11 Business Proposal

Ben first went to Jace's room to get his bag before he followed his Dad to his' study. It was a good thing his father suggested talking in his study since, the mobile phone product that he wants to show him came from the system and knowing his mother's "all seeing" eyes, she might get suspicious on his explanations on where he got it. Although, he also knows his family will respect his privacy but still, a little bit of white lie still makes him a bit guilty.

"So Ben, feel free to present the business that you want to talk about with me." His father said smiling as they settled down on the couch.

Ben opened his bag and got the box where the phone was packed and showed it to his father, "Here, open it Dad, my friend from overseas sent it to me. Try it."

His father opened the package and there he saw the mobile phone, then as if scrutinizing every edge and every angle of the phone, he opened it and was surprised. The phone was, to say the least, a very high tech one. It had a slim design, with an internal storage of 512 GB and expandable storage of up to 1TB. It also has its own operating system, an AI assistant to help you navigate through and also a lot of interesting games that are compressed but with UHD Graphics.

His father tried the games, the operating system, talked with the AI and then he disassembled the phone to see if it's compatible with the latest SIM and Memory Cards released in the country. He immediately shifted his SIM Card and Memory Card on the new phone and tried the messaging and call feature. His father was like a child that got a new Christmas toy that Ben thought he was invisible in front of him.

"So Dad, what do you think?" ask Ben also getting excited seeing his father like that.

His Dad chuckled, remembering that his son was the one who brought the phone, he fired one question after another, "Ben, this phone that you're friend sent you, is it for sale? Is he willing to export it to our country? How did he make this? And how much is it? If this goes out of the market, a lot of people will surely switch to this new phone and our company will be going to new heights if we get exclusive rights to sell this product in our country."

"Whoa there Dad, easy there, calm down." Ben said while pouring tea for his Dad to calm down first.

"This is the case, my friend went broke and he wants to sell me the phone with its entire component on how to manufacture it. He knows our business is all about mobile phones and mobile games, he doesn't want to sell it to other tycoons because he doesn't trust them, so he instead contacted me and sent me this phone. So yes, it is for sale. I don't know how many of these phones he managed to make that are in his possession. And since our company will be the one manufacturing it, then we will have exclusive rights to it." Ben answered some of father's questions.

"As for the price, he wants an upfront payment of $300,000 before he gives the blueprint and all components of the phone. Then he wants 30% for every sale of the phone. So what do you think Dad?" Ben continued.

"By the way Dad, how much do you think this phone will sell on the market?" Ben asks curiously.

"How about the games and the operating system, is it included in the $300,000? With this kind of technology, even if we sell this for $1,000, it is worth it." His father answered.

"Yeah, I think the programs for the games and the operating system is included." Ben answered.

"Don't you think your friend is making a loss here?" his father asked, genuinely concerned about his "friend".

"I also asked him that, but he told me that he doesn't really need that much money since he is alone and also researching alone, so he doesn't have a lot of expenses. He said he just wants to have a steady income and of course he'll also be able to further improve his inventions or make a new one.

As you can see Dad, the potential market of these phones is large, it will be a ground breaking, major upgrade in our mobile technology and our company will be the first to release it, so just thinking about how many people are going to buy it, my friend will surely be able to save up." Ben explained.

"I understand, but I don't see how you will be involved in this business, your explanation doesn't include you in it." His Dad asked him.

Ben wants to smack himself in the head. He was so engrossed about his "friend" that he forgot to include his own self in the picture that he's painting.

"Dad, I want 5% of the profit for every phone that is purchased, is that okay?" Ben feeling guilty with his blunder, in truth, instead of just 5%, he will be earning 35% for every sale of the phone.

His Dad didn't answer immediately, contemplating if it will be profitable for the company. Since, it's his son's connection that got him this deal and also Ben's way to earn money for his needed funds, Mr. Torres decided to accept. Even if the company will only earn little from this deal, they will still win because they will also learn about the advanced technology presented to them and can study and improve it.

"Why don't I give you 10% more, so you can acquire your funds swiftly?" his Dad suggested.

Being pricked by his conscience Ben said, "No Dad, you won't profit anymore if you increase my cut, that's 45% profit when you add my friend's and my cut. 35% profit for both of us is already a lot."

"Alright, let's talk about this tomorrow, it's getting late. Do you have your friend's bank account? I'm going to transfer the money to him so he can send the blueprint and components as soon as possible so we can start studying and manufacturing the phone. About your 5% cut, let's not finalize it yet, I'll get my assistant to call the related departments so we will have an estimate on how much will be the manufacturing cost and how much we can sell the phone. 5% will be the smallest you will get but I will increase it to 10-20% if possible. It's not final so don't reject it yet." His father finalized after seeing Ben opening his mouth in protest.

"Alright Dad, you're the boss!" Ben sighed in defeat. Anyway, as his father said, nothing's final yet so he rests his case and would just wait for the result.

"I'll call my friend tomorrow to ask his bank account and see if he still have finished products with him. Good night Dad and thank you for your trust." Ben said while giving a hug to his Dad, before leaving the study to sleep in his bedroom.