Total No. 3945
Author | Restaurant boss internal reference internal ginseng Jun
Dachang people are optimized to sell steamed buns
Netizen: Sooner or later, the business will be yellow!
Escaping the "class flavor", many Dachang people still enter the catering industry one after another.
Recently, the report of "Four Optimized Dachang People, Selling Buns" has sparked heated discussions on the Internet.
In Hangzhou, four Ali P7 level employees got together to open a steamed bun shop after being optimized. These four people, who have never done catering, originally worked in HR, interaction designer, product manager, and operation in a large factory, with the thinking of "empowering large factories", trying to build the store into a cross-border integration complex.
The steamed bun shop they opened is nearly 20 square meters, the decoration is black and red, in addition to steamed buns, they also sell cocktails, roast birds, and even books. The store manager also said in an interview that he wanted to make the steamed bun shop feel like "home".
In addition to the positioning of "four dislikes" and the complicated product line, there is also a thunder point is the price of "assassin", a bun is 9.9 yuan a piece, a fat sausage rice is priced at 40 yuan, and the price of an abalone fried rice with two bottles of drinks is as high as 108 yuan.
According to reports, the store's natural traffic has been unsatisfactory, and in the first two months after the store opened, it could only sell dozens of buns every day by relying on natural traffic, and it would lose about 50,000 yuan every month.
But at present, several operators are very "relaxed", and also said that they may sell more irrelevant ones in the future, and some netizens complained: It is very similar to the big factories that have expanded new business everywhere.
We can't understand this kind of catering entrepreneurship of the nature of "playing coffee", and it may not have any reference significance, but it reflects that "big factories leave their jobs to do catering entrepreneurship" is still a popular option.
Last year's vigorous army of store openings
Are you still holding on?
Last year, Tencent, Alibaba Cloud, Bilibili, iQiyi and other major Internet companies successively reported layoffs. For example, according to Tencent's financial report for the first quarter of 2023, the proportion of layoffs is close to 10%. The catering industry, which seems to have a low threshold, has suddenly become a "warm haven", and many large factories have entered the game with compensation to open stores.
Some of them have opened their own stores, some are franchised chain stores, some are partners, and some are managers. Some make fast food, some make hot pot, some make barbecue, and some make coffee. Some are in first-tier cities, some are in second- and third-tier cities, some are in towns and villages, and some are in tourist attractions.
But everyone also experienced the closure of restaurants last year. Under the multiple high pressures of price wars, involution, and consumption rationality, in this year, nearly 1.36 million catering companies were cancelled, and the milk tea shop next door had not yet recognized the name of the store, and it became other bakeries the next day......
And the collapse in the first half of this year will only get worse. Tianyancha data shows that as of June 30, 2024, the cancellation and suspension sales of domestic catering-related enterprises have also reached an astonishing 1.056 million, "approaching" last year. Among them, in the second quarter alone, there were about 600,000 restaurants that fell.
Recently, there have been self-media reports on several people who have been abandoned by Internet giants, from high-end fashion office buildings to the catering industry, but this track is far from as simple as they think.
One of the "victims" joined the noodle stall in just one month, and watched the compensation of more than 80,000 yuan disappear like a splash, with a loss of nearly 100,000 yuan, which is jumping into the trap of a quick recruitment company. There is also a "victim" who finally made up his mind to sell fish noodles after losing money in the trial operation of Malatang and Huang Braised Chicken, and successfully opened 8 stores with investment in the middle, but insisted on operating until April this year, only the first fish powder store was profitable, and the overall loss of his own 600,000 yuan and more than 2 million yuan of investors.
According to Qichacha data, there will be 3.18 million new catering enterprises in 2023, of which 1.689 million new catering outlets will be opened across the country in the first half of the year. In the first half of 2024, this data is 1.31 million, and the growth rate has narrowed significantly, returning to a stable state.
But the base is still there, and compared with last year, Nei Sanjun also observed that the bleak situation of catering entrepreneurship has begun to shift to the third and fourth tier or county markets.
Young people return to their hometowns to make catering
It has become the hardest hit area for entrepreneurship
"This year's situation is that in the first half of the year, there are three or four times more equipment, and the shooting cycle has become much longer, and now catering entrepreneurs are much more cautious, in addition, compared with the first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, in recent years, the willingness to open stores in the third and fourth tiers or small counties is stronger." Brother Dog, a professional catering second-hand equipment recycler, said to Nei Sanjun.
He said that it is too common for young people to leave their jobs to do catering, and there are also those who directly do catering recycling, "I have two apprentices who are also from Dachang, one was in Eleme, and the other was in Xiaomi."
Whether active or passive, more and more young people are returning to their hometowns to start businesses. There are homestays, there are e-commerce, but a large part of them are restaurants. The most direct reason for this is that the threshold for entrepreneurship in the catering industry is relatively low, and the cash flow is fast, which reduces financial pressure and uncertainty.
