Tech Planet (WeChat ID: tech618)
Text | He Xuyang
Cover source | Figureworm Creative
Hu Ting cried.
On the morning of March 31, Hutou Bureau founder Hu Ting finally couldn't bear it in the face of a group of employees and suppliers who angrily surrounded her and couldn't get money for months.
She described the current state of the company: there were no more assets on the books; If the company is to be liquidated, it can get at most two or three million, but at present, the company owes 10 million wages at the Shanghai headquarters alone.
Tech Planet obtained a recording of Hu Ting talking to everyone when he was surrounded by Hutou Bureau's Shanghai Green Valley headquarters, which recorded the entire process of Hutou Bureau employees, suppliers and Hu Ting's confrontation. In the recording, Hu Ting talks about the current state of the company and the efforts made in the past few months to keep the company alive. In fact, as early as last November, the company's operation was on the verge of desperation, when shareholders advised Hu Ting to liquidate, but Hu Ting did not choose to do so, she still wanted to work harder.
This is consistent with the rumors in the industry, it was during this period that Hutou Bureau was exposed to be in arrears of employee wages and supplier payments, and its Guangzhou office was also labeled by suppliers as "Hutou Bureau owes hard-earned money without saying anything".
On January 12 this year, Hu Ting claimed to CBN that he had obtained a new round of financing, but Hutou's business did not improve, and many stores continued to be out of stock. On March 27, the self-media "Shenzhen Factory" broke the news that the financing obtained by Hutou Bureau could not fill employee salaries and supplier payments. On March 30, Xiaohongshu blogger "Crazy Product Jason" revealed that Hutou Bureau was on the verge of bankruptcy, and employees had formed a rights protection group.
Once a new consumer star brand, now the situation is embarrassing.
Recall that in 2019, Hutou Bureau was a well-deserved new consumption "Internet celebrity", when Hutou Bureau opened its first store on Cai Wei South Road in Changsha, with an area of only 53 square meters, setting a record for the highest single-store revenue of 1.27 million yuan in a single month. In 2021, when there were less than 10 stores, Hutou Bureau took the lead in obtaining financing from well-known institutions such as Sequoia China and IDG. Hu Ting made a bold statement that he plans to open 100 directly-operated stores in the core area of the first line within one year.
Now, the Changsha Cai Wei South Road store has closed, and thinking about the hot scene here three years ago, everything is like a dream.
From hot to falling, why did the tiger head bureau come to this? On the verge of life and death, can Hu Ting still lead the tiger head to survive?
A phrase of "national tide" has become the new favorite of Generation Z
The secret to the rise of Hutou Bureau lies in the new concept it has developed: new Chinese baking.
The so-called "new Chinese baking" is actually the combination of Chinese pastry and Western baking, while retaining the characteristics of traditional Chinese pastry, it integrates the process and raw materials of Western pastry, for example, meat pine scallop is sprinkled with Chinese meat floss on Western cake, and popping mochi is to use Western cream as a filling of Chinese mochi.
This mash-up breaks the long-standing production process of traditional Chinese pastries, which can not only enrich the taste, but also diversify the products. Tiger Head Bureau can successfully become popular, not only because of the product experience, but also because it accurately grasps the social needs of Generation Z and is willing to try new consumer pain points.
Hu Ting once joined a Western-style bakery chain entrepreneurial team and discovered opportunities in Chinese bakery in the process of entrepreneurship. Traditional Chinese baking, the production is too single, and the queues are all elderly; The Western-style bakery is too fine, too inefficient, and the store is too heavy.
Hu Ting believes that Chinese baking needs to be transformed into snacks, combined with new ways of communication and fission, and become a social label for young people. For example, Western-style baked mochi balls are 3 to 5 packs, each about 25g, the form is large, easy to make consumers feel "guilty" after eating. The grape Q mochi potato transformed by the tiger head bureau makes the mochi small to the extent of one bite, like eating a snack.
In marketing, Hu Ting organized the images of tigers, dim sum, bureaus, and Chinese red, and sacrificed the gimmick of "national tide". In an exclusive interview, Hu Ting once said that tigers can have diversified expressions in visual communication, and it is easy to make a very trendy super IP. And the word "bureau" naturally has a sense of rivers and lakes and grounding, and it is easy to "play", so it is called tiger head bureau.
