Chapter 165, The First Restaurant Chain
"Youyou praised you for being handsome and asked me if I had any single friends around me and if I could introduce them to someone."

The next day at work, when no one was in the office, Yu Li playfully hung around his neck.

"Don't make trouble, I'm working."

Li Zehua embraced her lovingly with one hand and held the documents in the other, "Who should I introduce? Introduce Brother Chao to her?"

"It's not impossible."

His eyes are filled with him, and even a moment of tenderness can make Yu Li very happy.

"Then you talk to Brother Chao."

My left hand subconsciously passed through the cuff, feeling the warmth, while my right hand held the pen.

Quickly edit files~
"We will go to various sites for on-site inspections later. You don't have to go. Stay in the company. The sun is too strong."

“Hmm~~~”

Looking out the window, the sun is shining brightly...

In the morning, we mainly accompanied the research teams from Shanghai and Minhang to conduct on-site visits and inspections on the development of the service industry under the new situation.

While Chimei Hummingbird is innovating in its business, it has provided nearly 6,000 jobs in Shanghai alone.

And it is increasing every day.

It's hard not to pay attention.

The whole process was followed and filmed by news media. The time was tight and the task was heavy. It had to be on the news in the evening and on the local headlines the next morning.

Everything is done to warm up for the press conference.

I ran back and forth between the school, residential area and commercial area in the morning. Fortunately, I did not slack off and was quite satisfied with everything.

Send the boss away and feel relieved.

"Why are you in such a hurry? I only received the notification late last night. I thought it was a prank."

Li Zehua breathed a sigh of relief. This was more tiring than fighting in a war. He was afraid of saying the wrong thing and had to think over every word.

Last night, I wanted to take Yu Li for a tour along the Huangpu River, maybe something unspeakable would happen. But as soon as Yu Li arrived, she received a call from the hall.

I was quite puzzled, so I went to Zhang Baige to confirm, and only then did I know it was true. Then I turned around and went back to arrange overtime work in the middle of the night to prepare for the reception.

"You are so ungrateful, kid. This is the focus of the higher-ups. They need to understand the real frontline situation and use it as a reference for formulating policies."

Zhang Baige, who accompanied him throughout the whole process, smiled and said, "You'll get used to it. Good things like this will happen frequently in the future. If you have nothing to do, just show up more often. It's a thousand times better than working hard."

"It's not that I'm inexperienced, I'm just nervous."

Li Zehua smiled and said to his colleagues, "How about going around in the field? It will give you a more intuitive feeling than sitting in the office, right?"

Lin Wenhui stayed up late for a meeting last night, and was pulled in early in the morning to work around. He yawned and looked listless. "The development is good, but there are also many problems."

“So I want to bring you guys to see it!”

Li Zehua spread his hands and said, "In the final analysis, it is still the lack of middle-level management. Many problems could have been properly solved at the front line.

However, due to the lack of such awareness or thinking, they can only passively give feedback upwards and wait for instructions from their superiors, which is equivalent to a mouthpiece.

It's OK if there are few people, but once we start to run our business, there are so many things to do that we just can't handle them all."

Qingyun Group has now developed a habit of working overtime!

From the top, from him as the chairman to every grassroots employee, everyone is engaged in a mad internal struggle.

But there are more and more things.

Contradictions are also accumulating little by little.

Ultimately, it's all Li Zehua's fault, because in his previous life, when he was in charge, there were only about 60 people under him.

The sales team he manages regards performance as everything. He just sets a goal and does the job, even if it is his turn to organize training or hold mobilization meetings.

Basically, it's just about sales skills, task goal analysis, scenario simulation, and experience summary.

So after eating the Hummingbird, everyone from top to bottom regarded themselves as workaholics, and the industry happened to be on the rise, so as long as they worked hard, they could make money.

However, due to the inherent deficiencies in employees' knowledge, ability and experience, they are unable to display their talents even if there is a platform.

It is unlikely that there will be any major breakthroughs in the short term, and there is still a long way to go in building the management team and the system.

In a nutshell, the execution is first-rate, but the management is poor. They discover many problems but deal with few of them, and they tend to push conflicts upwards.

The execution of orders is simple and rough, just to complete the task and get it over with. Most people basically don't think about it and never consider why they should do so.

What are the benefits of doing this and how can I do better?

