The Industrial Giant Reborn

"For all direct sales and self-sale businesses, too much capital is needed, and the demand for manpower is also very high. As a result, the expansion process will be very slow." Sean said.

"You don't need to worry about funds. I will arrange for one of my real estate companies in Hong Kong to purchase the property. As long as you like it, they will buy it directly. As for manpower, you can only rely on yourselves. But If the budget is sufficient, human resources training can also be accelerated, at least ensuring the expansion of major cities first. For small cities, depending on the situation in the future, we can adopt a direct sales + franchise model." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said: "No matter what In this way, the core areas are directly operated by us, and the properties also belong to us. We can make appropriate concessions in other places and the properties are self-sustained. In the long run, it will save us a lot of rent and will only be more cost-effective. This is different from Europe and the United States. "

Although the real estate prices in Europe and the United States have increased several times from the 1980s to a few decades later, they are still far behind those in Asia. After all, one goes from high to higher, and the other goes from low to high. The magnitude of the latter is It is definitely much bigger, and the market is infinite. In terms of priority, it is definitely more cost-effective to invest in the latter.

The original RT-Mart supermarket in history actually relied on the strategy of purchasing as much land as possible and building it on its own when it expanded in second- and third-tier cities in the early days. After more than ten years, it no longer needed to pay expensive rent, so it developed very smoothly. When European and American supermarkets such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, and Auchan entered the country in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, they adopted an asset-light model and all adopted leasing. Although they developed extremely fast in the short term, by 15-20 When the lease expires in the next year, the expensive rent will kill them. Each branch is forced to close down because the profit is not as good as the rent.

Therefore, real estate changes in different markets are different, and the investment strategies of long-term service industries must also change accordingly. In Europe and the United States, where rents do not change much, they can adopt a light-asset large-scale expansion model. In Asia, the opposite is true, whether it is supermarkets or supermarkets. , fast food chains and even the hotel industry.

"If you, Mr. Chen, can take charge of the funds, in terms of human resources, I will immediately prepare to start training in Asia to facilitate the future expansion of new stores in Asia." Sean nodded.

He has also researched several service companies owned by his boss and knows that once they receive support, they will expand very quickly, including Costco in the early stage, Asian supermarkets in the mid-term, etc., all because of human constraints. Now that the boss's assets are higher, he must be able to give a lot to KFC. At the same time, compared with supermarkets, KFC's expansion speed is obviously much faster and much simpler.

"Okay, what else is there?" Chen Zhiwen asked again. He didn't know much about the catering industry and could only judge what to do from a capital perspective.

"If you want to expand on a large scale in Asia, you need to consider finding a suitable food raw material base in Asia." Sean said: "When the scale is small, it can be imported from the United States, but when the scale is large, it is not feasible. Not only It’s a matter of cost and time efficiency.”

"Do you mean to build chicken farms in Asia?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Chicken farms are just one of them. We also have three large chicken farms in the United States, but more importantly are food factories. All food is made in advance using industrial methods, then frozen, and then shipped to various places." Sean said .

"Well, okay, investment is not a problem." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. The reason why fast food restaurants like KFC can be so cheap is actually the early adoption of industrialized mass production. Otherwise, in such a small and expensive space in the store, It is impossible to deal with these things.

This is different from the pre-made dishes of later generations. The fast food factory model prefers to prepare the size and shape in advance and then freeze them. As long as the speed is fast and the business is good, the turnover time will not be long and the ingredients will be fresh. a lot of.

Although the sanitation problem of future generations is a very worrying issue, companies like KFC and McDonald's still have certain controls. Of course, you can't expect to just throw away everything you don't worry about like at home, but At least compared to other small stores, it is definitely much better. And since I am currently under my own control in this life, I will definitely pay more attention to this aspect.

"There is another issue, and that is the transportation environment in Asia. I need to study it again." Sean said again.

