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has been around in Shanghai for many years. You Zhongwang can be called a beef expert. He first opened Akasaka Ting , but he wanted to move the beef skills to a restaurant to share high-end beef, and make some money by the way. The reality is very cruel. Because he was thinking about it, he lost millions at once. The more
is at a low point, the more you need to find a way. After analyzing the failed experience, You Zhongwang explored the "self-service" form to enter the market, catered to the consumption needs of the general public, and distinguished it from ordinary Japanese cuisine and teppanyaki companies through the unique positioning of compound Japanese meals.
This changed the embarrassment of Japanese stocks concentrating in high-end neighborhood hotels, keeping the general public out. Before the interview with
, You Zhongwang had not come out at the meeting next door. I accidentally heard a conversation in the bathroom. A female employee advised the other: "Didn't we, Mr. You, say, you must persist..."
After all, it is not told to the camera, which is enough to make people curious: what kind of boss is this, which makes the employees so convinced.
▲Akasaka is a high-end catering and entertainment district in Tokyo. Its name is "Akasaka Tei" and means a synonym for the joy of young people gathering.
It was not until You Zhongwang finished his work and sat in front of us, cooking tea slowly while answering every question we asked, and then he understood his charm:
Although there are many stories about starting from scratch, there is no exaggeration or excessive rendering in his words. Whether he talks about those bumpy and astonishing achievements, he looks calm.
"Smooth and independent as a tree, talking endlessly in the wind."
▲ From a trader to a catering business, You Zhongwang has experienced hardships.
I wanted to share the best beef, but I lost millions
Time goes back more than 20 years ago, You Zhongwang played the role of a "beef expert".
was born in a rural area in Fujian. In 1995, You Zhongwang came to Shanghai alone. At the age of 19, he worked for about half a year and then started to do delivery. Soon, by 1998, You Zhongwang became a small boss and opened his own trading company. The products he made were mainly related to seasonings and frozen products.
contact with beef is an exception. At that time, You Zhongwang participated in the training of the American Beef Association, which opened his eyes. After returning, he began to work hard to learn and research beef, and acted as an agent for a high-end beef and distributed to customers who had demand for high-end beef.
It was not until the British mad cow disease broke out in 2000 and imported beef was banned. You Zhongwang had to turn to the best meat among domestic beef to meet the gap in the domestic high-end beef market.
▲Australia Angus Fresh plate tendon, good beef is always the core of Akasaka Tei.
There are many ways to make beef, such as putting it in a restaurant to sell it. You Zhongwang remembered that stores opened by Taiwanese are very profitable. But unexpectedly, the one who finally woke him up was a chef who had a good relationship with him in a Taiwanese restaurant: "Do you know, you can buy a piece of beef for 1,000 yuan, and then sell it to make 100 yuan. But our boss bought it for 1,000 yuan and sold it in the restaurant, and it will sell it for 3,000 to 5,000 yuan."
At that time, You Zhongwang didn't know what gross profit or net profit was. He thought to himself: Since he could make money like this, then go and open it.
Since then, You Zhongwang’s new idea is to open a restaurant that mainly sells high-end beef, and directly share high-quality beef with high nutritional value and excellent taste with consumers. So I invested with several shareholders, using the best raw materials, engineering design, and a Taiwanese chef team, and soon a restaurant called Akasaka Tei opened.
In 2005, the first store was opened in Pearl City, Hongmei Road. The store with a total of three floors of more than 600 square meters: the kitchen, barbecue, and teppanyaki each occupy one floor. Among them, barbecue takes the mid-to-high-end route, with an average customer price of 300 to 400 yuan. The raw materials and sauces of teppanyaki are both Japanese. There is a slightly cheaper business package of 188 yuan at noon, which is more expensive at night. There is a package of packages ranging from 588 to 1,688 per person.
What he couldn't accept was that a few months later, the phenomenon of business booming immediately turned into deserted. After the guests who tasted the new things left, Akasaka Ting dropped from 800,000 to 900,000 in the first month to more than 300,000 in three or four months. Losing one million in eight months.
He remembered that he heard the most at that time: "Lao You, you can't always do this. You have to find a way to make money. You can do business by cutting off your head, but you can't do business for a long time at a loss." You Zhongwang did not give up because of this.
Unexpectedly, when doing catering, you must know astronomy and geography, and also understand "human feelings".
He reflected:
I thought I was a supplier of beef. The beef sold very well and was well-known in the Shanghai market. There was absolutely no problem with the product. I just thought, take out the best beef and sell it cheaper than other peers, and I think it's enough to make money. This idea is very simple.
But if there is a problem, it needs to be analyzed. Several shareholders discussed it together. Later, after reflection, they found these problems: First, the positioning is wrong, the average customer price is too high, and it cannot cater to market demand; Second, there are environmental problems. The only three private rooms are full every day, and 160 seats can only be seated at 60 people per day, and 100 seats are empty.
The more people are at a low point, the more they need to find a way.
does not bow your head easily, and only "self-service" will win
Akasaka Ting did not die in the end. It was entirely up to You Zhongwang to discover the crux of the problem: Akasaka Ting's average customer price is 1,000 yuan and 100 yuan, and conflicts with each other: Customers with more than 1,000 yuan are unwilling to come in, and customers with more than 100 yuan are "not able to come in", feeling the pressure to come in.
