Source of this article: Times Finance Author: Shen Zhuoxuan
"51 Family Butler" Guangzhou headquarters, photo by Times Finance
Guangdong's leading local domestic service company "51 Family Butler", which was once favored by capital, has found itself in a difficult situation.
On October 26th and 27th, customers and service engineers of "51 Family Butler" went to the headquarters building in Haizhu District, Guangzhou City to seek explanations. In the previous week, news about the break in the capital chain of "51 Family Butler" continued to ferment on social platforms.
On October 27, when Times Finance went to the scene as a customer, it was learned that several employees in the headquarters building were trying to appease customers and service staff, and were using the "IOU" method to handle their demands for payment, that is, checking identities, After the prepaid amount or unpaid wages have not been consumed, the customer and service staff will be given a paper confirmation letter of the customer's claim and employee's unpaid wages with an official seal respectively.
This method of handling still cannot eliminate the worries of customers and service staff. After the waiter Xiaohui signed a letter confirming employee wages arrears, she sat on a stool in the lobby of the headquarters in despair, "Now we can only hope that (wages will be paid). If we really can't survive '51', we can only do it ourselves." Go home and adjust your mentality."
Xiaohui told Times Finance that the employee wages arrears confirmation letter clarified the total amount of September wages owed, and promised to count and confirm October wages on November 15. However, like the customer credit confirmation letter, the employee wages arrears confirmation letter also There is no agreed time for repayment.
A management member who claimed to be the "biggest person in charge of the site" revealed that originally the company only owed the waiters September wages. "Half of them have been paid, and the remaining half has not been paid. The funding gap is less than one million (yuan). )". However, due to the fermentation of public opinion and the rush of customers and waiters, "the current situation is already quite 'crisis'."
Once a rising star in the eyes of capital, now he is stumped by millions of dollars?
experienced a financial crisis for the second time
"51 Family Housekeeper" was established in 2014. Its business covers cleaning and disinfection, home nanny, babysitting and confinement care, elderly care, etc. It is a fully self-operated, non-intermediary employee-based housekeeping platform.
As a latecomer to the housekeeping industry, “51 Housekeeper” has repeatedly won investments from well-known companies. From 2015 to 2021, Guangzhou Weixiang Internet Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Weixiang Technology"), the parent company of "51 Family Manager", has successively obtained the strategies of Guangfa Securities , Guangdong Finance, Galaxy Bay Group and Yalilife Invest in shares.
With the support of capital, "51 Family Butler" has grown into a leading regional enterprise in 10 years. According to the "51 Family Butler" app, "51 Family Butler" has more than 3,500 employees. Currently, it has established more than 400 physical service sites and brand stores in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Foshan, serving more than 1 million Chinese households. High-end homes provide housekeeping services.
Comprehensive data from Ya Life’s 2021 annual report and Zhongzhi Research Institute show that in 2021, the recharge amount of “51 Family Butler” exceeded 120 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 50%; in the first half of 2023, the recharge amount was nearly 90 million yuan, a year-on-year increase Nearly 40%. During the same period, the income of "51 Family Butler" exceeded 70 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32%.
On the surface, the development of “51 Family Butler” seems to be going smoothly. However, the above-mentioned management revealed that the company experienced tight cash flow during the epidemic because the company’s revenue dropped at that time. Since the company implemented an employee system, all domestic service staff were company employees. “At our peak, we had more than 4,000 employees. We have employees to support and social security to pay, and at the same time we have bank loans and other financing to repay. Later Yalilife came to our rescue, and the capital chain problem slowly subsided."
Sky Eye Check shows that in 2021, Beihai Leyou Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Leyou Enterprise"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yalilife, participated in Xiang Technology for the first time, with a shareholding ratio of nearly 38.8%. On October 24 this year, the sole shareholder of Leyou Enterprise changed from Ya Life to Xiamen Weiqiong Security Service Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Weiqiong Security Service").
Ya Life responded that the company has historically been a shareholder of "51 Family Butler" and has not participated in its operations. It is inconvenient to comment on the situation related to "51 Family Butler".
From working as a wage earner
A customer of "51 Family Butler" added to Times Finance that what he learned from the relevant person in charge was that in order to make up for the funding gap, the boss of "51 Family Butler" paid for it out of his own pocket. A 20 million yuan "hole" was left.
"51 Family Butler" failed in his self-salvation. Waiters Xiaohui and A Ling both reported to Times Finance that according to regulations, the company will pay the previous month's salary on the 10th of every month. However, on October 10 this year, they did not receive the information on time when their wages were entered.
Customers and waiters come to communicate, photo by Times Finance
"I was lucky, I received it a few days later, but there are other colleagues who have not received it." Xiaohui said that a housekeeper usually manages dozens of waiters at the same time. "I manage twenty or thirty housekeepers, and almost half of them are owed wages."
The above-mentioned management said that originally the company only owed the waiters’ September wages. “Half of them were paid, and the remaining half has not yet been paid. The funding gap is less than one million (yuan).” As public opinion continues to ferment, it has caused Customers are scrambling for refunds and waiters are asking for wages. The funding gap has expanded, exceeding the company's management and control capabilities. "The current situation is already quite a 'crisis'."
"The company has clearly told us that at this point, it can no longer afford to pay wages. Let us talk to the customer ourselves to see if the customer is willing to continue to sign with us and let the customer pay us wages by themselves, starting today. You don’t have to clock in at work.” But Xiaohui didn’t know how to speak to customers.
When the employment relationship is good and customers are willing to make compromises, the waiter's own "job" can still be saved. Customer Li Xia, who came with a waiter to solve the problem, chose to continue to hire a waiter. "I paid her salary, and the money I haven't consumed yet is equivalent to the money owed to me by '51 Family Butler'. It has nothing to do with the waiter." .
In fact, after the customer signed the customer's creditor's rights confirmation letter, the customer terminated the service contract with "51 Family Management", and at the same time, the prepaid amount that had not been consumed was converted into a creditor's right. Although the number of victims and the amount have not yet been determined, according to Times Finance, the amount owed by each customer ranges from a few thousand to more than 150,000 yuan. The confirmation letter does not stipulate a repayment time, but only states that "you have the right to Protect your legitimate rights and interests through judicial channels."
Li Xia still has a balance of more than 80,000 yuan. Her biggest dissatisfaction is "I originally booked this aunt for 6 months, but after only two months, the salesperson contacted me and asked me to renew for another 6 months immediately. If If I renew for another period, they will arrange the aunt to the next one. This aunt is very suitable. I definitely don’t want to change, so I paid for another 6 months.”
Other customers reported that even though they knew there was a problem with the capital chain, "51 Family Management" was still guiding customers to pay fees until the incident, but it was difficult to detect the abnormalities at the time.
In response to many claims, Times Finance tried to contact "51 Family Steward" for response, but was unable to get in touch as of press time.
"The boss and CEO are still looking for help everywhere, including actively contacting the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the government," the above-mentioned management said. However, like many customers and service staff, he was not sure what news was waiting for him.
(The interviewees Li Xia, Xiaohui and A Ling are pseudonyms in this article)
