Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Yao Ming is open to Zhuang Yu's plan to run a chain restaurant. He believes that this is feasible and profitable.

But he also gave Zhuang Yu some suggestions.

For example, if you are abroad, don't make Chinese food, because foreigners really can't get used to it, unless you go for the high-end route and make high-end private dishes to attract high-end people, but in that case it will be difficult to create a chain model.

Because in terms of scale and number of stores, it is impossible to expand too much, and in foreign countries, such high-end Chinese vegetable markets are very small and the customer base is not large.

He also gave Zhuang Yu an example.

That is, James used 2012 million US dollars to acquire 100% of the shares of Blaze Pizza in 10. At that time, Blaze Pizza had only two stores and the annual turnover was only 80 US dollars.

Today, the pizza shop's annual turnover has reached 4 million US dollars, and the number of stores in the United States has expanded to 200.

There is no doubt that this was a very successful investment.

The reason I give this example is to remind Zhuang Yu that if you want to run a chain restaurant in the United States, it is better to do this kind of mass-market type.

"If you are in China, then there are no restrictions." Yao Ming did not hide his personal interests and took the initiative to plan for Zhuang Yu. "In China, my suggestion is to go the high-end and mass catering route. One is the high-end route, learning from Michelin, or the private cooking method. This does not require you to use your own name to promote it."

"Yeah." Zhuang Yu nodded.

He understands this.

His fame and appeal can attract fans to shop in his store, turning their love for him into real consumption.

However, when it comes to the high-end field, the customer base is no longer ordinary football fans, and Zhuang Yu’s fame and appeal alone are not enough to impress them.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Zhuang Yu’s fame and appeal are useless. As the boss behind the scenes, he can use his connections and resources to support this store.

"As for popular catering, I think it is still mainly what is generally acceptable to the public, such as hot pot."

"This requires your fame and appeal."

"It doesn't need to be too high-end. It needs to be affordable for everyone, and for the fans who like you to be able to afford it. This is the only way to monetize the fans' love. But forget about hamburger restaurants and fast food restaurants."

"Although hamburger restaurants and fast food restaurants are more in line with the chain restaurant model and can develop faster, the competition is too fierce."

"And this group of consumers doesn't care whether you're an NBA superstar or a store owned by Aunt Liu or Aunt Wang. What they want is convenience and affordability."

Zhuang Yu was delighted and convinced after hearing these words.

I have to admit that I am still too immature compared to Yao Ming and Kobe.

Yao Ming, who is just a chain restaurant owner, can tell you so many things, and they all hit the nail on the head, which has benefited Zhuang Yu a lot.

"Thank you, Brother Ming. Now I know what to do." Zhuang Yu thanked him sincerely.

Then the two chatted some more, all about business, and as long as they didn't mention the national team, the atmosphere was always cheerful and relaxed.

Hearing that Zhuang Yu and Kobe had jointly established an investment company, Yao Ming gave Zhuang Yu a thumbs up and gave him a thumbs up manually: "Kobe's investment is much better than mine. You will definitely not lose money if you partner with him. You are really lucky. It's like you are picking up money wherever you go."

Zhuang Yu chuckled: "It's all thanks to the support of all the brothers. I'm deeply grateful, haha..."

......

After dinner, I returned to the hotel and called An Xin to discuss the matter.

Zhuang Yu's original plan was to open a few restaurants in the United States, but now he has changed his mind and plans to start in China first.

Since we are starting from the domestic side, it will certainly be difficult for him to take care of everything. In the future, this side will have to be handed over to An Xin to take care of.

"So what exactly do you plan to do?" An Xin asked.

"Let's just open a hot pot restaurant," Zhuang Yu said, "First open a few in major cities and see how things go. If the results are good, then continue to expand."

In fact, for him, it makes no difference whether he opens a hot pot restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, or sells roast duck. The main selling point is not these things, but his fame and appeal.

To be honest, the food in some restaurants opened by celebrities is not necessarily that good, and consumers go there not for the food but for its fame.

For example, Beijing roast duck, Quanjude.

Today's Quanjude is no longer the same Quanjude as it used to be. Those who have been there know that their roast duck is just so-so. The reason why there are still a constant stream of people going there is because of the reputation of Quanjude, the Beijing roast duck and the century-old restaurant.

Many people go to restaurants opened by celebrities to eat because of the celebrities.

"Okay, I'll ask someone during this time." An Xin responded.

Zhuang Yu added, "I heard from Brother Ming that there are now special planning companies that can handle everything from store selection, staff recruitment, training, to opening promotions. As long as you pay, they can do it. You can ask. We have no experience in catering. Finding a professional planning company to give us advice can help us avoid a lot of detours and open the hot pot restaurant earlier."

An Xin: "Okay."

As for high-end catering, Zhuang Yu does not plan to do it alone. He wants to partner with Yao Ming and Li Chengdong, and the three of them should do it together.

In fact, running a high-end restaurant is very expensive. The decoration and storefront are far from what you can do when opening an ordinary restaurant.

Since it is high-end, both the location and decoration of the store must be very particular.

The cost of opening a high-end restaurant may be several times or even dozens of times that of an ordinary restaurant.

Finding Li Chengdong and Yao Ming as partners is, on the one hand, to share the cost pressure, and on the other hand, to make use of their personal connections.

Running a high-end restaurant requires not only a luxurious store and exquisite dishes, but also the boss must have enough connections so that there will be enough high-spending people to support the business.

It certainly won’t work if we rely on Zhuang Yu alone.

After all, he is only in his twenties, and his rise has only been in the past two or three years. His achievements are in the NBA. He has no foundation in the country and lacks accumulated connections.

But Li Chengdong and Yao Ming are not lacking in this regard.

Many problems can be solved by bringing them into partnership.

And since they were in partnership, there was no need for An Xin to do it herself, so Zhuang Yu had no intention of letting An Xin be responsible for this.

After all, An Xin has a lot to do. She has to be responsible for the affairs of the Sharks Club, as well as the investment company in partnership with Yao Ming. Now, she has added a restaurant chain. How can she handle all the work?

Zhuang Yu felt a little sorry for his wife, but his foundation was too shallow, and there were too few people around him who he could trust and get things done, so he had to let his wife work hard.

"Wife, you are the one who keeps an eye on everything here. I am so grateful to you."

"Why do you say that? We are a family."

"I just feel a little sorry for you. I'll take good care of you when I get back."

"Go to hell, you are so dishonest..."