Bringing the separate logic of acquaintance society into business often ends up in the same place. In 2014, I opened a pub with my good friend Li Hao. Out of trust, we didn’t sign the partnership contract. When the pub business lost a lot of money, I was left to fend for myself.
On the eve of graduation, Xiao Li Hao came to the city where I studied to find me. At the time, I was working part-time as a bartender in a pub next to my school. Li Hao sat at the bar, drinking and waiting for me after work.
The pub is crowded. I wear a white shirt with dark grey wool vest, li looked at I skilled cocktails, a face of said in astonishment, “handsome ah, what time have the craft, where stand a learn? ”
Difficulty , follow the boss. Looks bluffing, all is frittering, does not have what technical content. “I said.
Li hao, thoughtful, “za also open a ah. ”
I say with smile: “you didn’t pay enough ah, again say, which were so easy to open stores. ”
Li Hao graduated one year before Me. He studied electrical engineering automation in college, like most college students, no matter what the admission major to study, eventually can read the university major esports. Shortly after graduation, Li teamed up with several friends to open an Internet cafe. Internet cafe management is not like playing online games, Li Hao did not have an unexpected business failure. This time to come to me, is a business failure after a journey of distraction.
At first, I took Li Hao’s proposal to start a business together as a whim. But over the next few days, he has been trying to persuade me, “can you bartender, I can sing, the bartender and singers have saved money, look back we’ll find a rent a cheaper base business rent… With our years of tacit understanding, partnership is sure to work. ”
I moved my heart. After I failed in the college entrance examination, I entered the key university in the province and was transferred to the major of clinical medicine. Clinical medicine was not my interest. Throughout the university, my most frequented places were not classrooms, but pubs and music festivals. After five years of undergraduate study, I didn’t memorize all 206
The whole name of the lump of bone tells us a lot about the origin, taste and character of craft beer and whisky.
Approaching graduation, do not want to engage in and this major related work. Running a pub is not an option.
Over the next few months, after consulting with my boss about the experience of opening a shop and the risks involved, and spending a month in a Beijing training institute, I decided to board with Li and open a pub in my hometown.
The first problem we had in starting a business was money. To open a tavern in my hometown, a second-tier town, it would cost at least 250,000 yuan for decoration, furniture, equipment and miscellaneous things. Li Hao and I could not even make up a small sum of our savings. Li Hao before the money to open an Internet cafe is given by parents, lost everything, he is not too ashamed to ask for money at home. I scraped together five figures from all my savings from working part-time in pubs and as a tutor during university.
Li Hao decided to cash out with his credit card. He had lent several credit cards to a friend for a few months, and now his credit card limit was so high that he could collect tens of thousands of dollars in cash.
On the first day after graduation, I asked all the students to tell me my business plan at the dinner table.
“one hundred million and twenty thousand it is never too much, three million and five thousand is not enough, one can’t take I can understand, anyway, I since the childhood best friends are on the table, hope everybody can help me get through this, should open up the shop, dry yellow money I also slowly, dry well everybody eat and drink for life. ”
Send small are mostly graduated earlier than I, have some savings, maybe because I grew up in the friend “group familiar ” attribute, the meal, I “the raise ” to more than 130000 cash, even more than needed.
In the spring of 2014, Li Hao and I entered the intensive preparation stage.
We chose the location of the tavern in a two-story building with a garden and a balcony in a remote alley. Li Hao was responsible for the company registration, store decoration, raw material purchasing, and I was responsible for the preparation of wine, food and menu research and development, design, etc.
The start-up capital is not abundant, li Hao and I are desperate to save money. The minimalist wine list is painted with brush strokes, the tiles on the bar are plastered… Up to PS drawing, down to loading and unloading, we all do.
Two months later, the pub officially opened. Opening day, the new friends including my “shareholder ” send the small children. Our friends praised our tavern, the wine, the decoration, the music, the atmosphere… Either is good. That night, Li Hao and I had a lot of fun drinking. Soft music, colorful lights, one after another of the laughter, pushing the cup to change, we have a kind of immediate success of the illusion.
But after a month of honeymoon in business, Li and I discovered a fatal problem: no repeat customers.
We smoked bag after bag and discussed it many times before we finally came to the conclusion that in second-tier cities like ours, consumption habit is more important than consumption ability. The most valuable thing a pub offers is not the wine but the atmosphere, company and emotional value. A good pub should be like an orphanage.
We put 95% of our energy into finding the right consumer. I broke into the university club and provided venues for club activities. I distributed flyers in front of live house and theater, and li hao posted business cards and WeChat in the luxury area of shopping center. Later, he organized activities with several barbershops to exchange customer resources.
We also try to build an emotional connection with every customer who comes into the store. My own wine, with each to our shop, chat of “bosom eldest brother ”, , “private girlfriends ”, , “worry bin ”, , “masters of the small family dispute ”, , “wanzhong business desk ” number.