It is worth mentioning the location selection, the headquarters of Hutou Bureau is in Shanghai, but the first store is in Changsha, which is not difficult to see Hu Ting's thoughts. Changsha is a hot land with many myths of new consumption, and successful people such as Chayan Yueshi, Wen Heyou, and Chef Fei's chili stir-fried meat have become the city's bright business card. But there are also countless people who have broken the sand, and countless brands have ushered in a cold winter here, with layoffs, losses, and store closures one after another.
But Changsha's Wuyi Square, which is still lit up at three o'clock in the morning, still attracts countless latecomers to try to have their place here.
The tiger head game succeeded. "Midpoint West do + snack + national tide", a set of combination punches down, the tiger head bureau became a hit in Changsha. Checking in and exchanging pastries has even become an important means for young people to build their social image. Since then, from offline to online, Hutou Bureau has opened its own crazy expansion road.
Dong Xie became a Douyin anchor of Hutou Bureau during the "Double 11" period in 2021, and she remembers that the maximum transaction amount of Hutou Bureau's single-day live broadcast can reach 800,000 yuan, and on average, it is about hundreds of thousands of yuan per day. At that time, she only had a salary of 6,000 to 7,000 yuan a month, but the management promised them that if the popularity of the live broadcast did not decrease and the prosperity of the Hutou Bureau Director continued, she could earn 400,000 yuan a year by raising achievements.
At that time, there was no shortage of "true love fans". Dong Xie is most impressed by a Douyin user, as long as his name appears in the live broadcast room, Hutou Bureau's popular product mochi tiger roll can sell dozens or even hundreds of copies.
If you go back, the end of 2021 may be the peak of the tiger head. At the end of 2021, Hutou Bureau carried out intensive brand marketing in Changsha: they packaged the theme train of Metro Line 2, launched nearly 10,000 popular smart screens of popular commercial buildings and residences, and appeared on Hunan Satellite TV to cooperate with celebrities to plant grass... Through this series of actions, Tiger Head Bureau quickly gained hundreds of millions of exposures in a short period of time.
In 2021, Hutou held a "pet fan family banquet" in Chinese New Year's Eve Changsha, and the co-founder and product research and development leader of Hutou Bureau personally attended and met with "tiger fan". At the pet fan banquet, Hutou Bureau collected fans' voices, messages and even complaints on different platforms, and cast them on the big screen of Wuyi Square, a well-deserved golden point in Changsha.
When "Out of breath, my family's tiger son is present" hit the big screen of Wuyi Square, the mood of carnival burned to its peak, and the tiger head game ushered in its own highlight moment.
Sharply turned, and the tiger head game fell into a vicious circle
The turning point occurred in April 2022, when the outbreak of the epidemic in Shanghai put Hutou in trouble for the first time. It was at this time that anchor Dong Xie signed the consent form for the mandatory salary reduction.
According to the above recordings obtained by Tech Planet, Hu Ting recalled that the two largest shareholders of Hutou Bureau and other industry figures at that time proposed to her not to open new stores, and to carry out a major layoff of the Shanghai headquarters, leaving only about 30 people to support the company's operations.
But Hu Ting did not heed their advice. "After finally building the headquarters, wouldn't this return to the manpower state of the start-up overnight?" After Hu Ting rejected the shareholders' choice, for three months, the shareholders were unwilling to deal with her again.
Under the influence of the epidemic, the supplier and Hu Ting persevered until November 2022, which was really unsustainable, and could only choose to run out of stock. After consulting, Hu Ting calculated the assets of Hutou Bureau and found that "the value of our assets is not enough to pay everyone's salary", and Hutou Bureau really came to the edge of the cliff.
Hu Ting faced a choice: should he choose to liquidate, or continue to insist? Choosing to liquidate, the tiger head bureau can not fully repay, all parties can only "set some money", and the last hundred. Hu Ting wants employees to give her another window of time.
As it turned out, the decision didn't seem wise. The hole in the tiger head bureau is getting bigger and bigger. On the morning of March 31, Hu Ting sighed in front of the employees, did he choose to liquidate, everyone can now find a new job, will not lose so much?
