Chapter 159 The princess is so good at making money!
The restaurant was packed every day for five days after opening.
Some people lined up at the door early when Mankouxiang opened, and its popularity exceeded expectations.
In the past few days since the opening, Yunli has come to the hot pot restaurant early every morning to understand the needs and feedback of customers and make improvements on the details.
Because there were too many customers, the street became congested and the carriages at the door were parked full. Yunli had two rows of parking spaces on both sides of the door of Mankouxiang reserved for carriages.
In this way, customers will not park randomly, nor will it affect the normal traffic of other people and the business of other businesses. The whole street will also be congested and look chaotic.
A good order was formed. Later customers who had no carriage parking space would find a way out on their own. Seeing the neatly parked carriages, they would naturally feel embarrassed to park randomly.
Two days before the opening, customers were arranged in line on chairs on both sides of the door.
Taking into account the customer experience, some customers are with children, and some are older. The weather is neither too cold nor too hot, which is just right. But if it is summer or winter, it would be a bit inhumane to let everyone queue outside.
Therefore, the corridors on both sides of the hot pot restaurant were cleared out and planned as a rest and dining area. Chairs were placed against the wall, and free tea, melon seeds, peanuts, candies, etc. were provided to customers waiting in line, so that they can kill time while waiting.
Taking into account some dignitaries with special status, she also set up five VIP rest tea rooms on the second floor, which also provide free tea and fruits.
In the past few days, many customers have come to ask if they can eat it alone. They see that the people entering the store are all groups of three or five friends. They also want to try the taste, but are embarrassed to come in.
This question made Yun Li reflect. She had thought about making set meals, but she had never considered single-person set meals. At that time, she thought that the tables in hot pot restaurants were all large tables, and the single-person set meals were relatively low in terms of customer unit price, which was really troublesome, so she simply did not make them.
But these demands of customers made her constantly reflect that she should not just pursue making big money while shutting out the most ordinary people. This is not what she wants. Since customers have needs, she will satisfy them!
So, she launched a group dining service! Forty taels of silver, single customers can queue up and place a group order. When four people are gathered, they can sit at the table. Each person pays ten taels of silver. The dishes are paired with a fixed set meal. This allows single customers to experience hot pot, and splitting the silver equally is fairer to them and more cost-effective.
At night, after the last wave of customers finished their meal and left, Yunli and Shopkeeper Qi calculated the revenue from the first five days of opening.
The total income was as high as 14 million taels of silver, of which the income from the second-floor box accounted for two-thirds, because the various wines in her space were only sold in the second-floor box.
For the rich, new and unknown things are extremely tempting to them. Some of the wine in the box is more expensive than a hot pot meal. Under such circumstances, there are still many people who want to try it.
For Yun Li, this is naturally something she likes to see. It seems that she will have to make more fresh food and update the menu frequently to keep everyone's love.
She bought this two-story shop for 35 million taels of silver, and she had already earned back nearly half of it in just five days. She was very satisfied with the speed of making money.
"Shopkeeper Qi, regarding the store's recruitment information, you must write a notice and post it at the door as soon as possible. You will be responsible for the training of all employees who join the store!"
"Yes! Princess! I have something to tell you, but I'm not sure if I should tell you."
"It's okay to say it"
"I overheard the shop owners next door whispering that our Mankouxiang Hotpot Restaurant was stealing business from Xiangyunlou. On the surface, they were trying to steal business, but secretly, it was a competition between the Prince Yu's Mansion and the Crown Prince's Mansion. I don't know who spread the rumor that our Mankouxiang Hotpot Restaurant was nominally run by Princess Mingxi, but the real culprit was His Royal Highness the Prince Yu!"
Yun Li chuckled and said, "Whatever, let them spread it however they want, but this rumor is quite true! To be honest, I never thought of stealing Xiangyunlou's business before. After all, the cuisine and food types are different.
But now, since everyone is saying so, let’s grab some! How’s business at Xiangyunlou these days?”
Shopkeeper Qi shook his head: "No, from the time we opened until these few days, Xiangyunlou has been almost completely deserted. At mealtimes, there used to be a constant stream of customers, but now there are usually only two or three tables of customers! In my opinion, the store can't even make back its daily labor costs, and we're even losing money!
The owner of Xiangyunlou announced yesterday that all their food prices have been reduced, but even so, there haven't been many customers these past two days."
"Really? Then I'll add fuel to the fire!"
Shopkeeper Qi said excitedly, "How does the princess want to add fire? I am really curious."
"Every customer waiting in line will receive a free glass of watermelon juice for every quarter of an hour they wait, a free vegetable platter for every quarter of an hour they wait, and a free lamb roll for every half hour they wait after quarter of an hour! And all orders will be 30% off!"
Shopkeeper Qi's eyes lit up when he heard this. He had been doing business with the princess, from Yueyanfang, to Caizhige, Liulige, to the current Mankouxiang Hotpot Restaurant. Each store had such a large span, but the princess's business philosophy in every store, from management to products, was truly admirable!
He was simply in awe! How could there be such a smart and wise woman in this world? He often felt inferior to the princess. He had also learned a lot from her over the past year.
"Princess, I feel that the current 300 tables per day are simply not enough. We can add another 100 tables. Look, some teahouses and restaurants on the street are still open, but we closed early, which will cause us to lose some customers."
"If we add another hundred tables, the staff will be exhausted! After the last batch of customers finish eating, they will clean up the shop and go home at dawn... This is not a good idea. Without enough sleep, they still have to work the next day. I'm afraid everyone will collapse!
Our shop is open from 10am to 10pm, excluding a two-hour break at noon, so the whole day is eight hours."
"Princess, what about a shift system? We can have the shop assistants take turns working so that everyone can get a good rest."
Yun Li looked at Shopkeeper Qi with admiration. She didn't expect that he would think of taking shifts. He really has a good business sense!
"Haha~ You're more proactive than me! How about this, you can give it a try according to your idea. If you insist on adding a hundred tables, I hope everyone's monthly salary will be doubled from the current level! In addition, there will be bonuses at the end of the year! We can't treat everyone unfairly in terms of money!"
You can ask the guys in the store if they are willing to do it!"
"Yes, Princess! I think they will definitely agree! After all, Princess is very kind to her subordinates. The monthly wages of the employees in our shops are the highest in the entire capital!"
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