“Is there really anyone around here who could afford to buy a horse on such a grand scale? It’s hard enough to sell even one.”
I took out my secret weapon, given to me by Hailey.
It was a single document.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a Letter of Intent signed with Hailey of the Port Rick Family, who deals in carriages. We’ve arranged to receive 50 carriages for the operation of our trading company.”
“Wait, 50 carriages?”
“At the very least, we’ll need as many horses, don’t you think?”
Juli peered at the document in disbelief. It was, indeed, a document from the Port Rick Family promising the provision of 50 carriages.
“I can’t believe it. I know Lord Port Rick as well. He’s a bit eccentric, but quite famous. Sorry for calling you a novice merchant group.”
She was right about us being a novice group… She’d only expected to sell maybe one horse, so her surprise was understandable.
Now it was time to proceed with the negotiations.
The current price Juli offered for a horse was 4 gold. I only had about 20 gold to spend, and that didn’t even factor in the carriage rental fees.
“We’d like to exclusively purchase all the Sena Horse Ranch horses. That’s 50 or more. But I’d appreciate it if the price were much lower than now.”
Juli hesitated for a moment, then answered boldly.
“Alright. If you’re buying 50 horses, I’ll invest as well. I’ll offer them at half the original price. That’s 2 gold per horse.”
Until now, the cheapest horse I’d seen at a ranch was 10 gold. For 50 horses, I’d have needed 500 gold.
That’s about one billion won.
But Juli was offering them for 2 gold each. That’s 100 gold for 50 horses. Down to about 200 million won.
An unbelievable price, just one-fifth of what I’d expected. But still, I wasn’t fully satisfied.
“Miss Juli, may I ask you something? Why do you think I need 50 carriages?”
“I suppose… it’s because you plan to run a large merchant group?”
There’d be no reason for a noble to buy 50 carriages, so she could only assume it was for merchant operations.
“I plan to use these horses for the Common Carriage.”
“Common Carriage?”
“Yes. Right now, only nobles and merchants can purchase and use carriages. I’m going to create a transportation system where anyone can summon and use a carriage.”
“Is that even possible?”
“We already have the carriages and Coachmen prepared, nearly everything is ready. Only the horses remain.”
***
Billy Gates of Waicrosoft, the provider of the famous computer Operating System.
There’s a famous incident that set him on the path to becoming a billionaire.
When he was a sophomore in college, he saw the world’s first personal computer in a magazine.
He predicted an era when every household would have a personal computer and decided to start a Startup.
He chose to focus not on Hardware, but on Software, believing Software would become the core of the world.
The problem was sales.
They planned to supply Software to hardware companies.
But computers at that time were cutting-edge technology. There was no major company willing to entrust Software development to a small club-like company started by college students.
So Billy Gates came up with a strategy: he sent a Letter to the company that manufactured computer Hardware.
That company was IBM, the largest computer seller. He asked if they were interested in purchasing an Operating System for their computers, claiming that it was already developed.
In truth, not a single line of code had been written for a customized Operating System for that Hardware.
But the Letter worked, and when IBM showed interest, they agreed to give a demonstration eight weeks later.
With nothing but guts, they now had a Client. The team moved into the university computer lab, eating and sleeping there as they tried to develop the Software, but couldn’t find a way.
Still, they didn’t give up. They found a similar piece of Software, negotiated a deal, and modified it, managing to produce an Operating System in the promised eight weeks.
But the finished program was a disaster. The screen turned on, but only one page would print before it froze. Even so, the deal went through.
Impressed by their effort, IBM signed an official contract. They even granted the rights to sell the Operating System to any of PC other manufacturers.
With nothing but their boldness, they landed the contract.
And what became of them…?
They became the number one company in the world for decades.
***
Right now, I need Negotiation Skills as bold and creative as Billy Gates of Waicrosoft.
Not everything is in place yet, but I explained the Common Carriage Plan as if everything except the horses was already ready.
“We’re going to provide new Jobs for Coachmen struggling to find work. Negotiations with Coachmen and for carriages are nearly complete. For the sake of the future, they’re willing to contribute what they have. You saw the contract for the 50 carriages earlier, right? They saw the vision and boldly decided to supply them at a very cheap price.”
In truth, it was a rental deal, so I did pay the full price, but even so, 12 gold per carriage is incredibly cheap.
“If this succeeds, Miss Juli, you won’t need to go around the ranch looking for new buyers anymore. Every horse from your ranch will be purchased by us, the Common Carriage.”
“How wonderful that would be, if only it could come true…”
Juli’s biggest struggle must be sales. Pitching to novice merchant groups again and again must be exhausting.
“But there’s a problem. The price is still too high.”
“You do realize how absurdly cheap my offer is, don’t you? I’m offering you 2 gold per horse, when even the cheapest horses usually sell for 10 gold. There’s nothing left for me.”
“If you could just lower it a little more…”
“How much do you want?”
“30 gold.”
“30 gold?”
“You don’t mean per horse, do you? For how many horses?”
