Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

Chapter 157 Franchise
"Dapeng, what's the matter?"

"Do you still remember San'er from our alley? He's the one with a bit of a limp. He used to work in a small factory on the street, but now that the factory has collapsed, he wants to find something to do."

Su Dapeng pulled Du Shaojie to a secluded place and mentioned Hou San.

Hou San's full name is Hou Xinli. He is the third child in the family. He used to have a good relationship with Su Dapeng and Du Shaojie.

But there has been little contact in recent years.

"What does he mean by looking for you?"

"Hou San knows that you are the one who made the [Spicy Chicken] at Guangyuan Hotel, so he asked me to talk to you. He wants to learn how to make it from you and then open his own shop."

The city is so small, and if you ask carefully about many things, you will always get the answers you want.

Hou Xinli is undoubtedly a man with ambitions. When he learned that the currently popular Guangyuan Hotel's [Pepper and Spicy Chicken] was created by Du Shaojie, he became interested.

He was afraid that Du Shaojie would refuse, so he first found Su Dapeng and took a roundabout way.

"Of course you can, but I have conditions. First, I can't teach him the craft for nothing. If he wants to do this business, he has to pay me a franchise fee every year."

"What the hell, what's the fee?"

"It's okay if you don't understand the special franchise fee. I will teach him and provide him with technical support. He has to pay me a tribute every year. Let's set it at 5000 yuan a year."

Du Shaojie had thought about this problem a long time ago. Whether it was [Dezhou Braised Chicken] or [Pepper and Spicy Chicken], if the business was good, there would naturally be people who would be jealous.

There are definitely people who want to make the formula, such as Section Chief Guo, but this is absolutely impossible.

But more people may ask to learn the craft and then open their own shop to make money. If it were an ordinary master chef, he would definitely refuse, but Du Shaojie would not be so narrow-minded.

If he doesn't work in the company now, the best he can do is open a small restaurant or even a small stall. It's not possible to open a company or a restaurant chain because the current policy does not allow it.

He is just one person. Even if he is made of iron, how many rivets can he hammer?

So he thought of the "franchise" model that became popular in later generations, letting others help him make money.

We are still in the early stages of reform and opening up, and the entire society is crossing the river by feeling the stones. How can ordinary people understand this business model?
Anyway, Su Dapeng just doesn’t understand.

Du Shaojie had no choice but to explain patiently that in addition to the special franchise fee, there were several other rigid requirements.

For example, the location cannot be too close to the Guangyuan Hotel, and must be at least two kilometers away. For example, spices, he will prepare the spice packs in advance and supply them at cost price.

In addition, there are requirements for the quality of ingredients, food hygiene, etc., and cooperation will be stopped if the requirements are not met.

All stores must use the signboard of [Du's Pepper and Spicy Chicken], such as [Du's Pepper and Spicy Chicken Lihua Street Store].

There were quite a lot of conditions, and Su Dapeng took a long time to remember them all.

"Shaojie, you asked people to pay a year's franchise fee all at once, 5000 yuan, how can Hou San afford it? Can you be flexible?"

Su Dapeng felt that the other party had opened a door for him, and behind the door was a world he had never explored.

This needs to be digested slowly.

But such a huge "special franchise fee" is really embarrassing.

"Okay, but you have to pay 500 yuan first, right? I'm doing this for your sake. I have to write an IOU for the rest and promise to pay it off within six months."

Du Shaojie finally adopted a workaround. He knew Hou Xinli's family situation. As an ordinary family, they really couldn't come up with 5000 yuan at once.

It's not easy to be a half-millionaire.

Collect 500 yuan first, and then pay the rest slowly. If you can’t pay it back by the due date, we will terminate the cooperation.

"Okay, I'll go back and talk to Hou San, and he can decide whether to do it or not."

Su Dapeng was actually very envious of the [Pepper and Spicy Chicken] business, but he really couldn't handle it all by himself, so he didn't say anything.

Afterwards, he went to the store on Lihua Street, where Hou Xinli was still waiting on the roadside.

When Su Dapeng told Hou Xinli the result, he agreed without hesitation. He had actually prepared to pay the tuition fee, and he borrowed money from everywhere two days ago and collected 2,000 yuan.

He is very satisfied with the current situation and has chosen a location, which is near Hongshan Shopping Center.

It is also a traditional local business district with a large flow of people, and renting a window display only costs a few dozen dollars a month.

Hou Xinli did not have the money to rent a larger store, so he did not think about providing dine-in services.

Things progressed quickly, and he met with Du Shaojie that night and reached a verbal agreement. He paid 500 yuan in cash first, and wrote a promissory note for the remaining 4500 yuan, promising to pay it off within six months.

Du Shaojie taught Hou Xinli by example for three days, and within three days, Hou Xinli basically mastered the entire production process. The rest was up to him to slowly explore in practice, and he could consult him if he had any questions.

A week later, the Hongshan store of [Du's Pepper Chicken] opened, and a piece of paper was pasted on the glass of the window, which read:

The [Spicy Chicken with Peppers] from Guangyuan Hotel is made with the same recipe and is absolutely authentic.

If this happened to him in the future, wouldn't he be sued in court? But now no one cares. At worst, they can just come to his house and take down the note.

"Is your [Spicy Chicken] really the same as the one sold at Guangyuan Hotel? Let me tell you, if you're bragging, I'll smash your store."

