Half of the 15 stores have closed. The post - 2000 milk tea shop owner has decided to go to work and earn money to support the employees.

“I'm planning to go out to work and earn money to support my employees...”

Recently, a post-00s milk tea shop owner suddenly told me.

At his peak, he owned more than 15 stores. Achievements like “an 80,000-yuan revenue in 3 days from a 30-square-meter shop” and “recouping the investment of a shop in 8 months” were all his past glories.

However, since last year, he has successively closed 8 stores. Now, he is even determined to “work to support his stores”. What's the story behind this?

80,000-yuan Revenue in 3 Days and Recouping the Investment in 8 Months

As a post-00s, when many people were still looking for jobs or working as employees, 25-year-old Shen Shen had truly become a boss. His words revealed the rationality of a mature businessman.

I learned that at his peak, he independently opened more than 15 milk tea shops, also took shares in many others, and joined four or five first-tier brands.

One of the 30-square-meter milk tea shops recouped its investment in just 8 months.

“It coincided with the opening of some well-known catering brands such as a high-end restaurant and a famous chef's eatery in the area, which boosted our business. At that time, our products were basically on every table in the restaurants.”

Shen Shen said that in order to keep the store construction cost down, he always insisted on opening small shops. He wouldn't even consider shops larger than 40 square meters, and he didn't choose the first floor or the basement floor of shopping malls. “The rent is unaffordable,” he said. “Fruit tea is refreshing and can relieve greasiness, which goes well with spicy stir-fried dishes.”

“In fact, whenever a well-known restaurant on the same floor opens, we'll hold a re-opening event,” Shen Shen said. “We'll do it as long as we calculate that it's profitable.”

Another shop achieved an 80,000-yuan revenue in 3 days after opening, mainly because it did two things right:

First, it offered “buy one get one free” along with scratch cards. Scratch cards were very popular at that time, which attracted a large number of consumers.

Second, it communicated well with the brand side and designed a “newcomer coupon package”, giving customers many coupons that could be used for deductions in the following week or even a month.

Actually, for some popular products, as the supply chain price is reasonable, as long as you're willing to sacrifice a part of the profit, you can offer them at a promotional price for a long time. Later, when he reviewed the situation, he found that indeed many customers came back to buy with the coupons.

“The purpose of the opening event is not to let consumers get products at a low price through buy one get one free, but to think about how to make them come back for more.”

Of course, there was some luck in catching the trend in his achievements, but more importantly, he was extremely thrifty.

He even planned in detail how to turn on the lights in the store during daily operations, such as which lights to turn on at the beginning of the business day and which ones during peak hours.

He also didn't overlook water usage. Some employees didn't have the awareness and would leave the tap running. So, Shen Shen included turning off the tap in the employees' SOP.

“The brand side has a general SOP, but each store should formulate its own code of conduct. Let the store manager teach the employees by example. It's true that you can save dozens of yuan on electricity bills in a month.”

Shen Shen said that he often joked with others that he was like a poor man running a business. He would help as much as he could. In short, he calculated every expense carefully.

From Over 15 Stores to 7 Stores, “A Monthly Revenue of 430,000 yuan in a Single Store, but I Only Made 10,000 yuan”

However, even though he calculated every expense to the extreme and tried to recoup the investment of each store within 2 years, he was still no match for the involution of the industry environment.

Since last year, Shen Shen has felt that the business of milk tea shops has been hovering on the verge of breaking even or making a meager profit.

“The daily revenue of a store, which used to be four or five thousand yuan, directly dropped to two or three thousand yuan.” Since it wasn't profitable, he had to close the store. In less than a year, he successively closed seven or eight stores.

Shen Shen said that there were multiple reasons behind the lack of profitability. Some stores had no problems with location selection and operation, but the brand's influence weakened, or a more popular brand emerged in the vicinity. “The business district remained the same, but the increasing number of milk tea shops led to a diversion of customers.”

Or, they faced a rent increase. After calculation, if there was a risk of loss in continuing the business, there was no need to renew the lease.