During those months, it felt like we were back in high school. Li Hao and I clung together like a pair of conjoined twins. We worked in the store at night. After work, we played two games together before we slept.
With only four or five hours of sleep a night, my body quickly began to show signs of discomfort. One day, Li Hao and I were doing the cleaning work before the business, I half bowed body cleaning the floor, suddenly, the heart seems to be hit by what, followed by a rapid heart beat, I collapsed on the sofa.
I tried to call Li Hao next door, but couldn’t make a sound, so I curled up in the corner of the sofa. After a while, my body gradually relieved from the great discomfort. Li Hao was coming out of the storage room when he saw me lying motionless on the sofa, shaking my shoulders desperately, straightened my body, and let me lie flat
Sofa, shouted, “speak ah, I X. ”
I wanted to tell him that I was fine, but when I saw Li Hao in such a panic, I had an evil thought.
I kept my eyes closed and my brow furrowed as if I were unconscious.
“. , “he began siming according to my people, I endured the pressure pain or no response, he command of part-time clerk call 120 for help downstairs, while pinching my mouth and nose. This posture is to give me artificial respiration ah, I thought, finally could not help laughing out.
Li meng, what is his reaction to come over, such as blasting to spit out a “silly force ”, followed by a meal beaten.
After three or four months of continuous operation, the net profit finally reached a positive level by the end of that year, and the operation of the bar was on the right track. A year later, Li and I had recouped the money we had spent on the shop. He had put on his credit card, and I had paid back the money I had borrowed from the dealer.
Not long after the pub had taken off, Li Hao got married. After that, I would ask Li Hao to go home to accompany his wife after 10 o ‘clock in the evening, leaving me and the part-time waiter to look after the shop.
This also foreshadowed the first rift between us.
Pubs are late business. It’s common to close at one or two o ‘clock, and I often meet strange guests in the evening. Such as light arms, with daikin chain “dragon tattoo boy ”, up to two hundred pieces, you want to on site singers sing “love you” to his f; Another example suit “thank a boy ” secretly asked me this is their deputy director, be sure to take good care of, in addition, he want to sing a song “my father” to everyone here, hope that the singer was accompanied at help.
I forbore unwell and treated these parents with great care, but one day I could not control it, and something happened.
It was close to 12 o ‘clock that night, and I was clearing the bar and getting ready to leave when two men and a woman walked in, ordered a few beers and sat down on my hair.
They reeked of alcohol and spoke in a high-pitched voice, apparently after their second drink. Later, a man started pushing and shoving a female colleague and slapping her across the face.
I couldn’t stand it. I got up and stopped. Then two men scuffled with me, and strangely enough, the woman who had been beaten joined in. Finally, I called the police, and they went to the police station to explain the situation.
The next day, I hurried to the shop. Because of the fight the night before, the broken glass bottles scattered all over the floor, Li Hao and his wife are cleaning up, I pretended to joke about last night to them, expecting to get some praise or comfort, Li Hao’s wife spoke.
“small, also the eldest brother not small, you do things move brain, big night look shop, what fight with person, affect income aside, who broke the wine cost so much. ”
I looked at Li Hao, who had no intention of speaking.
My mood also came up, “that you see store, later I will go home and rest at 9 o ‘clock every day, your emotional intelligence is high, you must not stare past midnight with guests. ”
“line, don’t say. sandwiched in between may be felt embarrassed, “li hao to stop the quarrel.
That day, I learned that a person’s efforts are less valuable when they are taken for granted. I discussed with Li Hao that people who watch the store can start the salary by the hour. Li Hao readily agreed, he said it should have been so, before is not to earn money to open a salary, now rich should be paid.
At the end of the month, I received the first salary since starting my own business for more than a year, 3000 yuan, but not too much entrepreneurial harvest joy, but like running about for the life of the migrant workers got his living expenses.
Over time, the initial eagerness for more customers gave way to weariness and resistance. Every day after 12 o ‘clock, I can not pick up the guests generally do not pick up, directly closed.
Despite the bad blood, li Hao and I did not puncture these. Business is getting better day by day, we began to plan whether to open branches, expand the scale to develop more quickly.
Coincidentally, one of Li Hao’s mutual friends and I recommended a store owned by his friend. According to what he said, his friend to open cafe, recently the family intends to immigration, ready to turn against the storefront, let him help looking for the right buyer, “you are interested in? ”
“can be. “li hao and I exchanged under the eyes.
The friend immediately called the cafe owner. The owner said he spent more than 2 million yuan decorating the store a few years ago. Now, he sells all the furniture and equipment in a package for only 350,000 yuan and a few months ‘rent.
The only difficulty is the money.
Li Hao and I will discuss it first. Li Hao said he did not want to carry a credit card to live, I also do not want to carry the debt of a dozen good friends. Later, my mother offered to sell the house where I live alone to support my business. Although I thought it was too risky, I finally agreed.
