A 14-year-old professional manager lamented one year after starting a business: Making money just by opening a store is all an illusion!

A professional manager who has been in business for 14 years laments: Making money just by opening a store is all an illusion!

Eight years ago, he was the general manager of a restaurant company in Beijing, and I interviewed him once; 4 years ago, he was promoted to the company’s operations director, and I interviewed him twice; now, he is independent After starting the business for more than a year and opening three single-product chain stores, I met and interviewed him again by chance. Meeting old friends, the hourly interview got straight to the point. The first question was: How does it feel to be your own boss? Unexpectedly, this question hit the right spot. From a professional manager to a boss, his experience along the way made him Very emotional! Let’s listen to his interview story.

To be honest, I had some unpleasant quarrels with my boss when I resigned. He didn’t want me to leave. I have worked with him for 14 years. I have been working with him since I started serving food, and have been in charge, foreman, operations director, and general manager of the company. He has really trained me along the way.

In fact, my idea is very simple. I see many people around me who are doing well in entrepreneurship, and some are even less capable than me, but they are doing well. I feel that I will lose money if I don't start a business.

So, in June last year, no matter how much my boss tried to dissuade me, I decided to start a business and open a restaurant, and built this catering brand.

It’s really emotional to actually do it yourself and become the boss!

My first feeling is:

Watching other people make money by opening a store, that’s all It’s an illusion! Before I started my business, all I heard and saw was: What kind of store was opened where, how small the area was, and how amazing the turnover was?, What kind of store, and how fierce the queue was for the opening

I’m used to hearing this. After hearing this kind of information, and what others said when they introduced it, people who didn’t know anything about catering would queue up to open a store. You are so professional, how could you be better than them just by doing it casually? After hearing this, I was naturally tempted and thought that opening a store would make money. It’s a very simple thing!

The project I chose is a single-product project that everyone agrees with, is easy to get started, and is easy to chain. The area of ??a single store does not exceed 150 square meters, and the total investment in a single store is less than 1 million. It is taking the route of "rapidly spreading, occupying the market" and occupying the first place in a certain category.

So, I opened three stores at once and spent all my savings.

The planning and imagination are very good, and there is no big problem with the product. However, the business is not as good as expected!

What is the problem?

▲Catering is a systematic project, and branding is also a systematic lesson. We often just see it. Others think that the tip of the iceberg is everything. In fact, the part that is not exposed underwater is the core competitiveness of the entire enterprise!

　▲Same project, same product, same location , different people and different companies do it, and the results are completely different!

My project will look good to any professional. It has a concept, an image, a clear selling point, and the product is also good. Not bad, but if you put it in a huge shopping mall, compete with fifty or sixty restaurants of various kinds, and use all kinds of marketing methods, it is still in a slightly profitable state.

There are three types of stores with queues:

1. Either very cheap!

2. Or a big brand!

3. Either New and unique!

The first type requires strong operational capabilities to ensure delicious food and low prices; the second type is Xibei and Grandma’s, needless to say the advantages; the third type is continuous Sex is very bad and often disappears within a few months.

Look at the shopping mall, there are more people who are not queuing than those who are queuing, and there are more people who have been replaced than those who are still there!

Being a boss is very glamorous, it’s all superficial. !When I wasn’t the boss, I went out with my boss and was very envious of his “unlimited scenery”. Sometimes I wonder, if I become a boss, will it be the same?

When I really do it myself, I really experience the "scenery" of being a boss, and I am indeed taken more seriously wherever I go.

However, behind the scenes is walking on thin ice:

Daily business data can affect your mood at any time;

Today this employee resigned, and tomorrow that employee will want to Job hopping, there are endless troubles to solve every day;

Products are standard today, but they are out of shape tomorrow;

Customers have negative reviews today, but will there be complaints tomorrow?

Only now do I know that I used to be very envious of my ex-boss’s “big dinners” and “mutual compliments”. In fact, he was not “enjoying” but “working”: to expand the corporate circle and to get close to advantageous resources. , In order to attract talents?

Anyway, is it really not a pleasure to eat?!

Now I am socializing, attending meetings, and eating for various purposes every day, which seems to be "scenery". , In fact, it’s harder than going to work!

Boss, you must be a nagging one? Tang Monk?! When my friends call me, my usual reply is? I’ll contact you after the meeting!?

A friend said: Weren’t you most annoyed by meetings before? Why do you still have meetings every day now?

This is also an obvious psychological change after becoming your own boss:

In the past, you always felt like the boss? Making a fuss out of a molehill? You have to hold a meeting to make a big deal out of a molehill. It's a hassle and it doesn't solve the problem. So I think it's better to do more practical things.

Now I understand:

The most important thing when leading a team is to unify the mind!

