taking stock of local catering enterprises, we found that there were too many soft and hard injuries.

question 1: blind expansion. Catering enterprises, an industry with relatively low threshold, are prone to fire and decline at once, as the saying goes, "their prosperity is also rich, and their death is also sudden." As a result, some catering enterprises, once they have completed one or several stores, immediately begin to be ambitious and attempt to open stores all over the country at once, which can be called "strategic paranoia". This was the case with "Red Sorghum" in those days. "As long as there is a McDonald's, a red sorghum will be opened." The result of blind expansion will inevitably be insufficient preparation (especially the formation and replication of the model), and many aspects such as management and capital can't keep up or are stretched. In fact, this is a problem with the enterprise strategy, and it is also a bit of a chew. No wonder Mr. Shuanghui Bandung commented that it is "at the wrong time and in the wrong place.

problem 2: the hardware can't keep up. This is an era from full to good food, and customer consumption is bound to become more rational and critical. However, many catering enterprises focus on the research of dishes, but neglect the construction of hardware and software, which cannot meet the needs of customers' all-round experience. The author once went to a restaurant with a "time-honored Chinese brand" hanging at the door. The steamed dumplings in this restaurant were once rated as "Chinese famous snacks", but as soon as I entered the store, I found some noisy and depressing environment. The floor and desktop were greasy and slippery, and the bathroom was "unsanitary". Do you want to go there again? On the other hand, look at McDonald's, KFC or Dicos. Personalized decoration, clean floor and desktop, clean pool and bathroom, suitable indoor temperature, and waiters take care of them at any time. No wonder they can attract not only children but also adults.

problem 3: homogenization and vulgarization. Imitation, or following, is a borrowing strategy, but if it is used as a common means, it will inevitably fall into "third-rate goods", and it is difficult to gain the trust or loyalty of customers. To put it bluntly, this is a kind of imitation, an illegal or marginal act. Not only can it not make big money, but it is also easy to make the whole industry highly homogeneous, leading to vicious competition and making everyone unable to make money. I have seen "Maideji" (probably meaning McDonald's plus KFC) and "M point" (adding an origin on M) in the street. I wonder what room there is for such a restaurant to develop? At the beginning of the business, appropriate imitation is ok, but we must improve and innovate, and finally form our own characteristics. Take a look, gentlemen, are there any catering enterprises that have developed well by imitation and plagiarism on the street? I'm afraid it's hard to find.

question 4: arrogance. Some catering enterprises have never changed their self-centered management mode, and have never gone from the seller's market to the buyer's market, muddling along, being abandoned by customers and unaware of it. There is a chain catering enterprise in Zhengzhou. When I went to book a table, the price list marked "original price is 1116 yuan, current price is 998 yuan". I made a reservation and paid a deposit. When I walked to the door, I saw the restaurant manager lecturing the staff in the square. I walked out of the square more than 11 meters and vaguely heard that "there are a lot of table reservations recently, and the price can't be cheap for anyone ..." Although this branch is in a good position, it has just opened and the surrounding area. But it is still so "strong". I was driving back when I got a call from the hotel saying that the price did not include the invoice. If I wanted the invoice, it was still the original price. I was speechless.

question 5: opportunistic. The author once saw the whole process of a hot pot enterprise from prosperity to decline. When this enterprise first opened, there were few competitors around it, and the hotel environment was good, the service staff were of high quality, and the dishes were distinctive, and the business was very hot. But later, with the continuous entry of restaurants, especially a larger hotpot restaurant opened two kilometers away, the business of this company began to slowly decline. When I went to this store again, I found that the waiters had almost changed. The smiling service, quick service and family service of the former waiters could not be found now. When the guests were scarce, several people whispered together. Later, the store closed down. Although it was renovated and reopened after a while, it still didn't get rid of the fate of closing, which made people lament the fate of "ten years in Hedong and ten years in Hexi" in business. Coincidentally, later, a hotel with a relatively high scale and grade was opened nearby. At first, the business was very good, but later, the hotel kept changing menus, and the price rose once every time, and the extent was very large. Of course, the ending was also the same. Unless the wedding and other tables were reserved, the business in the rest of the time was much worse than before. In fact, all of the above is a kind of speculative performance, and what should be adhered to cannot be adhered to, so that it is increasingly deviating from consumers.

If local catering enterprises want to become stronger and bigger, and realize healthy and sustainable development, the following aspects need to be built emphatically:

They should have a heart to do business. The reason why some catering enterprises are short-lived is related to too many "businessmen" thinking. They dare to do anything as long as they see that there is money to make, even if they take risks and violate the relevant laws of the country, such as illegal addition, counterfeiting, shoddy and so on. For example, some Huimian Noodles pavilions, in order to attract customers, use big cigarette cases which are forbidden by the state. The essence of doing business is profit-seeking, but profit-seeking without a bottom line is doomed to be short-lived. As a catering business owner, we must change from doing business to doing business, and take it as our responsibility to carry forward Chinese catering culture. Last year, Dahe Daily invited the author to give a lecture, and in the evening, Mr. Zhong Huzhou, the owner of Zhongji Restaurant, invited him to dinner at the Chinese State Banquet Restaurant full of cultural charm in Zhengdong New District. This boss Hu not only adhered to the green catering concept of "front shop and back garden", but also combined catering with traditional culture.

