Chapter 579 – The Significance of Franchising
“If we were to open by ourselves, it’s possible, but do we have that much time, money, and energy? Without even thinking, we know that doing it ourselves would be very time-consuming. From training employees to managing the store, it would require a lot of manpower and resources. So the expansion would definitely be slow.
However, with franchising, we can save on all of this. And franchising isn’t without benefits for us. At the very least, franchising isn’t free. If others want to use our brand, they need to pay a franchise fee. We can discuss the specifics later. And as I mentioned earlier, after franchising, we can provide them with products. This isn’t given for free; they’ll have to pay for them.
As long as we have the technology, others can only buy products from us, essentially a form of monopoly. This way, we can make money.
Most importantly, franchising allows our stores and brand to expand quickly, capturing the market. Although our beauty salon is currently considered the best in the capital, we can’t guarantee there won’t be competitors in the future.
Remember, even overseas, there are well-established beauty industries. In case others seize the market ahead of us, we might have to step back by then!”
The other two couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous upon hearing this. Previously, they always thought their beauty salon was the best in the capital, so they weren’t too worried. But now, upon hearing the possibility of being surpassed, how could they not feel anxious?
So Ye Lin, at this moment, didn’t care about anything else and directly said, “Let’s do it. We’ll go with your plan!”
Meanwhile, Master Zhong on the side became curious and asked, “But what are those who franchise looking for? They have to spend money to join, isn’t it better to do it themselves?”
However, Lu Xia didn’t need to explain this question. At this point, Ye Lin finally understood.
“I got it! They don’t have their own products. They’ve had beauty salons before, but none of them were as successful as ours. Ultimately, their products can’t compare to ours, and the results aren’t good.”
Lu Xia nodded, “Exactly, and our brand is quite well-known. In the capital, when people ask which beauty salon is good, they all mention our Xia Lin. As long as they display this brand, they won’t worry about not having customers. Do you think others would be willing to spend money on us?”
“That’s why you had me register the trademark before. I wondered why you did that before,” Ye Lin realized belatedly.
“Yeah, it’s about being prepared,” Lu Xia affirmed.
The other two had no further objections after hearing this. They discussed the specific details eagerly. Even Master Zhong seemed rejuvenated and actively discussed the production aspects that she would mainly be responsible for later.
After discussing the overall plan, everyone finally felt satisfied and parted ways.
The Lunar New Year was approaching, so they had to wait until after the New Year to address the specifics.
Initially, Lu Xia didn’t plan to expand the beauty salon significantly, considering they weren’t particularly ambitious individuals.
However, seeing how passionate the other two were about the beauty salon, Lu Xia felt it would be a shame not to aim for growth.
Fortunately, after proposing the idea, they were enthusiastic and looking forward to it.
Lu Xia was reassured.
As the Lunar New Year approached, their younger cousin, Jiang Chengyuan, couldn’t come back. He had informed them early through a letter.
Their eldest cousin’s family had initially planned to return, but their child fell ill just before the journey, so they couldn’t make it this year.
Although their Uncle and Aunt Jiang were disappointed, they understood. After all, the child was still young, and they were quite worried. They sent a lot of gifts to them, hoping they would have a good New Year in the military.
*
Chapter 580 – Third Sister’s Gratitude
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In the days leading up to the Lunar New Year, Lu Xia and her family moved back to the family compound. After all, Uncle and Aunt Jiang had duty shifts during the New Year, and they couldn’t leave Grandpa Jiang alone at home.
Besides, the room they stayed in was often looked after by Aunt Wang, so moving back was convenient.
This year’s Lunar New Year was not much different from previous ones. However, during the New Year visits, Third Sister’s family seemed notably different in their spirits.
Especially Third Sister’s husband, who used to be quite reserved. This year, perhaps due to starting a company and gaining confidence, coupled with the need to interact with clients regularly, he became more talkative.
Lu Xia asked about the current development of his logistics company, and Third Sister’s husband briefly mentioned it. Although the logistics company wasn’t yet profitable, judging from his attitude, the current progress was quite good, and they had no shortage of work. He estimated they would soon break even and then expand the business.
As for Third Sister, her spirits were also different. When she arrived, she warmly thanked Lu Xia.
Her skewer shop had always been doing well. It turned profitable shortly after opening. Afterward, she hired employees to manage the shop, and soon opened another, larger shop that was currently very popular.
Now, she didn’t have to personally handle everything. She focused on purchasing raw materials and managing finances.
She was no longer as hands-on as before, but she was making even more money.
So Third Sister was very grateful to Lu Xia. After all, this business was clearly a profitable one, with a relatively small investment. Frankly, anyone could do it.
Lu Xia knew what Third Sister meant, but didn’t dwell on it. “As you know, I only invested in businesses without actively managing it. My focus was never entirely on it. So even if you didn’t take it on, I wouldn’t have.”
Third Sister understood what she meant after hearing it and didn’t say more words of thanks. Instead, she said, “Since I opened the skewer shop, quite a few people have seen my business doing well and opened similar shops. However, none of their shops became as popular as mine. Still, they did take away some customers.”
Lu Xia nodded, “That’s normal. After all, this method is easy to imitate. They can figure out most of the base ingredients by just looking a few times.”
Third Sister chuckled upon hearing this, “Although they can guess the general idea, there are specific aspects they can’t figure out. Who would have thought you use so many herbs and spices? So no matter what they do, they can’t match the taste of my shop. Speaking of which, Xiao Xia is amazing. Knowing such a great recipe, I’m cautious when I go to buy ingredients now. I even buy some unnecessary ones and mix them in, just to make sure they can’t figure it out.”
Lu Xia didn’t know what to say after hearing this. Could she say that these ingredients and recipes had already spread in various videos in her future world? The ingredient quantities were even specified, and the cooking process was demonstrated step by step.
So it wasn’t really her skill.
But there was no way to explain this, so Lu Xia could only nod.
…
This year, during the New Year visits, Kang Kang and the other three received a lot of red envelopes once again.
The kids operated their “business” again this year.
And, as usual, they received red envelopes of various amounts.
But this time, their wishes had changed. It wasn’t about buying a Jeep anymore, considering they had grown a year older and had some concept of money. They knew they couldn’t buy such a big car with just New Year’s money.
Moreover, they had grown tired of the toy car they bought last year.
So this year, they decided to aim a bit lower and buy bicycles.
