I have to say that opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared, and ordinary people go to a pancake stand to buy a pancake and eat it, just to fill their stomachs.
A couple of high-achieving students from Tsinghua University, they went to a pancake stall to buy a pancake, but because of a small episode, they actually started a business by selling pancakes at a stall.
Unexpectedly, they succeeded in starting a business, from the initial monthly income of 100,000 yuan, to the end of the annual income of 10 million, and even created their own pancake brand.
What's even more surprising is that in fact, before starting a business by selling pancakes at a stall, this Tsinghua high-achieving couple had already achieved an annual income of one million.
Someone asked two questions, "First, since you have earned one million a year, why do you want to set up a stall to sell pancakes and start a business?"
Question 2, "How did they succeed?"
1. A pancake shop opened by a high-achieving couple of Tsinghua University.
In 2014, under an office building in a CBD in Beijing, a pancake shop of less than 10 square meters opened, and the owners of this pancake shop were a Tsinghua couple Wu Yili and Liu Jiaxue, in addition, there was another Tsinghua top student.
Their pancakes are not cheap, an ordinary pancake, with an egg, some thin crisps, and a vegetable leaf, is sold for 10 yuan, compared to other pancake stalls, such a pancake can only be sold for 8 yuan.
Unexpectedly, although the price is expensive, the business has been relatively hot from the beginning, and what attracts customers is not only the identity of Tsinghua students, but more importantly, the pancakes sold by Wu Yili and Liu Jiaxue are healthy enough.
Why do Wu Yili's pancakes be healthy enough? This is viewed from the perspective of the materials used in the pancakes: the flour used in their household is special flour, the oil used is high-grade vegetable oil, the eggs used are farmer's eggs, and the crispy ones are also made from COFCO oil.
Even the mustard does not use ordinary mustard, but uses high-quality packaged mustard, and the hot sauce is also a brand-name bottled hot sauce.
It didn't take long for Wu Yili's pancake shop to achieve monthly sales of 100,000 yuan.
In fact, 100,000 yuan is not the limit of Wu Yili's pancakes, but the upper limit of the store area, after all, the space of 8 square meters can only accommodate four or five operators at most, and the number of pancakes that can be made every day is limited.
As a Tsinghua student, Wu Yili naturally knows that the most important thing to solve at present is to break the limit of store area.
In the eyes of ordinary people, they will also feel, "As long as Wu Yili rents a larger storefront, the space will become larger, and the sales will naturally double." ”
But I didn't expect Wu Yili's next move to be unexpected again.
Second, Wu Yili's keen mind.
If you want to understand why Wu Yili can be unexpected again and again, you must start from his life experience.
First of all, Wu Yili is a proper high-achieving student, and he was admitted to a famous high school in Beijing when he was admitted to high school, and being admitted to this school means that Wu Yili is one step closer to Tsinghua University and Peking University.
However, at that time, Wu Yili's score was a little hanging, and his grades ranked in the middle of this high school.
However, Wu Yili, who has always been smart, regarded his girlfriend Liu Jiaxue as his motivation object, and at that time, there was no problem in going to Tsinghua University and Peking University with Liu Jiaxue's grades.
Wu Yili often motivates himself, "You must study hard, otherwise you may be separated from your girlfriend for four years in the future." ”
It was under such self-motivation that Wu Yili was admitted to Tsinghua University as he wished, and unexpectedly his girlfriend Liu Jiaxue was admitted to Fudan University in Shanghai.
Although the loss of his girlfriend finally allowed Wu Yili and Liu Jiaxue to live a long-distance relationship.
However, Wu Yili himself has indeed tried his best.
After entering Tsinghua University, Wu Yili started his own life.
In addition to college, Wu Yili has already thought about how to start a business.
At that time, Wu Yili heard that many parents in Beijing would find many students from Tsinghua University and Peking University to help their children with tutoring courses after their children entered high school.
Many students in Wu Yili's class do the same when they have free time, going to their children's homes as tutors to earn living expenses.
However, Wu Yili did not do this.
Wu Yili directly found a few classmates in his class, and several of them successfully found a suitable source of students through a lecture, and then several of them directly opened a tutoring class.
The tutoring class was very successful, and it didn't take long for Wu Yili to earn more than 4,000 yuan.
4,000 yuan was very high at the time.
But later, other students went to graduate school, and the tutorial class couldn't be opened.
It lasted until his senior year, when Wu Yili finally graduated from his bachelor's degree.
After graduation, Wu Yili found a decent job, unlike others, Wu Yili did not engage in technical positions, but engaged in sales.
Wu Yili knows, "Everyone knows technology, but there is no upper limit to sales." ”
Not to mention, relying on his eloquent mouth and keen eyes, during the sales period, Wu Yili easily achieved an annual income of one million.
