"Okay, let's talk about some useless gossip, let's continue talking about the serious stuff..."
After Kang Shude had teased his apprentice enough, he took another sip of tea, moistened his throat, and then pulled it down.
"I have said so much before, you should understand the operating characteristics of the restaurant, right? The key is that the price is cheap and saves time. This kind of restaurant, there is no trouble to eat, almost all are ready-made. Simply process it, you can't wait
It will take a while to satisfy your hunger. But eating at a restaurant is just a makeshift, the main thing is to fill your stomach."
"Under normal circumstances, half a pound of shredded pork fried cakes and a bowl of hot and sour soup are the consumption level of one person. For two or three people to eat, they may have dumplings, soup noodles, and some small wine and side dishes. For a family of several people, old and young,
They only want home-cooked food and rice. Therefore, the profit of this kind of restaurant lies in its diversified operations, convenience and quickness, small profits but quick turnover. On the premise of meeting the needs of customers for various tastes, it must also be easy, cheap and affordable."
Ning Weimin nodded frequently as he listened.
My heart said, isn't this the Chinese fast food of the future?
Chengdu snacks, Shaxian snacks, hometown meat pie, Nancheng Xiang, Zhen Kungfu, Yonghe Soybean Milk, Qingfeng Steamed Bun Shop, almost all of them are here.
However, Kang Shude looked at his disciple's behavior and didn't think Ning Weimin could understand it all.
"Don't nod in a hurry, do you really understand?"
So Ning Weimin showed off his common sense about modern fast food.
"I understand, what's not clear about this? In a small shop like this, it's a small profit but quick turnover business. How to increase the number of customers and speed up the cooking speed in the kitchen is very important. There are many types of products and low prices.
It is nothing more than a means to attract customers. Kitchen cooking must also be simple and fast, so that one group of guests can leave quickly after eating and another group of people can eat. In the West, this is called table turnover rate. Meal time is limited
, in a limited time, if a table can receive three groups of guests, it is certainly more cost-effective than just one group."
"However, I do have a different opinion. I can understand the idea of these shops, which is nothing more than 'increase revenue and reduce expenditure'. But I think that saving money cannot save rent. Let's talk about the location of this shop first. Let me listen to you.
What this means is that since the restaurants are all chain stores, they should be private houses for people to live in. This is not in a business district or in a busy city, so how can there be many customers?"
"In my opinion, instead of being stuck in an alley doing business for neighbors in order to save some rent money, it is better to open a shop in the downtown area. Even if the big shop becomes a small shop, and the small shop becomes a stall, it must be able to occupy the customer flow.
The convenience of quantity is also cost-effective. Such costs cannot be saved. Because the more things are sold, the more profits will be made and the purchase volume will be larger. On the contrary, the price of raw materials can be lowered. This is a legitimate way to increase revenue and reduce expenditure."
"In addition, I don't think that the more comprehensive the products of this restaurant, the better. If you sell more types of things, you will need to buy more kitchen utensils and consume more labor, which will increase unnecessary costs. In addition, if you only focus on completeness, you will not have yourself.
It’s a specialty. It’s difficult for a chef to be proficient in making it, and it’s easy to focus on one thing and miss the other. On the contrary, it’s not as easy and fast as making one or two kinds of food.”
"So I think we should only sell one or two of the most popular products, and at most add a few extra varieties according to the main business varieties. This is also a cost-saving. We should even prepare a large number of semi-finished products for customers to order.
It is simple and can be sold simply by heating it, which is of course the best."
As expected, his remarks were well received by Kang Shude.
"Well, you're quite smart. You've never done anything in business before, and you can instantly identify the key points of profit, such as the turnover rate, and you can also come up with half-finished ideas. Not bad, you are born to be a business material.
…”
However, Ning Weimin had just felt proud for a moment, but Kang Shude's next words made him ashamed.
