Author/Miao Zhengqing

Source/Boxbox Finance (ID: daxiong Fan)

Three squirrels who are very hard-working, but they have handed in the worst report card since listing. On August 2th, the semi-annual report of Three Squirrels showed that the company's net profit decreased by 29.51% year-on-year, and the operating cost of its main business increased by 69.73% year-on-year. While achieving a revenue of 5.2 billion yuan, the net profit of this Internet snack company was only 18 million yuan.

In Wuhu, the three squirrels are one of the most competitive enterprises: after 217, the lights of the headquarters building of the three squirrels have never been extinguished before 22: pm.

"No one dares to leave on time at 18:."

an internal employee carefully told bento finance that after three squirrels' CEO and father Zhang Liaoyuan were furious in 217, the "little squirrels" quickly learned new survival skills: working overtime really or pretending to work overtime until they got off work.

Within the three squirrels, all employees are collectively called "Little Squirrel", and the eldest Zhang Liaoyuan is honored as "Squirrel Daddy", which is a squirrel empire under the "rule" of Daddy: Daddy is not only a respectful name, but also the only rule of "looking".

personal fable, Zhang Liaoyuan, is based on the miracle of three squirrels that started in 212. This Internet food company, which rose in Wuhu residential building, ranked first in sales of the Double Eleven e-commerce platform for seven consecutive years. On July 12, 219, three squirrels were successfully listed and became the first e-commerce snack.

The old squirrels who followed Zhang Liaoyuan in the early days became the main force of the "God-making Movement" in the company. They will tell the newcomers about the extraordinary things of Dad: giving up a million-dollar salary to start a business, starting a business not to make money but to create opportunities for young people, leading a team to smash a shop the day after shaving their heads, and going from secondary school students to the richest man in Anhui ... < P > But do these old squirrels really know Dad? Maybe years have caused them to have memory errors? For example, Zhang Liaoyuan was not a technical secondary school student but a technical secondary school student, and had shaved his head before smashing the shop.

But this does not hinder the deification of Zhang Liaoyuan. Almost all the squirrels can tell the story of their father's entrepreneurship. The newly hired squirrels must learn the "spirit of their father", which is some "philosophy" of Zhang Liaoyuan summed up by the three squirrels, among which there are many shadows of Ali.

"Every little squirrel knows that Daddy worships Ma Yun." Inside the three squirrels, the flower names of employees are composed of "mouse+nickname". Much like Ali, the three squirrels also adopted the commander+political commissar mode. A story that is regarded as a "compulsory subject" among three squirrels is that in 29, Zhang Liaoyuan, a 33-year-old squirrel father, personally went to Hangzhou to attend the 1th anniversary celebration of Alibaba, and Ma Yun's speech made the squirrel father awake and ambitious.

"But now the three squirrels are nothing like Ali." "Mouse Xiaobao (a pseudonym)", who once worked for three squirrels and has left his post, said, "The will of the old man has not been implemented at the grassroots level."

An old squirrel recalled an old fact: On Father's Day in 219, three squirrel employees had screened "Nickname+Happy Father's Day to Daddy Squirrel" in the nail group. It was the "political commissar" department within the three squirrels that initiated this movement. "Do you think Ali's political commissar would do such a thing?"

"Rat Prime Minister" is a kind of joke used by the employees inside the three squirrels, which is often used to describe the middle and high-level people who pursue "formalism" inside the three squirrels. Since Zhang Liaoyuan discovered that no one was at the work station around 18: in 217, an overtime exercise has become the new policy of the "prime ministers of rats".

"It is unknown to the outside world that some departments of the three squirrels will deliberately arrange the meeting after 18: pm." But an employee who didn't want to be named revealed that Zhang Liaoyuan, the squirrel's father, was losing his understanding of the company's grassroots. "There are a lot of things, which are not what Mr. Zhang meant, but the following have changed in execution."

For example, during the epidemic, the product departments of three squirrels set up a "volcano commando" to keep working through online office. What even Zhang Liaoyuan didn't know was that the families of these employees were drawn into several WeChat groups by the "political commissar" of relevant departments. Every day, these family members are responsible for sending photos of employees working online to the group to punch in.

"Before going public, Dad always had a direct conversation with front-line employees. At an earlier time, every employee could always find Mr. Zhang to express his thoughts and feelings, but today's squirrel daddy is moving away from the little squirrel. " Since moving into the Three Squirrels Building in Gejiang District, Wuhu City, Zhang Liaoyuan has gradually been keen on shutting down.

The office is the first secluded place in Zhang Liaoyuan. Sometimes he would stare at the calligraphy in the office and meditate: "The long tassel is in hand, smiling at the yellow, and the grass is king."

