sells 1,600 kilograms of jujube cakes daily, and the unit price of a technical instruction is 3,000 yuan. This is a "business legend" created by Chen Li from Henan in a shop called the king of jujube cakes in Wudaokou, Beijing.
On April 3, Chen Li waved to me ten meters away from the shop.
is about 1.67 meters tall, with black-rimmed glasses, and Chen Li in front of me makes me unable to think of the word "boss". He looks more like an ordinary worker: there are many oil stains on the colorful sweaters, and the black leather shoes. It was gray, and it was twenty degrees that day. He was holding a down jacket, and the zipper had been painted off. He was slightly tired, his lips were chapped, his voice was quiet, and he was frowning all the time.
, who has been in business for 7 years, had decided to close the business ahead of schedule, causing many customers to wait outside the store. Chen Li was bombarded by serial phone calls from many people.
At noon, as the crowd dispersed, he gingerly returned to the shop to take away the tools and materials, fearing that someone would recognize him and surround him, and quickly rode away on the electric three-wheeled drive. It was two days after
met again, his voice regained his breath, and when he was talking about business, I vaguely found the shadow of the "legend".
Daily Character (ID: meirirenwu) intern Wei Shijie From the owner of Beijing
who lost his appointment:
April 3, it was the last day of business for the merchant "Jujube King", which was originally called the landmark of Wudaokou.
Although the regular opening time is around 8:30 and 7:30, the line is 50 meters away, but the customers in the front quickly discovered that the notice in front of the store has been changed: the original “Operating until 8 pm on April 3 due to demolition” was sealed by white tape, and the business suspension time was changed from “4th” to “3rd” on April.
customers dialed the phone number left by the shopkeeper Chen Li on the notice, and got a very simple reply: "Considering there are too many customers, we decided not to open today. The workers have been disbanded. Sorry!" It spread, the flow of people did not mean to disperse. Some of the customers came from Xicheng District and took an hour by car to taste the "Last Jujube King". There are also Tsinghua students who have graduated for many years, come to queue from Dongcheng District, just to remember the taste of university. Everyone called Chen Li in turn, asking him to show up and sell some more jujube cakes.
still answered no.
"There are too many people, it will affect the surrounding road traffic, and also affect the surrounding stores. So today it is still not sold." Chen Li explained on the phone.
But this reason seemed unacceptable, and the crowd became anxious. "Last night he told customers who hadn't bought jujube cakes in the queue and said that they would come back tomorrow morning.
We got up early today to line up to support him, but he broke his promise." Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications student Xiao Lin got up at 6 o'clock that morning. Want to be the first customer of "Jujube King" on this special day. She has been patronizing this shop for six consecutive years.
Xiaolin didn't mean to give up. He lowered his head and began to compose a two-hundred-word text message, hoping to touch with emotion.
15 minutes later, Chen Li responded with a few numbers: I'm sorry, the decision has been made, I hope to understand! The hardest decision
That may be Chen Li's hardest morning in ten years.
"You have to know that no one will just choose not to do business without having business," Chen Li looked solemn, "This decision was weighed repeatedly."
Chen Li made this decision at 2 am on April 3rd. Yes, it has been an hour and a half since closing on the 2nd.
On April 2, pictures of the long dragon at the gate of Wudaokou Jujube King were circulated on the Internet. The line was winding a few times on the sidewalk at the entrance of the store. A customer who lined up at the end of the line gave up after three hours because "the line is almost Did not move".
is actually not that the team did not move, but according to the purchase limit of two servings for one person on the day, the processing capacity of the Jujube King per hour is 72, that is to say, after three hours, in a team of about 220 people, there are only 108 Customers left. Customers near the end are expected to wait another three hours before they can buy jujube cakes.
22:30 that night, it was originally the time when the jujube cake king closed. But there is still a team of more than two hundred people in front of the door. Chen Li has expanded the supply that has been untouchable for many years and extended the closing time to zero.0:30 minutes. At around 23:00, Chen Li distributed number plates to customers in turn from the front end of the team, and informed customers that due to the limited number of jujube cakes, customers who did not get the number plates do not have to wait any longer.
This is also Chen Li's closing procedure for several years: Almost every night, Jujube King is in short supply, and Chen Li always distributes number plates in advance to avoid waiting for customers.
Unexpectedly, the guests who did not get the number plate at the end of the team still refused to leave when it was close to the early morning of the night of the 2nd. Chen Li walked out of the store five times in a row and explained that "the voices are all screaming", and there are still more than 50 people who do not. Willing to leave.
Chen Li had no choice but to comfort the guests, and could queue up earlier tomorrow. The crowd of
dispersed. The workers of
Jujube King are exhausted. They have been working continuously for 16 hours since 8 am. The workers asked Chen Li if it could open later on the 3rd?