create a competitive system that is difficult to imitate. The catering industry is easy to fall into homogenization. If you want to achieve the state of "always being imitated and never being surpassed", you must work hard on culture, software and hardware. Why are McDonald's and KFC not afraid of imitation? Because you can't imitate many internal things. Can you imitate the free and open western food culture? Can you imitate the service culture that truly regards customers as God? Can you imitate 24-hour business and home delivery? Maybe you can imitate one place or one time, but it is difficult for you to imitate all of them. This is the competitive system of others. Of course, local catering enterprises also do well, for example, Haidilao. The author has personally experienced it, from parking instruction to introductory guidance, from leaning forward to seeing a child, immediately contacting the stroller, from providing mobile phone covers and glasses cloth to covering your chair, placing green plants such as green radish indoors, opening the door for you in the bathroom, delivering paper for you, and even providing sanitary products for ladies, from lemonade, sour plum soup and soybean milk for customers to choose at will, to the waiter according to the number of customers. It is this inconspicuous detail that has built a strong competitive system for the enterprise, which makes it difficult for opponents to look back.

build a competitive workforce. Most employees in catering enterprises have low academic qualifications, and the quality of employees, especially their service attitude to customers, determines customer satisfaction and even loyalty. As a catering business owner, we should try our best to build a high-quality staff and provide matching services for high-level customers according to our own brand positioning, otherwise, it will be difficult to attract high-level customers with consumption power to come to our door without matching their capabilities. Enterprises should try their best to provide better welfare benefits, retain core employees and stabilize the workforce, so as to better provide value-for-money services for old customers and try to avoid the above. In order to save costs, they should dismiss experienced old employees and recruit inexperienced new employees. Haidilao is also a 24-hour service. In order to facilitate employees to go to work, enterprises generally arrange accommodation at their places of work. For those who get married and are inconvenient to stay in groups, enterprises provide employees with 311 yuan rent every month. Haidilao also classifies employees according to their length of service and contribution, and encourages employees to sprint for higher positions. These are all to relieve employees' worries, effectively retain people, and stimulate their work initiative and enthusiasm. In addition, enterprises should also build a learning and upgrading platform. For newly recruited employees, the quality may not be high, but if there is an upgrading platform, a rookie can be turned into a master or even an expert. The author has paid attention to the training of employees at Dicos Airport. During normal business hours, in the most inconspicuous restaurant, everyone sits around the table, and managers train employees on the spot, which should be of great benefit to employees to enter the role quickly, right?

enterprises should interact with customers more. Perhaps influenced by China's traditional culture, local catering enterprises may be disdainful or not good at it. In short, they rarely interact with customers, and basically take themselves as the center to carry out business and management. This is increasingly lagging behind the development of the market under the new situation dominated by buyers. Enterprises must put down their posture and actively interact with customers, so that customers can participate in all business activities of the enterprise, from product research and development, improvement to promotion activities. From online to offline, we should keep in touch with customers. Only in this way can we feel that the enterprise is closely related to ourselves, and we can recommend it to more relatives and friends while constantly consuming, and ultimately benefit from the enterprise. In fact, the three foreign fast foods have always attached great importance to communicating with customers. Whether celebrating children's birthdays, teaching children to dance outside the door, or even distributing promotional leaflets on the street, including joint marketing and self-discount coupons, all efforts are made to establish contact with customers. They have not forgotten the customers who depend on them for survival, and of course, the customers have not forgotten them.

build the soft power of enterprises with service as the guide. Compared with foreign fast food enterprises, the most prominent shortcoming of local catering is that the service ability is not improved enough, and it is impossible to adjust its service strategy in time according to the customer's situation. During my work in Shanghai, I was busy at night, and sometimes several colleagues went out to have a midnight snack together. Before 11 o'clock, many restaurants or hotels would tell you, "Sorry, it's closed" or "The chef has left work, so come back another day", which made you disappointed. When you are in Beijing, you sometimes have breakfast. If you get up earlier, it is hard to find a breakfast shop with a clean and hygienic environment. You may have to go to restaurants such as McDonald's and KFC for a long time to eat what you always think is "junk food". They serve 24 hours a day. No matter when, they are all smiling. Even if you just eat a hamburger, they will give it to you if you want an invoice. You won't hear what some waiters in local catering enterprises tell you: "There is no invoice now, come back and get it in a few days", or just "I'll give you an invoice after you spend enough 211 yuan". You won't experience that if you eat for too long, the waiters have been walking around you, and that is impatient. Once, I invited a friend's company to have a meal. In a very upscale hotel, we didn't eat until 2 pm, and the waiter opened and closed the door back and forth without talking. After seeing this, the author urged everyone to withdraw. When the author and his party went to the stairs, they heard the waiter whisper to another waiter, "Hey, the gang finally left." Suddenly, we didn't know what to say. Everyone went downstairs silently without talking. Perhaps China people always like to look at problems from their own perspective, but ignore each other's feelings. This practice, in the catering industry, is a lack of service or not in place.

In short, catering enterprises in China can only form their own style or characteristics, form a healthy competitive environment, constantly please consumers, create an excellent catering culture in China, go abroad, create a bigger market and become a wonder of the international catering industry by digging deep into the cultural level, working hard on software and hardware, not blindly imitating, gradually accumulating, summing up the model and running in small steps.