Chapter 297: Dormitory Convenience Store Project

A dormitory convenience store?

The restaurant owner's words left all the students in the finance class stunned. Of course, it wasn't that they didn't know what a convenience store actually was, but they were surprised and doubtful about the idea.

'Actually, I've been doing business here at Harvard for more than three years, and I've noticed some phenomena here.'

The restaurant owner was a little timid in the face of the stares of all the finance students, but still plucked up the courage to continue, 'It is undeniable that Harvard's campus construction is very successful. Not only is the environment here very good, but the other supporting facilities are also very good, which is why it can cultivate world-class talent. However, I have found that there are still certain problems with the purchase of convenience goods, especially fast food goods.'

Perhaps because he was unconvinced, or perhaps it was really just a simple question, in any case, as soon as the restaurant owner finished speaking, Li Yang immediately retorted, 'Is that so? But as far as I know, there is at least one convenience store in every dormitory area on the Harvard campus, so how can you say there isn't one?'

When Li Yang asked him this, the restaurant owner didn't dare say anything. Seeing this, Zhou Ming encouraged the restaurant owner, saying, 'Boss, just say what you want to say. Li Yang is just expressing his own opinions. You can do it too. This is what we mean by mutual exchange.'

Zhou Ming's words gave the restaurant owner some confidence, and the restaurant owner then continued, 'Classmate, I didn't say there are no convenience stores in the school dormitory area. I just said that there are major problems with them, and the biggest problem is that the convenience stores are outside the dormitories.'

Hearing the restaurant owner say this, all the students in the finance class were stunned. They looked at the owner in bewilderment, completely unable to understand what he was talking about: isn't a convenience store just outside? This is common sense. If this is a problem, then I'm afraid there is no school without problems.

The restaurant owner went on to explain, 'Since the convenience store is outside, this means that all students have to go outside the dormitory door to buy things, but I have observed that many people are just unwilling to take these extra steps.'

'Once, some Harvard students came to my restaurant to eat, and I investigated the situation. They told me that they would rather spend more money than take the time. Especially now in the winter, the temperature in Brighton is very low, but the dormitories are heated, so they are even more unwilling to brave the snow and wind for a little bit of food.'

The restaurant owner thought for a while and added, 'There are also nights when it is normal to study or do other things on the Harvard campus until late at night or even all night, but I'm sorry, the convenience store at Harvard does not open after 11 o'clock. At that time, if students still want to buy something, they simply have nowhere to go.'

Finally, the restaurant owner concluded, 'Therefore, many students have complained that it would be great if there was a convenience store in their dormitory building, and as long as the price is not ridiculously high, they would be able to accept it.'

After listening to the restaurant owner, Zhou Ming looked around and asked, 'What do you all think of the owner's idea?'

Facing Zhou Ming's question, everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to answer, or rather, they simply didn't know how to answer. Zhou Ming had to say it himself, "I personally agree with the owner's idea. I think it is very feasible, but I am a little curious.'

Zhou Ming said, looking back at the restaurant owner and asked, "Since you have already investigated this situation, why don't you do it?'

This was a stunning question, and all the students in the finance class admired Zhou Ming very much. They thought, 'This is their homeroom teacher, and his business acumen is much clearer than theirs.'

Perhaps it sounds like Zhou Ming's question is not complicated, but it completely gets to the heart of the matter. Since you, the restaurant owner, can speak so eloquently, you have also investigated for yourself and asked the students, and the advice you have given is so pertinent, and you are so sure that this project will make money, then why don't you do it yourself? Obviously, there must be other problems, which is why you don't do it yourself and encourage others to do it.

It sounds like a logical question, but only Zhou Ming could think of this question at this time and ask it without being bothered by any other factors.

Facing Zhou Ming's question, the restaurant owner broke out in a cold sweat. Of course, the reason he did this was not because there was anything wrong with what he said, deliberately bragging in front of them or anything, but the aura of Zhou Ming enveloped him, making him unable to help but panic.

'In fact, there is no special reason,' the restaurant owner said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. "It's just that no one is doing it.'

'What do you mean no one is doing it? Is it because the profit is very low?" Li Yang asked in great surprise. The other students in the finance class nodded along, although they all believed in Zhou Ming's judgment, they still felt in their hearts that this kind of convenience store stuff did not make much money.

'Not really. Don't think that the profit is low just because the things in the convenience store are cheap. In fact, it's not. If you can open a dormitory convenience store, its profit will be at least 200% to 300%. For example, a piece of instant toast that is usually sold for 20 cents in a convenience store, but if you sell it in a dormitory convenience store, you can sell it for 50 or even 60 cents. I believe that people will still buy it.'