Chen Li didn't speak, sitting on a stool and smoking non-stop. The "hot" business these days did not give him joy, on the contrary, it was huge pressure. The city management once reminded that there are too many people in front of the door to be careful of potential safety hazards.
He calculated the supply for the next day and calculated it according to the supply speed. It is invalid to queue up after 12 noon.
According to the experience on the night of the 2nd, the crowd may not be persuaded to leave. Chen Li believes that he does not have the ability to control the situation. After thinking about it again and again, he finally decided that it will be closed on April 3. He knows what this decision means-to lose faith in customers.
Chen Li has not regretted the decision to close Zhang Zhang in advance. "This is the worst decision. Once something happens, I cannot afford it."
Thinking of technical workers
7 years ago, he decided to make jujube cakes. When doing business, Chen Li was also well thought out. Born in a Henan peasant family in the 1970s, Chen Li’s memories of childhood are "all related to hunger." The parents had 12 children in total, but 6 children died one after another. The extreme poverty made Chen Li feel the pressure of life and knew that he had to fight since he was a child. After
failed the college entrance examination, he came to the Great Wall Machinery Factory outside Beijing West Fourth Ring Road and became a skilled worker. In 1993, he learned a craft of home appliance repair, so he bought No. 45 Chengfu Road, which is now the storefront of Jujube King. He stayed there for 13 years.
He has business acumen. In the 1990s, home appliances were precious things, and home appliance repairs were naturally profitable. Later, home appliances were no longer valuable, so Chen Li switched to food business: pancakes, chestnuts, mung bean cakes, no matter what he sold, he Business is always booming.
He attributed this to the thinking of skilled workers. Through the analysis and experimentation of food processing methods and procedures, he adjusted his own set of methods and always made products with excellent taste and taste. The later king of jujube cakes was born out of Chen Li's method. In 2009, by inquiring about the recipes and methods of jujube cakes on the Internet, Chen Lixian taught himself to become a jujube cake master, chatted with the merchants who do business in jujube cakes, chatted with customers who love jujube cakes, and spent time researching. He finally made six improvements to the method of making jujube cakes: the configuration and use of auxiliary tools, the selection and proportion of raw materials, the inverse relationship between temperature and time, the details, the softness and the mellow Degree of persistence.
This is also the main content of his later class. A piece of A4 paper was pasted on the wall of the Zaoguwang shop with the words "Teach a man to fish, it is better to teach him to fish." There is Chen Li's mobile phone number below. The
jujube cake's popular
jujube king's fame has spread from word of mouth. Thousands of people came to seek a teacher one after another, and most of them opened date cake shops. According to Chen Li, about 80% of the date cake shops in Beijing today have a direct or indirect learning relationship with him.
Today's Wudaokou, with a daily flow of at least 80,000 people, makes it a veritable prime location. The rents of shops along the street are rising, but there are still countless businesses rushing to it. Shops in Wudaokou change at an average rate of changing hands once every six months. Countless merchants die in rounds of metabolism. The king of jujube cakes will not fall. The long dragon in front of the store has become Wudaokou’s wonder. view.
These did not promote Chen Li's blind expansion. As early as 2010, people kept coming to offer to help Chen Li join the chain, but he refused one by one.
"Even if I want to expand, I will only engage in direct sales." Chen Li is very confident in his business model. In his opinion, the biggest problem with franchising is that he has no ability and energy to guarantee the product quality of franchised stores. "The date cake formula is nothing special, but the craftsmanship requirements are extremely high." Chen Li knows that his date cake is good because he can endure bitterness and work hard. The unique taste of
jujube cake king, in addition to Chen Li's improvement and breakthrough in six aspects, the choice of raw materials and the production of semi-finished products are the key. Chen Li worked hard for at least 10 hours a day for this, "This is not something ordinary people can persist."
For seven years, Chen Li insisted on purchasing goods personally. Every day, he needs one person to transport six hundred catties of raw materials. He also insisted on cooking the dates by himself, using a 60cm diameter steel bucket to cook 90 pots a day. The strong physical work caused him to feel sore muscles and joints every day when he got up. The magical thing was that as long as he worked, the soreness would be relieved after half an hour. The reason why
insists on preparing the raw materials in person is to ensure the quality of the jujube cake on the one hand, and to control the cost on the other hand. The daily sales of 1,600 kilograms seem to be huge, but the jujube cake is a low-profit product. According to Chen Li, excluding the cost of rent and labor, the daily net profit of the jujube cake king is about 700 to 1,000 yuan.
Jujube King’s calmness
saves more costs, and you will have more money on hand. Chen Li is the father of three children and his expenses are not small.
