Chen Pingjiang went directly to a barbecue restaurant called Xiaozheng Barbecue on the commercial street opposite the University of Finance and Economics.
He had inspected this shop for quite some time.
He currently has less than 140,000 RMB, which is far from enough to launch an internet project directly.
After much thought, he decided to start with a small business near the university town.
Inns are a good business, but their drawbacks are also obvious.
Inns near schools don't have the concept of hourly rooms; they usually offer overnight stays at low prices.
In such a place, running a high-end inn is neither realistic nor too costly.
Milk tea shops are also good, but one that has good business is unwilling to transfer, and another has a terrible location.
In the end, Chen Pingjiang focused on barbecue restaurants instead of considering regular restaurants.
This was mainly because barbecue restaurants generally have lower transfer fees, don't require too many chefs and specialized skills, offer larger profit margins, and have longer operating hours at night.
As Chen Pingjiang's status in the college student union gradually rises, the business here will gradually improve.
Entering Xiaozheng Barbecue, Chen Pingjiang shouted out.
It was four in the afternoon, and no customers had arrived yet; the kitchen was preparing dishes.
The owner of Xiaozheng Barbecue, naturally, has the surname Zheng.
The shop employs one master chef for grilling, plus a general helper auntie.
"Boss Zheng!"
Boss Zheng was not tall, had a beer belly, and was about forty years old.
"Why are you here again?"
Boss Zheng remembered Chen Pingjiang; they had chatted last time after he saw the "for transfer" advertisement at the door.
"Let's finalize what we discussed last time today,"
Chen Pingjiang handed him a cigarette.
This made Boss Zheng a bit stunned.
Last time, he didn't take Chen Pingjiang seriously, thinking he was just a student.
Who would have thought he'd come again today and want to finalize it right away?
"Are you joking or serious?"
Chen Pingjiang said affirmatively,
"How could I have that much free time to tease you? Of course, I'm serious."
The master chef and the general helper auntie in the back kitchen poked their heads out to listen.
Although they knew the shop had put up a "for transfer" advertisement a long time ago, it hadn't been transferred yet.
Now they were concerned about whether they would lose their jobs.
Boss Zheng hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
Although he had poured a lot of effort into this shop, it simply wasn't making money.
When he first started the business, he heard people say that a shop is "kept" into success.
If he heard that again now, he would definitely go up and slap that person to death.
If the barbecue restaurant was operating at a huge loss, he would have quit long ago.
But after paying the workers' wages from the monthly profit, he could occasionally save two to three thousand yuan.
However, this is a university town after all, with no residential areas, and rent still has to be paid during students' winter and summer vacations every year.
Calculating it for the whole year, it wasn't worth it.
Every time he thought about holding on, but after holding on for two years, the business was still the same.
Later, he realized that opening a barbecue restaurant near a university, location advantage is first, price is second, and taste is third.
The customer base led to a low repurchase rate, mainly catering to student class gatherings.
Every time the student union or various associations came to solicit sponsorships, he sponsored some, but it had no effect.
"Then it's the 130,000 we discussed last time. Everything in the shop belongs to you, including three months' rent."
After deciding to transfer, Boss Zheng felt relieved.
He had been reluctant to give up and wanted to persist, but now he wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Chen Pingjiang pulled up a stool and sat down, "120,000."
Boss Zheng immediately disagreed,
"No, no. If it were 120,000, I might have transferred it out long ago. Why wait until now? Besides, didn't we agree last time?"
Chen Pingjiang smiled apologetically, then said frankly,
"I won't hide it from you, Boss Zheng. I do have 130,000, but it's only 130,000. If I give it all to you, I won't have any money left for minor renovations and buying ingredients after taking over the shop."
He paused, then continued,
"If you agree, we'll sign the contract. If not, we'll drop the transfer. How about it?"
When buying things, it's always right to haggle whenever possible, to bargain down the price.
However, this wasn't a small knife; it was a forty-meter long sword, which made Boss Zheng frown, looking unhappy, and he kept silent.
Chen Pingjiang persuaded him,
"If I were you, I wouldn't waste time here. It's already mid-September, and winter vacation is just a few months away. A person moves to live, a tree moves to die. You might as well look for other projects to do."
This sentence immediately hit Boss Zheng's weak spot.
The off-season for barbecue restaurants is from November to February-March of the following year.
When it's cold, students are too lazy to go out.
Moreover, with beer and barbecue, people don't want to drink beer when it's cold.
"Alright, 120,000. Not a penny less."
Chen Pingjiang was also very straightforward and immediately went to the neighboring print shop, found a transfer agreement online, and printed it out.
Both parties signed, agreed on a time to change the business license, paid 60,000 upfront, and the remaining balance would be transferred after the business license change was completed.
Flipping through the transfer agreement in his hand, Boss Zheng felt a sense of relief and sighed,
"It's really hard to let go. I hope this shop thrives under your management."
Boss Zheng called over the chef Ai Zhiwei and the general helper auntie Bao Yufang, and introduced them to Chen Pingjiang.
Chen Pingjiang wanted both of them.
After a bit of reassurance, he asked,
"What are Master Ai and Auntie Bao usually responsible for?"
Ai Zhiwei was not tall and had a reserved personality:
"Mainly grilling skewers. Boss, don't worry, I know everything the master chef knows."
Boss Zheng also nodded repeatedly,
"Xiao Ai's skills are not bad. Our grilled lamb kidney and various skewers taste good."
Bao Yufang, in her early fifties, with white hair at her temples, also looked honest and dutiful:
"I mainly wash dishes, prepare ingredients, and clean."
After thinking for a moment, Chen Pingjiang said,
"Our shop will close for three days first. Master Ai and Auntie Bao will cooperate with me on other tasks."
Taking over the shop is just the first step; how to manage it next is the top priority.
Chen Pingjiang had previously analyzed the problems of Xiaozheng Barbecue: the shop lacked style, the dishes were not differentiated, the location advantage was poor, and insufficient staff led to bad service.
Countless problems needed to be corrected one by one.
Next, he needs to hire a head chef to work with Ai Zhiwei, one for stir-frying and one for grilling.
Auntie Bao's current job remains unchanged, and he also needs to specifically hire a waiter and a shop manager.
Originally, Boss Zheng handled ordering, serving, and cashier duties.
Chen Pingjiang still has classes, so he naturally can't sit in the shop every day.
After the personnel configuration is set up and things are running smoothly, he only needs to come in daily to check the accounts.
Although suddenly paying three additional salaries, Xiaozheng Barbecue must do this to turn itself around.
If it continues with the previous workshop-style operation, it will be difficult to achieve significant success.
Only by doing a good job in team building, personnel training, and process management can the successful business model be replicated later.
After hiring staff, they will modify the shop's soft furnishings, test dishes, and then create a new menu, aiming for differentiation in the dishes.
A large part of Xiaozheng Barbecue's poor business stems from its dishes.
They were just some conventional barbecue items plus a few cold dishes, with no "main" dishes, truly making it a barbecue shop in name only.
This led to low per capita consumption, low added value, and inability to compete with other shops.
After all, what you have, others also have; what you don't have, others do.
How can you compete?
Chen Pingjiang has already developed a detailed plan for rectification and a marketing strategy for this.
Choosing a suitable shop manager is the top priority.
If Chen Pingjiang is not there, and no one manages the staff, it won't work.
Otherwise, if there's corruption in buying ingredients or at the cashier, the shop won't make money.
The most terrifying things are slacking off during work, or customer complaints going unresolved, which would be disastrous.
Even if employees have conflicts, there's no one to mediate.
(End of chapter)
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