There is a whole row of shelves in Zhang Liaoyuan's office. All the new products launched by the three squirrels will be delivered here at the first time. Sometimes this squirrel dad will shut himself in the office, holding a pack of snacks in his hand and staring blankly.

when he is meditating, his mobile phone will be put into silent mode. Subordinates who are familiar with Zhang Liaoyuan rarely disturb him suddenly at this time. "Dad is thinking about something big."

When Zhang Liaoyuan thinks he has gained something, he will stand up and walk out of the office quickly. At this time, his eyes are bright, and any employee is easily infected when he sees him, and he has a premonition of winning. "This means that Dad has figured out a new art of war." An old squirrel recalled.

Home is the second "closed" treasure in Zhang Liaoyuan. Zhang Liaoyuan was so addicted to cigarettes that he could even smoke one after another while meditating, drinking tea with cigarettes and drinking wine with tea. "Heavy smoke, red wine and strong tea" are the three treasures of Zhang Liaoyuan's seclusion. He eats like a bird and is not a heavy snack lover. Even if it is the hottest snack recommended by employees, he just takes a few bites.

after its listing in 219, Zhang Liaoyuan has been closed to meditation for many times. He has discovered three bottlenecks encountered by the three squirrels: the cost pressure brought by the e-commerce platform, the sluggish offline layout and the slow process of product diversification. A person familiar with the executives of the three squirrels said that when Zhang Liaoyuan chatted privately, "I was not willing to cooperate with the e-commerce platform at present."

"Three squirrels were completely tied up by JD.COM and Tmall." A securities analyst in the food industry told Bento Finance that JD.COM and Tmall were the biggest sales channels for the three squirrels. The combined sales of the two companies account for more than 8% of the total sales of the three squirrels.

but this is by no means a free lunch. Based on e-commerce, the three squirrels not only have to pay the platform service fee, but also bear some logistics costs. With the increase of e-commerce traffic cost, platform service fee and logistics cost, the cost pressure of the three squirrels has increased sharply.

In the first half of 219, the service fee of the three squirrels e-commerce platform accounted for 18.9% of the sales expenses, which became one of the biggest cost items for the three squirrels. By the first half of 22, this proportion has risen to 39.8%.

The high platform service fee directly eats into the profits of the three squirrels. For snack enterprises, the net profit rate of sales is an important financial indicator. Xishi Candy Company is an enterprise owned by Buffett for more than 4 years, and one of the reasons that attracted the stock god in that year was that Xishi Candy could reach a net profit rate of 6.63% (in 1972).

By studying Xishi Candy Company, Buffett found that controlling expenses is the key for snack enterprises to obtain high net profit rate. However, since 217, the sales net profit of the three squirrels has continued to decline: 5.44%(217), 4.34%(218) and 2.35%(219).

In order to reverse this situation, Zhang Liaoyuan has come up with two solutions after the closed door: expanding the number of offline physical stores and building its own logistics. In April 22, Anhui Hamster Logistics Co., Ltd. was established with a registered capital of 5 million yuan.

but this self-built logistics model is not optimistic. Zhu Danpeng, a food industry analyst in China, told Bento Finance that this belongs to "losing watermelon and picking up sesame seeds". In Zhu Danpeng's view, "Although three squirrels have a volume of 1 billion yuan, this amount is nothing for the platform."

In terms of expanding the offline, Grandpa Squirrel also found himself "late". At present, Liangpin Store, the biggest competitor of the three squirrels, has more than 2,1 offline stores, and the number of stores in Iraq has reached 2,5 in 218.

But as of the first half of 22, there are 617 offline stores owned by the three squirrels, of which only 139 are directly operated by the three squirrels, and the rest are alliance stores in franchise mode.

AC Nielsen's research shows that with the gradual disappearance of e-commerce dividends, the opportunities in China's snack market have shifted from online to offline. With the upgrading of logistics and supply chain system, the food price of stores can be the same as that of online stores, and the experience, cultural added value and diversified services provided by stores are incomparable to online stores.

"Channel is king, and it is the truth in the snack industry." A person who has been working in the snack industry for more than 2 years said that entertainment value is a real opportunity for snack shops now. "The life museum model and the experience hall model are the opportunities for these stores, and the stores themselves are an important part of online logistics."

Zhang Liaoyuan is not unaware of the value of offline stores. In public interviews in 219 and 22, he has put forward the plan of 1, stores. In the first half of 22, three squirrels opened 38 new restaurants, with an increase rate of 37.6%; There were 29 new alliance stores, with an increase rate of 77.6%.

