Speaking of Zhao Shen, you may not know who it is, but when it comes to and Hegu , I believe many people have eaten it or seen it in the streets and alleys of Beijing. Zhao Shen is the founder of "Chinese fast food" - Hehegu. Zhao Shen in the photo has white temples, slightly long eyebrows, and drooping corners of his eyes. Some of the appearance of Ip Man in "The Grandmaster" has deep and soft eyes, and some are the light of wisdom accumulated.
He founded Hehegu at the age of 55 and is 72 years old this year.
01
is gold shining everywhere
1981, after more than ten years of settlement and guarding the border, Zhao Shen entered Shougang and worked as a worker.
In 1987, the factory faced bankruptcy due to losses. Shougang decided to recruit talents from 120,000 employees. 38-year-old Zhao Shen became the factory director through layers of screening. Not only did he turn losses into profits, he also became the first person to earn foreign exchange in Shougang. In 1995, he was named one of the "Top Ten Factory Directors in Beijing".
However, no one expected that a year later, he resigned and entered the Yoshinoya.
At that time, there were only 2 stores in Yoshinoya, Beijing, and its management was far inferior to that of now, and it often made a living inadequate income. Chairman Yoshinoya said bluntly, "... Yoshinoya is a loss-making business."
Elevator and catering, the industry span is so big that Zhao Shen’s choice has puzzled many people. In fact, it was the chairman of Yoshinoya who moved Zhao Shen with his sincerity for half a year.
is that gold shines everywhere. After Zhao Shen came to Yoshinoya, he only did four things and turned Yoshinoya into profits, and the brand was launched.
However, before the contract was about to end, Japan's Yoshinoya issued a transfer order, appointing Zhao Shen as the general manager of Tianjin Yoshinoya. The name was called transfer, but it was actually dismissed. Zhao Shen withdrew from Yoshinoya.
Zhao Shen, who left Yoshinoya, is still a "hot commodity". Companies such as Zhengda and million manor have successively issued olive branches, but Zhao Shen refused. His explanation is very simple: "The opportunity is not right."
02
"Troubleshooting" Yoshinoya won the first battle
Zhao Shen's goal was to build a brand by himself, so he founded the first Hehegu in 2004. After successfully registering "Hehegu", the first fast food restaurant in Hehegu was unexpectedly opened on the original site of Yoshinoya of Zhongyou Department Store. What is even more amazing is that not only is the store site from Yoshinoya, but all the employees are also the original staff of Yoshinoya Kazuo Tomoji Store.
Some people described Hehegu Nakayoudian actually caught Yoshinoya off guard.
The same situation also happened in New World Mall.
In November of the same year, the Hehegu New World Store opened on the original site of the Yoshinoya New World Store. It caused a sensation as soon as it opened, with more than 2,000 people visiting that day; on two days on the weekend, Hehegu New World Store sold more than 4,000 bowls of rice.
The current "Hehegu" has opened more than 150 stores in Beijing, Tianjin, , Hebei , Shanxi and other places, and has become a "dark horse" that the Chinese fast food industry cannot be underestimated.
03
is the gas station for ordinary people
and Hegu have clearly made "Chinese fast food" since its inception. Its essence is to facilitate the people, or improve the quality of life of the people, and be a gas station for the people.
How to achieve "Chinese fast food"?
Zhao Shen said, first of all, find a very wide track that can be used from south to north - rice. Secondly, Chinese fast food must be used to make national dishes.
In terms of menu design, Hehegu has also developed pasta such as beef rice, chicken rice and Dongpo rice, including curry rice, pork chop rice, , seafood paella, chicken ramen, beef ramen and other pasta, plus various side dishes, snacks, and beverages, with more than 60 varieties.
Customers are from the south, we have Dongpo pork and Luohan Shangsu; customers are from the north, we have chicken chop rice; now many people like spicy food, so we launch spicy hot pot rice.
can take both north and south, and both top and bottom.
04
delicious is still the first place
Faced with the impact of the Internet on the catering market, Zhao Shen said that some brands are indeed doing well in online marketing, which can make the brand become popular quickly, but when doing catering, delicious is still the first place.
relies on gimmicks to run a business. There may be a market when it first comes out, but whether it can steadily increase in the future is more important. After several years of practical tests, what should not work in the end is still not.
The most important thing about fast food is delicious and affordable.
and Hegu implement the "online and offline" business model and the principle of "small profits but quick turnover". In order to facilitate customers,
and Hegu also cooperate with Meituan, Ele.me , Baidu and other platforms. The takeaway business alone accounts for about 30% of the turnover.
We control the net profit at 5 points. With these 5 points of profit, you can support workers, pay rent, and have good cash flow.
05
There is no chef in the company
We Hegu make Chinese fast food. Some classic dishes can be obtained in about a minute. Kung Pao chicken in Hegu can be sold for 15,000 servings every day, which is actually based on industrialization and standardization.
There is no chef in the entire company. What is the secret to serving a meal in one minute?
is the "dual kitchen" model, which simplifies complex things.
One side is central kitchen , and the other side is terminal kitchen. The central kitchen mainly uses steaming and cooking, and only the previous preparation work is done for stir-fried and fried dishes. The terminal kitchen implements the concept of "standardization + artificial assisted intelligence", and one dish can be made with one click.
and Hegu new stores adopt the transparent kitchen decoration model, while old stores adopt the "video kitchen" approach. Consumers can directly watch the restaurant kitchen monitoring through the screen, see the food processing environment and the operations of the chef, so that diners can eat more with confidence.
06
From 100 to 1000
Actually, in 2006, many people wanted to join Hehegu. The reason why they didn't want to join at that time was because they were worried that they would not make money from franchisees.
We have always believed that franchise must be a win-win model. Our idea is: As long as you enter our team, we must let you make money.
Now, it is time for our brand to go global and develop. We have a five-year plan and plan to open 1,000 stores within 5 years.
Regarding the five-year plan, 100 stores start, 1,000 stores pass, and the top 100 stores are equivalent to one 1. If you make this template well, 1 can become infinite.
Zhao Shen, who is now in his seventies, still maintains the confidence and spirit of starting a business that year, and supports the helm of Hehegu in the treacherous market wave.
When asked what motivates you to keep doing it?
He said: has the most beautiful dream, and hope to follow you. This is the motivation!
Life is endless and struggle is endless.