"The transportation in Asia is indeed not as good as that in Europe and the United States. In this area, you can only find a way on your own. If it doesn't work, just build food factory bases in multiple places." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

The current traffic situation in Asia or the Mainland is indeed not suitable for frozen food that requires efficient transportation. This is one of the reasons why the Western fast food industry has not entered Asia on a large scale.

As a pioneer, there are definitely many difficulties, but after overcoming these difficulties, you can get enough rewards.

"Okay, I need to do market research to determine everything. Then I will hand it over to you." Sean said.

This trip to Hong Kong can be said to be very successful. Although there are many new tasks, the more tasks there are, the higher the boss's requirements, and the more support he will get. What professional manager doesn’t want the company he serves to become bigger and better? Not only can you get greater rights and salary, but you may also gain a lot of fame.

"Okay, that's it. No matter how much money or resources you need, as long as you have reasonable data analysis and I confirm that there is no problem, then you can support it." Chen Zhiwen said.

As long as it is for a few core businesses under his command, Chen Zhiwen will basically not refuse when he needs additional help, but he does not say that you can get it if you want it. Any application in this area also requires a certain approval process. One of the core tasks of the headquarters office is this, and if it encounters a very professional problem, it will also look for a professional third party.

It is up to the big boss Chen Zhiwen to decide whether to invest or not, but how much to invest, what kind of results the invested business department needs to make after receiving the money, and the subsequent financial review after the money is spent, etc., are all various Professionals will be responsible, which can also reduce Chen Zhiwen's workload, and at the same time control the entire company in a systematic way.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen." Sean thanked him. KFC had changed its owners several times in the past ten years, but none of them took the entire company seriously. Either they wanted to run it for a while and then sell it, or they wanted to get the most out of KFC. Drawing blood, this time, I finally have an enterprising boss.

Although this is still the first contact, there may be many variables in the future, but there is no need for ordinary bosses to deceive their subordinates like this. They can just say what they want directly. Besides, the person in front of me still has many companies bigger than KFC. Big companies are also very serious in their operations, and some companies can even help the development of KFC.

"You're welcome. Although your KFC will be under the name of Red Bull in the future, you have nothing to do with Red Bull's business. You basically operate it yourself. My goal for you is to become a global chain and the largest restaurant chain in the world. Group, although McDonald’s is already several times the size of KFC, it doesn’t mean that it has no chance of surpassing it.” Chen Zhiwen added.

"Don't worry, Mr. Chen, we will try our best to achieve this goal." Sean promised.

"Well, okay, that's it." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said: "The acquisition in the United States will be completed soon, but you don't have to rush back. You can play in Hong Kong for a while first. The expenses during this period will be counted in the future. On the company.

You can first carefully study the current economic structure of Hong Kong. When investing in Asia in the future, the first step is to deal with Hong Kong, and then use Hong Kong as the core to slowly cultivate talents and expand outward.

As a Hong Konger, I am biased on the one hand, but Hong Kongers understand both Asian culture and Western culture, and they share the same roots as the mainland. As long as we gain a foothold here, it will be easier to expand throughout Asia. "

This is indeed true. There is no other place more suitable for KFC’s future Asian headquarters than Hong Kong. It can also help Hong Kong increase a certain number of jobs and achieve multiple goals. Even just from a geographical point of view, Hong Kong is also the center of Asia, and it is very convenient to go anywhere from here.

"Okay, then I will consider it as an advance inspection of Hong Kong. Based on my feeling last night, it is no problem to build hundreds of KFCs in Hong Kong." Sean said with a smile.

"Okay, I also have many large shopping malls in Hong Kong, and we can build them. Just think about it." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. He didn't care about such small things. What he cared about was naturally KFC in Hong Kong. The Asia headquarters can create thousands of new jobs, which means a lot.

"Okay, then Mr. Chen, I won't disturb you anymore." After a few polite words again, Sean said goodbye and left.

"This is a small chapter." Chen Zhiwen drank the coffee in his cup alone and said with a smile.