Because in their opinion, it is totally unnecessary!

Instead of spending this much time, you might as well get more customers and send more orders, so that you can really make money.

Promotion?

Isn't that as it should be? The company is growing so fast and constantly opening up new markets, so there are plenty of vacant positions for webmasters, team leaders, and group leaders.

It is no exaggeration to say that in the past two or three months, few of the grassroots managers who were promoted were competent.

They basically rely on personal performance rather than management skills to break through.

This creates a vicious circle, as those with outstanding abilities are promoted and the average efficiency of the front-line delivery team decreases.

Because management could not keep up, new employees could not receive effective training and efficiency dropped again.

No matter how capable Li Zehua is, he cannot take care of tens of thousands of people by himself and handle every detail personally.

That would only make him run around like a headless fly, unable to accomplish anything.

Fortunately, now that venture capital has entered the picture, their connections can come in handy.

Zhang Lei carefully looked through the various information summaries and made an objective analysis: "The rapid development of the enterprise has concealed the problems and delayed the outbreak of conflicts.

No wonder you've been urging me to send you people lately!

Now it seems that it really needs to be resolved as soon as possible.

These problems may not seem serious at ordinary times, but once someone exploits them, it is easy to open a loophole internally.”

Who said no!
They can’t even do the simplest thing of standardizing the packaging of food in stores.

Not to mention the promotion of computer office in restaurants, at least 16% of the respondents in the questionnaire survey said they could accept it or were inclined to accept it.

But when it comes to actual promotion, it’s not the case at all.

Who would be willing to spend more than two thousand yuan to buy a computer?

What's more, there are additional expenses such as network cables, printing paper, and background maintenance fees.

What’s even more outrageous is that many stores don’t even have space to place computers. In the report, only a few promotion teams mentioned this, and no solutions were given.

There is also the problem of takeout delivery into residential areas and shopping malls being blocked by property management, which has led to a high complaint rate in this area and no solution has been proposed either.

In order to avoid similar complaints affecting bonus assessments, some sites even deliberately refuse to dispatch orders, leading to customers complaining online, etc.

All of this only shows that the middle and lower levels position themselves as executors rather than managers, and have no ability to identify and solve problems.

"Express delivery companies are obviously much better. This is the advantage of being a platform. In addition, they come from disciplined forces, so their obedience and execution are much stronger."

Of course, there are also highlights. Lin Wenhui summarized the problems encountered in the morning and gave incisive comments.

“But Fengniao and Chushime have two completely different operating models. Chushime is more inclined to take on too much responsibility, to do everything and to manage everything.

The team under it is completely business-oriented, which is not acceptable.

The next major direction of change should be to first change this part of the original management team into a business team, and the regional manager into a regional business manager.

The same principle applies to adding management managers. All branches and below can refer to this model. Don’t be afraid to spend money to hire people. A good manager can save much more cost than expenditure. ”

"So I need your help. For regional management alone, one or two hundred people will be enough in the short term, but from a national market perspective in the long term, one or two thousand people will not be enough."

Li Zehua was very distressed. He felt that the development time was too short, but there was not much time left for him. His competitors were eyeing him covetously and were ready to take action at any time.

"Don't worry too much."

Zhang Lei is very confident about this. "As Mr. Lin said just now, the dual parallel system of business and management has a major advantage.

That is, the external management team can quickly integrate into the existing system because they are not responsible for the main business and only need to focus on finding and filling gaps in the early stage.

Improve various rules and regulations, discover and solve problems on the front line. There are a lot of such people in China. As long as they can afford it, a large number of people can be arranged to come here in a short time."

"That's good."

Li Zehua was relieved. "Only in this way can we not worry about problems in the rear during a battle. It's almost twelve o'clock. It just so happens that the owner of a seafood restaurant chain wants to meet. How about you all go over and try some seafood and give some advice?"

Lin Wenhui became interested. "Is it part of the catering brand's self-operated plan?"

“Yes, now we are mainly targeting barbecue restaurants with better taste, fast food restaurants with uniform styles, and breakfast restaurants.

Only the owner of this seafood restaurant has always wanted to meet and talk about his ideas. Why not wait for a better day? Let’s chat while we eat.”

Li Zehua briefly explained the situation, and several bigwigs were quite interested, so they just went to the hotel and went over together...

The Chimei team came over to discuss cooperation.