"But, what you don't agree with is a bit taken for granted. In the past, the rent in the downtown area was not as cheap as it is now. What's more, it is the big front door where buyers and sellers are willing to come. The big businesses are piled here, not only the space is
With so much money, many people buy their own land and build their own houses. How can a shop owner with no strength squeeze in? If a restaurant can get in, it will no longer be a restaurant. Right?"
"Another point is that the market is not peaceful, there are many gangsters, the officialdom is also shady, and food prices fluctuate greatly. For your small restaurant to squeeze into the busy market and keep pace with the big business, you are not looking for death. If nothing else,
, You can’t tell whether there will be a bad year or a famine year. A rise or fall in food prices can cause you to lose customers and close down at a loss. The ability of small businesses to withstand risks is too poor. They can’t survive at all.”
"So, eating in downtown has always been divided into upper and lower. Except for real restaurants, it is street food. The so-called convenience restaurants only appeared after liberation. And they are all in small alleys in downtown.
"
"Another thing is that ordinary people in the past were not as wealthy as people today. Who can always eat out? Labor in the past was not considered money. Apprentices worked for nothing and only took care of food and drink. So what about restaurants?
It is said that you can only do business with nearby neighbors. You must not be afraid of trouble. Is it okay if it is not complete? It must be complete. People may occasionally have a meal at your place just for the sake of convenience, so you have to have what they want to eat.
, Only then can you attract customers and keep the business going with a reputation. Otherwise, you won’t have people coming to eat pot stickers. When you go back and talk about it, the next time someone wants to eat pot stickers, they won’t come to you. Naturally, there will be fewer and fewer customers.”
"Speaking of this, the big restaurants in the capital are also called Ershipu. Do you know what it means? The Ershi actually means that the raw materials for cooking come from two aspects. One is the regular ingredients prepared by the shop, and the other is
The customers bring their own raw materials and leave them to the chef to make them. This is called 'stir-fried food', and you can earn money for processing it. Is it okay to be afraid of trouble? If you are afraid of trouble, you will have no customers. Otherwise, it is called Qinxing."
"Not to mention ordinary restaurants, let's talk about small chicken and duck shops and chicken and duck stalls like Bianyifang and Judequan. In the past, there was not only roast duck, but also bucket chicken, clear sauce meat, box vegetables, and raw food.
You can make whatever you can, from chickens to duck embryos, and you have to earn whatever money you can. And you have to not only sell but also deliver. You have to find ways to please big customers and deliver to big families and other restaurants. Only in this way can you gradually grow.
You can see that now Judequan is in a good location. It was a house that was built on land after the business became big. It was originally located in a small alley at the corner of the corner."
"And the sheep-headed horse. They only sell twenty white-water sheep heads every day. They don't sell any more. They can cook it in the morning. In the afternoon, they push a small cart with a wheel and go out. They have a horn on their waist and their white hats and coats are spotless. Don't yell.
, the regular patrons are sure to be waiting for him at the old place on time. He lives in Nanheng Street, and there are three streets from Nanheng Street to Langfang. Before four o'clock, twenty sheep heads will be sold out. He relies on
This snack lives in a courtyard, has three wives, and supports a large family. You think he makes so much money, why doesn't he open a shop? Are you stupid?"
"He is not stupid at all. He knows that the sheep's head meat is just a mouthful, and people will not want to eat it every day. If you make too much, it will be worthless. Opening a shop? The rent has raised the price of the sheep's head, and others will not buy it, and he just
You can't support it with just one hand. So people just sell their crafts on the streets. They sell at certain times and at certain points, and they are willing to stick to the snack grade forever. On the contrary, it is the most cost-effective. So there is a difference between the past and today.
Some of your ideas are good and may work today, but they did not work in the past. This is determined by social conditions."
If Ning Weimin originally believed in the modern management method that was born out of the Western fast food industry, it was extremely scientific and could adapt to any situation.
