Rebirth begins with studying hard

Chapter 32: They've Taken the Bait

Kafka's business was still not improving, so the staff treated every customer with the utmost enthusiasm.

Lu Jie, who comes to buy milk tea every week, has become one of Kafka's few regular customers.

From ordering to receiving the receipt, the staff chatted with him warmly.

Lu Jie had come here to build rapport, so he was naturally happy to chat with the shop assistant.

The owner, Xie Bai, also knew Lu Jie. After chatting for a few words inside the window, he felt it was a bit inconvenient to talk through the glass window, and since he wasn't in a hurry, he came out.

He offered Lu Jie a cigarette: "Want one?"

"Thank you, I won't smoke." Lu Jie waved politely and squatted down next to Xie Bai.

Seeing that Lu Jie seemed to have something to discuss with the milk tea shop owner, Zhong Muqing said she would go inside for a while and then went to browse around.

Lu Jie, who had been squatting down and chatting with Xie Bai for a while, noticed Xie Bai looking worried as he stared at the popular three-yuan, two-cup milk tea stall and said:

"That milk tea made with creamer doesn't taste good at all."

"It's much worse than yours."

With the customer's approval, Xie Bai's worries lessened somewhat, but thinking about the monthly losses, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Don't be fooled by their poor quality and low price; they make way more money than us."

Lu Jie, who was just thinking about how to shift the conversation from casual chat to the topic of tea, heard Xie Bai bring it up, and with a smile, he picked up the conversation:

"This kind of milk tea business is only a short-term thing; it won't last."

"The reason they're doing well now is because the mainstream subway market doesn't primarily promote bubble tea, so these shops with bubble tea signs attract curious customers."

"In addition, the income of people in Feicheng is not high, so the price of three yuan for two cups or two yuan for one cup is acceptable to most people, so it is quite popular."

"As more and more people try it and find it doesn't taste good, fewer and fewer people will be willing to buy it."

"As Feicheng's economy continues to develop and Feicheng residents' incomes increase, they will pursue higher quality of life and food. These 'three yuan and two large cups' will eventually be phased out."

"Feicheng will definitely develop like Nanjing in the neighboring province in the future. The tea industry will become more standardized and branded, and small workshops will disappear."

"The saying goes, 'For commerce in Nanjing, look to Shanghai; for commerce in Feicheng, look to Nanjing.'"

"The general trend cannot be changed."

Xie Bai looked at Lu Jie with surprise: "Young man, I didn't realize you knew so much about the milk tea industry."

He had only casually complained to Lu Jie about how bad business was, but he never expected that this young man would have such insightful views.

As a native of Nanjing, he has witnessed firsthand the development and changes in Nanjing milk tea, and knows that the future trend is towards standardization and branding, which will eliminate small workshops.

He also saw that some local milk tea shops in Nanjing had started chain operations and developed rapidly by taking advantage of this trend.

The reason he chose to develop his business in Feicheng and open a milk tea shop is that he saw that the milk tea market is still in its early stages and has great potential.

I just didn't expect it to start so slowly.

The milk tea shop he ran was going downhill, and he was almost at his breaking point.

"My family used to run a Coco milk tea shop in Suzhou in partnership with someone. I heard about it from my family a lot, so I knew about it," Lu Jie explained, having already prepared his explanation.

At this time in 08, the largest chain brand on the market was Coco Milk Tea.

The original market for Coco Milk Tea was Suzhou.

In its initial stage, Coco Milk Tea had a number of franchisees, too many to verify.

He explained his familiarity with the milk tea industry by saying that someone in his family had previously run a franchise of Coco Milk Tea.

This will also make Xie Bai regard him as an insider and take him more seriously.

That's how we can keep the conversation going.

He wasn't afraid of showing his ignorance, because in his previous life he had actually partnered with someone to run a Coco milk tea shop, so he was quite familiar with the brand.

As he expected, Xie Bai looked enlightened.

This explanation was acceptable to Xie Bai.

Nowadays, apart from Coco's loyal fans and industry insiders, most people pronounce Coco milk tea as "koukou milk tea" (a transliteration of the brand name), and hardly anyone pronounces it as "douke milk tea" (another transliteration of the brand name).

So he naturally believed Lu Jie's words.

"No wonder, your family actually made Coco milk tea in Suzhou, you're really my senior."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh again:

"The milk tea market in Nanjing is too competitive, and it is difficult for start-up brands to survive."

"There isn't much competition in the milk tea market in Feicheng, but hardly anyone is willing to drink proper milk tea, so it's very difficult to do business there."

Lu Jie smiled and shook his head: "I think this is a great opportunity for development."

"Hmm?" Xie Bai also had this idea, but considering that the other party's family used to work in this industry, they should have their own insights from being exposed to it, so he waited for the other party to continue.

"The Feicheng market is currently a mixed bag. The only brand, Subway, has been losing control due to too many franchises and inconsistent quality among its stores, and it is clearly starting to decline."

"Brands like Coco, Michelin, Happy Lemon, and Yi Dian Dian haven't entered Feicheng."

"The Feicheng market has absolutely no awareness of milk tea brands."

"As long as there is a high-quality milk tea brand that can quickly open stores and gain customer recognition, it can quickly capture the market."

Xie Bai shook his head inwardly.

The logic is correct, and that's what he thinks too.

But in practice, it's never that simple.

Regardless of the issue of losses at the first store, even if they are prepared to continue developing, there are still many problems to be solved.

For example, when should he continue to open stores? If a chain brand suddenly enters his market during his heavily invested development phase, how should he differentiate himself from competitors?

These are the key points.

Although it is commendable that the other person has such insight at his age, this perspective is not of much help to him.

It's like saying something correct but meaningless.

Of course, Lu Jie was unaware of these thoughts of his.

If Lu Jie had known, he would have told Xie Bai to calm down and wait for him to speak.

"However, national chain brands like Coco and Yi Dian Dian will eventually enter Feicheng, so we need to take advantage of the fact that the Feicheng milk tea market is still a blank slate to define what a truly branded milk tea is and create differentiation."

"Seize the power to define and shape market perception."

"Once a brand gains market and customer recognition, even if brands like Coco and Yi Dian Dian come along, they will be treated as generic brands."

"Instead of regarding DOGE and Yi Dian Dian as the orthodox ones."

"In this way, the entire Anhui province will become a granary and base camp."

Xie Bai's eyes lit up.

Seize the power to define and shape market perception.

That's so well said!

He always wanted to create a milk tea shop that was different from Coco, and to differentiate himself.

Based on what he saw in Nanjing, once brands like Coco enter Feicheng, local brands without unique characteristics will find it difficult to compete.

But he only had a vague idea, and didn't have a clear direction on how to do it.

These words struck a chord with him, gradually clarifying his previously vague thoughts.

He immediately asked, "Young man, what are your thoughts?"

Hearing Xie Bai address him as "classmate," then "young man," and now "little brother," Lu Jie smiled.

After letting out the line for so long, it finally took the bait.