I Really Didn't Mean to Make Money

Chapter 278: Competition

Wang Yang looked up seriously at Qi Bu.

Even though designers sent to Beijing would only get a 40% commission, he believed that once the news got out, plenty of designers would be scrambling for the opportunity.

After all, five stores at 40% commission was equivalent to handling the renovation of two stores per month.

More importantly, there was no need to go out and hunt for clients—just complete the design drawings and supervise the renovation team.

“Alright, whoever you want to send, just let them go.”

Qi Bu nodded without hesitation. To him, it didn’t matter who went.

What mattered most was keeping Wang Yang happy.

Wang Yang was his lucky charm, after all!

“Thanks a lot, Brother Qi.”

Wang Yang expressed his gratitude. He was thinking of giving the spot to Chen Jun and planned to ask him later if he was willing to go.

“Don’t mention it. After work, dinner’s on me.”

Qi Bu patted Wang Yang’s shoulder warmly.

…

Jiang City.

A basement.

Shen Rou followed the address and walked in. Just as she reached the basement door, she heard music coming from inside.

She figured it must be Zhang Lan and the musician friends she had met, practicing their songs.

Not wanting to disturb them, she gently pushed the door open and stepped inside.

She glanced around the basement—it wasn’t in great shape, clearly not much had been done in terms of renovation.

Musical instruments were neatly arranged in various spots.

At the moment, a group of four—three women and one man—were gathered around a piano, deep in discussion.

“Rou Rou, you’re here!”

Zhang Lan noticed Shen Rou entering and quickly ran over, grabbing her arm affectionately.

She led Shen Rou over to the others.

“Let me introduce you—this is Shen Rou, my best friend and also our investor.”

“Hello, I’m Wu Jie.”

“Hi, I’m Xu Lei.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Li Xiaoxiao.”

The three quickly greeted her upon hearing she was the investor, their eyes full of gratitude.

Their music studio had only been able to get fully equipped thanks to the investor’s support.

“Hi there.” 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Shen Rou smiled in return, then looked around the basement setup.

“This place hasn’t been renovated?”

Hearing her question, Zhang Lan gave a wry smile.

“I spent all the money on music equipment and kept a portion for operations. There wasn’t anything left for renovations, so we just did a basic setup.”

They had a total budget of 200,000 yuan, with 50,000 coming from Shen Rou’s investment.

To save money, they had rented a basement, but even then, they went a bit over budget when buying equipment.

So they had to give up on renovations.

“I still have some money on hand—take it and use it. At the very least, fix the place up a little.”

Shen Rou said softly, looking at Zhang Lan.

“No need. We’re musicians—we don’t really care about the decor. As long as we make good music and start earning money, we can renovate however we like later.”

Zhang Lan shook her head, declining the offer, though she was clearly touched.

Then she grinned and added, “Starting tomorrow, we’re going all in on music. Just wait—I’m going to be a big star one day!”

“I believe in you.”

Shen Rou nodded, encouraged by Zhang Lan’s bright smile.

…

One week later.

Nanhe Coffee.

It was already 8 p.m., closing time.

Song Xia, Su Dan, and Lin Zhu sat together, all looking worried.

From time to time, a cat would hop onto the table in front of them.

After a while, Lin Zhu spoke up, concern in her voice.

“Maybe we should ask President Chen for approval. If we don’t run any promotions, we’re going to lose even more customers.”

Just a week ago, two new Cat Cafés had opened, both launching with aggressive promotional campaigns that immediately drew in a flood of customers.

What’s more, those two cafés had many rare and exotic breeds of cats.

Unlike their own Cat Café, where most of the cats were adopted from rescue shelters, with only a few rare breeds.

No promotional offers, and less impressive cats—naturally, customers were drawn to the competition.

Before, Nanhe Cat Café was always packed, sometimes even with lines out the door.

But now things were different.

The number of daily customers had dropped by a fifth.

And the worst part? Three more Cat Cafés were about to open. Once they launched, even more customers would be lured away.

If Nanhe Coffee didn’t take action soon, they’d be lucky to retain even half of their clientele.

Hearing Lin Zhu’s suggestion, Su Dan and Song Xia both sighed.

They had already brought this up with President Chen, warning that other Cat Cafés opening would inevitably lead to a loss of customers.

But President Chen didn’t seem to care and had flat-out refused to allow any promotional campaigns.

“Maybe I’ll talk to President Chen again tomorrow.”

“Maybe if he hears how bad the customer loss is, he’ll finally let us run some promotions.”

Song Xia said softly.

“That’s probably our only option.”

Su Dan nodded, then turned to Lin Zhu.

“How’s the training going for the Cat Café manager you were in charge of?”

“Teacher Su, she’s fully trained and ready to go anytime.”

Lin Zhu replied quickly.

“Then send her to Beijing tomorrow. The other four store managers have already been selected—have them all go together.”

“Now that the Beijing office is set up, they can go pick out store locations and start renovations. I’ve already arranged for the renovation crew, and their contact info has been passed on to the office. They just need to get in touch.”

Su Dan spoke calmly.

Nanhe Coffee’s Beijing office was now officially established, and it was time to send the store managers over to choose locations and oversee renovations.

The initial plan was for five stores:

Three traditional coffee shops, one Cat Café, and one Maid Café.

After all, Cat Cafes and Maid Cafes haven’t become widespread yet. The sooner we open these two types of coffee shops in Beijing, the more profit we’ll be able to make.

“Alright, Teacher Su. I’ll notify her shortly.”

“But what about the cats for the Cat Cafe? Should we buy them in Beijing, or choose from the rescue station over there?”

Lin Zhu turned to Su Dan, voicing the question on her mind.

One of the reasons the Cat Cafe had been losing customers lately was that the two newly opened coffee shops featured many rare and exotic cat breeds.

If they wanted to boost the Cat Cafe’s competitiveness, they would definitely need to invest in some rare breeds.