KFC is actually not a strategic business. It has no big impact on other businesses, and its own value is not very high. In later generations, KFC has an annual turnover of almost 10 billion US dollars, which is a lot, but this It’s the total data, including the data of many franchisees. It won’t be much in your own hands. The annual profit is estimated to be only a few hundred million US dollars. This is still a few hundred million US dollars a few decades later. It may not be as good as it is now in the mainland. If you invest in a shopping mall in a prime location in a first-tier city, the future rental profits will be high.

And even if Chen Zhiwen increases investment after today's acquisition, the upper limit is still limited, because McDonald's in history will only have a turnover of just over 20 billion US dollars a few decades later. The market may be that big in total, no matter how much it is improved. If it doesn’t double several times, even if it adopts the method of self-sustaining properties, it is estimated that the net profit will not be very high, far less than Midea, Red Bull, Hutchison Whampoa, and Land.

However, with today's net worth, what Chen Zhiwen needs to consider is not just making money, but how many jobs it can create. The catering chain industry is very labor-intensive. Although everyone's salary is not very high, judging from the data, it is There are actually many people. McDonald's, Starbucks, PepsiCo (the parent company of KFC, Burger King), etc. will always be included in the Forbes ranking of company employees in later generations, and it is almost impossible for such companies to be eliminated for ZZ reasons. Regarding it, the security is very high, even better than that of supermarkets. Even if you are a sole proprietor for a long time, there will be no problems.

In the following days, under the arrangement of professionals, Liu Xiaoli and her two children returned to their villa in Taipingshan. After staying in the confinement center in the hospital for 20 days, both children also opened their eyes. You can be curious. He looks at very close objects and sometimes moves his hands to touch everything he can, which is very cute.

After Chen Zhiwen accompanied them for a few more days, in June, a very big news came from the mainland. The mainland government agreed in principle to Disney's construction plan in Hong Kong, and would separately allow the Hong Kong government to grant a piece of land to Disney. It will be used to build Disneyland, but the specific location and area will need to be applied to the mainland government again after the Hong Kong government, Disney and Hong Kong's capital partners have negotiated and confirmed it.

After getting the news, it was not just Chen Zhiwen and his party who were happy, but some people in the Hong Kong government were also very happy. Once this large-scale project was implemented, it would be a very big political achievement for many of them, such as Hong Kong Governor You De, I have always hoped that when I serve in Hong Kong, I can have some achievements that will be remembered by future generations, such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption founded by MacLehose. However, such an opportunity is too rare. Even MacLehose actually follows the times. He seized this opportunity due to its development. Now, although Disney Park is still not as good as the Independent Commission Against Corruption in a social sense, it is still a rare political achievement. If it is implemented in his hands, then after retiring from Hong Kong, it may be able to Received a medal from the Queen of England.

On June 3, Governor Youde personally invited Chen Zhiwen and Land's Dong Youwei to the Governor's House to discuss the Disney matter. He also knew that Disney's partner in Hong Kong this time was Land.

"Hello, Mr. Governor of Hong Kong." Chen Zhiwen said with a polite smile. No matter what, he was still under the jurisdiction of others, so he still had to give face, and Youde was not a bad person. He knew that Hong Kong Even though he will return to the mainland, he still needs to find ways to develop the economy and promote employment. Otherwise, Li Jiacheng in the original history would not have been able to obtain almost cheap "industrial-to-business" opportunities by relying on the real estate trough period. I have the same purpose this time, and the Disneyland project is much larger than Li Jiacheng's project in history.

"Hello, Mr. Chen, Mr. Dong." Hong Kong Governor Youde said with a smile.

The three of them also chatted for a while in a very friendly environment, and then got down to business. Youde asked: "Sheng Chen, now that the mainland has agreed to the construction of Disneyland, I don't know, do you want to build this park in where?"

"Mr. Governor, what do you think of Sai Kung District?" Chen Zhiwen asked calmly. (End of chapter)