At that time, Hu Ting was unwilling to give up. So Hu Ting insisted on taking everyone to gamble when he owed employees wages and supplier payments. At the end of 2022, Hutou Bureau was drawn by banks for loans due to poor operation throughout the year, and some suppliers filed for property preservation, and its account was frozen. Hu Ting apologized to the employees of the procurement department, because at the end of the year, Hutou Bureau should have paid the supplier for the goods, but the promise could not be fulfilled, and the supplier's anger was transferred to the employees of the procurement department.
Lingdong, an employee of the purchasing department, angrily referred to Hutou Bureau as a "flickering bureau", and Ling Dong, who had been owed wages for four and a half months, told Tech Planet that after Hutou Bureau closed its stores in Beijing and Chengyu, it "no longer cares about suppliers' accounts". Hutou Bureau has a total of 50 or 60 suppliers, with a total arrears of about 40 million, plus hundreds of millions of previous project payments, stores, and rents.
Ling Dong also learned that a supplier told his colleagues that Hu Ting had replaced the payment code of the Shanghai store, and after the customer scanned the code, the money would be directly credited to the supplier's account. The supplier is responsible for supplying most of the store's ingredients, such as flour, raisins, condensed milk, etc. Hu Ting tried to repay the two million money owed in this way, so that the supplier could continue to supply so that the Shanghai store could be sold, "but this is a malicious transfer of assets!" ”
Tech Planet contacted the supplier by phone. The other party said that the company provided dairy products for Hutou Bureau, and it was indeed owed by Hutou Bureau, but the specific amount was not clear to him, and it was not convenient to disclose other aspects.
As for the "exchange of payment code" statement, Hu Ting denied it. During this time, she accomplished three things: first, through three or four months of running, she obtained the "TS (Investment Letter of Intent) of State-owned Capital"; Second, it has won the support of "old shareholders and other industrial parties"; Third, she herself signed a guarantee of 9 million so that the supplier could continue to ship.
On January 12 this year, Yicai learned from Hu Tingkou that Hutou Bureau had obtained a new round of financing invested by Sequoia Capital and GGV Jiyuan Capital. Relevant people from Hutou Bureau said that in this financing, more than one industrial party has signed a contract, but the specific name will be disclosed later.
Hu Ting finally caught a glimmer of life. At the end of February, she held a meeting to explain to employees the current situation of the company. Tech Planet got the full recording of the meeting. At the meeting, Hu Ting promised that the salary owed would be paid by the end of March.
Hu Ting also reassured employees that the amount of funds that have been signed is twice the financial pressure that needs to be absorbed, but the signing cycle has only recently been completed, and two more agreements are still in the process of being signed, and all of them will be received in mid-to-late April. Tech Planet contacted a sales employee at Hutou's Shanghai store on March 27, who said the company said materials and employees would resume starting April 5.
At the meeting, Hu Ting optimistically said that Hutou Bureau was rescued from the edge of the cliff. After the speech, the audience applauded.
However, the reality is harsh, and it turns out that Hu Ting is overly optimistic. After the meeting, Hu Ting found that the supplier had already prepared the information, so he sent it and waited to see if the funds in the Hutou Bureau account could flow and pay for the goods. "But because we were frozen for a long time, it took more time for the court to lift the interim measures, so we couldn't pay."
In a fit of rage, the supplier filed a lawsuit, resulting in the account being frozen again. Tech Planet visited many branches of Hutou Bureau in Shanghai, Changsha and Guangzhou from March 25~March 27, and found that although many stores showed normal business on the catering platform, they were either closed or the store was empty, and a notice was hung out saying "Due to equipment failure, the product has been sold out today". At the same time, because the salaries of the originally promised employees could not be paid, there were successive reports on the Internet that Hutou Bureau was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Caption: A copy of Hu Ting's handwritten payment plan for a supplier of consumables supplies in Shanghai that Ling Dong showed to Tech Planet, Ling Dong said that the company has sued.
