part of an enterprise. It is a trend to establish a management system that adapts to the development of enterprises and the current market environment. Then when building this management system, we should understand the needs of this industry and establish it according to the actual situation of the enterprise. For example, our enterprise was in the initial stage, and this system was established according to the special circumstances of the initial stage, which belongs to the initial stage system. The establishment of the system will play a leading role in the development of enterprises.
Langxun's innovation in incentive mechanism aims to promote the creativity of employees and the cohesion of enterprises through effective incentive mechanism. Although the incentive mechanism of each enterprise is similar, after all, the basic operation of each enterprise is different. Langxun pays more attention to the communication and care of employees' emotions on the basis of using some usual incentive mechanisms. Through these exact feelings, employees can feel that the enterprise is cultivating and paying attention to him, and provide employees with a good working and living environment in the inevitable development stage of the enterprise. For some executives and talents of the company, if they can make practical contributions in the direction of enterprise development or other aspects, we will take some measures such as equity incentives to express recognition, so as to better promote enterprise development. There are also some ways such as equity and options. At different stages, different routes are introduced. Then we have a perfect exit mechanism. With the development of enterprises, some people who quit for various reasons will make economic compensation according to the contribution and the number of shares.
Reporter: You talked about the secret of enterprise development before, "First, keep innovating in constant exploration;" The other is the entrepreneurial team and leader of the enterprise. What do you think of the entrepreneurial team and leaders of enterprises?
Yang Dengke: Enterprise development should also be people-oriented. Leaders and teams need to help and support each other and coordinate all aspects of the relationship, so that enterprises can develop faster and better.
Personally, I think it is very important that the charisma of leaders can promote the continuous development of enterprises and unremittingly lead everyone on various roads. The foresight and control ability of enterprise leaders and their role in enterprise operation, just like the captain, need foresight and a strong sense of responsibility, not only to see the immediate peace, but also to have a deep understanding of the future of the industry and a strong ability to control and foresee. Because the people on board, whether the crew or passengers trust you, will choose to board the ship you are driving.
The employees of the company are my partners and my crew. Without their support and help, I can't complete the operation of the whole enterprise alone. The investment institutions and customers who choose Lucent are my "passengers". Their choice means trust. Without their trust, Langxun could not travel in the business world. The duty and responsibility of the "captain" urges me to work hard, steer the whole enterprise and sail Langxun to the other side of the light.
Team configuration is very important in enterprise development. If the tacit understanding of the team is not enough and the cooperation is not good, it will cause various problems. Because the team needs to deal with every detail of management and product line, the management ability and product quality of an enterprise directly reflect its core competitiveness, and whether the product demand positioning, design, packaging and marketing planning can better reflect the innovation ability of the enterprise has great influence.
Reporter: What do you think is the core competitiveness of Lucent?
Yang Dengke: The so-called core competitiveness lies in whether the system you set up and your operation team can truly know and understand the market, adapt to the situation and cater to the market. One, of course, is the quality of the products you handle, which is very important. With a good product, we can do a series of work around it. More importantly, the strength of your operation team. A good operation team can make full use of market demand, maximize product value and give full play to the market competitiveness of products. These are also the core competitiveness foundation of Langxun!
Reporter: Since your company started its business, the market competition has become increasingly fierce, even reaching a white-hot level. As far as I know, many educational institutions have launched various children's English programs, which are quite similar to Longxun's current projects. What do you think of the current situation of this industry? How did Lang Xun handle it?
Yang Dengke: I think so on this issue. First of all, the homogenization project of children's English market shows that the market has great potential, and the needs of customers cannot be fully mobilized and met, otherwise everyone will not invest heavily in this industry. Secondly, many projects do not mean that they are all adapted to the China market, and many projects constitute the surplus. If an industry wants to develop a mature market, it will go through this stage, and the market will develop in an orderly manner after the integration of the industries that survive the fittest.
Langxun is not afraid of market competition, because we are confident to face all kinds of challenges, whether from products or from internal enterprises. Longxun Children's English Training Course is a course specially designed for Asian children by Mario Herrera, a world-famous children's English teaching expert of Longman Company. Fully combining the second language learning habits and psychological characteristics of Chinese children, the design concept is revised and improved, which is more suitable for Chinese children and caters to the development of modern education. My child is three years old this year, and I also arrange him to study according to the curriculum design, because 3-6 years old is the golden age for children to learn English. I am very satisfied with our course. I am both an importer and a product user, and I can directly understand the feelings of end users.
Moreover, Langxun also has its own unique development strategy, and now we are at a critical moment to March into first-tier cities. In the past, English training for children in Longxun was mainly concentrated in second-and third-tier cities because of funds and competitive strategies, and the most important factor was competitive strategies. At present, dragon training education covers 100 major cities in more than 30 provinces and municipalities directly under the central government, and has nearly 300 learning centers. This year, it is ready to enter first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. After six years of preparation, Langxun has the strength and enough brand appeal to stand out from its peers. As the saying goes, Longxun has completed the initial accumulation process of enterprise development. Our goal now is to upgrade Longxun's brand again, further occupy the children's English training market, and further develop into the industrial value chain on this basis.
Reporter: There have been many ace lecturers and star lecturers in many English education institutions. However, with the development of enterprises and changes in the market, star lecturers have become independent. What do you think of these phenomena?
Yang Dengke: Every enterprise has its own different development and operation mode. Some enterprises shape individuals, while others shape teams. For the star lecturers you mentioned who left the original team, I can't judge the reasons why they left here, and of course I can't express too much opinion on whether this behavior or phenomenon is correct. But when you train a star, you must consider how to keep him, which is in line with the value of the existence and development of enterprises.
As far as our enterprise is concerned, we still attach great importance to the shaping of team advantages. Because relying on team advantages rather than personal strength, this phenomenon of losing stars and trump cards will not occur. It is possible that we will also create heroes, but this hero is different. He exists based on the characteristics of our team. After all, a hero does not exist independently, and he needs such an environment to set him off. I think it depends on your business needs and whether you need such a hero. If you don't need such a hero at all, you won't create any heroes.
Langxun has been shaping an excellent team of teachers, attracting children's interest in learning with the excellent characteristics of this team as a whole, thus enhancing children's abilities in all aspects and forming a market reputation. We will not seek development by building some famous teachers. It can be said that all our efforts are aimed at creating a "global English education curriculum that is better understood and more suitable for children in China".
Reporter: Compared with other competitors in the market, the main consumer group is students, and the difference in training effect can be verified by the results. Longxun's main consumer groups are children. In the absence of a hard indicator of performance appraisal, how can parents of these children evaluate and recognize the training effect?
Yang Dengke: Quality and ability education is the general direction advocated by our country now, and it is also an educational purpose we have cultivated for a long time. Although we don't have a hard performance appraisal for parents to see the effect of training, this effect is fully demonstrated to parents through the daily performance of children who have been trained for a long time. Through our rich teaching products and the high-quality learning environment we have created, we will help our children improve their abilities in all aspects (not just English), so as to impress their parents. How to improve children's interest in learning and strengthen the sustainability of learning is our main consideration.
Of course, many parents still prefer to see some quantifiable performance, such as the improvement of test scores or grades. We will also use some quantitative icons to quantitatively reflect children's quality improvement and academic performance to meet parents' needs in this regard.
Long-term training mode is an organic combination of foreign learning mode and domestic assessment mode. In fact, how to integrate these two modes more organically in the domestic realistic educational system environment is also an important topic that needs serious research and practice in our enterprise operation and the whole children's English education industry.