Chapter 169: Chapter 149 The Landlord's Price
Chapter 169: Chapter 149 The Landlord's Price
The milk tea market's future potential is not small; it might very well reach the level of hundreds of billions.
For internet companies, this might not seem like much, but for traditional enterprises, it's a market that cannot be underestimated.
With Yang Qian leading Chu Qiuyan and the others to the bay for study, the net in Capital City had already been cast.
The task of finding storefronts for shops was entrusted to Jiang Wei, transferred from Tengsheng Fruits.
With ample funding and a substantial preparatory work,
there shouldn't be any significant issues. The specific opening date would have to wait until their return.
Additionally, staffing and training needed to start beforehand.
The opening was expected in 2015.
Chen Pingsheng personally only held a 30% stake, Tong Zelan 30%, Yang Mi 15%, and Zhao Feifei alongside Chu Qiuyan another 15% combined.
The remaining 10% was for Yang Qian and Jiang Wei.
Their share wasn't large, nor was their investment.
It's worth mentioning that the milk tea shop's main approach would be franchising, with direct operations as a secondary strategy.
The money spent on opening shops didn't need to be excessive.
They only needed to radiate from the four first-tier cities, spreading to the cities around Beijing-Shanghai-Guangzhou-Shenzhen.
Unlike Fei Yangyang, Bobo Milk Tea wouldn't spend more than three billion on opening shops.
The later stages would rely entirely on franchises.
This was also Chen Pingsheng's first foray into the traditional franchising business, which naturally posed some challenges.
The three-day CEO course in November was scheduled for mid-month.
After wrapping up the milk tea business, Chen Pingsheng started to invest heavily in laying the groundwork for Water Cloud Space's Splendid Night in 2014 in Capital City.
Besides securing front-page advertisements in Wangfujing, Sanlitun, and other major pedestrian areas,
he also promoted Water Cloud Space's New Year's Eve through countless local media outlets.
The headline was very eye-catching.
Water Cloud Space's New Year's Eve, with seven mega-stars gathering to sing on the same stage.
Only Water Cloud Space, among the beauty industry, could afford to spend over a hundred million on an event.
As for him, milk tea was still a minor venture.
This Splendid Night was his main event of the year.
The success of the event was directly related to his plans for the next year.
Simply put, Chen Pingsheng's goal was to further consolidate his business assets.
In the coming years, he planned to make heavy investments in commercial real estate to build his own signature projects.
These signature projects, in his view, were not merely about the amount of money they earned.
The key was stability.
No matter what changes occurred in the market, his signature projects had to consistently make money.
...
Shijingshan villa.
Ever since Song Yanxi's figure had returned to its pre-pregnancy state, Chen Pingsheng enjoyed holding her and having private conversations under the blankets.
Like today, for instance.
"Yanxi, starting next year, our family should try to buy our own storefronts for Water Cloud Space," he said.
Some landlords are very annoying. They've signed a contract, and yet, seeing that the business is doing well, they want to take back the premises to operate themselves.
All Chen Pingsheng could think was that they were delusional.
One of the Water Cloud Spaces in the third ring was experiencing exactly this, with the fat landlord going back on their word.
If such a large enterprise had to deal with this kind of issue, then it was even worse for small traders.
"Buy storefronts? But that's a huge investment, isn't it?"
Song Yanxi lay on the big bed, her long hair spread out and her allure captivating, not resembling a young mother of two at all.
"The investment is indeed a bit large, but it's also a hedge against risk. Who knows what changes the market will undergo? If traditional industries don't own their storefronts, they might not survive once risk arises."
"Aren't you thinking too far ahead?"
"Not really," said Chen Pingsheng. "I've been pondering a saying lately, 'Any successful business must spend over 90% of its time considering failure. Only by avoiding failure can you achieve ultimate success.'
I think this makes a lot of sense. Our family can't just rush forward without considering how to resist risk.
Imagine if the market undergoes major changes, like the financial crisis of '97 and the global financial crisis of '08. So many businesses collapsed because of them. Relying solely on renting storefronts makes our family's ability to resist risk too weak."
Fei Yangyang and Tengsheng Fruits can't change their model, but Water Cloud Space, our biggest earner, absolutely cannot continue to just rent.
Song Yanxi did the math, thinking about purchasing commercial real estate of the scale that Water Cloud Spaces require.
A small goal is necessary. Just considering the twenty-five shops in Capital City, that would be at least thirty billion.
Chen Pingsheng reminded her that having a goal is motivational.
Thirsty billion might seem like a lot, but with effort, there was hope of earning that much.
Once their family could buy these properties, it would indeed be a huge step forward.