In addition, affected by the sinking of the head catering, the sinking market is considered to be a broad market. Last year was known as the "first year of sinking" in the catering industry, and the competition among leading catering brands in first-tier cities was extremely fierce. In order to find new growth points, many leading catering companies have begun to sink collectively and enter the second- and third-tier cities and small county markets. This phenomenon has been imitated by many catering entrepreneurs.
Nei Sanjun concluded that the categories and characteristics of young people returning to their hometowns to start businesses are mainly concentrated in the following two points:
1. Coffee and milk tea are the two most important tracks. Milk tea and coffee already have a large number of successful brands and chain models, entrepreneurs can choose to join, or self-help. Both of these types are easy to become social places and check-in places, which are in line with the consumption habits of today's young consumers. According to GeoQ Data, there are about 5,454 coffee stores in the county market. Of these, 3,700 were born in 2023 alone. It can be seen that coffee is becoming a star category in the new economic format of the county.
2. Other catering projects with strong Internet celebrity attributes. These F&B projects usually have visual impact and social media communication power, such as unique decoration styles, creative dishes or consumer experiences, which can attract a large number of users to check in and share. For entrepreneurs, this ability to quickly gain exposure and traffic is very attractive, as it can help the store accumulate popularity and quickly expand its popularity in a short period of time.
But I saw him rise up a tall building, and I saw him collapse.
"Some Internet celebrity categories that became popular last year have gone out of business crazy this year, such as Anhui plate noodles, roast duck, grilled fish, etc., in addition, there is a feature in the sinking market that there are few opportunities for new restaurants, and the market is strongly occupied by some local catering (local characteristics) old stores, and it is difficult to survive", this is the situation observed by Brother Gou.
Catering novices
Died of "idealization"
The restaurant industry is not a utopia, but a battlefield that needs to be fought with real knives and guns. According to the reactions of all parties, there have been a lot fewer catering novices entering the game this year, and more of them are still some catering veterans who are repeatedly trying and struggling. The reasons for failure are often as follows:
1. Idealistic thinking, too wishful thinking
Perhaps out of the yearning for "independent control of destiny", or the desire to return to a simple life, young people resign and return to their hometowns to start a business with beautiful ideals and passions, but when ideals and reality collide, they may underestimate the hardships and challenges of the catering industry.
They may not have a deep understanding of the market and consumer needs, and often rely on personal preferences or experiences in big cities to believe that these patterns can be replicated directly back home. Or you want to open a restaurant that is different from the rest and meets your ideals. However, ignoring the consumption habits, food culture and competitive environment of the local market can lead to misunderstandings in the early stages of entrepreneurship.
2. Lack of 0 to 1 experience and refined operation ability
Many young people return to their hometowns to start their own businesses and find that the actual operation is very different from the ease and freedom they imagined. "Although he is the boss, he has done more than the employees, and has become an all-rounder, including human resources, quality control, operations, procurement, finance, business, sales, tallying, packaging, waiters, cleaning, etc.", a catering entrepreneur shared on social media. In addition, the overall income level of consumers in lower-tier markets is low, and food and beverage operators need to pay more attention to cost control, reduce unnecessary expenses, and provide cost-effective products.
"I have the money to go to the senior partnership, but I don't have the money to work in a restaurant. In short, let's figure out this set of processes first, and then let's do catering. Brother Dog reminded the catering novices not to blindly enter the industry, and before entering the industry, they must at least have an understanding of the entire catering chain.
3. Over-reliance on new media and neglect of actual operations
Young people think they are born with "traffic" thinking and are familiar with short videos, live broadcasts and other marketing, but this kind of means is not a panacea. Many young entrepreneurs think that they have mastered the means of social media operation, thinking that they can attract a large number of customers and easily attract traffic as soon as they start a live broadcast and post a few short videos. However, they often overlook the essence of the restaurant industry: product quality and service experience. If the catering products themselves are not strong and the in-store service is not in place, no amount of marketing investment can make up for it.
4. No long-term strategic planning
Young entrepreneurs tend to focus too much on immediate success and neglect long-term development strategies. "Some young people have a characteristic of catering entrepreneurship is short-sighted, they will put all the money they earn into their own pockets, and they have no courage or strategic thinking to take out a part of it and go to more project development or promotion," said Brother Gou. In the absence of long-term planning, once the market heat subsides, the store is likely to run into operational difficulties.
brief summary
Qin Chao, the restaurant boss and CEO, once said on "Catering Looking Forward": "The positive flowers are eye-catching, and they often create an illusion for the industry people in it, especially a large number of Xiaobai who blindly enter the catering with all their savings." ”
Although the restaurant industry may seem like a low barrier to entry, it also requires specialized skills and market insight. When employees of large factories transform into the catering industry, they need to let go of the aura of the past and learn the operational knowledge of the catering industry from scratch. At the same time, it is also necessary to have a deep understanding of the local market, respect and integrate into the local food culture, rather than simply applying the mindset and business model of a large factory.
The catering industry is an industry full of opportunities but also full of competition, rapid iteration and renewal. Only by respecting its laws and paying for it can we have a chance to survive and develop.