More and more women are realizing that financial freedom not only allows them to achieve economic freedom and give their families a better quality of life, but also spiritual satisfaction and enjoyment. Below is a story of a female restaurant entrepreneur that I would like to share with you, I hope you like it! Welcome to read!
Wu Chunxiang Yangzhou Wu family porridge store founder
In recent years, although the catering industry has experienced a cold spell, but has not stopped the pace of change, especially logistics, supply chain of high-speed development and the application of Internet technology, so that a large number of people from different industries to join the catering business, many of whom are young women. Compared with their predecessors in catering, they are facing a more competitive market from the beginning of their business, and are not satisfied with opening a small store and earning a little money, but are running to create a unique brand to power. Highly educated, knowledge-based women in the catering entrepreneurial army is particularly bright.
Catering is the most common industry, contact with the three religions and nine streams, all have to take care of, in enemy-occupied territories opened a teahouse sister-in-law A Qing said, "come are guests, all depending on the mouth a"; price is not high, but the customer's requirements are not low, the operator has to be from a tea, a meal, a vegetable gouge all kinds of profits; but this is indeed a woman who can accomplish the dream industry.
Home store owner, chain restaurant empire is her, fashion catering pioneer, food is also her, mother, wife, daughter or her, the unique charm of the female catering entrepreneurs, is that she is almost an all-round composite talent: business to manage, the family should be managed, their own personal hobbies can not be given up; the money to be earned, the ideal is more to be achieved.
Hong Kong writer Yishu has a novel called "Although these hands are small", to the effect that women's hands are small, "but it belongs to me, does not belong to you".
Indeed, although these hands are small, but for female restaurant entrepreneurs, you can still create their own piece of sky.
Sidelights on female catering entrepreneurs
"It's too hard for women to do catering business." At the beginning of 2017, Chen Ke, co-founder of Beijing Zangyu Tianchuan, started a program to "find mom's store" across the country, and after a year of operation, he summed up the state of female food and beverage entrepreneurs in this way.
Chen Ke, co-founder of Ziyutianchuan
Chen Ke believes that the increasing number of female entrepreneurs in recent years stems from the fact that women are self-conscious. In the current environment, many people are looking for things that reflect their own values, whether it is a full-time housewife or a successful career woman, "in their favorite field to engage in things that they like, can show personal talent, ability. The company's business is a hotspot for women's entrepreneurship," he said.
In the past, there were many successful examples of traditional catering industry, and we can make a strong list of them casually, such as Wang Huimin of Xiaonangguo, Pan Mingshi of Ajisen Ramen, Li Hong of Countryside, Liu Jingjing of Jiahe Yipin, and so on. Nowadays, with the strong alliance between Internet+ and the restaurant industry, the high-speed development of the supply chain system, and the convenience of logistics, opening a restaurant seems to be simpler and easier than before. Of course this is not the case.
Sweet Gift Shanghai
Chen Ke contacted the female catering entrepreneurs, 2/3 is "mom", which is related to his initiative to screen the target audience of the event. In his view, to catering for the entrepreneurial direction of women, can be roughly divided into several categories:
A class is a certain amount of financial strength, based on certain interests, hobbies, they are basically catering industry rookies, white;
A class of its own in the food and beverage circle for many years, there is a certain amount of experience, or experience in the management or understanding of the industry;
A class is other
Regardless of the traditional type, or the Internet era of the new, female catering entrepreneurs have their own distinction from the male characteristics and charm, but also still subject to the laws of the market, after all, the market is gender-neutral.
Technology is a force
From the interviews, women started their own catering brands, dessert stores are a good entry point. The proportion of women in all positions in the restaurant industry, except waiters, white cases or dessert chefs, is relatively high, and the transition to entrepreneurship in recent years is also a growing trend.
Zhao Lihong (third from left) and her team
For example, Zhao Lihong, the founder of Sweet Gift Boutique Artisanal Bakery in Shanghai, interviewed in this issue of the special plan, Tian Ping of Tianpin in Beijing, and Guohong of Private Practices, who have been featured in previous issues of China Cooking, are professional dessert makers. They are all professional dessert chefs, and their dessert stores are perfectly integrated with their personal signboards, so that the people and the stores are not separated, and they accomplish each other.
Zhao Lihong's work
Management experience is also a skill. Opened less than a year before the death of too many new stores, survive this hurdle also often face new problems, such as many stores died in the opposite of another situation: venture, spread the stall too large, personal management experience and the ability of the team can not hold. "The ones that survive are either the entrepreneurs who do have restaurant experience, or the stores are small and sophisticated," Chen Ke says. He sees Beijing Flower Kitchen as a positive example, where a single store can be profitable, and founder Kong Jie has done a very good job of striking a balance between his family, his children and his personal social role.
