"Additionally, you can collect a security deposit. Generally, the minimum contract is for three years, so you can charge a 30,000 yuan deposit. If they don't breach the contract, it's refunded without interest at the end of the term," Yi Anguo said. "There's also the brand management fee of 1,000 yuan a month, which comes out to 36,000 yuan over three years.
"Then there's the fee for planning grand opening promotional events. But of course, the main profit comes from the markup on goods wholesaled to franchisees. For example, after you get goods from a supplier, you can add a 10% or 15% markup when distributing them to the franchisees, earning the difference."
...
Yi Anguo's words were like opening a window for Hu Jing. She felt she had found her life's goal: to build Quiet Convenience Store into a major franchise brand. For now, however, she still needed to slowly figure out a profitable business model for the stores.
Soon, Hu Jing began preparing to open the second Quiet Convenience Store.
Yi Anguo, who wasn't short on cash, was happy to see this and supported Hu Jing's entrepreneurial venture to open a chain of Quiet stores.
His third brother-in-law's Guohui Fruit Shop was also preparing to open a second location. Yi Anguo neither supported nor opposed it, leaving the decision up to them.
The most important aspect of running a chain is management. Directly-owned chains and franchise chains are different in nature; one is franchised, the other is self-operated. Franchise chains are somewhat easier to manage. Self-operated ones are not so simple, especially regarding finances. This is particularly true for fruit shops, which have significant spoilage.
Convenience stores, by contrast, have virtually no spoilage. A bottle of water is a bottle of water, a bag of chips is a bag of chips, and the prices are all fixed. Fruits are different. The quality and appearance affect the price, as does the freshness, meaning prices must be adjusted constantly. However, if managed well, a fruit shop could certainly be expanded into a chain.
Yi Anguo suggested that instead of simply opening a chain of fruit shops, they could open a fresh food supermarket, around 1,000 square meters in size. They could start with one, and after gaining experience, they could open a chain of them.
"How is a fresh food supermarket different from a regular one?" his third sister asked.
"They're actually quite similar, but the focus is different. A fresh food supermarket primarily sells produce, fruit, meat, frozen foods, grains, oils, and other groceries like bread and deli items. It might also sell some daily necessities and general merchandise, so it's basically a smaller version of a large supermarket. It doesn't sell things like clothing, color TVs, or refrigerators," Yi Anguo explained. "Large supermarkets are easily over 5,000 square meters, some even more than 10,000. A fresh food supermarket only needs about 800 to 1,000 square meters."
His third brother-in-law said with a wry smile, "A thousand square meters is huge. I can't even imagine how much it would cost just to stock it, let alone cover the rent and security deposit. How could we possibly pull that off?"
"As for stocking, many suppliers will actually provide the goods upfront. You only pay them after the items are sold," Yi Anguo explained. "And funding is easy to solve. If it comes down to it, I'll invest!"
"You'll invest? How much money could you possibly have to invest?" his third sister said skeptically.
She still didn't know that the store was in her younger brother's name, or that he owned over a thousand properties. She just thought her brother might have a good relationship with the developer, but assumed he was just an employee with a slightly higher salary. In her mind, ten thousand yuan a month would be the absolute limit.
"I've made quite a bit from stock trading recently. Coming up with a few million yuan is doable," Yi Anguo said with a smile.
"Are you joking? You can pull out several million? You've made that much from stocks?" His third sister and brother-in-law were both stunned.
They had never imagined that Yi Anguo had quietly amassed a fortune of several million. They knew he dabbled in the stock market, but they hadn't paid it much mind, assuming he was just playing around with a small amount. How much money could a working man have to invest in stocks? How could he suddenly be talking about a net worth in the millions?
But since Yi Anguo said it, it probably wasn't a lie. He really did have several million in funds.
"I just got a bit lucky. Plus, I earn a margin on the rental properties and get commissions. All in all, I make a lot more each month than you'd imagine," Yi Anguo bluffed. The gist was that he had money, and a lot of it came in every month.
Knowing their younger brother was so well-off, his third sister and brother-in-law didn't feel jealous; they were simply happy for him.
"Now that I know you're so loaded, I'm not paying you rent for the shop or our apartment anymore," his third brother-in-law joked.
"I told you not to pay, but you insisted. What could I do?" Yi Anguo replied, rolling his eyes.
In truth, having run the store for so long, they knew perfectly well that twenty thousand a month for such a prime location was a real bargain. Their neighbor's shop, just over sixty square meters, rented for twelve thousand a month. Another person had bought their shop outright for over thirty thousand yuan per square meter. With commercial property prices so high, rents were naturally not cheap.
"A space of around a thousand square meters won't be easy to find," his third brother-in-law said with a frown.
With funding secured, the next step was finding a location. It wasn't easy to find the right spot for a fresh food supermarket; too small wouldn't work, and too big wasn't right either.
Yi Anguo thought for a moment and a good place did come to mind. There was still a property in Blue Coast Phase Two that hadn't been rented or sold: the old sales office. The space wasn't small; if it wasn't a full 1,000 square meters, it was at least 800.
When Yi Anguo mentioned it, his sister and brother-in-law immediately agreed it was an excellent location. The only thing was that it was currently closed up, with no "For Rent" signs posted.
"You're forgetting, I have a connection with the developer. Why don't I give him a call and ask about it?" Yi Anguo said with a smile. Unless someone had already rented or bought it, getting it for himself shouldn't be a problem.
Yi Anguo called Zhuo Weidong right then and there.
As soon as the call connected, Zhuo Weidong's hearty laugh came through the line. "Yi, my man! I was just about to call you. We're really on the same wavelength!"
"Brother Zhuo! What's the good news you wanted to share? You sound ecstatic," Yi Anguo asked.
"You could say that! Why don't you come over to my office right now? There's something I need to discuss with you," Zhuo Weidong said.
After hanging up, Yi Anguo couldn't help but wonder what Zhuo Weidong could possibly need to discuss with him.
When he arrived at Zhuo Weidong's real estate development company and entered his office, he saw that there were several other people there. Zhuo Weidong smiled and introduced Yi Anguo to the group, and then the others to Yi Anguo.
He's not going to try to sell me more property, is he? Yi Anguo wondered.
"Right! You called me today. What was it about?" Zhuo Weidong suddenly remembered that Yi Anguo had been the one to initiate the call.
"Ah, I was just calling to ask about the old sales office in Blue Coast Phase Two. Has it been rented out or sold yet?" Yi Anguo asked.
"The sales office in Blue Coast Phase Two? Why, are you interested in it? What do you plan to use it for?" Zhuo Weidong asked curiously. The space was in an awkward middle ground—too small for a supermarket, but a bit too large for a single shop. The plan had been to partition it into several smaller storefronts for sale.
"I'd want it for a business, of course. What else?" Yi Anguo said.
"It hasn't been sold or rented out yet. If you want it, I can sell it to you, but the price is a bit steep. It's a prime commercial spot in an excellent location. To anyone else, I'd have to ask for at least twenty-seven or twenty-eight thousand yuan per square meter.
"For you, it will have to be at least eighteen thousand yuan per square meter. I can't go any lower," Zhuo Weidong said after a moment's thought.
"Eighteen thousand a square meter? That's so expensive!" Yi Anguo exclaimed with a look of feigned shock.
"What else did you expect? The two storefronts I gave you before were a real bargain, but this is different. I can give you a discount, but it can't be that ridiculous," Zhuo Weidong said. "And another thing I need to make clear: investing in commercial property is a big risk. Whether it will appreciate in the future is anyone's guess!"