Joining allows investors to quickly stand on the shoulders of “giants,” but management still depends on themselves.
The latest hot topic in the tea industry is not “there is a new net red”, but “your tea shop has closed down.”
This “soul torture” was first circulated in the community. The cause is that many industry insiders who have had the experience of joining the milk tea have recently been telling about the franchise trap they have encountered. For this question, the answer they gave was: “The addition of milk tea is a huge pit, and 90% of the franchise stores will close down.”
If it is said that the user’s discussion has stimulated the netizens’ curiosity about the joining of milk tea, then the WeChat circle of friends and Weibo detonated this topic. “Let’s stick, your tea shop is going bankrupt” and other articles to smash the circle of friends, and the topic of “milk tea pyramid selling”, which is the secret tea tea scam, has also been on the microblogging search for several days, and has obtained millions of real-time searches. .
Cereal tea, as a popular track in the consumer field in recent years, has become a scent in the eyes of investors. A little bit, COCO, honey snow and ice, and other old brands have always attracted a large number of franchisees. The new-style black tea brand represented by Xicha, Naicha tea, Lele tea, etc. has achieved great commercial success in a short period of time, and they have obtained high valuations and even sought listings. They have become a lot of investment. The object sought after.
Understanding that the investment logic of most tea shop franchisees is: the early investment of the tea shop is not large (mostly less than 200,000 yuan), the number of operators is not large, the requirements for the location of the store are not high, and the demand is strong: After all, milk tea is drunk every day, so there must be business.” But the reality is that the tea shop just looks beautiful.
Join chaos
For most tea shop franchisees, choosing the right starting point is not an easy task.
One phenomenon is that franchisees eager to seek success are easily fainted by the dazzling affiliation of advertising, directly into the trap set by the investment agency company (also known as fast recruiting company). After the franchisee searches for “milk tea to join”, the first information that appears is not the official entrance but the advertisement. If the brand awareness is not high, it is easy to choose the wrong one. These ads are often posted on regular websites, including search sites, video sites, and e-commerce sites. However, after a little bit of inquiry, COCO and the well-known milk tea brands that are open to join, such as Honey Snow Ice City, they found that their investment information is only on the official website and is not put on the tripartite platform.
Can’t join the milk tea everywhereAdvertising, ordinary people can see relevant information through search sites, video sites and e-commerce sites
After attracting franchisees through advertisements that can be almost “fake”, the operation of the investment agency is: first name a brand, falsely claiming that it is an agency or investment company that cooperates with a well-known milk tea brand, responsible for the brand. Investment promotion agency in the region (some milk tea brands are joined by the regional system and will find a hosting company in the local area). After the investors were deceived, the agency began to guide the franchisees and instilled the concept that “a well-known brand is very general” and took the opportunity to promote the brand of the edge ball. Their real purpose is to defraud the franchise fee, dumping materials and equipment.
Under the agent’s flicker, franchisees who are eager to seek but have low brand discrimination are easy to “fall”. An investor who once participated in the investment in milk tea and lost more than 5 million yuan told most franchisees that they only want to earn income through investment. In their view, milk tea itself is a profitable business. It is not so important to invest in which brand. .
At present, a large number of cottage brands appearing on the market are from the hands of such investment agency companies. For example, new tea brands such as Xicha, Naicha tea, Lele tea, and tea color are not open to join, but there are a large number of cottage brands with similar names and similar logos. Although a little bit of old brands are open to join, but because of the high threshold of joining, the agency took the opportunity to launch a brand of the edge of the ball, including “sweet sweet and not sweet”, “1 point nine copies”, “1 point love” and so on Imitation brand. A little bit has repeatedly stated on the official website that the company has not reached any cooperation with any agency, and posted the address information of the cottage on the official website to remind investors. Brands such as Lujiao Lane that are not registered trademarks are the hardest hit areas of the cottage. According to statistics, there are about 1,000 stores in Lujiao Lane, but 7,000 cottages have already joined the store.
Even if you have seen the deception of the agency, there are still a lot of pits waiting for the franchisee.