In media reports, he emphasized more than once that he is a person who values family. He and his two wives were separated because of their personalities. They have three children together. The eldest daughter is already in college and the two younger sons are raised by Chen Li and Chen Li's mother.
He claims to be a very controlling father. Before his child reaches adulthood, his character and learning must be supervised. Therefore, the time he spends with his child is untouchable. Get up at 6:30 every morning, take care of his son's clothes and food, send him to school, pick him up from school, and take care of his homework. The remaining time is used to make semi-finished jujube cakes, purchase and deliver goods, close the shop, and often have lectures.
Throughout the year, Chen Li only has six days off during the Spring Festival and sleeps an average of 5 hours per night. The shop area of
Jujube King is still only about 14 square meters, with a workshop model. The first quarter is the sales area, one or two workers are responsible for collecting money and bagging, and the last three quarters are the processing area, where several workers are responsible for making and baking.
Some people ridiculed Chen Li for having such a strong brand effect but not expanding. It was "no brain". Some people questioned Chen Li's insistence on small store operations to create "hunger marketing." Some people think that his jujube cake is not delicious. Why are there so many people in line? It is purely blind obedience. Chen Li didn't care about this, he showed a look of teasing, "I can achieve today's results by no means ignorant, it is precisely because I have my own considerations, so I will not act rashly."
He didn't think about expanding. The store hopes to open one or two more chain stores in Wudaokou. As long as they are not far apart, he can ensure the quality of jujube cakes through supervision and management. Over the years, he has more than once had the opportunity to sell adjacent stores, but the people who sell the stores here are not simple, and there are many factors that are difficult to control.
Now, many jujube cake shops in Beijing use the name "Jujube King". Chen Li didn’t care about the lack of corporatization and the failure to register the name of "Jujube King". “It’s not important, it’s just a piece of the pie.” According to his assumptions, he hopes to directly operate a chain. I have confidence, but I really don't have enough time and energy."
"I know what I am doing, and I must be focused when I do something." Chen Li said this with light in his eyes.
I should apologize
On the day of the interview, Chen Li rejected the offer to go to the cafe.
He carried a purple thermos cup and led me into the corner of a fast food restaurant, "I have never been to a coffee shop. I’m awkward to go there. I only drink tea."
This is a thrifty man, except for food And the rent, the daily fixed expenses can be easily calculated: he likes to smoke, 200 yuan a month for cigarettes, buying a pair of shoes every year, 100 yuan, and buying two sets of clothes every year, about 400 yuan. During the conversation of
, his domestic mobile phone kept ringing, mostly about cooperation. He always simply asked a few questions: Is there a storefront? Can it be technical? If the other party only has funds and the answer is no, he will not hesitateHesitantly interrupted and refused. "Only money can do bad things." Chen Li said. The glory of the Jujube King over the past 7 years has brought Chen Li a sense of accomplishment to a certain extent. "It is not false to say at all," he smiled, but immediately put away his expression, "But I still demand myself with a normal heart. Doing things well is the most important thing.”
About half a month ago, the landlord hurriedly notified him to terminate the contract. This caused the always calm businessman to be in a mess and had no time to find a suitable store to continue. He admitted that when he left No. 45 Chengfu Road, he felt quite disappointed. In the two days after
closed the business, he was clarifying his thoughts: Is it to continue the workshop-style operation or the large-scale operation? Chen Li is not in a hurry to open a shop right away. On the contrary, he hopes to use this rare spare time to think carefully and settle accounts. He has the funds to expand, and he has confidence in management and business logic.
He once had a deep talk with his eldest daughter who majored in financial management. The daughter was surprised by his father's teaching-taking his own business operation as an example, Chen Li showed the essence of the financial management course. Chen Li speaks quickly, reacts very quickly, and has clear thoughts. In his expression, he can hear his strong confidence in his own judgment and ability.
I proposed that there must be better ways to avoid safety hazards than closing the business early, such as setting aside a portion of the sales volume for the remaining customers to taste. In this way, there will not be much loss, and it can calm the emotions of customers, which is still a good brand promotion.
"Yes!" He patted his thigh, and finally denied himself in this conversation, and then laughed, "I am still not smart enough after all!" The decision of
to close the business early caused him to hurt a large group of people who came to join in. A regular customer, he apologized for this, "I really should apologize." After finishing the interview, I accompanied him to paste two pieces of A4 paper on the glass window of No. 45 Chengfu Road, with the letter Chen Lixinkai printed on it. The QR code of his WeChat public account. This is the "good way" he discussed with his daughter yesterday. It says:
"Dear old and new customers, if you are willing to pay attention to the new address of our store, please scan the WeChat public account below, Thank you!"
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