Chapter 537: Set Menus and Branch Locations!

Inside the private room, only Li Yi and his wife, along with Li Na and Long Zhanjun, remained.

Everyone else had gone outside to clean up, including Zhang Ziqiang and Juanzi!

By now, Yun Rui and Yun Jin had fallen asleep in the arms of Jiang Xue and Third Sister.

Because it was so hot, both children were drenched in sweat, and Jiang Xue kept dabbing at the sweat on their bodies and foreheads with a small handkerchief.

Li Yi took a sip of ice-cold soda, then looked at Long Zhanjun and said, “The shop can’t go on like this. I noticed Dongzi and the others were already staggering around during dinner—they must be completely exhausted from all this work!”

“Yeah, everyone’s been working really hard lately, but we can hold on a little longer if we just tough it out!” Long Zhanjun replied.

“How long can we hold out?”

Li Yi continued, “If things go as expected, business will likely stay this busy until the end of October. Do you think the guys at the shop can hold out that long?”

Grilled meat with beer and soft drinks—that’s the ultimate summer treat for so many young people!

Who could resist gathering a few friends and hanging out, grilling meat, drinking, and shooting the breeze?

If anyone can, it’s only because their wallet won’t allow it!

Hearing this, Long Zhanjun fell silent.

He could already sense it—everyone in the shop had reached their limit and simply couldn’t keep up anymore.

It wasn’t just that they were too busy; it was also that more than a dozen tables of customers had flooded in at once, all waiting for their food.

If the food was served even a moment too late, the short-tempered customers would start cursing.

That sense of tension and immense pressure was truly anxiety-inducing.

“Xiao Yi, why don’t we hire a few more people?” Li Na suggested.

Li Yi shook his head and said, “No, eight people is the absolute limit. If we go over that, it’ll be easy for people to find fault with us!”

Granted, given his current status and the clout of the Jiang and Ye families, such a minor issue shouldn’t really cause him any trouble.

But Li Yi knew that the more precarious the situation, the more cautious he had to be.

Once 1985 passed, they could hire as many people as they wanted, but right now, it was absolutely out of the question.

“Then what are we supposed to do? We can’t hire more people—are we going to turn away customers?” Li Na frowned.

“It won’t come to that, but we can adjust our business model!” Li Yi said.

“How exactly?”

“Right now, aside from being short-staffed, the main issue is that mealtimes are too concentrated, and most guests order different dishes, so it’s too much trouble to prepare them all!”

Li Yi continued, “If everyone ordered the same dishes, wouldn’t it be much easier to prepare?”

“Everyone eating the same thing? That’s impossible!” Li Na shook her head.

Long Zhanjun and Jiang Xue, however, looked pensive. Knowing Li Yi as they did, they realized he wouldn’t say something like that unless he had a plan.

But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t figure out how Li Yi could possibly get everyone to eat the same thing!

“Why not? Have you ever heard of a set meal?”

“Set meals?”

“Right, it’s when you bundle a set number of dishes together and sell them as a package!”

“But… how would you sell that?”

Li Yi immediately explained, “Take a two-person set, for example. We can put together a pound of beef, a pound of lamb, and some vegetables—enough to feed two people, for sure. As for three-person sets, or four-person, six-person, or ten-person sets—you get the idea!”

“That way, no matter how many people come in, we’ll have them order one of these set menus! And since the set menus can be pre-prepared, it’ll definitely cut down on everyone’s workload.”

Long Zhanjun frowned and said, “Preparing in advance would indeed reduce the workload, but the question is: will customers actually want to buy these set meals?”

“That depends on how we handle it!”

Li Yi continued, “Take the two-person set as an example. One pound of beef, one pound of lamb, plus the vegetable broth and seasonings—the cost is about 5 yuan. The à la carte price should be around 12 to 13 yuan, right?”

“Exactly!”

“Then we could set the set meal price a bit lower—say, 9.9 yuan. Do you think people would buy it?” Li Yi asked.

“But wouldn’t that mean we make less profit?”

“Heh, the profit per table would certainly be lower, but in the restaurant business, it’s all about serving speed and table turnover. Overall profits won’t decrease—they might even go up!” Li Yi said.

“Will that really work?”

“Yeah, it’ll definitely work!”

“Then let’s sit down and figure this out—see how we should set the menu items and prices!” said Long Zhanjun.

“Remember, in the restaurant business, it’s all about repeat customers—not one-time deals. You have to learn to give customers a little leeway; that’s the only way to build a sustainable business!” Li Yi said.

“Got it!”

Li Yi added, “One more thing—I’m planning to open branch locations in Beijing and the surrounding areas in the near future. What do you think?”

“Open branches? Is that even possible? I don’t think the regulations allow that,” Long Zhanjun said, frowning.

Third Sister chimed in, “Opening branches means hiring staff, but didn’t you just say we can’t hire people?”

Jiang Xue looked at Li Yi and asked, “Do you have some clever plan to get around these risks?”

Li Yi was very pleased with his wife’s response. He then turned to Third Sister and Long Zhanjun and said, “Opening branches is also a good way to spread out our customer base. As for your concerns, they’re no big deal—we can completely work around them!”

“How do you plan to avoid them?” Third Sister asked curiously.

“For our second branch, I plan to have Third Sister serve as the manager and operator—all the paperwork will be in your name!”

“So that means it’ll be my store?”

“Right. But since I’ll be covering all the initial investment, the branch will have to give me half of the monthly profits, and the other half will be yours!”

“Is that okay?”

“It’s fine. Legally, we’re not breaking any rules. The store is yours, and you’re the one hiring the staff. As long as there are no more than eight employees, there’s no issue of exploitation.”

Li Yi continued, “Aside from you, Third Sister, the same applies to everyone else in the store. Once they’ve mastered the business operations, they can go out and run a branch of their own!”

“So you mean Dongzi, Qiangzi, and Xiaoqian will all become store managers someday?” Li Na asked in surprise.

“That’s right. Everyone has this opportunity—as long as they’re good enough!”

As for whether this business model was viable, it had already been proven by Haidilao in his previous life.

And Li Yi’s approach wasn’t merely to mitigate policy risks; beyond that, he was also carving out a path for his brothers.

He’d brought Dongzi, Qiangzi, and the others to Beijing with a purpose that went far beyond just having them work as high-paid waiters in a restaurant. Relying on washing pots, wiping dishes, slicing meat, and chopping vegetables, they’d never truly make it big in life.

Opening a branch and serving as manager was Li Yi’s test for them; if they proved capable, they would move on to bigger things.

Of course, if they lacked business acumen, Li Yi would find another way.

In short, in this life, he had to live up to the expectations of his parents, wife, and children, while also taking good care of this group of brothers!

Long Zhanjun thought for a moment and said, “That sounds reasonable, but we must establish clear rules for this. Otherwise, things could easily go wrong!”

“Right. I’ll personally draw up the specific rules—there won’t be any slip-ups!”

Li Yi continued, “Also, once we open the branch, you can bring over the brothers from Yong County as well. It’s much smoother and more reassuring to work with our own brothers!”

Hearing this, Long Zhanjun’s eyes lit up.

He had dozens, if not hundreds, of brothers back in Yong County. If he could really bring them to Beijing to build a future, that would be a stroke of incredible luck.

Just look at Dongzi and Qiangzi’s current situations to see how promising it is. In less than a year, every one of these young men has become a “rich man” with savings of over a thousand yuan—enough to build three brick-and-tile houses back in Nianzishan Village.

After that, the two discussed some specific details.

It wasn’t until nearly 11:00 p.m. that Li Yi led Jiang Xue and the others back to their courtyard house in the city!