He is Shi Jueming, the boss of Shiji Shiweixian, the one who runs a mid- to high-end seafood restaurant near the University of Foreign Languages.

Because his subordinate Manager Lei acted on his own and withheld the tips and errand fees of his waiters, he even tried to ask Chimo for rebates. When this failed, he refused to cooperate with the company.

From the very beginning, it was targeted by Chimo, and it did not hesitate to find similar restaurants from several kilometers away to compete with it.

They targeted various aspects including price, food quality, discounts, advertising, etc., and brought down the sales volume of Shiji Shiweixian.

Leaf Delivery originally wanted to take the opportunity to re-enter the school area, but before it could make any move, it was eaten with the help of the hummingbird.

With its aggressive entry into the commercial district, Didi’s food delivery business has been losing ground, and the school’s expansion plans are naturally out of the question.

Shi Jueming had no choice but to compromise and accept the 13% guaranteed commission.

What can he do?
If the fight continues, not only will the delivery orders be reduced to single digits, even the occupancy rate for dine-in restaurants cannot be guaranteed.

Store operating costs will not decrease due to a drop in sales. If your business is not good, will you ask the landlord to reduce the rent?

Should we ask employees to reduce their salaries? Should we ask food suppliers to reduce their prices?
It would be strange if people didn't think you were crazy.

In business, harmony brings wealth. It is not shameful to admit defeat if you are not as skilled as others. But it is shameful to be like the stubborn kid next door who refuses to admit defeat and is now on the verge of bankruptcy.

Shi Jueming has been running a restaurant for three generations and has a very thorough understanding of this issue.

Just now, he heard that ChiMei had an internal support plan for restaurant chains to acquire shares, and he immediately became interested.

After nearly 30 years of development, Shiweixian has only opened five stores in Shanghai. It took three weeks for it to open its stores, and it defeated him completely.

Is it still necessary to see who is stronger and who is weaker?
Especially in the past two days, the promoters all looked up at the sky as they walked, looking very happy.

After asking, I found out that they actually got $100 million in investment from venture capital (the people below didn’t know the details).

He was so envious that he held the stationmaster host and refused to let him go, giving him cigarettes and dinner, and trying to persuade him to report the incident until Li Zehua himself was alerted...

"Chairman, this is Shi Jueming, the boss of Shiweixian, Mr. Shi."

"You must be Chairman Li, right? Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome!"

Liang Xiaolong, the general manager of the Shanghai branch, accompanied him. As soon as Shi Jueming was introduced, he couldn't wait to come up and shake hands.

In order to welcome him, the Shiweixian Foreign Languages ​​College store was cleared out for the day today. He even pulled out the backstage chefs and cashiers to form a team to welcome him.

There was even a sign hanging on the gate, warmly welcoming Mr. Li Zehua, Chairman of Chimei, to come and give us guidance.

All that was missing was a lion dance team and a military band to play drums and gongs and set off firecrackers. This already attracted the attention of restaurant owners, employees and diners from the surrounding restaurants.

After all, the row of luxury cars at the door is quite eye-catching.

"Let me introduce you, this is Mr. Zhang Baige, Chairman of the Modu International Investment Group.

This is Mr. Lim Boon Hwee, Senior Executive Director of Temasek Holdings.

"This is Mr. Zhang Lei, founder and CEO of Gaoling Capital."

"Who is this……"

Shi Jueming just felt dizzy. This chairman and that executive president were either the chief executive officer or the general manager.

No matter who comes, he always has a bright smile on his face.

When Liang Xiaolong subtly pointed out that Zhang Baige was the chairman of Pudong Development Bank's parent company, Shi Jueming suddenly realized that a group of real dragons had come to the store today!

He was also lucky because this was the first time he had seen a mid- to high-end restaurant chain, which was a very good start.

It just so happened that a number of investors were present, and as one person's shortcomings made the others take stock, Li Zehua also needed more professionals to provide advice.

Once we entered the restaurant, the female manager who was originally responsible for reception and explanation began to stutter when she saw so many people and the camera crew following them.

Fortunately, no one paid attention to it. The big guys just took a quick look and found the decoration style of the upper and lower floors was okay.

The restaurant, where the average per capita consumption is over 100 yuan, has a fountain and rockery in the middle, and individual semi-open small rooms. It is already very good among stores of the same type.