Another situation was that the mall required renovation. If the renovation cost was estimated to be 150,000 to 200,000 yuan, and the store might only make 100,000 yuan a year, then it didn't make sense to continue.

“In this situation, no matter how hard you try and use all your skills, you can't save the unprofitable situation.”

Moreover, since this year, affected by the takeaway war, although some stores have high turnover, the profit is extremely low, making the business even more difficult.

“One of my stores achieved a revenue of 430,000 yuan in June. Everyone thought I was making a fortune, but actually I only made 10,000 yuan.”

The takeaway subsidies pushed up the order volume. The number of cups sold in his store increased by 15% - 20%, but the actual income growth was within 10%, not much.

Shen Shen calculated an account for me. For a large cup of milk tea, customers paid 0 - 5 yuan, and the platform subsidized 3 - 5 yuan. The original price of the milk tea was 19 yuan, plus a 1 - yuan packaging fee, making it 20 yuan in total. But the actual income was only 7 yuan (after deducting the commission and delivery fee).

Taking milk tea with milk as an example, the ingredient cost accounted for 28% - 35%. For a 20 - yuan milk tea, the obvious cost was 6 yuan (excluding rent, utilities, and labor), and there was also an invisible expense, the “platform promotion fee”, which was 1 - 2 yuan per order.

“So, it's impossible to make a profit from a single cup. Only by generating a multiplier effect of multiple cups can you make money.”

On the other hand, under the “free purchase with conditions” model, some stores with solid operations can handle the flow of customers well, while some are in a mess and make mistakes in making drinks, which will also damage their reputation. The rating can drop from 4.8 to 4.2 all of a sudden. “This kind of situation is very common around me.”

Shen Shen said that he invested 700,000 yuan in this store with a monthly revenue of over 400,000 yuan. Making 10,000 yuan a month, when will he recoup the investment? Will the rent increase next year? Will it need renovation in two years?

“Sometimes I think it would be better to just put the 700,000 yuan in Yu'E Bao and be at ease.”

Shen Shen observed that now many brands publicize how high the turnover of their single stores is, but the actual cash surplus of the franchisees is not much. It's really a case of disproportionate input and output.

So, franchisees must control the store construction cost well. He learned that another franchisee's store was about 10 square meters larger than his, and it cost 1.02 million yuan to build. Recouping the investment would surely be a long way off.

“Going to Work to Earn Money to Support Employees” Is a Joke. Cutting Losses in Time and Staying in the Game Is the Truth

Shen Shen's entrepreneurial experience is actually a microcosm of the slowdown in the growth of the current tea - beverage industry.

Currently, many single - store franchisees can't withstand the fierce competition and are forced to leave the market. According to data from Narrow Door Catering Insights, in the past year, 157,000 milk tea shops have “disappeared” from the market. Even a brand that once had 400 stores now has less than 20 left.

Shen Shen said that he felt it very clearly. In 2023 and 2024, his performance declined by 10% - 15% each year.

However, facing this industry situation, Shen Shen didn't feel pessimistic. Instead, he chose to lie low. Closing the unprofitable stores is more about cutting losses in time, preserving strength, and waiting for a comeback in the future.

This also explains why he wants to return to the workplace. Actually, “going out to work to earn money to support employees” is just a joke. There are two truths behind it:

First, over the years, he felt that he had been constantly giving out but had stopped growing. He wanted to leave his comfort zone and the closed - off environment, and go to a more standardized and advanced system to learn. By the way, he also wants to look for new franchise opportunities. “I like to be the first one to try something new.”

Second, he has trained a core team and capable store managers. Two of the store managers have been with him for more than 5 years, and the average working experience of the clerks is also more than two years. He can rest assured leaving the stores to them.

“Going to work is like starting a business with zero cost,” Shen Shen said. The brands he joined are not the most influential, and the store locations are just average. But the performance of his stores has always been among the top 10 in the brand. This is also his confidence to start anew.

I hope that at this moment, you in front of the screen can also draw some strength from Shen Shen's story.

This article is from the WeChat official account “Kamen” (ID: KamenClub). The author is Yan Zi. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.