But because of Kang Shude's few words, he suddenly realized that it might be unrealistic, which made him feel a little frustrated that he had hit a wall.
Then Kang Shude casually cited a few examples, which opened his eyes even more, and made all the sense of superiority he had gained from time-travel disappear without a trace.
Because he really had to obey the business wisdom and methods of his predecessors.
"One more thing, although it is true that there are specializations in the industry, restaurants are not blindly general and do not have their own characteristics. In other words, restaurants without characteristics can only be because the restaurant owners are lazy and do not use their brains. In fact, restaurants have no characteristics.
Although restaurants are just for home-cooked meals, they can’t demand too much. But after all, it’s food, so it’s impossible not to care about the taste. In fact, in order to survive, all restaurants are trying to improve the quality of their meals and create their own flavors.
At the same time, we have to keep prices low and think of ways to do it.”
"Let's use an analogy. There used to be a Hutchison Restaurant in Xidan Rongxian Hutong. He rented out his two-story building to a mutton bed downstairs and sold noodles upstairs. The shopkeeper knew how to do business.
I negotiated with the mutton shop downstairs. The unsold meat and tendons every day could be used as part of the rent, and he was asked to take them back to make beef noodles and mutton noodles with large bowls of clear soup. In the end, the meat was too soupy and fat.
Hutchison's business was very good that year, and every time there was a meal, it was always packed."
"There is also the Longsheng Restaurant in Longfu Temple. The owner of the small restaurant is surnamed Wen, and he is from Shanxi. Shanxi people are famous for their refined noodles. The noodles of the family named Wen can stretch a noodle into a bowl of filaments, commonly known as 'Yi Wo'
Silk'. This kind of stretched noodles has smooth texture, is not sticky or soft, and is refreshing in the mouth. Because it is next to Bai Kui, the shop owner surnamed Wen took the initiative to discuss with Bai Kui. When selling roast mutton in the summer, he would get some roast mutton and soup every day.
The noodles were specially mixed with juice and sold to customers. As a result, this move not only made the two families good friends and benefited from each other, but also gave people in the capital a delicious meal - 'roast mutton noodles'."
"Especially the shopkeeper surnamed Wen is so benevolent and righteous. Not only does he have a row of stoves built on the east wall of the shop to cook food for customers, he even doesn't let the waiters close the fire too hard at night to serve the beggars who gather here to escape the cold.
It was convenient for him to travel, so he got the nickname 'Zao Wen'. His real name was 'Long Sheng', but no one remembered it."
"As for the restaurant near our home, do you like Ruibinlou's Huoshao? It was originally a restaurant opened by a couple. Due to their livelihood, the couple had to use the skills they acquired from the door. Although
The rule of not opening a restaurant was broken, but the Huoshao restaurant was unique, affordable and satisfying, so the business quickly grew."
"There are also fried dumplings and fried cat ears from Guangfu Restaurant in Hufangqiao. It was the widow Mrs. Mu and her daughter who suffered from the lack of customers, so they changed the shape of ordinary noodles and changed them from boiling to frying to create innovative foods. They later specialized in
We have worked hard on changing the non-staple meat dishes, and the fried dumplings we made can be used as rice or as a dish. It is delicious, inexpensive and has a unique flavor. Because of this specialty, Guangfu Restaurant has become famous.
, since then the seats have been packed, and it has been nicknamed ‘Mujiazhai’ by people in the capital.”
"However, the most common thing is that many meat shops use scraps to cook dishes. For example, they make good use of pig skins. The fat of the pig skins can be scraped off and stewed until it becomes pulpy. It is served with chili paste and garlic sauce.
, made into marinade for pouring noodles. This is called rotten pork noodles. This thing is shaped like braised noodles. The marinade made with pig skin fat has a light and unique flavor. It can be eaten alone with deboned meat. The price is the cheapest
It's quick to make and sells best among poor customers, so the supply often exceeds demand."
