The officially produced Buffer Revitalizing Potion had become a massive hit among the students.
In just one month, nearly everyone was carrying a bottle of the potion, and the cost in Galleons was far below market price. This rapid success significantly improved Draco's reputation among the other three houses, even earning him the nickname "The Benevolent One."
Unfortunately, amidst the cheers and praises, the person at the center of it all was in a state of utter despair.
—Because this entrepreneurial venture had brought the "foolish son of the landlord" to the brink of financial ruin.
—And he had been forced to write to his father multiple times, seeking financial support in Galleons.
Even more unfortunate was that his parents had come to a stark realization through Draco's money-losing venture:
They weren't as worried about Draco being idle as they were about him being overly ambitious.
"How could this happen... Why did this happen..." Draco looked ashen, slumped on the sofa, holding a letter from his father. "This can't be true. How could my father refuse to give me money..."
The letter slipped helplessly from his hand onto the sofa. It was filled with Lucius's anger over his son's wasteful behavior and a strong plea for Draco to focus on his studies and return to the right path.
The loss of his parents' affection seemed to hit Draco hard, leaving him utterly despondent:
"So love does fade, doesn't it? He used to give me anything I wanted... If he won't give me money, how can I continue my business? How can I keep producing merchandise?"
Hearing this, Jane Yu realized that the failure of his business venture had dealt a far heavier blow to Draco than the loss of his parents' support, as he continued to grumble incessantly.
"I don't understand where I went wrong." Draco, his eyes vacant, clutched his significantly thinner coin pouch compared to the start of the term. "Even though my father didn't fully support my business, he still introduced me to several suppliers for ingredients... And my sales clearly covered the entire Hogwarts. My revenue was good, and the promotional merchandise was being snatched up... So how could I end up losing money like this?"
"Everything was supposed to follow the guidance of the 4Ps of marketing," he lamented, slumping on the common room sofa and looking at Jane with a mournful expression. "Our product broke through the black market and established an official monopoly, with top-notch quality... Our low prices gave us a competitive edge, maximizing market share... My promotional strategies were impeccable; even the prefects were advertising our potion... And I even set up four distribution channels for different houses..."
At this point, Jane further realized that it wasn't just the failure of the business that crushed Draco—it was the fact that the business theories he held dear had been utterly debunked in practice.
Draco continued to recite his cherished business theories, pulling out a small notebook filled with notes to read from:
"I even adopted Lauterborn's latest 4Cs marketing theory. Do you know how cutting-edge that is? It was only proposed a few years ago—I was ahead of the market!"
"I carefully studied consumer needs, controlled the potion's effective duration... I understood their purchasing power, and I even established after-sales communication..."
His face took on a look of utter defeat:
"I even managed to withstand Professor Snape's inspections of my potions. I gave gifts and smiled politely under pressure. I know that's how my father deals with Ministry officials... Although Professor Snape didn't accept the gifts, at least he didn't stop my business..."
It had to be said, in order to deal with the "market regulators" composed of professors, Draco had played the role of a perfect student with impeccable manners.
When faced with inspections from the Heads of Houses, he presented logical arguments, claiming it was all for the students and that serving everyone was his honor.
With his silver tongue and the promise of unprecedentedly high O.W.L. exam scores for this year's fifth years, the Heads of Houses praised his noble character while approving his business plan.
But now, Draco felt that his noble character had been utterly destroyed.
Facing Jane, he hung his head in despair:
"Sigh—After all I've done, I still can't make it work?"
Jane gave him a sympathetic look.
She could fully understand the educational tone of Lucius's letter, as Draco seemed to have completely neglected his studies for the sake of this small revitalizing potion business. Not only had he ignored the key points for the O.W.L. exams, but he was also daydreaming about business theories during classes.
"If it really doesn't work out, maybe you should start reviewing for the O.W.L. exams?" she suggested kindly.
But Draco, seemingly impervious to anything unrelated to the Buffer Revitalizing Potion, responded off-topic:
"I refuse to accept this." He turned his head toward her. "Maybe my business will fail, but I must understand why it failed before I die... Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep at night, and I won't rest in peace... Before I start reviewing, can you tell me why I lost money?"
"Uh... Could it be..." Jane, her mind muddled by Draco's incessant rambling, ventured, "that you didn't consider the rationality of costs and expenses when selling the Buffer Revitalizing Potion? Did you calculate labor costs, the expenses for producing the promotional merchandise, or even bad debts?"
Draco fell into deep thought, and then a sudden realization dawned upon him.
"I paid wages to the four seventh-years who brewed the potions, I paid wages to the eight people across the four distribution channels, I paid the people who made the merchandise, and of course, there's your image licensing fee, the cost of running the shop... Plus the cost of ingredients... and after-sales expenses."
As he muttered, he scribbled calculations into his notebook, adding in various miscellaneous expenses:
"And the cost of gifts, the cost of bad debts... What's that called... setting aside provisions for bad debts? Maybe I should study accounting..."
As he calculated, his eyes grew brighter, and it seemed he had regained his ambition.
"I see! I just need to cut labor costs!"
Jane watched in astonishment as he leapt up from the sofa, a sly smile playing on his lips:
"Layoffs, pay cuts, higher prices! Why shouldn't they work for free?"
Draco's capitalist tendencies were fully exposed as he decided to force his employees into unpaid labor under the guise of moral high ground:
"Since it's for the benefit of the students, they must volunteer. How could they be so greedy over a little profit?"
"If they don't work hard, how are we supposed to make money? How am I supposed to cover your image licensing fee?"
Jane opened her mouth, but swallowed back the words "Shouldn't you consider reviewing for the O.W.L. exams?" Instead, she offered praise:
"You're absolutely right, Draco. Truly your father's son."
Draco, brimming with confidence, stormed out of the common room, determined to implement sweeping reforms to save his precarious small business.
Watching the empty coin pouch he had left on the sofa, Jane could only light a metaphorical candle for him:
Hopefully, a few months later, when faced with a report card full of 'P's and the Malfoy couple, Draco would still be able to smile.
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