Vol. 1 - Ch. 29 - The Solution

"Your method? What method?" Liu Chang hesitated and asked. "Honestly, I'm happy to cooperate with you, but there are certain things in this shop that I still want to stick to." "I know, let's discuss it." Li Han said, looking at the hamburger in front of him, "Actually, your concept is not unworkable, the key problem lies in the price. Haven't you realized? Your price is on the same level as McDonald's, but you have no ability to compete with McDonald's. The gimmicks are superfluous, and the varieties are too few."

"But, many of my customers say they really like the taste and aroma of whole wheat bread..." Liu Chang grumbled unconvinced.

"That's a small part, right?" Li Han was ruthless, "After all, only a few people like whole wheat bread, its taste and flavor are indeed not as good as ordinary bread, and the price is even more expensive, it's meaningless."

"How can you say it's meaningless? This is the essence of our family..." Liu Chang said reluctantly.

Li Han glanced at Liu Chang, he knew his childhood friend quite well. Since he was a top student since he was a child, his biggest problem was that he cared about face, always feeling that he was not worse than others.

For this reason, seeing those old classmates become bosses and make a lot of money, Liu Chang couldn't help but give up his stable job as a civil servant and wanted to make a career for himself.

But even so, Li Han did not intend to give up on this investment.

From a personal perspective, after all, Liu Chang was his childhood friend who had played with him since he was a child, and he was his only friend now.

After starting work, Li Han not only didn't make many friends, but also became estranged from his old friends for various reasons. Only Liu Chang would greet him every holiday, and they would also come out to eat together and chat a few times a year.

From a perspective of profit, there must be a reason why the Big Data app recommended this particular shop to him. Considering that there were numerous fried chicken burger shops in Beichang City, with over a dozen different brands, why was Liu Chang's shop the most suitable for his investment?

Knowing the answer and working backwards, this showed that there was a certain point in the principles that Liu Chang insists on that can be a key factor for success, so he must consider Liu Chang's opinions.

"Let's figure it out together." Li Han said, tentatively asking, "What's your idea?"

"I believe we shouldn't abandon the 'handmade' approach," Liu Chang said solemnly. "All those fried chicken burgers outside are made from pre-packaged materials in factory assembly lines, without exception. So if we want to stand out, we need to focus on the 'handmade' aspect." 

"So, isn't whole wheat bread the most important thing?" Li Han frowned.

"Um... well, if it's possible, of course, I'd like to keep it," Liu Chang said a bit sheepishly. "But I also know that this particular aspect is a meaningless insistence... you're the investor, and if you don't like it, we can withdraw it." 

"It doesn't matter if this is left..." Li Han, propping his chin, pondered. So, the key to success was "handmade"?

Indeed, the cooking time for handmade burgers would inevitably be longer than the assembly line process used by McDonald's and KFC.

Since one can only compare 'quality,' let's take a more upscale burger route, one level higher in price and experience than the McDonald's.

"But how can we address the variety and flavor?" Li Han sighed. "What's the connection between handmade and these two aspects?"

The next moment, a light bulb went off in Li Han's mind. "Got it! This way, all problems can be solved perfectly!"

At this moment, he understood why the Big Data App recommended this store to him.

"You thought of an idea?" Liu Chang asked, feeling surprised. "Let's hear it."

"I've played a little game before where you create hamburgers. It divides a hamburger into five parts: the bun, patty, toppings, vegetables, and sauce. Then you can mix and match these five parts to let players create their own burgers," Li Han explained. "We should do something similar. Do you understand what I mean?"

Liu Chang, having worked in this field for some time, naturally understood what he was saying. "Are you suggesting that we create a dedicated page on food delivery apps, similar to KFC and McDonald's? Customers can place orders in a way similar to the burger-making game---where they choose the type of bun, patty, vegetables, and sauce---and then we prepare the order accordingly?" 

"Exactly!" Li Han said with a smile. "For example, we'll divide the buns into whole wheat and regular. Then the patties will have four options: beef, chicken thigh, cod fish, and fresh shrimp. For vegetables, we'll offer onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and pickles. As for toppings, we'll include bacon, ham, cheese, and a sunny-side-up egg. And finally, the sauces will feature honey mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise. Five components and customers can mix and match them themselves." 

"Brilliant!" Liu Chang exclaimed. "This way, we can create an endless variety of combinations! Customers can customize their burgers to their liking---stacking three, four, or even five, six, seven layers high. They can freely choose their favorite fillings and sauces. It's not just delicious; it's also fun!"  Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Nʘvᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"And this is an effect that only handmade burgers can achieve, solving both variety and taste at once. Even if they don't taste great, customers can't blame us because they made the choices themselves," Li Han pointed out reasonably. "Of course, we can set up a few basic templates in the store for the lazy people to order with one click, but I think everyone should be able to create their own combinations."

"Absolutely! When it comes to such fun burgers, creating our own combinations is a must!" Liu Chang exclaimed excitedly. 

"However, there's one more point," Li Han said seriously, "The speed of making handmade burgers can't match that of McDonald's. So we should focus on physical locations, with food delivery apps as a supplementary channel. Then, we can raise the prices and offer a higher-tier burger experience than McDonald's. To achieve this, we'll need to allocate tablets in the store and set up a dedicated ordering app on those tablets..." 

"Just like that small game of yours?" Liu Chang immediately understood his meaning.

"Bingo!" Li Han nodded with a smile. "What do you think? Do you believe that 500,000 in funding would be sufficient to handle all of this?" 

"No problem! More than enough!" Liu Chang nodded enthusiastically. "I opened this shop, and even with the loan, it only cost a little over 400,000. After the reorganization and reopening, we'll split the profits fifty-fifty!" 

"That's settled then," Li Han said with a smile. "You prepare the agreement tomorrow, and once we've signed it, we'll immediately start the reorganization. After confirming the feasibility of this operational plan, we'll invest in developing our exclusive recipes, make the flagship store famous, and then gradually expand to open several branches nationwide!" 

"Absolutely! This plan focuses on the operational model, as the burger-making process is quite straightforward." Liu Chang grinned excitedly. "When we've grown the company and gone public, we'll each hold 50% of the shares!" 

"Absolutely." Li Han knew that Liu Chang's remark might be in jest, but he wasn't joking. "So, make sure to apply for patents for your recipes and brand in advance, be fully prepared, and prevent others from copying."

"No problem!" Liu Chang replied, suddenly feeling a bit nostalgic. "Ah, I suddenly remember when we used to play Contra together as kids." 

"You can roll away!" Li Han retorted, "It's not like we ever made it past the first two levels without dying and then borrowed my life."

"Haha!" Liu Chang chuckled awkwardly. "I didn't expect you to remember! Darn it..."