Chapter 4
After signing our investment contract, we all became excited about this new concept.
We started to look for a location for the restaurant plan. Operation SB is very clever and has suggested the Dongping Road area because he noticed that the whole street has been redecorated. He has started gathering information in the shareholder group. I have some concerns about the low foot traffic in the Henshan Road area. SB believes that we can use marketing to address this issue. We are now starting to approach potential landlords in that area.
I’m planning to seek assistance from Mr. Xin, who has a lot of friends in that area. David is senior high school classmate of Mr.Xin but David mentioned that he has another personal connection and managed to secure the meeting with the landlord.
So I went with partner David to meet the landlord for the first time. David advised me to introduce him as the majority shareholder in order to ensure that we would have the support of the lease. During the meeting, the landlord asked about our shareholder structure and had several questions about our restaurant business.
I answered according to David’s strategy, which turned out to be correct, and we gained trust from the landlord after that meeting. Now we just need to wait for the landlord group’s process before we can get the lease.
During this waiting period, SB discovers another location with HK tailor on Wulumuqi Road. It’s a cake shop without proper drainage. How is the cake shop able to operate there? After speaking with the manager of the cake shop, the HK Tailor and I found out that they pay certain individuals a monthly fee for PR work. The cake shop is asking for a transfer fee of 200K from us, I immediately refused because it`s expensive.
HK tailor got another shop on transfer from his Macau friend on Jiashan road. I am familiar with that area because Oliva’s first sushi shop was located at the intersection of the street. I still remember the rules of the game there. When we met the owner of the shop, I found out that it was the same landlord as Oliva. I immediately knew that we could run our business with help from the landlord.
However, other partners declined due to concerns about too much power from the landlord, as they had no experience in restaurant investment in Shanghai before. It’s better to be cautious. I cant push them to take the shop even I know its their first time opening a restaurant.
I received information about a shop with a cooking license from Mr. Xin. However, I was busy supporting my daughter with her studies, so I could only meet partners after she finished her homework. The HK tailor agreed to wait for me at the location around 9:30pm. When we met, he mentioned that they had already discussed something and then invited me for a bottle of wine to build our friendship.
As we drank and talked, the HK tailor shared about his upbringing in Hong Kong and how his parents’ marriage was tumultuous, leading him to prefer a single nightlife. He doesnt trust any girls. Maybe he just doesnt trust himself. Eventually, he left to meet other girls waiting for him beside our table.It was an interesting conversation; however, I found it surprising that he opened up about his parents’ life in Hong Kong to me. Everyone has the right to speak freely.
After three rounds of mine clearance at the location, SB comes across Chef Mark from Eastern Europe who is waiting in Hong Kong after his last job. SB reports to the shareholders and we decided to hire this chef. SB then asks a tailor in Hong Kong to assist the chef in relocating back to Shanghai, and we will cover the moving costs together. I did check Chef Mark`s reputation from other famous chefs. He was a solid chef and the food media was hungry for new chef stories as fresh blood.
Since the chef is on his way back to Shanghai, the Dongping landlord has not received any information about the lease.SB in a rush and have found another location for the shop, which is up for transfer. As a partner, I visited that location again to handle my clearance job.The location asked for a 300k transfer fee.
I refused again because I need to consider the payback period as an investor. SB called me to try and push me into agreeing, I still refused because it’s important to consider the shareholders when making financial decisions.
It’s not the right way for me to expect free equity or agree on spending without considering others’ interests. There is no appreciation for that kind of attitude.It also means that it will be very difficult for me to guide peoples mind from waiter‘s logic to small restaurant investor`s logic.