Tiger Head has fallen into a vicious circle: accounts are frozen, and payments and salaries cannot be issued; It cannot be distributed, the store is out of stock seriously, and negative public opinion emerges on the Internet; Negative public opinion has emerged on the Internet, suppliers are even more afraid to deliver, and there is no turnover in stores; There was no turnover in the store, more suppliers sued, and the account was frozen again.
Faith is gold. The tiger head bureau seemed to be in an avalanche, and the online post on the evening of March 30 became "the last straw that broke the camel's back".
On the morning of March 31, Hu Ting said in front of employees that she had spent four days negotiating with a supplier to supply the store, because of the negative public opinion that had just broken out, "today he may hesitate again." It took three or four months to negotiate with "state-owned capital", but now it is likely to fail. Today, the old shareholder came to her and asked, "Are you only going to take the road of liquidation and bankruptcy"?
The myth is shattered, and Hu Ting is desperate to survive
Is there a solution?
Hu Ting still does not want to carry out bankruptcy liquidation, she explained to the employees that after liquidation, there are few assets, and first have to pay the salaries of the personnel of the bankruptcy liquidation team, then pay the salaries of employees and suppliers, and finally some rigid debts. But when it comes to the second step, there may be only two or three million left, and the Shanghai headquarters alone, the company owes ten million wages.
Hu Ting hopes to continue to operate, because only in this way can he get out of the current vicious circle and "enter a state of positive profit". She plans to keep 5 to 10 people in the Shanghai headquarters to be in charge of various divisions. "Stores must continue to operate, because 'without operation, there is no ability to repay', and only with operation can there be flow."
In addition, it gradually divested its business in other regions outside Shanghai by joining the company. At the end of 2022, Hutou Bureau, which was caught in rumors of layoffs and arrears at that time, tweeted "I want to talk to you about some of the current changes in Hutou Bureau" on the public account, and the article announced the opening of business partners in some regions, and then deleted.
Tech Planet observed that the business partner application form of Hutou Mini Program shows that the option of "own funds that can be invested in the franchise" involves an investment range of "less than 1 million" to "2 million to 3 million", and the threshold for joining is not low.
A store manager of Wuhan Hutou Bureau told Tech Planet that at the end of February this year, "the development of Hutou Bureau and his friend" took the agent of the entire Hubei Province, and the specific cost is not clear. In its heyday, Hutou Bureau had 14 stores in Wuhan, and only 7 remained, all of which were joined. After joining, Wuhan can get more goods than other regions, but it is also in a state of shortage and the rent is in a state of arrears.
Another Hutou Bureau Changsha store franchise person told Tech Planet that one store in Changsha has been joined by Hutou Bureau shareholders, and other stores are currently closed.
Hu Ting believes that Hutou Bureau has a certain reputation in the minds of consumers, and only by continuing to operate, consumers, employees, suppliers and investors can rebuild confidence in Hutou Bureau, and Hutou Bureau can turn over, "black fire is also fire". She promised that "I will never disappear" and that she will continue to work hard to find funding, communicate with suppliers, and hope that everyone will give her more time.
But do employees buy it?
After Hu Ting put forward this idea, he said that if the turnaround can be successful, everyone can get the salary in response in 2-3 months. Some employees said on the spot, don't "turn around", the company has too many routines. Ling Dong, on the other hand, believes that this is just a means for Hu Ting to win the sympathy of others, and everyone is here to work, not to engage in charity.
In the rights defense groups formed by employees, some have offered to contact Xianyu to sell the company's refrigerators, televisions and warehouses. At present, the headquarters office of Hutou Bureau has been almost emptied, computers have been removed, and the "Feishu" functional group of Hutou Bureau will be deactivated due to cost problems.
Some employees questioned Hu Ting's "existence in words and disappearance in action." Some employees had serious illness due to their parents, there were huge financial difficulties at home, and there was no other place to borrow money, so they contacted Hu Ting alone on WeChat to hope that he would pay his salary, but Hu Ting did not continue to reply after agreeing.
As for if the store continues to operate, how quickly can it get new funds to relieve the difficulties? Hu Ting's reply was "2 to 3 weeks". In 2 to 3 weeks, you will know the answer to the tiger head game.
Hu Ting is making a last-ditch effort.
(Note: Dong Xie and Ling Dong are pseudonyms in the text)