This is simply awkward in capitalization. "In this way, we can't make any money." The 5 million investment was running inside, and we lost 1 million. You Zhongwang felt that he could not give up like this. He told other shareholders that since they had done it, they could not be cleared, so everyone should work harder. Perhaps because of the spirit of You Zhongwang, everyone continued to add more funds.
This also means that everything is replanned and adjusted.
In the end, the solution that You Zhongwang and his team came up with was to learn the barbecue in Xiaonanguo and the self-service of Teppanyaki in Dayu, take the essence and set your own special way. After the
idea was adjusted, Akasaka Tei finally planned it into a very simple positioning, turning both barbecue and teppanyaki into a self-service mode, with a price of 288 yuan. No one believed that at that time, the high-end restaurant was sold for more than 200 yuan, and redefined the brand's category distinction in a self-service mode with a self-service model.
▲ Akasaka Ting’s restaurant environment is luxurious.
What makes consumers sigh is: "Black-haired wagyu beef only costs 288 yuan to eat." "288 yuan self-service" became popular instantly, which became a turning point in Akasaka Ting's development.
strikes while the iron is hot, and You Zhongwang raises money. In just two months, he takes out more than 300,000 yuan to place advertisements, and sells them from multiple dimensions such as FM radio, food magazines, frame media at that time, and petty-bourgeois magazines.
This made Akasaka Tsui return from the door to the crowded city.
You Zhongwang finally breathed a sigh of relief. This store has welcomed many Taiwanese and Hong Kong celebrities and football players to visit. "In fact, the business model has changed and the price is cheap. The group at this level has come."
A brand that started from scratch has completed the combination of business model and profit model, and has begun to maintain the speed of opening stores at a stable pace. The second store just opened and sold more than 400,000 yuan in one month.
has a clear positioning. Akasaka Ting has expanded to more than 40 direct stores across the country, covering Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian, with annual business exceeding 350 million.
Successful summary:
1. Repositioning, self-service form, adjust prices, and change blind spots.
2. After the cost-effectiveness is improved, strike while the iron is hot and the publicity is in place.
3. You Zhongwang is a frozen product supplier and wholesaler who has been working hard for many years. He is at ease in beef supply, allowing Akasaka Tei to maintain his core advantages in the field of high-end beef.
Take "Chinese" Japanese cuisine and constantly innovate
Many people think that Akasaka Tei is a Japanese company. In fact, Akasaka Tei is different from ordinary Japanese cuisine and teppanyaki companies. It makes Japanese cuisine with Chinese characteristics, both a Japanese compound catering industry.
▲ Whitefish sashimi .
You Zhongwang goes to Japan several times a year and is also the chairman of Japanese cuisine of the China Hotel Association. He found that the difference between Akasaka Tei and Japanese restaurants is that Akasaka Tei's products include roast pork and sashimi, sushi, grilled food, as well as side dishes, cold dishes, and dishes.
In Japan, barbecue restaurants only make barbecue, while sashimi restaurants only make sashimi. Akasaka Ting is very different, combining all the single and separate types of Japan to form a Japanese-style compound catering industry.
"Don't pursue authenticity, just delicious food." You Zhongwang's idea is simple and direct.
You Zhongwang's reason is that in terms of eating habits, Japanese people pay attention to eating one thing at a time, while domestic habits are used to ordering many different types of dishes. Catering to market demand is also an important turning point for Akasakatei.
▲ Deluxe roast pork platter.
has to admit that in the past, due to the high price of Japanese cuisine, it was mainly concentrated in high-end neighborhoods or hotels in a few large cities, which led to many ordinary people being rejected.
, You Zhongwang has seized this market gap and positioned himself as a Japanese teppanyaki and exquisite Japanese cuisine restaurant. On the one hand, he launched a set price of 200-300 yuan, which caters to the consumer needs of the general public. On the other hand, he also distinguished himself from ordinary Japanese cuisine and teppanyaki companies through his unique positioning.
After accurately measuring the market positioning, Akasaka Tei went to a new height. A central processing and distribution center of 10,000 square meters is established in Shanghai. The temperature throughout the process is controlled by 0~-2℃, and can be distributed nationwide in cold chain. Five production lines cover composite seasonings, meat, fruits and vegetables, seafood and pastries. At the same time, almost all the materials used in the Akasaka Tsui store are delivered from here.
And good beef is still Akasaka Tei's core competitiveness. For example, Australian chilled wagyu beef was in the slaughterhouse in Australia yesterday, and today I went to Akasakatei Restaurant. The whole process was refrigerated and transported, which only took 12 hours.
▲ Australian chilled wagyu cattle distribution center can be stored for 90 to 120 days in chilled state. The preservation warehouse is a complete set of equipment in Japan with a total investment of 50 million.
In the new catering environment, You Zhongwang has also started to "practice internal skills" again:
When the market segmentation of the catering industry becomes more obvious, Akasaka Ting has to innovate the menu again. The previous unchanging self-service model is distinguished by the elderly, children, men and women, and becomes different self-service packages.
Today, Akasaka Tei has been there for twelve years. Catering has a life cycle, just like celebrities praised in different eras. Incorporating a young team and following the thinking of new customer groups is Akasaka Tei’s future plan. "Because, if the next echelon cannot be taken up, this brand will easily be forgotten," said You Zhongwang.
text / Shi Xiaoyu
WeChat ID / 15010662050
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