Chapter 6
Wow, can you believe it? We accidentally ended up opening and burning through 1.2 million in cash over the next 3 months. Turns out, we got mixed up with some ideas and started taking clients from our own sushi U shop next door, which is really impacting our business there. Amazing, right?
Nobody gives a damn about us. Nobody cares about the work we do there. Some clueless employee got her husband to come pick her up because she’s worried clients might see his not-so-attractive wife working as our waitress. And this guy is even hanging out in our shop during business hours without any manners. The amazing part comes. His wife gossips with the street BBQ vendor about our business and spreads rumors like the BBQ vendor wants to teach us how to run a yakitori business or join forces with us and switch to BBQ together.
What a fake and ironic story. The street BBQ guy laughs at us.
What I have done?My god.
Recently, a local chef from Sushi U 2 scared Oliva with a threatening tone, so I have to follow up and let him go peacefully this weekend. It’s scary for me too, but I need to stand up for my foreign partner. After several conversations with the local staff about his tests, I showed him that I might have known someone tough. Eventually, he gave up on his stupid fighting ideas with Oliva.I have no idea how I made it happen. It’s like negotiation with the mafia inside the movie “God father”
Meanwhile, the sous-chef at Oliva’s first sushi U shop is always pulling pranks. Oliva wanted to take him to court over labor issues, but I didn’t follow through because the sous chef recorded Oliva saying he was fired, even though the company license has Oliva’s father’s name on it instead of his own. The judge found it amusing that we had a recording of the staff member being fired from that staff. We are stupid. We ended up losing the case.
It’s a really stressful situation. Right now, Oliva’s brother in Australia has been diagnosed with a small cancer in his nose. We need to figure out if we should close Yakotori or make some changes. If we don’t make a decision quickly, it’s going to be really tough for us every day. Even our friends are supporting our restaurant, so it doesn’t make sense from a business perspective.
The Chinese saying goes, when you’re feeling low on energy, it’s time to reevaluate who the real monkeys and humans are.
The thought of my chef friend Eddie, who works for les boites and is also from Paris, came to mind. He’s currently looking for a new job.
I suggested him to Oliva because they are both French and at the time I didn’t know about the concept. They met and hit it off, so we decided to change yakitori to le petit canard French food directly. Oliva came up with the name and also found a manager named Gabriel for the bar on the second floor.
Life becomes even more enjoyable when you change your perspective. It may not be obvious to everyone, but our transition to serving yakitori style French food was a successful one, despite the teasing from my friend in HK due to our lack of funds for redecoration. Chef Eddie, sous chef Yang, manager Momo, Gabriel, Theo and Mr. Gregoire worked incredibly hard alongside the Chinese teams. Now we have created a place for friends to gather. I also had the opportunity to try cognac, fire shots and cheese fondue for the first time thanks to Mr. Oliva.
The street tricycle BBQ guy even left our area. Thanks to God.But various other issues arose.
Mr. Fang, an FDA officer, kindly introduced us to his cousin who runs a food trading company with him. Although we don’t prefer this business arrangement, out of respect for Mr. Fang’s family, we agreed to purchase some products at a controlled price. Additionally, we used the landlord’s license and unfortunately had to address an issue with a gangster rabbit who discovered our use of the outdated license without updating it with the FDA office.
Nightmare after nightmare, I keep pleading with them. Oliva needs to run his first sushi shop and our Sushi U 2, along with the painful yakitori that keeps changing.
Another day, Oliva and I even went to a dirty club with a special friend and our Spanish neighbor who ordered a special bikini show inside. While Oliva and I left the room and chatted outside, we respected the choices of others and we knew how to protect ourselves in case of a police raid. After that day, there was no more meeting about the landlord`s license.
The real world can be tough, like a shark pool, but it all comes down to what you have to offer. I will provide more details about this unique Spanish neighborhood later on.
1.Observing the investment behavior of others is a valuable lesson for making informed business decisions.
2.It is advisable to refrain from opening multiple shops in close proximity until one has established a strong financial foundation or recouped the initial investment from the first shop.
3.Demonstrating respect and courtesy towards chefs who contribute to salvaging a business is essential.
- Maintaining professionalism and politeness towards all staff members upon their departure from China, regardless of their share percentage as cash partners, is crucial.