The success of the previous store made me a little bloated and think that if I followed suit, I could pay back the money in another year.
I discussed with Li Hao that the money from selling the house could pay for the investment, and there was still some money left for working capital. We could continue our cooperation, or we could keep the shares half open. The part he should pay should be lent to him by me, and I will pay it back when the money is made. Li Hao agreed, but due to years of friendship and trust, we did not sign a formal partnership
The contract.
But as soon as we took over, we found ourselves in a mess.
The state of the shop does not coincide with the storekeeper’s description. Before the conversion, he said that the current monthly operating flow was good, with a net profit of 20,000-30,000. After taking over, we found that it was really 20,000-30,000 per month, but it was not profit, but loss. The stored value of the remaining membership card was more than 10 times higher than the 10,000 yuan he promised.
When we tried to hold the original owner and the introducer to account, they had long since disappeared.
Li Hao and I had a hard time deciding that we would never trust others. We are going to forget the unhappiness and go all out. The two men discussed re-entering the state of emergency. One or two months after that, we’re back in business at the beginning of “ conjoined twins ” state. Every day, we went to the business circle and shops around the coffee shop to run customers and cooperate with each other. We made great efforts to study new products and do new activities, and channeled the loyal customers accumulated in the old shop to the new shop for self-replenishing.
One day, I am planning to new products in the shop, li hao to do business license, back eyes tell me, wooden “had an accident. ”
“what’s the matter? Business is in trouble? ”
“I have just been to do as , industrial and commercial bureau told me that the store where the land is army, the army this year to recover the management, are not allowed to have any private business after December… ”
It was clear that the deal had been a hoax from start to finish. No immigration was approved, no low-price packing, and the original owner must have been informed ahead of time and desperately tried to find a fool to catch the hot potato.
I was very depressed for two days. If conceal losses, we can help each other to find a way to solve, “army to produce ” event is beyond the scope of our ability.
I scrambled for remedies, such as trying to Sue the courts, asking friends to help contact the scammers’ shopkeepers, trying to negotiate a delay in taking back time with the military…
But Li began to avoid coming to the new store and talking to me about the lawsuit. Whenever I mention, he is all “um, oh, oh, ” to elaborate the past.
I wondered about his attitude, but I was too busy recovering my losses to think about it. After all my attempts proved to be fruitless, I decided to give up. I called Li Hao to come to the store and wanted to discuss the aftermath with him. Li Hao came as promised, and I suddenly realized that we had not seen each other for many days.
“recognition, the think to want to. This is the price we pay for being too trusting, even if it’s the cost of starting a business. ”
Li Hao lit a cigarette and said nothing.
“I’m going to put this shop can dismantle, depreciation of things to sell, the final loss calculation, waiting for you to put your half of the fill back to me. ”
Li Hao still looked at the table in silence.
“the half that you don’t worry, you slowly I also will do. I also know you may not have that much money. That’s ok. We still have the same store. “see li don’t talk, I tried to add.
Li Hao finally spoke. “small, to say the truth, I don’t want to take your so-called ‘my half of the loss. I actually very tired of this kind of debt, then you say if you still want to continue our cooperation business, you can sell money , ‘when I borrow shares or we one person half, I did not particularly like, but I have not said. ”
Li paused, took a deep breath continued, “strictly speaking, our cooperation business hasn’t been started, from your mouth say ‘when’ lend me the money, I still didn’t get a point. Out of years of affection, I’d like to help you out, but I really don’t have any money now… “li didn’t say more.
I was stunned. I thought I heard something crack, like when you’re driving a car and a stone comes crashing into the windshield. In a split second, the old windshield that had protected you from the rain for years cracked. It’s not completely broken, but as soon as the stone falls, you know that the glass is no longer usable.
I said nothing. My eyes fell in the direction of Li Hao’s seat, but I did not look at him.
There’s no need to argue about anything. Our cooperation agreement is essentially a verbal agreement, which means that when you decide to break it, you have nothing to lose but trust.
Since then, Li and I have barely spoken, and I have purposely avoided all occasions where he might appear. I transferred my share in the first pub to another friend. Running the cafe alone in the last few months before the army took it back, discounting what it could sell ahead of time, recouped some of its losses.
After the event, the pain of failure dissipates much more quickly than expected. Instead, the sense of release from a sea of suffering is more intense. I began to prepare for the postgraduate examination, and half a year later, I was admitted by a university in Beijing. I’m going to visit the old pub before I leave home.
I arrived late that day and the store had closed. I wanted to turn away. Remembering that I had the store key, I opened the door and slipped in.
After entering the door, I lit the corner of a beacon lamp, dim light suddenly poured down, sprinkled in the bar on the bottles. The light and shadow shake, I seem to be in the beginning of the business, and Li Hao stay up late to manage the night. In the storage room I found a yellow, white book thickly filled with English wine names, a wine list we had hand-drawn together when we first opened.
I grabbed a small tile off the bar and left.
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