Mr. Cao Xueping is the CEO of Shenzhen Link-Run Logistics Co., Ltd, who is also the founder of it. After years' development, Link-Run has grown into a creditable, powerful and professional third-party logistics supplier, supply chain and logistics integration supplier. Having eleven-year experience in logistics industry, Mr. Cao narrated the growth of Link-Run and showed his views and suggestion towards the logistics industry.

Foundation of Link-Run

At the very beginning, Mr. Cao worked at a state-owned foreign trade company in Shenzhen. When he first touched the logistics industry, he knew little about freight forwarding and logistics. However, Mr. Cao did better and better in logistics industry owing to his credit and tries to establish personal brand.

After reaching some achievements, Mr. Cao found that there was something difficult for him to exert his ability under the structure of the state-owned company. Besides, he had made friends with lots of logistics talents and at the same time a company’s CEO in Hong Kong would like to offer him certain capital support. As the result, Mr. Cao decided to found Shenzhen Link-Run Logistics Co., Ltd after deep consideration and market research.

At that time, the freight forwarding market in Shenzhen, which was full of competition, was hard for a new-built company to live. There were only three staffs when Link-Run founded, and they had to struggle with the difficulties of lacking people of ability and capital. Nevertheless, their persistence and actions made Link-Run growing stronger step by step.

Logistics Talents and Personal Brand

The team growing with company culture

Logistics talent is a hot topic in logistics industry. The fast growth and huge market in Shenzhen cause the lack of talents and frequent change of staff. Link-Run was not an exception at beginning.

According to Mr. Cao, it is the positive culture and proper payment that can attract talents and keep them in the company. He pays attentions to staff’s feelings and plans career life for every staff. He connects the growth of staffs closely with the prosperity of the company and believes they are the biggest treasure of Link-Run. Now, he is really proud that the brain drain in Link-Run is least among all logistics companies in Shenzhen.

In the past years, inheriting the spirit “A happier employee, a greater satisfaction of customer”, nearly 100 high quality staffs have made up a management team and a sales team, and become the major power of Link-Run.

Kind relationship established with customers

Mr. Cao emphasizes the establishment of personal brand and the promotion for Link-Run. “It is a long and hard way to build a well-known brand.” he said. Link-Run made certain its orientation since it was founded. That is to be professional in Asia logistics market. All Link-Run people congruously agree that creative and actual business mode will make Link-Run success in the competitive market, and a reputable personal brand will make the company more valuable and energetic.

The accumulation of talents and the establishment of personal brand bring Link-Run lots of customers. Mr. Cao said he and his staffs had been working as the company’s culture told them: “Enjoying happy culture in busy work, Winning award in competitive logistic field, Achieving customers full trust in their dubitation, Link-Run, being a Chinese Logistics leader”. They try their best to be true and credit, and save cost for customers. With its valuable service and credit, now Link-Run builds long-term and steady cooperation relationship with most customers.

In China, No One Knows Asia Better Than Us with Logistics

Different from many other logistics companies, Link-Run focuses on Asia market rather than markets in developed counties in Europe and America. Its business is mostly in Hong Kong, mainland of China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Middle East, and other potential markets in Asia.

According to Link-Run, it is a right orientation, Mr. Cao said. Link-Run is a local logistics company in Shenzhen, and it is hard for it to compete with large international companies even some powerful local logistics companies. Most of trades between China and Europe or America are FOB cargo, which is full of profit. However, as a new-built company whose overseas network is not so strong, Link-Run can not share the some market with those large companies. Besides, when Link-Run was just founded, there were lots of business between China and other counties in Asia. Compared with FOB market in Europe and America, those new markets are mostly CIF cargo. As the result, Link-Run has tried to be professional in Asia market since the very beginning.

The goal of Link-Run in the following three years is to be more professional in Asia market and be a Chinese well-known logistics Enterprise. It will consider paying more human recourses and capital to strengthen the network in Asia in order to provide more professional and valuable service to customers.

In China, no one knows Asia better than us with logistics, Mr. Cao told me with confidence.

Local Companies Have to be Stronger

As the extension of large companies based in Europe and America, Mr. Cao said local companies like Link-Run had to compete with them wisely and calmly. The profit in logistics industry becomes less and less dues to some companies who reduce the price blindly in the furious competition. Although “red sea” strategy (“red sea” strategy, the so-called “price war”, in other words, is to compete in existing market, focus on existing customers, exploit existing demand, and reduce price in order to rise the efficiency) works sometime, Mr. Cao thinks it is a necessary trend that only those large and valuable companies, which has quick response and certain strength, can win in the competition by “blue sea” strategy (“blue sea” strategy, on the contrary, means to create uncontested market, make the competition irreverent, focus on non-customers, create and capture new demand, and create powerful leaps in value ).

In the process of development, Local companies have to form their own features, especially in the markets those overseas companies have not touched or done professionally. Many companies may be integrated, annexed, bought, or forced to looking for overseas capital support in the future. As the result, competing with strong companies, they have to be stronger first, Mr. Cao said.

Besides, local companies can reduce cost with the help of internet. And logistics online is one trend. Although logistics online is still on the way of development, Mr. Cao said it would be accepted by more and more companies as long as it persists in seeking proper business mode and developing with the changing market.