They could even be considered half-way to being from a wealthy family.
True wealth wasn't just the virtual wealth from the stock market, but having enough tangible assets that could be easily liquidated.
He believed that these prime assets needed to be worth at least ten billion to barely qualify for entering the threshold of the wealthy elite.
For these small goals, they had to strive and struggle.
Chen Pingsheng poured all his passion into his wife, Song Yanxi.
We must fight without leaving ourselves any way out and recreate another child.
Song Yanxi always felt he was becoming more vigorous, showing no signs of decline with age.
Indeed, he had become quite the formidable man.
Song Yanxi was also recently involved in a lawsuit with that fat landlord, who, after failing to reclaim the storefront, had the audacity to hire people to block the entrance.
Causing a major ruckus.
Well then, we'll sue you until the day you drop dead.
It's just some legal fees, right?
Who can't fork out that little bit of money?
After all, the senior attorneys in Tengying's legal department hardly have anything else to do all year round, so now they're just focused on litigation.
We must demand a hefty compensation.
Let her understand that just because it's your property, it doesn't mean you have the right.
Thinking she can take advantage of us? No way.
That fat landlord has a relative who also works in the beauty business.
When they heard that her place was turned into a Water Cloud Space, they did everything they could to make the fat landlord take back the newly refurbished Water Cloud Space club.
No longer renting it out.
Compared to the money Water Cloud Space was making, this little bit of rent was nothing.
The fat landlord was blinded by money, resorting to the most shameless tactics, using every trick in the book.
Seriously affecting our business.
In today's society, hitting people is definitely not okay.
Methods outside the law are also out of the question, so let's all take our money and battle it out in court.
Song Yanxi sought fifty million in compensation.
Given Water Cloud Space's income, this amount is not at all exaggerated.
After all, it's the landlord's fault for doing such a thing, and all Water Cloud Space's lease contracts are printed by the specialized legal department.
There's no chance for the landlord to find a loophole.
Since the fat landlord caused us to be unable to conduct business normally, simply pull up the door and request compensation according to the contract.
The fat landlord herself wasn't highly educated; her family's wealth came all from relocations.
She never imagined that Water Cloud Space could be so ruthless, to pull the door closed and directly serve her a court summons.
When she saw the amount, she nearly fainted on the spot.
Fifty million??
Her beautician relative had already fled in the middle of the night; it was her bad idea to begin with, but her cousin was the one who acted on it.
She couldn't expect to come to her for justice just because she was stupid.
To get entangled in such a high compensation claim, it wasn't an option to not run away, unless she wanted to wait for her to come over and scold her.
These local landlords, bullying ordinary tenants from other places is one thing.
Song Yanxi felt that if Water Cloud Space, having reached this level, still allowed a landlord to come and bully them.
That would mean all the effort over the past few years had been in vain.
No matter what, she needed to teach this fat landlord a harsh lesson.
When they first signed the contract, they deliberately raised the rent a bit and set a very high compensation clause.
It was all to prevent the landlord from changing their mind at the last minute.
After all, this sort of thing happens every day; it's not at all unusual when it's their turn.
Now, the fat woman's attempt at theft has backfired, causing herself a huge fall.
There's a contract, and furthermore, there's video evidence of the fat landlord bringing people to cause trouble.
The fat woman thought since the storefront was hers, and she had some connections in Capital City, no one could do anything to her.
Little did she know, everyone who patronizes Water Cloud Space is wealthy.
When other beauty therapists told their ultra-A-list clients about this fat landlord,
They all felt she was tarnishing the reputation of Capital City.
She's made a fool of herself all the way to grandma's house.
Two ultra-A-list clients in their fifties even went so far as to lay down a fierce line, saying if the fat woman tried to pull strings on her side, they could make a single phone call and have the president of the High Court step in.
Ultimately, they underestimated the customers of Water Cloud Space, as well as the strong customer relationships built through years of on-site services.
Song Yanxi had also planned to find a larger storefront nearby to start anew; she didn't want this one anymore.
The loss must be compensated at a minimum standard of fifty million.
The annual income of any Water Cloud Space indeed wouldn't be lower than this number.
So, compensation based on this figure is fair.
After all, just the investment in renovation and training has a time cost of one year.
In this year, it's enough to incur a fifty million loss.
The fat landlord, looking at the financial data submitted by Water Cloud Space, was scared stiff.
She did all her calculations but never expected that trying to reclaim her own property would end up costing her fifty million in compensation.
Her own house, she thought renting it or not renting it was her choice.
Isn't that normal?
One can only say that Old Fairy's mindset is way too powerful.