The Hongshan store opened, but there was no business for half a day.

Then a man came who had a bad temper but looked rich. "Don't worry, if you don't like the taste, I will refund you immediately without hesitation."

Hou Xinli immediately patted his chest, and the man bought a [Pepper and Spicy Chicken].

I took it home and tried it, and it tasted pretty good. Just as people said, it was completely comparable to the [Pepper and Spicy Chicken] at Guangyuan Hotel.

The Hongshan store slowly opened up, and Du Shaojie was very happy. He didn't even need to ask about the other party's business situation, as he could tell by the number of spice bags Hou Xinli bought.

The spice packets he provides can make 10 pieces of [Spicy Chicken] with one packet. You can calculate it with your eyes closed.

Du Shaojie didn't have time during work, so he gave the spice bag to Su Dapeng. Hou Xinli gave him as much as he wanted, and they would pay for the goods first, and never give him credit.

The Hongshan store gradually got on the right track, with an average net profit of 60 to 70 yuan per day.

The franchise fee and labor costs are not deducted here. The labor costs are only for Hou Xinli himself, so there is nothing to calculate. The franchise fee is about 417 yuan per month. Excluding this expense, he can still make 1400 to 1600 yuan per month.

If nothing unexpected happens, he will be a millionaire in half a year. What else can he be dissatisfied with? He is absolutely satisfied!
Du Shaojie was also very satisfied. If the franchise business model is to be successful, it must first make people make money. Who would do it if they can't make money? It would only ruin his own reputation.

Before National Day.

At Yu Mo's repeated urging, Wang Liwen decided to go to Guangzhou.

The night before leaving, Du Shaojie went to the other party's residence and specially cooked two dishes.

"Sister Liwen, I really can't leave recently. Aren't you asking me to be in charge of the hotel snack bar? It will open after the holidays, and if I leave, it will delay a lot of things."

Du Shaojie felt a little apologetic, as he had originally wanted to accompany Wang Liwen to Guangzhou.

On the one hand, I can keep her company, and on the other hand, I can go see Xiaomei and enjoy the delicious food of the South.

But the sudden opening of the snack bar disrupted his plans, and he had been planning to expand his "franchise" business in recent days, so he had to wait and see.

"It doesn't matter. Yu Mo has paid for my round-trip tickets to Guangzhou this time, which will save me a lot of time on the road. Shaojie, you go about your business, I'll be back after the holidays."

Wang Liwen specifically asked for Du Xiaomei's address, and she would go to Sun Yat-sen University to visit her when she went to Yangcheng.

Du Shaojie bought some dried fruits in advance and asked her to bring them over. It wasn't much, just a token of his appreciation.

The two chatted until late before going to bed. Early the next morning, Du Shaojie rode his bike to take Wang Liwen to the Civil Aviation Ticket Office. Wang Liwen took the airport bus here and went directly to the airport.

Du Shaojie rode his bike to work.

"Master Du, are you busy now?"

In the morning, Xiao Jianjun approached him with an apologetic smile on his face.

The five apprentices were a little timid of Du Shaojie. When he was teaching them knife skills, he was very strict. If there was anything not done well, he would start over again immediately.

It's like a primary school student making a mistake in writing and the teacher asking him to rewrite it 100 times.

"If you have something to say, just say it."

Du Shaojie was speechless. Was he that terrible?

"Master Du, let's go outside? I have something I want to ask you for help with."

Xiao Jianjun probably didn't want to be heard by others, so he called Du Shaojie to talk outside.

Du Shaojie nodded, and the two of them left the restaurant and stopped in a secluded place.

"My sister-in-law doesn't have a job, and my eldest brother has a hard time supporting the family alone. The [Spicy Chicken] made by Master Du is very popular, so my sister-in-law wants to learn from you and open her own shop in the future."

Only then did Xiao Jianjun state his purpose.

Du Shaojie immediately understood what the other party meant. After a moment's silence, he said, "This is easy to handle. I'll tell you my conditions. You can go back and discuss it with your brother and sister-in-law. If it works, it's fine. If it doesn't, it doesn't matter."

Then he explained the franchise regulations in detail.

Finally, he also mentioned the Hongshan branch of [Du's Pepper and Spicy Chicken], and told Xiao Jianjun's brother and sister-in-law that they could go and have a look if they were interested.

"Thank you, Master Du. I will get back to you as soon as possible."

After hearing this, Xiao Jianjun felt relieved.

They definitely won't give their secret recipe to anyone casually. If there's no interest involved, who knows when they'll stop supplying spice packets.

Another key point is that the current [Du's Pepper and Spicy Chicken] has become famous. Many customers know that the reason why the [Pepper and Spicy Chicken] of Guangyuan Hotel is so delicious is because it uses the "Du's secret recipe".

After getting off work at noon, Xiao Jianjun hurried to find his brother and sister-in-law and told them about the franchise.

As expected, my brother and sister-in-law were also stumped by the 5000 yuan franchise fee.

"Brother, sister-in-law, Master Du agreed to pay 500 yuan first for my sake. The remaining 4500 yuan can be paid in an IOU within six months. What do you think?"

Du Shaojie had deliberately given face to Xiao Jianjun before, and when he said this, his brother and sister-in-law really smiled.

My sister-in-law kept praising Xiao Jianjun, which made him feel embarrassed.

(End of this chapter)