Leaving a big company at 35 to open a milk tea shop: the quickest way for the middle class to fall into poverty

01

Someone sent me a private message saying that they just got an N+2 severance package from a big company and were holding hundreds of thousands of yuan in compensation. They felt that working for others was meaningless and wanted to open a milk tea shop franchise to become their own boss. They asked me what I thought.

"If you really want to do charity, just make a direct transfer. Don't put yourself through that."

Open a milk tea shop?

Image | Source: Internet

In 2025, this isn't called entrepreneurship.

This is called a large-scale suicide scene for the middle class.

Really, one moment I felt sorry for them for losing their job in middle age, and the next moment I thought they were just getting what they deserved.

Is this a path to financial freedom?

This is a path to debt freedom.

Don't doubt it.

02

Why do I advise you not to do it?

Because what you see as a "business" is, in the eyes of scammers, a carefully orchestrated "pig butchering scheme."

In the food and beverage industry, there are companies called "quick recruitment companies."

They don't produce milk tea; they only produce "dream materials."

Do you think you're visiting a real store when you go for an inspection?

No, you're going to the Hengdian World Studios.

That popular milk tea shop you see in the CBD with a line stretching onto the street? The people in line are "atmosphere group" hired by them.

Image | Source: Internet

Out of the 50 people in the line, 49 are extras who got paid 50 yuan for their time, and the remaining one is the "big fool."

This isn't popularity; this is "fishing with bait."

Once you're hooked, the investment promotion manager will give you an Excel sheet that says: The cost per cup is 3 yuan, the selling price is 18 yuan, the gross profit margin is 80%, you'll get your investment back in 3 months, buy a car in half a year, and a house in a year.

Even Newton would jump out of his coffin to clap for you.

Because this sheet doesn't include rent, labor, utilities, losses, and especially that "equipment fee" that will make you question your life.

After you sign the contract, you'll realize that you're not the boss; you're a high-priced junk recycler.

The contract stipulates that all equipment must be purchased from the headquarters: An ice maker that sells for 5,000 yuan on Taobao is sold to you for 20,000 yuan with a brand label on it; A cup that costs a few cents in Yiwu is sold to you for 2 yuan with a logo printed on it.

Image | Source: Internet

When you ask why, they say it's "brand premium to ensure the brand's tone."

What tone?

What they're really making money from isn't the milk tea; it's the "IQ tax" they collect by legally transferring the compensation money in your pocket to their accounts through overpriced equipment and decoration materials.

When you've lost everything and want to close the shop?

It doesn't matter; they've already made enough money. They'll just change the signboard and come up with a new name, just like a playboy changing his profile picture, and continue to deceive the next wave of middle-class people like you who have money in their pockets, dreams in their hearts, and a screw loose in their heads.

03

Okay, you say you're not greedy and you've avoided the quick recruitment scam. You spend more money to join a well - known big brand franchise. It should be safe, right?

It's even worse.

If quick recruitment companies are "fraudsters," then big brand franchises are "legal slavery."

Image | Source: Internet

Do you think you're in the shade under a big tree?

No, you're the fertilizer for the tree.

First of all, you have to face the "meat grinder of the food delivery platform."

Nowadays, more than 80% of the orders of milk tea shops come from food delivery. What does this mean? It means your lifeline is in the hands of the food delivery platform.

The platform starts with a 20% commission. This is just the entry fee.

What's really deadly are the bidding rankings and various mandatory promotions.

These days, maybe the red - clothed delivery team starts a "price war" with promotions like "9.9 yuan with free delivery." The neighboring yellow - clothed delivery team immediately follows with "daily coupons."

When the gods fight, who gets hurt? You get hurt.

The platform manager will directly notify you: "You must participate in this promotion of '25 yuan minus 15 yuan'. If you don't, your store's exposure will be restricted, and no one within a 500 - meter radius can find your store."

You reluctantly participate in the promotion. A cup of milk tea sells for 25 yuan. After the discount, you only get 10 yuan. After deducting the platform commission, you're left with only 8 yuan.

It's not even enough to cover the raw material cost.

Do you think it's over?

At this time, Luckin Coffee rushes in like a "dump truck."

It has Wall Street's money in one hand and a perpetual 9.9 - yuan coupon in the other, disrupting both the coffee and milk tea markets.

It's not doing business; it's "clearing the market."

In front of "industrial monsters" like Luckin and Mixue Bingcheng, your big brand is just a small fry.

Mixue Bingcheng sells lemonade for 4 yuan, and Luckin sells lattes for 9.9 yuan.

Image | Source: Internet

Consumers' minds are already fixed on single - digit prices.

When a customer walks into your store and sees a cup of grape bubble tea costing 18 yuan, they look at you as if you're a robber.

Finally, there's the "stab in the back" from the brand headquarters.

Do you think the headquarters will help you?

The core performance indicator of the headquarters is "shipment volume."

The headquarters has developed a new product called "Wampee/Chinese olive/Houttuynia cordata tea" to follow the latest trend.

With a single order, all stores across the country are forced to stock up. You have to order 50 cases of raw materials. If you don't, you're in breach of contract.

As a result, the trend passes in just three days, and no one wants to drink it anymore.

Those 50 cases of raw materials just rot in your warehouse.

Do you want to throw them away? No, the headquarters supervisor will come to check the inventory to see if you've disposed of them privately.

You can only watch helplessly as your money goes to waste.

In the eyes of the brand, you're not a partner; you're their terminal inventory clearance channel.

The rent is sucking your blood, the platform is eating your flesh, the headquarters is gnawing on your bones, and Luckin and Mixue Bingcheng are digging your grave beside you.

This is the real scenario of milk tea franchise in 2025: You enter the game with hundreds of thousands of yuan, only to end up being a "consumable" for these giants for half a year in a dead - end street.

04

In addition to the harsh objective environment, the mindset of working in a big company is also a catalyst for your failure.

Many friends who have worked in big companies have the biggest illusion: "I've managed projects worth tens of millions, led teams of dozens of people, and handled complex business cycles. Opening a small milk tea shop is just a piece of cake for me."

You're wrong. This is a one - way ticket to disaster.

In a big company, you have the platform's halo, and the legal, finance, and HR departments to solve problems for you.

On the food street, you're just a defenseless chicken.

Image | Source: Internet

You'll find that the strategic thinking and enabling methods you learned from PPTs are useless when dealing with part - time college students stealing ingredients, landlords raising the rent in the middle of the night, or even professional fraudsters who claim to have found a hair in their drink in your store.

The food and beverage industry makes money the hard way, like picking up coins on the ground.

It requires extreme shrewdness, calculation, and even a bit of street - smartness.

The fragile dignity of the middle class will be trampled on here.

When you're arguing with a delivery rider on the street to save 2 yuan on delivery fees, or when you're struggling with whether to throw away expired pearls.

You'll find that the big - company elite who used to give orders in the office building is gone.

Image | Source: Internet

What's left in this greasy kitchen is just an anxious and debt - ridden middle - aged man.

So, stop it, buddy.

Take that N + 1 severance package, deposit it in a large - sum certificate of deposit, or even buy some gold.

In this era full of uncertainties, cash flow is your life.

If you're really bored and want to experience the food and beverage business.

Take my advice: Go work at McDonald's for two months.

After you've stood at the counter for two months, with a sore back and legs, and been scolded by customers.

If you still want to open a shop, you're really tough, and I respect you.

But most likely, you'll hold your paycheck, shed a tear, and go have a good meal.

Then you'll sigh: Working for others is really great.

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This article is from the WeChat official account "Catering Observation Bureau". Author: Catering Observation Bureau. Republished by 36Kr with permission.