“Even though it’s a cheap product, it’s very particular about what you eat. If you go to a restaurant and want to eat rotten pork noodles, the waiter will ask you whether you want thick braised noodles, lazy braised noodles, or clear braised noodles.
The simplest method of making brine is to add the brine according to the rules. Lazy brine means that you do not need to marinate the meat, but only the rotten meat (meat with bones removed) and a small bowl of fried sauce. The clear brine is usually made in a large pot before turning off the heat and closing the shop.
The sauce has been sold out, and if it is not enough to thicken the noodles, we use soy sauce instead, which is called clear marinade. With the marinade, customers rarely ask for marinade, for fear that adding too much will be too heavy."
"As for the rest of the pork skin, Ersupu can be fried and used for stir-fry, as well as pork skin jelly and spicy pork skin jelly. So if people in the capital want to eat the most authentic rotten pork noodles and pork skin jelly, they have to go to Ersupu.
No place has a good taste. Like Tongquanyong in Liubukou and Fengyuanchang in Gangwa City, they are particularly good at this. Whether they make meat jelly or serve marinated utensils, they all use large pots. Every day they use large pots.
You have to smash several kilograms of rotten garlic, and the noodle maker always cooks one pot after another. In this way, at the end of the day, the pots are dry and the bowls are empty."
"Anyway, let's put it this way, the specialty of a restaurant lies in how to find a balance between taste and price, and how to innovate from the homely meals. This ability is very similar to the skills of a Kouzi chef. Therefore, a restaurant can be famous and stand out.
The food they eat is either staple food or cooked food. They are all quite affordable and a bit rough. Because of this, they are not afraid of a bad location, as long as there are houses nearby, then the smell of wine is not afraid of the deep alleys.
.”
Kang Shude stopped talking here and took a cup of tea to soothe his throat.
Ning Weimin was so engrossed in listening that he was so focused on getting things done that he even forgot to refill the old man's cup with tea.
For nothing else, the harvest is far more than expected.
After hearing this, Ning Weimin, although he had not solved his doubts, already thought that the wine given to the old man today was worth it.
He was completely shocked by the business history of those ordinary people in the past!
Even though they are just some small restaurants, even though they are just ordinary people.
But those tricks are not only amazing to listen to, but even a little touching.
Because from the past events the old man told, he not only saw the hard work and progress of ordinary people, but also the wisdom and benevolence.
Only then did he realize that the fried dumplings and fried cat ears that he had taken for granted had always been invented and created in this way. It was an innovation that was related to the life and death of a restaurant and the survival plan of the mother and daughter.
Only then did he realize that a bowl of roast mutton noodles was imbued with the friendship between the two shop owners, which was the result of businessmen helping each other.
In particular, these restaurants have a downward-looking business philosophy.
Even if you bring a piece of pancake into the store and ask for it to be processed, the store will not look down upon it and will make it to the customer and charge a processing fee.
This is in stark contrast to what he remembers: 20 years later, restaurants will have to put up "No Bringing Your Own Drinks" on their doors, and 30 years later, large amusement parks will have "No Bringing Your Own Food and Drinks" posted on them. It's a complete contrast.
.
Not to mention that eating a bowl of offal thirty years from now will actually be more expensive than eating serious stir-fries...
What a pity!
Our country's modern history has been too bumpy, and the country's fortunes have been plagued by disasters.
Otherwise, if these small traders survive normally, who can say that there won't be a few more time-honored brands?
A store that can survive and develop even in such a harsh social environment as in the past.
Who can say that even though they are operating normally today, they will definitely not be able to compete with foreign fast food?
Cut! Salia is a great initiative of the Japanese, breaking the restriction that the business place must be a prosperous place.
Thirty years later, those economists will be very ignorant. This is called ignorance.
Our little restaurant had already been doing this before liberation.
Isn't it just a matter of changing the method to carry out the benefits to the end?
And it also has the concept of serving the community...