The purpose of meetings is not to solve problems, but to convey ideas, Unify ideas;

Meetings are not about doing a specific thing at the meeting, but more about boosting morale.

I used to think of myself as "Sun Wukong", doing practical things and being talented; I looked down on the leader "Tang Monk" who only chanted sutras and liked to nag. But now, I have become a "Monkey King" every second. ?Tang Monk?!

Often I am reminded of one thing many times, but still make the same mistake again;

I emphasize one thing countless times, but it is still ignored;

?

My former boss held meetings every day, day and night. After one thing was said, he would continue talking the next day?

Now that I think about it, could this not be the case?

< p> It may not work if you say it, but it will be more terrifying if you don’t say it?

Anxiety is the normal state of being a boss! Then there is anxiety.

I used to think that it would be great to be a boss. There would be people below to do the work, and he would be fine if he checked every day.

In fact, a state that I feel deeply now is:

Anxiety!

After starting my own business, I feel insecure.

I have been a professional manager for nearly 20 years, and I think I have sufficient experience in all aspects. However, I have been in a state of anxiety since the first day I started my business. In the past, no matter how difficult it was, the boss was responsible for it and you were not responsible for the final result. But now, when making any decision, you must consider the consequences.

In the past, when I encountered something unsatisfactory or unsatisfactory at work, I would think: At worst, I will go to another company to work, there will be many people poaching me!? No matter how the company is doing, as a professional manager, We will survive droughts and floods to ensure harvests.

But now, if you don’t do it well, you will lose everything!

I have communicated this kind of anxiety with many catering colleagues, even if I have been an old catering owner for ten or twenty years , still in a state of anxiety every day.

This may be the norm for bosses.

Frequent changes, what are the advantages of having the same boss?! There is a problem that bothers me when communicating with my team:

What has just been decided, how many days will it take? I feel like there is something wrong and I need to adjust it?

The team members said: Boss, the standards you just set have changed again!

This is different from when I was a professional manager. The problems I encountered were exactly the same:

According to the boss’s ideas, the ideas and standards were set, and maybe within a few days, the boss changed again!

I didn’t understand very much at the time: in the end What should we do?

Now think about it, the reason for such complaints is because I am not the boss and do not really understand the market!

Any good product has its early stages. A process of continuous trial and error;

Any standardized product still needs to be continuously upgraded;

Sometimes, change is progress!

Try it Wrong is also progress!

Therefore, being a boss will become particularly easy to change. This is also the most commonly used word by many professional managers to evaluate their bosses.

Now that I am a boss, I realize that if you don’t change, you may be waiting to die?!

Change? This is the advantage of being a boss!

You need to be cautious when starting a business. Projects that look beautiful on the outside actually have deep foundations! Finally, let’s talk about single-product small businesses.

There are so many people who want to do this!

The product is simple, the investment is small, and it is easy to chain. They all regard this as an entry-level project for entrepreneurship.

In fact, this is not the case.

For example, if you are making Roujiamo and want to create a brand of Roujiamo,

1. In terms of products, it is difficult for you to make better products than those made by street food stalls. Sell ??delicious food;

2. If you want to build a brand, you will open a store in a shopping mall or commercial office building center. Your rent will be very expensive, and your roujiamo must be sold at a high price;

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3. If you want to chain stores and liberate manpower, you need a central kitchen. Before you open many stores, you need to build a distribution center. Before you make a profit, you have to spend a lot of invisible money;

4. Because you are not a mom-and-pop shop and you have to hire employees, your salary costs cannot be low. For the same project, it is very profitable to run a mom-and-pop store, but you will not make any money if you open a chain of stores.

What most of us see are: 1. Roujiamo, the product is simple and easy to make; 2. Roujiamo is loved by everyone and easy to sell; 3. The shop is small and it is easy to open a shop. The cost is low; fourth, it is easy to chain and open dozens or hundreds of stores.

So, what appears to be a simple project is actually a large system behind it.

We have only seen one of their stores making money, but you don’t know where the key point is for them to make money.

1. Opening more stores and spreading them quickly is not called a "brand";

2. Choosing a single product does not mean it is "stable and standardized";

3. Small investment does not mean fast recovery.

4. Fewer people does not mean low labor costs.

This is a summary of my experience in running a single-product small business. When I was young, I wanted you to convey this to many entrepreneurs and prevent them from taking detours.

Finally, he specially warned: Xiao, it’s best not to mention my name and brand in this article, the circle is too small.

I want to share it with you, and I also hope that through your "Catering Times", more people like me who want to start a business can experience the other side of the boss, which is good for them and the entire industry. , especially for people like me who want to start a business in China’s entrepreneurial boom! ;