Wu Yili's girlfriend Liu Jiaxue studied for a master's degree at Tsinghua University after graduating from Fudan University, and also found a job in Beijing after graduating with a master's degree, and Liu Jiaxue quickly achieved an annual income of 500,000 yuan.
Not long after, Wu Yili and Liu Jiaxue got married, and the combination of the two of them is a strong alliance, and the two can earn more than 1.5 million a year.
But unexpectedly, Wu Yili and his wife later became attached to selling pancakes at a stall.
Why?
Let's keep looking.
3. A fortuitous opportunity.
One day, Wu Yili and Liu Jiaxue went to work, didn't eat breakfast, passed by a pancake stand, bought a pancake and ate it, but they didn't expect that less than half an hour after eating, the two began to have diarrhea, went to the hospital to buy medicine, hung up water, and finally recovered.
After returning home from the hospital, the two came up with the idea of starting a business by selling pancakes at a stall.
Why do you have such an idea? Because in their eyes, "the pancake stall has never had its own brand, and it is all sold by some elderly people." ”
"They get diarrhea when they eat pancakes once in a while, which shows that there is also a lack of hygiene. ”
Because of this, the couple felt that there was actually a lot of room for selling pancakes, and it was indeed a very good idea to start a business by selling pancakes at a stall.
At this point, I have to pause for a moment.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the premise of starting a business is that the salary is very low, not enough to subsidize the family, and they want to change their family conditions through entrepreneurship.
Or if you really find a good project and have the guidance of a master, you may give up your job and start a business.
And the premise of starting a business is that you have enough money and have enough way out after failure.
But the fact is that at that time, the combined annual income of Wu Yili and his wife had exceeded 1.5 million, and such an income was outstanding even in the big city of Beijing, and there was no need to start a business.
What's more, is it really appropriate for them to choose to start a business by selling pancakes at a stall?
In fact, not only we have considered these problems, but also the parents of Wu Yili and Liu Jiaxue.
Not surprisingly, the couple's actions were questioned and blocked by the parents of both sides.
Parents on both sides said, "You can start a business, can you choose some industries with technical content, can you choose some understanding that you are really good at?"
According to them, "You can sell pancakes, others can sell pancakes, and even if you don't have experience in making pancakes, you can't sell them at all." ”
Unexpectedly, Wu Yili and his wife were already confident.
And the confidence of the couple lies in learning from each other's strengths.
As a fast food, pancakes are quick to make and can be eaten in the hand, which is the strength that the couple sees.
And the shortcomings they have to make up for are naturally the ingredients of the pancakes, hygiene, and brand problems.
Not long after, a pancake shop of less than 10 square meters opened under an office building in Beijing, and the owners were Wu Yili and Liu Jiaxue, in addition to another Tsinghua classmate.
In the first few days of opening, Wu Yili did not sell, but began to advertise.
Wu Yili told everyone without hesitation, "This pancake shop was opened by Tsinghua students. ”
Indeed, the aroma of wine is also afraid of deep alleys, and such advertisements can indeed attract heat in a short period of time, and are more attractive than any advertisement full of gimmicks.
Sure enough, everyone was attracted by the identity of Tsinghua students and came to cheer.
This is the first step of the couple's layout, with the aim of making their store vibrant.
Next, they also started the second step of their layout, retaining customers with taste and quality.
So, they began to pay attention to the materials and hygiene of the pancakes.
Wu Yili employs four or five operators, and the first thing these operators do every day is to clean the pancake shop spotlessly.
Only the various ingredients and tools necessary to make pancakes are allowed on the counter, and no miscellaneous items are allowed.
The worktop must be rinsed several times with clean water to ensure that the windows are bright and spotless.
In terms of details, the work clothes worn by the operators should be washed without a little impurity, and they must wear gloves and masks when making.
According to their philosophy, "When hygiene is done well, others will have an appetite when they look at it." ”
The next most important step is to choose healthy and high-quality ingredients.
The flour, cooking oil, eggs, and other ingredients chosen by Wu Yili's family are almost all the best.
The flour is all refined flour, the eggs are made of local eggs, and even the hot sauce is bottled.
Next, it's time to prepare the flavor of the pancakes.
In fact, this step was a preliminary work, when every time they made a pancake, they would have several people gather around to taste the taste, and they would also give the pancake to the family to taste, and everyone would make suggestions and improve together.
I also went to several pancake stalls to buy their pancakes to make a comparison, find out the shortcomings of my own pancakes, and then improve them.
I don't know how many times I tried, how many times I changed, and I don't know how many times I innovated before I finally made the taste to my satisfaction.
The hard work of the three of them was not in vain.
After attracting customers as a student of Tsinghua University, he retained more and more repeat customers with the taste, hygiene, and quality of the pancakes.
At its hottest, there was a long queue to buy their pancakes.
