In recent years, with the rise of Meituan Ele.me, many takeaway restaurants have sprung up in every corner of the city.
They are often hidden in urban villages, with only four or five employees. The lighting is dim and the area is small. There are no tables and chairs, only a kitchen. You can only get a glimpse of them when you go deeper into the alley. It looks very mysterious.
So what is it like to open such a secret takeaway shop? The experience of this entrepreneur may give us some answers.
"Entrepreneur Zhang Pang" is a Bilibili UP owner. He always goes to various places to visit restaurants. But this time, he found a young man who planned to open a takeaway shop in Wuhan - Xiao Zhang.
Xiao Zhang claimed to have seven or eight years of catering experience. He found that Wuhan’s takeout industry was very developed, so he planned to join this field and make a lot of money.
First of all, the factor that Xiao Zhang needs to consider is location selection.
The area covered by takeout shops is about 3-5 kilometers. It would be best if there are office buildings, large factories, large hospitals, schools, etc. nearby, so as to ensure sufficient takeout orders.
Finally, Xiao Zhang decided to open a takeaway shop in Optics Valley Youth City.
Optics Valley Youth City is a residential area. The surrounding population density is high and it is very prosperous. There are not only various large hospitals, but also universities such as Wuhan Textile Institute and South Central University for Nationalities. As we all know, students like to order takeaways, so it is most cost-effective to open a store next to a university.
Moreover, after research, Xiao Zhang found that the number of businesses around Optics Valley Youth City is about 1,900, and there are only a few dozen stores with high sales, which means that the traffic has not been divided up yet. Xiao Zhang still has a chance.
So Xiao Zhang bought a takeout shop there. Including buying equipment and decoration, he spent more than 30,000 yuan in total.
Secondly, the factor that Xiao Zhang needs to consider is the category.
Takeout meals are no better than dine-in meals. If they want to sell well, there are several factors: first, the meal is delivered quickly; second, the operation is simple and convenient for packaging; third, the taste will not change after delivery. A very noticeable change in time.
Based on these factors, combined with the tastes of local consumers in Wuhan, Xiao Zhang selected the category of dry-mixed maocai.
The advantages of dry-mixed maocai are obvious:
It tastes spicy and fragrant, very memorable, very suitable for the appetite of local consumers, and can increase the repurchase rate.
Moreover, the cooking process of dry-mixed maocai is very simple. You only need to mix the sauce and the meal is ready. It is very fast and does not contain soup, which is also convenient for delivery.
Furthermore, because the process is simple, Xiao Zhang no longer needs to pay a high salary to hire a chef. He only needs to hire four or five handymen to help, which saves a lot of expenses.
After selecting the address and category, Xiao Zhang began to apply for business licenses and recruit employees non-stop... What kind of journey is he about to embark on?
After half a month of preparation, Xiao Zhang’s takeaway shop opened.
In order to improve the efficiency of meal delivery, Xiao Zhang has set up many set meals for takeout meals, such as "Signature Beef Dried Beef Mixed with Maocai + Rice", "Bangda Shrimp Smooth Dry Mixed with Maocai + Rice" etc.
This will not only reduce the pressure in the kitchen, but also provide customers with a reference and shorten their purchasing decision time.
Moreover, the price per customer at Xiao Zhang’s takeaway shop is not high. If the customer chooses a set meal, it usually only costs 15 or 16 yuan. This kind of price is actually very suitable for students.
In order to further attract consumers, Xiao Zhang also set up instant discounts for new customers, large discounts and rebate coupons, such as "15 off for purchases over 33", "23 off for purchases over 48", etc.
Because he knows that consumers are driven by price. Only when the price is affordable can the repurchase rate be increased.
Can Xiao Zhang still make money by setting up such a huge discount?
In fact, because the raw materials of dry-mixed maocai are simple, the cost of the product is very low. In this way, even if the unit price is low and no matter how many discounts there are, you can still earn three or four yuan per order, keeping the gross profit margin at about 45%.
With distinctive products and very favorable prices, Xiao Zhang's takeaway shop attracted many customers as soon as it opened.
On the second day after its opening, the takeaway shop sold more than 2,000 yuan. Five days after opening, Xiao Zhang's store's daily turnover has reached about 6,000 yuan.
In order to improve the praise rate of the takeaway shop, Xiao Zhang also did one thing.
He and his staff will call back to visit some customers and ask for their opinions and suggestions on the products.
If a customer expresses a bad experience, they will apologize to the customer.
After repeated visits, Xiao Zhang’s takeaway shop has maintained a high praise rate. The increase in positive reviews has allowed the platform to increase the exposure of Xiao Zhang’s takeaway shop, and the store has received more orders.
Of course, necessary promotion of takeaway shops is also indispensable. On average, Xiao Zhang spends more than 100 yuan a day to promote the takeaway store, which increases the store's exposure by more than 78,000 times.
Compared with some takeout shops that spend three to four hundred yuan a day, Xiao Zhang said that he is already restrained. Because takeout shops are inherently small profits but quick turnover, they need to control costs.
Once the promotion fee is high, it means that the overall cost of the takeaway shop increases, and it will be difficult to make money.
More than 30 days later, the daily order volume of Xiao Zhang’s takeout shop successfully reached five to six hundred. On the homepage of the takeout platform, this takeout shop has been judged by the platform as a high-quality takeout shop with a monthly sales volume of 9999+.
There is a famous saying in "A Bite of China": High-end ingredients often use the simplest cooking methods.
The same applies to entrepreneurship: good businesses often have the simplest business logic.
During Xiao Zhang’s entrepreneurial process, he expressed his experience like this:
First, costs must be controlled no matter what, while ensuring profit margins. Because doing business is not charity, the first priority is to do everything possible to make money.
He deliberately chose a store with a relatively cheap rent, and at the same time chose a category with low development costs and easy operation. He did not recruit chefs, only small workers. It can be seen that from store rental, labor to products, he is following this logic.
Xiao Zhang also said that he will not engage in price wars for the sake of order volume, but will set the most reasonable price for meals based on profits. "With just a single quantity and no profit, wouldn't it be a waste of work?"
Second, the quality of the product must be guaranteed no matter what. Because no matter how good a takeaway restaurant's marketing is, it doesn't matter if the food tastes bad.
Xiao Zhang said that they spent three or four months preparing the sauce and developing products in order to improve the taste of dry-mixed maocai.
Success never happens overnight. Xiao Zhang wanted to improve product quality first, and the order volume gradually increased. After all, only by ensuring the quality of your products can you build a reputation, attract new customers, and increase the repurchase rate of old customers.
In fact, in recent years, such a voice has appeared more and more frequently: Takeaway is not easy to make!
However, while many takeout owners are crying and complaining that business is not good, Xiao Zhang's takeout shop is making a fortune quietly.
This is probably because Xiao Zhang is a very down-to-earth person.
He has always followed the simplest business logic and started to open a takeaway restaurant based on factors such as cost, profit, positioning, and products.
He never talks about fancy concepts, nor does he have any surprising innovative methods, but just down-to-earthly improves the product taste and supporting services.
Such a takeaway shop is destined to be recognized by consumers.
In the final analysis, no matter how small a business is, as long as you run it with care, it will shine.
Author: e-commerce gentleman