There is no gender in the workplace
Zheng Jinyan, chairman of Beijing Flower Kitchen, said, "There is no gender in the workplace there is no male or female, there is only strength and weakness."
Zheng Jinyan, chairman of the board of directors of Beijing Flower House
Are there any advantages for women in the restaurant industry?
"No." Hao Ying, founder of Taste of Beijing restaurant, answers succinctly. "You can be bullied no matter what sector or industry." From a waiter and manager to her own business for nearly two decades, building a number of restaurant brands such as Lemon Leaf and Taste, Hao Ying's understanding of the restaurant industry can be described as deep, and her career has basically witnessed the different stages of the development of China's restaurant industry.
Hao Ying, founder of Beijing Taste Restaurant
"Sometimes in the face of some of the tasks pressed down from above, if it is a male catering boss, the other side is very good to talk to; to our female this, this does not work that does not work." Hao Ying's response is also very "flabbergasted", directly said can not do, can not finish, because of what what. "Will not spoil the relationship?" "That can not be helped, as a friend as slowly." The water flow, some people although Hao Ying face pouting, but later also really in a friend.
There is also Hao Ying think "boss lady" sometimes unfair treatment is, "restaurant is really what kind of people, customers sometimes want to complain, see you are a woman boss,? Accompany a glass of wine, right?
Taste of the restaurant
Just a few days before the interview, there are a few guests in the restaurant dining smoking, Hao Ying and the waiter and other people repeatedly persuade not to listen to the other hand, and the other hand even hands wrestled with some of the cutlery. She did not let the matter rest, but chose to call the police. Hao Ying once wanted to send the video on the Internet, and then think about it.
Hao Ying said these, in fact, is a lot of female restaurant entrepreneurs will encounter things. This requires both personal resistance, but also the entire social environment can make changes, the quality of customers to improve.
Family and career, which is more important
For most male entrepreneurs, the care of the family does not seem to be listed in his schedule, and can be thrown home to his wife. But for female entrepreneurs, it's a different story.
The American actor Tina Feizen (Tina Feizen) is the first woman in the world to have a family business. Fei Zeng (Tina Fey) wrote in "Diva Outlaw" (Bossypants): "What is the rudest question for a woman? Yes? How old are you? or? How much do you weigh? Neither. The worst question is: "How do you juggle everything? How do you juggle everything? People ask me this all the time, and there's a condemning look in their eyes. Actually, you've made a mess, haven't you? They've said that with their eyes."
Xie Chun, founder of Beijing Yiyuan Catering Management Co.
Especially in China, the question of "how to balance career and family" is one that almost all women with successful careers are asked, and it's one that would be thrown to Jack Ma rather than Mingzhu, even if Jack Ma and Mingzhu were on the same stage. The question of "how to balance career and family" is one that almost all successful women are asked, even if they are on the same stage with Jack Ma.
Zheng Jinyan said, "I do not resent this kind of question, this is a social problem, there is no way to change". She believes that, as a mother, accompanied by children less time indeed heart will be very guilty, "but you have to have trade-offs, to weigh the relationship between career and family. Since we have to be responsible for our employees in our careers, to make the business go faster, more robust and develop better, you have to keep on actively investing. I am now doing multi-brand, but also the fast food model, the existing model also need to do innovation and upgrading, stores to upgrade to version 5.0? I have to invest a lot of time and energy, and naturally I have to take less care of my family. This is a problem that any female entrepreneur has to face. But every family is different and faces different problems, you can only rely on your own wisdom to balance". She feels she's balanced it pretty well so far.
American feminist icon Gloria? Gloria Steinem's words are fitting for all working women: "You can't do it all. No one can work two full-time jobs and not only take care of the kids and cook three meals a day? What the women's movement is fighting against is ? superwoman?"
Xia Feng, Founder of Vegetarian and Good Food
Once upon a time, Xia Feng was a superwoman, choosing to do it all herself. The first store opened in Zhuhai, Mr. Du Wei in the "front line", Xia Feng to do training for the staff after the return to Beijing, on the one hand, continue to participate in their own investment in the store in charge of the day-to-day work, on the other hand, to take care of both parents and children. Under the double pressure, she felt that there has been no life of their own, do not watch TV and movies, do not listen to music, every day non-stop phone calls, she can only choose the more durable battery phone. Then, she finally fainted in the store.