“For 50 horses…”
In sales, there’s a Negotiation Strategy called price anchoring. The initial price sets a reference point for the rest of the deal.
Juli’s first offer was 5 gold per horse. That caught my interest, and it was what led me up this mountain trail in the first place.
Now, it was my turn to use the price anchoring strategy.
There’s no way she’d actually sell 50 horses for 30 gold.
She’d already offered a shocking discount at 2 gold per horse, and now I was asking her to go way below the 100 gold she’d just offered—just 30 gold for all 50 horses. It probably felt like robbery.
Still, the first offer is crucial. I had a powerful card—she wouldn’t need to keep hustling for sales, and could simply supply all her horses to us.
By leveraging that hope, even an outrageous offer sets a new psychological threshold.
So, I tossed out the impossible price. Of course, her reaction was intense.
“I could never sell my horses at that price! It’s less than what I pay to buy them.”
“But I’ll give you three options.”
I presented Juli with three options designed to stimulate her sense of anticipation.
***
Juli Taylor was dumbfounded at the offer of 30 gold that William made.
She herself paid 1 gold just to purchase each horse. Even at the bare minimum, 50 horses would cost her 50 gold.
Factor in the costs of the Rehabilitation Program, and operating expenses double. Horses that succeed in rehabilitation sell for 4 to 5 gold each.
Considering all the effort involved, it’s hardly an overpriced amount.
The 2 gold price was the bare minimum needed to keep the ranch running.
It wasn’t Juli Taylor who founded Sena Horse Ranch, but her father.
Her father was a veterinarian, truly a lover of animals—especially horses.
Her mother passed away early, so the family was just the three of them: her father, her younger brother, and herself. Her father spent most of his time treating horses.
He always insisted that when horses behave abnormally, it’s not just physical issues but also mental stress, and would request ranch owners provide better environments.
“Just give me a little time, and I’ll nurse them back to health.”
But his requests were always turned down. No one wanted to spend money on hopeless horses.
If minimizing costs could be achieved by letting sick horses go, the ranch owners thought that was best. As a veterinarian, her father suffered greatly.
In the end, he invested his entire fortune to start the ranch.
He began buying up horses that had been marked for slaughter. Sena Horse Ranch.
The ranch’s name meant “There are no bad horses in the world,” but everyone mocked it as, “There’s no one in the world as horse-crazy as him.”
He’d been a skilled veterinarian, and had saved up a lot of money, but running a ranch was different from treating animals.
The recovery of the horses was slow, and the ranch owners never came back to buy rehabilitated horses.
He tried to sell to nobles and merchants, but no one would buy.
His savings dwindled, and the wrinkles on his face deepened. Still, he continued to buy doomed horses.
Unlike her discontented younger brother, Juli Taylor loved horses as much as her father did.
She helped him, growing into an equine specialist herself. The ranch barely managed to survive on their dedication.
Then, one day, tragedy struck. Her younger brother found their father collapsed in the ranch.
People mocked them, saying the horse-mad man had finally been kicked by a horse.
Her father ended up bedridden, unconscious.
Her brother, unable to bear it, left the ranch. Juli Taylor was left alone.
Three years passed since then. Her brother would occasionally visit, but managing the ranch fell entirely on her shoulders.
***
“Options?”
“Yes, I’ll offer you three options to guarantee your profit.
First, for the horses provided to the Common Carriage, you can exchange them anytime as long as the number remains the same.”
“How does that benefit me?”
“For example, if a rehabilitated horse is proven to work normally for a year, that’s as good as being certified. A year of trouble-free operation is a guarantee. Such horses could be sold to other merchant groups as well. We, the Common Carriage, will verify their rehabilitation for a year. As long as you provide the same number of horses, after a year you’ll have the right to sell the now-healthy horses to others.”
“So, you’re saying if a horse is successfully rehabilitated, I can exchange it for another after a year?”
“That works for me, but what’s in it for you, William?”
“I get horses at a cheaper price. But there’s a condition. You can’t provide us with horses that aren’t fully rehabilitated.”
“Of course. I’ve never sold a horse that wasn’t capable of proper activity.”
It’s a method similar to investing in the Rehabilitation Program for overseas football clubs. The club devotes effort and money to treat and recover injured players.
Players who succeed in rehabilitation and prove their worth can be traded at a much higher price.
“Well… in that case, it takes a year longer, but I’d be able to sell the horses at a better price.”
“The second option is a ten-year exclusive supply. For the next ten years, we’ll only buy horses from your ranch. All you need to do is focus on the Rehabilitation Program and send us the rehabilitated horses. If problems persist with the horses, the contract can be voided. You saw the contract for 50 carriages earlier, right? In the future, we’ll be buying several times more carriages than that. Naturally, we’ll need even more horses.”
“Yes, that second option is also good for me.”
“The final option concerns the horses’ afterlife. If any of the horses can no longer work, you’ll handle their aftercare. All proceeds from the disposal of the horses will go to you, Juli.”
“You’re saying I’ll get all the byproducts if the horses pass away?”
“Yes, I’ll yield them to you.”
“Why?”
Juli asked me for a reason.
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