The queue for the first month was understandable, but I didn't expect that after a month of selling, there was still a queue.
Not surprisingly, they have more than 100,000 sales in a month.
As we said earlier, the 100,000 yuan is not the limit of his pancakes, but the upper limit of the store area.
For the couple, the business has finally succeeded.
Here we see another problem, monthly sales of 100,000, the final income may only be a little more than 50,000, 50,000 can definitely be regarded as entrepreneurial success for most people.
But a comparison shows that for the couple, it cannot be regarded as a success.
Because they used to be office workers, both of them earned 1.5 million yuan a year.
In comparison, they are not as good as going to the office as white-collar workers before to start a business?
So why do the couple still think that the business has been successful?
It turned out that when we calculated this account, the couple had already begun the next step of the layout.
And this layout is even more eye-catching," the couple decided to make 3D printed pancakes. ”
Everyone was surprised when this word came out.
If you've ever seen printed drawings, are there any people who print pancakes?
How exactly is it printed?
Let's keep looking.
Fourth, 3D printed pancakes.
I have to say that the graduates of Tsinghua University and Peking University are indeed excellent, not only Wu Yili and his wife are excellent, but their classmates are also excellent.
When the couple was worried about how to build a chain brand, a classmate who studied abroad gave them a suggestion.
At that time, the classmate was researching 3D printing technology, and he suggested that the couple could use 3D printing technology to make pancakes.
To explain in detail, it is to design the shape of the pancake in the printer in advance, as well as the words to be typed on the pancake, and then direct the machine to make the pancake with the corresponding shape and lettering.
The advantage is that the pancakes are made, and the shape is completely designed in advance.
The most important point is that it can be mass-produced and the amount of labor can be reduced.
Speaking of which, everyone must have seen that it is equivalent to the realization of assembly line production.
"No longer limited by the venue, the pancakes are made to the same standard and have a more beautiful shape than if they were made by hand. ”
Everyone also lamented that Wu Yili and his wife had such unrestrained thinking.
However, Wu Yili and Liu Jiaxue's approach was once again beyond expectations.
The couple did not rush to produce pancakes with 3D printing technology, but took the lead in selling machines.
A 3D printing pancake machine, they sold it at a price of 5,000 yuan, but they didn't expect the sales to exceed 1 million in 30 minutes.
This machine has also been given a nice name by people, "Third Brother Painting Cake".
The two soon achieved an annual income of 10 million.
This is really a successful business, and it is a great success.
Compared with the previous white-collar workers in and out of the office building, their income has increased by 10 times.
When their career was so successful, they gradually became famous.
More and more reporters have come to interview them.
Luckily, every journalist doesn't run in vain.
Because anything that happens to them is worth exposing the news.
The two of them went for love, quit their careers, and later "the third brother painted cakes".
It is also these reporters who have visited uninterruptedly, so that the couple has gained wave after wave of heat.
And at this time, the couple began to do a free franchise model again.
Different from other franchise models, the couple did not charge the merchant's brand fee, which is equivalent to reducing the burden on the merchant.
According to the couple, "they also do this to make some contribution to these businesses so that they don't have to carry extra pressure." ”
I have to say that when the two became famous, they began to serve the society again.
During this period, the couple also began to do AI computer vision technology, which is simply unmanned retail.
Wu Yili and Liu Jiaxue are only about 40 years old, and they have already become young talents, and some people say that their success depends on their academic qualifications, and I think it depends more on their vision and keen eyes.
If you don't know their experience, you would never have imagined that they would use 3D printing technology to make pancakes, and they would not have thought that the opportunity for them to set up a stall to sell pancakes was a stomachache.
As the saying goes, opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared, and if you want me to say, the smarter people are, the more they can grasp the opportunities, and there are actually many opportunities in life that flow past us, but they are often sometimes ignored by us.
It is said that the invention of Coke was caused by a beautiful accident, when the staff accidentally added the wrong ingredients and suddenly found that the resulting liquid tasted delicious, and finally Coke was produced.
Therefore, any little thing, as long as you do it seriously and stick to the end, you will have unexpected gains, "diligence can make up for clumsiness", "practice makes perfect", do it for a long time, summarize more experience, and realize more truths.
This is the end of the story, "find another way", "infinite scenery is at the peak of danger", most people will only look at the surface when looking at a thing, but a small number of people will think about where the strengths and weaknesses of doing this are.
After all, learning from each other's strengths is the most advantageous, and the so-called "barrel principle" is also the same reason, so when doing something, you should focus on the weak link of this thing, and then overcome this weak link, and in the end you can reap the results you want.
Only by paying attention to knowledge, being good at observing, and being good at discovering the subtleties of the differences, can we find a breakthrough.
In order to move forward and smooth sailing.
What do you think about this?