The doctor asked her, "Do you want money or life?" The doctor asked her, "Do you want money or do you want life?" Xia Feng, who had struggled from the death line twice before, naturally chose "life". The mother-in-law talked to her son, "Xiafeng is not easy, the child also need to have a father's company". After resting for a few months, Xia Feng resurrected herself and started another business. At this time, Mr. has also returned to Beijing, is still a person to fight the mountain, a person to guard the mountain of the "cooperation" mode, only this time, Xiafeng stipulated that he must have one day a week to bring up the child alone.
The food was produced by Vegan and Good Food
Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, said she was "very happy" with the results of her work, but she was not happy with the results. Sheryl Sandberg mentioned a study in her best-selling book, "Lean In," in which Brandeis University's Rosalind? Rosalind Barnett of Brandeis University. Prof. Rosalind Chait Barnett of Brandeis University reviewed the research on "work-life balance". She found that women who take on multiple roles have less anxiety and are psychologically healthier. Working women reap many rewards, including greater financial and marital stability, better health, and often higher levels of satisfaction with their lives.
Sentimentality? Social attributes? Parent-child space
Xia Feng entered the restaurant industry earlier, through the late 1990s, the early 21st century, everywhere scrambling to open a large store stage, she used to think that "as much money as there is, there is a big stage," because "this society is a society that worships money! "After engaging in the vegetarian industry, under the boss's painstaking efforts, she said, "I found that it's better to be a vegetarian. The stage is as big as the heart?" .
Zhao Xiaofei, founder of Little Tree Set and Super Tide Fried Rice
In the arena of women's restaurant entrepreneurship, sentiment is a key word. Many mothers preferred to open a restaurant or business food and ingredients when starting their own business, they want to provide their families and children with high-quality ingredients and a place where they can eat without fear. Chen Ke said such a store ingredients can be assured, maybe not necessarily delicious, but certainly not difficult to eat, "because women will be directly involved in the development of dishes, adding their own unique understanding of things, such as ingredients to be healthy, but will not emphasize the cooking techniques, and do not care about inheritance, do not value the traditional dining circle preoccupation of the master-disciple relationship.
He also concluded that in female-owned restaurants, almost all have their own unique, specially mixed drinks, which is very different from traditional dining. "Generally speaking, drinks are complementary, but for female entrepreneurs, it's very important, and probably women have a much stronger physiological and psychological need for cool, warm, sweet and sour sensations. This is actually an advantage, because it is easier to form a high-margin product."
"Men seldom do things with feelings, women's entrepreneurship has feelings in it from the beginning, small stores have small feelings, big stores have big feelings, or nostalgia, or the background of growing up, the former experience projected into their own store. Women are better at combining products with sentiment, regardless of whether they are commercially successful or not, but they usually have a great story to tell."
Flowerhouse Café
"What women do better when they open a restaurant is also the fact that a lot of things in the store are available for guests to just take away, in addition to normal dining? You have to pay, of course. For example, Flower Kitchen sells potted and hand-held flowers, tomato tree toys, and a variety of homemade sauces from Vegetarian and Good Food - it's like going to a sit-down where the hostess gives you some homemade food, a gift, before you leave."
Among the "mom's stores" Chen Ke has come across, he believes that women restaurant entrepreneurs nowadays value the social attributes of the restaurant from the very beginning, and the mutuality between the restaurant and the customers, and between the customers and the customers. For example, Tomato Tree, a brand of Taste of China Group, has both a traditional dining area and a separate activity area in its spatial design, emphasizing parent-child interaction and attracting many family consumers. The restaurant takes the initiative to organize relevant themed events as well as customers choosing to hold family gatherings, children's birthday parties, etc. here. "The activity area has little to do with dining and is not cost-effective from the perspective of input-output ratio, but it serves to bring stickiness through socialization and generate a certain turnover rate."
Beijing Summer Palace The Spring House
Business socialization, family socialization, personal interest socialization, and alone time are all different needs of modern women at different times. Many women do catering business is actually to create a social space, Chen Ke believes that "from the customer's point of view, to capture the consumer's desire to confide in, bring the store's precise positioning, the Internet era people also have the need to communicate offline".
Chen Ke actually also divided the female catering entrepreneurs into three categories:
One category is those who have a high value of their own, they are often related to fashion, health, cool, spicy and other words, and can stand under the spotlight to talk about, the formation of a personal IP;
The other category is the "temperament paradigm", they have a story, or have special characteristics. The first is to make the most of the opportunity to see the world.
"It's hard to be an entrepreneur, and it's even harder to be a woman entrepreneur, but if you're better than others, you'll be criticized. A person can be successful, the pressure she endured, what she paid and lost, is unimaginable to the average person. Most people only see the shiny and beautiful side of the successful entrepreneurs, but they do not start their own business, will not have this kind of epiphany," Zheng Jinyan said, "I pay tribute to all successful women entrepreneurs."
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