The industry I dare not touch most is catering, and I hardly know any real good friends.
The seemingly low threshold of the catering industry makes people mistakenly think that it is particularly easy to get started. Looking at many hot restaurants, I am jealous that this is an industry that makes money quickly and quickly. Therefore, there are many, of course, there are many collapses, and there are few good ones.
In the 1990s, I was still in primary school. A relative named Zhang was already a millionaire, nicknamed Zhang Million.
When he was in the third grade of my primary school, he rented a big hotel in our city. At that time, I loved visiting relatives and friends in his restaurant, all kinds of expensive dishes, and a team of millions of chefs invited from other places. An impressive dish is shrimp balls fried with petals and fruits and poured on a golden crispy rice crust. You can eat a plate by yourself when you are young.
The restaurant has always been busy, mainly treating guests and banquets, and the private rooms are basically full. We always thought that such a good business must be very profitable. Unexpectedly, two years later, Zhang Million actually transferred the restaurant. I only remember that he said it was flat, and it didn't make money.
Now, probably because the cost of the kitchen is not well controlled. On the one hand, the salary of a chef from other places can be imagined. On the other hand, I think it's a personality problem. Uncle Zhang Million is a very generous character who doesn't control the details. But catering is diligent, and he makes money by controlling costs in detail.
This is an example of failure because cost management is not done well, and it has also planted the seeds of bad catering in my heart.
The year before last, a Sichuan snack bar named Shuzhiwei opened in the central pedestrian street of our city. The storefront is about 80 square meters, and most of the meals are noodles and flour. Later, maocai was added. Dandan Noodles's cooking is delicious. Wang Xiansen and I made a special trip to eat several times. Every time it is empty, no one has ever checked in. Faster than eating, looks clean and tidy. The good times didn't last long, and it closed less than a year after opening the store.
Years ago, we went to another city to handle affairs, chose a shop called Chongqing Xiaomian, and ordered Dandan Noodles and chicken offal Xiaomian. The taste is really average, which is below the average, but it can't accommodate many people, and the seat has to wait, and the turnover rate is relatively high. When we went there, it was not over 60, and it was estimated that the daily turnover was around 5,000. The storefront is next to the entrance of a large local supermarket, and there are many people. In addition to noodles and flour, there are also chicken and a shop window selling braised dishes, which can be taken away or eaten cold on the spot.
After dinner, we analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of these two stores on the way.
First, the name of the store: the name of Shuzhiwei does not reflect the meal, and it does not sound like the main content of this store, while the name of Chongqing noodles at least sounds like it probably knows that there will be small noodles to sell;
Second, site selection: Shuwei is chosen at a small fork in the central block, surrounded by famous shops, and the crowd has no desire to consume snacks; Chongqing noodle is selected at the entrance of the supermarket, and the wishes of consumers are consistent with the contents provided by the store;
Third, meals: since the restaurant has been opened, most of the meals are above the ordinary level, and they should be distinctive.
We have a friend. He just started his business at the age of 20, and it has been 25 years now. There are several successful companies. He personally loves the catering industry, so he has been engaged in the catering industry intermittently. He opened five restaurants at a time, and finally joined in and opened a hot pot brand store, which was really successful.
He first opened a shop when he was in his twenties. According to him, this is all-out. After two years of hard work, he made no profit.
The second time it opened in the back alley of a university, it was a Hong Kong-style tea restaurant. At first, the business was not bad. After a long time, customers began to sparse, but the decoration cost was invested. In less than two years, they lost hundreds of thousands.
The third time, I opened a coffee bar with Mediterranean flavor. In the downtown area of the provincial capital city, the name was specially chosen and the publicity was in place, but the attendance rate was not good. Later, my friend said that Feng Shui didn't suit me, so I dropped it hastily. After changing hands, I went several times, which is also a general business.
The fourth time, we ate a Chaoshan restaurant together, and the food was unique. The boss didn't want to work, my friend took over, hehehe, and then changed hands.
For the fifth time, my friends took the right path. I took a few local foodies to try more than a dozen hot pot restaurants in Sichuan and Chongqing, and then chose one to join. The store opened a little over 1 year, and the investment payback period has not yet arrived. Of course, my friends are very careful, and the store managers are all people who specialize in underwater fishing. We have been there several times and have to wait for seats every time. Group buying and delivery of various activities have never stopped. But according to friends, it only increased the daily cash flow.
20 14 after I met a group of friends, all kinds of arguments about starting a business have never stopped. Cafe is the one I listen to the most.
Coffee shop is the most difficult restaurant to open now. Even a company specializing in coffee shops can't guarantee that every store will be profitable. Starbucks is highly respected, in fact, largely because it has done difficult things well.
Friends who usually come to talk to me about cafes, I can't say the following words. Ask about the business plan, investment ratio, business ideas, precipitation period, and basically say nothing. It's also normal. Most people who want to open a coffee shop have a literary heart, but business is so cruel that it simply can't accommodate this literary imagination.
Howard schultz, one of the founders of Starbucks, once opened a cafe called Tiantian, but it ended in failure. He also returned to Starbucks, and it took 10 years to open the Starbucks we see now. The core factors have not changed, but it is still possible to face failure.
The catering business was a diligent activity in ancient times. Today, it is not only hard work that can be done well. Diligence can only ensure that the loss is not so serious.
Naming, site selection, dining and cost control, even if they are all well done, have the probability of fiasco. The good shops you can see are all the deviations of survivors.
I remember Ole invited investment when he didn't start a business, and wanted to invite Haidilao to open a shop in it, so he invited Zhang Yong to see the store and put forward many favorable conditions. Zhang Yong spent half a day walking around the empty Aulery, and then said that although the conditions were really exciting, he couldn't drive because the crowd's mentality didn't suit the customers who ate Haidilao hot pot.
What we can't learn from Haidilao is more about Zhang Yong's ability of "doing something and not doing something".