However, troubles come one after another. Because the scale effect has not yet formed and the supply chain system is still evolving, the sales revenue of all offline stores of Three Squirrels currently accounts for only 8.89% of the total revenue.

In fact, as early as 216, Zhang Liaoyuan began to try the offline store model. However, unlike the pioneering work in 212, the three squirrels facing the offline transformation already had bloated bodies, which eventually led to a slow transformation.

Daddy Squirrel is loved by almost all the little squirrels, including those who have left.

"Dad won't look down on people with low academic qualifications. Even the most ordinary employees can hear Dad's encouragement." A little squirrel who has left his job thinks Zhang Liaoyuan is full of charm. This is a kind of energy that can even be called magic, especially for those young people aged 18-22-which is the general age of the three squirrels.

"Zhang Liaoyuan in 212 can make people fight for it." An old squirrel who has left three squirrels thinks that Zhang Liaoyuan has changed. In 212, 36-year-old Zhang Liaoyuan was more grounded. He will eat at the same table as the founding team members. He will drink big wine and chat in front of 18-year-old children, and then with an extraordinary heroism, he will plant the seeds of success in everyone's heart.

At this time, Grandpa Squirrel even led a team to fight. In 212, during the first Double Eleven War of Three Squirrels, Zhang Liaoyuan took stock with the team, wrote the express bill, served as customer service and moved the goods.

At this time, there are not so many "red slogans full of slogans" in the Three Squirrels Company. "Zhang Liaoyuan is the best slogan by setting an example."

Some people still remember the firecrackers at the inauguration ceremony of the Three Squirrels Building in December 214. "That seems to tell everyone that an era is over. It seems that after moving here, some tastes have gradually changed." An old squirrel who finally chose to leave in 216 missed the three squirrels before 214, but he still firmly stated that he hated not the squirrel daddy, but someone else.

after the headquarters building is completed, Zhang Liaoyuan doesn't often stay in the headquarters building. He frequently meets with investors and the media. From March 214 to September 215, three squirrels completed three rounds of new financing, with a valuation of 4 billion yuan. As Daddy Squirrel gets busier and busier, new employees will no longer "move the courier box together" with Daddy like the old squirrel in the early days.

what follows is the change of the organization's operation mode. Squirrel dad began to decentralize, and he focused on the company's marketing, brand and core values. As for the supply chain management that he thinks he is not good at, Zhang Liaoyuan chooses to trust others.

"This is the root of all the problems of the three squirrels in the future." A retired old squirrel who didn't want to be named said that in 215~217, the "clean" department within the Three Squirrels Company began to become more and more important.

A story published by three squirrels is quite representative: an old squirrel who joined the company in 213 was fired in 217 because he took a kickback of 45, yuan for the renovation of the company's factory building. On February 12th, 217, Zhang Liaoyuan led a team to smash a store with three squirrels. "The decoration of the store is extremely poor, which is completely unexpected to Dad. If someone hadn't tipped him off, Dad would have been kept in the dark."

Before this, Zhang Liaoyuan had repeatedly stated in the company that he wanted to unify the decoration style of the stores and keep the three squirrel stores of high quality. This store that was smashed by the squirrel's father was actually the third offline food store opened by three squirrels.

"In 216, the whole company knew the expectation and attention of Dad for the store, but this happened just after opening the third store."

this is just the tip of the iceberg. Industry analyst Song Qi (pseudonym) has visited the foundries of several snack brands. According to him, foundries that survive around e-commerce snack brands often have the behavior of "returning the favor". "This is not a case of one or two brands, but a general situation. The order quantity of e-commerce brands is often the amount of a small factory for half a year or even a year. These factories all want to strive for such opportunities. "

"Dad's vision and ability are extremely high, but his energy is limited. If product development, stores and diversified business were completed by countless Zhang Liaoyuan members, three squirrels would not be the present situation. Unfortunately, we only have one squirrel daddy. " Xiao Ni left her job before the epidemic, and she was involved in the product development process.

an interesting story is fresh in her memory. When Zhang Liaoyuan began to pay great attention to product research and development, the team brought a new product consisting of "nuts and pumpkin seeds", and the reason for adding pumpkin seeds was because of its "health value". At that time, the team members were very proud of this idea and thought it was the main selling point of health care. But this product was finally "killed" by the squirrel daddy. The reason given is that "pumpkin seeds will make consumers feel that the products are cheap."

But Zhang Liaoyuan can't devote himself to every link of the three squirrels. With the expansion of business, Zhang Liaoyuan can't even clearly understand the "grass-roots dynamics" of the three squirrels. When he decided to go offline and diversify, the three squirrels at this time were not the strong posture in 212: too high communication.