“The freshness of the ingredients, the variety of dishes, the chefs and service team, the dining environment and the location are all good. The only thing is that the rent is a bit expensive.”

Zhang Lei whispered to Li Zehua, "I'm afraid your plan to cooperate directly with the landlord may not work here."

As he spoke, he pointed his finger around and looked out through the window. Even during the summer vacation, the flow of people on the college street was still quite high. You can imagine how terrifying it is during school hours.

"Everything depends on human effort! The rental cost must be reduced!"

Li Zehua is well aware of the rate at which housing prices will increase in the next few years. If he does not find his own way in advance, his plan to invest in a chain restaurant will probably be difficult to achieve.

Shi Jueming is instructing the chef team to put in their best efforts today and entertain the distinguished guests well.

He looked up and saw Liang Xiaolong reaching out to call him, so he hurried over, "Boss Liang, what's wrong?"

"Don't be so polite, we are all family."

Liang Xiaolong smiled and pointed at the ingredients in the introduction, "What's the matter with this one pot double serving?"

The chairman was chatting with someone just now, and he accompanied him throughout the whole process. Occasionally, he saw him take a few more glances at the label and casually said, "This is the flagship dish of the chain expansion."

He quickly called Shi Jueming to explain.

The latter was stunned for a moment and said, "This is very common. It is mainly due to the feedback from consumers in the Midwest who need some strong-flavored seafood to satisfy their taste buds.

In fact, it is just some crabs, prawns, potatoes, garlic, onions, ginger and other ingredients stewed in a pot.

Later, they found that the cost of one or two hundred yuan was too expensive and sales were not good, so they changed it to adding special soup pots after eating, and then blanch some meat and vegetables, making it economical and affordable to have a hot pot.

It’s no wonder that after this, many students came in groups to order. For more than 200 yuan, there were two kilograms of crabs, two kilograms of prawns, and some meat and vegetables, enough for four or five people to have a meal.”

“So delivery can also be eaten as hot pot?”

At some point, Li Zehua came up behind him and asked curiously.

Shi Jueming subconsciously glanced at the female supervisor, who reacted and quickly said, "It can't be delivered, because it must be heated continuously. The delivery package only has shrimp and crab side dishes."

"That's it."

Li Zehua was a little disappointed. It was certainly possible to do catering, but it was not possible to deliver goods, which was not in line with Chimo's overall strategy.

"That's not necessarily the case."

A tall chef from the chef team bravely said, "Boss, actually this set meal has been secretly ordered by many people."

Shi Jueming was obviously stunned for a moment, "Really?"

The chef and the foreman disagree?
Li Zehua was also puzzled.

Seeing that everyone was staring at him, the chef simply said, "The people who order this are mainly students from schools. They are not allowed to use high-power electrical appliances, so the induction cooker cannot be brought in.

But every time you order, we actually provide a charcoal stove, soup packets and side dishes.”

Shi Jueming was confused. "That's not right. We are eating the set meal that was launched on the platform, and it seems that this is not included?"

The tall man sneered, "Is that why you haven't talked about it for so long?"

He had long disliked Manager Lei, who had repeatedly deducted his salary for various reasons. The most intolerable thing was that he was originally responsible for kitchen purchasing.

Ever since he came, he has to take care of even this. How can I agree to this if I lose an income for no reason?

Today, the boss invited a bunch of guests over, and Manager Lei was arranged to entertain them outside, so he took the opportunity to speak out.

Shi Jueming glanced at the crowd a few times. Wherever he went, everyone was afraid and didn't dare to look him in the eye. How could they not understand?
However, Li Zehua was watching this with great interest.

It’s pretty good, the trip was not in vain. At least this restaurant has a signature dish that can be used to complement the takeaway strategy.

Otherwise, opening a restaurant purely for dine-in business wouldn't make much sense for him.

They have all been through a lot, so this little thing is not worth mentioning. Zhang Lei said, "Don't worry about us. Mr. Shi, just arrange the dishes. In the end, it's all about strength."

　When the disease is recurring, there is always something buzzing in my head, and I feel like I can't control myself and want to go crazy and smash things. I become crazy and irritable.

　　The next update will be around 11 am. Friends who haven’t joined the group can join. If the manuscript fee is received in the morning, 102+50 will be sent. If the manuscript fee is not received, it will be sent on Monday.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)