From the top of a tea brand, I learned that there are two types of joining. One is that after the franchisee pays the franchise fee, the franchisee purchases raw materials from the brand company (so-called solution to the supply chain problem), pays the training fee and the deposit, and gives the company a stream of water. The company even patrols the shop from time to time. However, the specific operation, the brand company does not participate, and this joining problem is very big, most of the milk tea brands use this model. One view is that the model is essentially the leeks of the manufacturers behind the company who are cutting the franchisees, similar to the fund. Previously, a tea brand that opened 6,000 stores was the road that was adopted. At present, the brand is closing a large-scale store. In this mode, the brand expands brand awareness through the recruitment of franchisees, but it does not specific to the franchisees.The battalion is responsible.
The other is the hosted mode. The franchisees pay the fees, the brand company is responsible for management, the franchisees only need to wait for the income, and the big brands generally adopt this model, including a little bit, COCO can wait for the milk tea brand and KFC and other well-known catering brands.
There is a well-known brand escort, franchisees do not need to participate in specific operational links, which is obviously a more labor-saving and safe approach, but the problem is that big brands either do not open to join, or from the franchise mode and The cost increases the franchise threshold to ensure the quality, most franchisees can not get tickets, so they are more inclined to choose the first mode. For example, in terms of cost, a little bit of the current joining fee in some cities is already close to one million yuan. On the threshold of joining, COCO can be a regional/urban partner form, which requires certain catering management experience, certain resources in the local area, strong funds and personal participation. Headquarters no longer set up a single store to join, all the stores in a region / city are directly operated by partners, and partners can no longer authorize others to operate.
It’s easy to open a store
In fairness, joining is only an objective business model. The original sin of the investment agency is not derived from the model itself, but also the reasons for investors’ psychological expectations and operational capabilities.
Using the practice of joining, skipping the failure experience of predecessors and quickly gaining revenue, this is the investment mentality of most tea franchisees. But the reality is much more complicated. It is difficult to win the joining of big brands, and it is very difficult for franchisees to participate in specific operations.
The initial fee for opening a tea shop is not high, but the operating expenses are very high in the later period, among which labor costs and rents account for a large amount of . Therefore, it is not easy for franchisees to make money. According to the analysis of the affiliate fee and profit analysis given a little bit, it is known that the franchisee needs 17 months to return. Ruixun Coffee also opened its franchise opportunity to its Xiaolu tea brand in the near future. Although it is said that it does not charge the franchise fee before the profit, it is learned from the industry, and Ruisheng Coffee will have a partner income of 200,000 yuan. Margin left and right. In addition, the official return period is as long as 18 months.
A little joining feeTable and profit analysis form, the picture is from a little official website
After the basic account is calculated, if you want to go out in person, the franchisee needs to consider more questions.
The first thing is to study the brand and its franchise policy. The brand’s growth cycle, boss background, team strength need to be considered. Usually mature brands will have more stringent requirements for franchisees or partners, will not promise to make a profit, but will emphasize the risk, and will basically require personal management. followed by , whether the category has vitality and long life cycle. Then you need to see the actual survivability of the store, you need to communicate with the store manager about the real situation. Then is to assess yourself, how much money, whether you can be equipped with relevant professionals, and whether you can choose the right venue. Finally, at the market level, consider whether the timing of joining is appropriate, whether there are opportunities to make money, and make appropriate marketing plans.
N-ME, which has recently fallen into public opinion due to franchise problems, is also a case worth reflecting. I have learned from many franchisees that NŌME has a total of three generations of franchisees. The first generation was transformed from the clothing brand established by the founder. These franchisees have no experience and operational ability to do household goods. , did not get the desired benefits. The second generation is entering when the brand develops at a high speed, and gains certain profits. When the third-generation franchisee entered, the brand dividend period has ended and the profit margin has become very small. It can be seen in NŌME that the brand’s growth cycle, team background, research categories, and timing of joining are very important.
The addition of milk tea has now become a red sea and is coming to the stage of refined operation. Milk tea joins a lot of pits, but the franchise model is not the original sin, the brand and franchisee’s operational ability is the key. As a well-known milk tea brand executive told: “Now the tea industry, the threshold is low, it is easy to make fire, and it is difficult to do it.”