After hearing the restaurant owner's explanation, Li Yang immediately asked him, 'Boss, if the profit is so high, why did you say that no one is doing it?'

This time, before the restaurant owner could say anything, Zhou Ming said, 'If I'm not wrong, what the boss is saying is that no one is willing to do it, right?'

Hearing Zhou Ming say this, the restaurant owner immediately nodded as if he had met a kindred spirit: 'That's right, just as you said, no one wants to do it. After all, Harvard is a place that trains senior management talent.'

Everyone understood as the restaurant owner said this, but the students in the finance class understood much later than Zhou Ming. In fact, Zhou Ming had already thought of this when he asked that question. People are a bit lazy after all, and this is not a derogatory term, but a yearning for a better state of life.

Just imagine, even ordinary people want to have a better and more comfortable job that is also easy to earn money in, and want to go to work every day with ease, receive a monthly salary of hundreds of thousands of yuan, and be able to go on holiday to all corners of the world at any time of the year, not to mention these Harvard prodigies, whose arrogance will only increase.

Zhou Ming still remembers his previous life in China when he took the postgraduate entrance exam and lived in the university dormitory. At that time, since the postgraduate dormitory was full, he was arranged to live in an ordinary university dormitory. Someone in the dormitory where he lived was already doing this kind of dormitory convenience store business. The profit was also like what the restaurant owner said, the original one-dollar instant noodles were sold for one or two dollars.

It doesn't sound like much, but if you compare it to the supermarket price of instant noodles, you can see that the profit margin of this kind of business is 50% to 100%. And this is a fast-moving consumer good. If you add in chicken feet, marinated eggs, bread, congee, ham, and so on, you can make at least 100 to 200 yuan in pure profit a day. If you don't have classes on weekends, you can make up to a thousand yuan a day in pure profit.

In theory, with such a profitable business, there would definitely be many people scrambling to do it, but in reality, it was not the case. There were hundreds of people in the entire dormitory, but he was the only one doing it. The others either didn't see the point, didn't want to do it, didn't want to do it because they found it troublesome to restock every day, or they found it tiring to sell until midnight every day, or they found it embarrassing to do business in the dormitory. In short, there were always some sort of reasons.

Now that they are at Harvard, these Harvard students, apart from having these thoughts, I guess the more important thing is that they look down on this small amount of money. They feel that they should be executives of big companies, start their own businesses, and make hundreds of thousands of dollars every minute. How can they make less than a dollar from this piece of bread? How can this be something that big Harvard students do?

Just as when Zhou Ming asked the finance class students what they did earlier, everyone's first reaction was to think of securities companies, fund companies, or even banks. They never seriously considered other careers, which is why the restaurant owner said no one would do it.

When he thought about this, all the finance students lowered their heads in shame. Zhou Ming continued, 'In fact, our ancestors said a long time ago that there is no distinction between high and low work, and the same goes for business. Never underestimate the profit of a dollar or two. Small amounts add up to a very substantial income. And at a place like Harvard, where future executives and big entrepreneurs gather, we can definitely increase the profit even more. These Americans don't lack money anyway.'

With these words, Zhou Ming made his classmates laugh. Li Yang said, 'Teacher, you are absolutely right. Back home, we say that people who buy eggs for 15 cents a dollar are stupid. So I think these Americans are the stupid ones!'

Ye Ning said, 'Teacher is right. We are going to make money and come to the United States. First, we will make money from these Harvard people. We are going to win glory for our country!'

Looking at the lively scene in the box, the restaurant owner was stunned. Once upon a time, when he thought about this project, he also thought that if he found someone, he would get this kind of support, but the result was endless cold stares and ridicule. And now, Zhou Ming is here, and he can get this kind of treatment. Is this his charisma? No wonder he can be the teacher of these people. What kind of person is he really!

As the restaurant owner was thinking, Zhou Ming raised his glass again and said, 'In that case, we have decided that our first entrepreneurial project will be this dormitory convenience store! I hope that from today onwards, all of you will be able to look at things from the most objective and pragmatic perspective, and discard all negative emotions. There is no wine today, so let's drink tea instead.'

As Ming raised his glass, the other students in the finance class also raised their glasses, and everyone cheered.

Finally, Ming also turned to the restaurant owner and said, 'Of course, we also have to thank the boss, because he came up with such a good project for us. In the future, when we make a profit, there will still be a lot of things we will have to ask for his help!'

Zhou Ming said, and led the finance class students in toasting the restaurant owner with a cup of tea. The restaurant owner was flattered and hastily poured a cup of tea as well.

The restaurant owner looked at the sight of all the students following Zhou Ming in toasting him, and his heart was very moved. Although he did not consider himself to be someone with great insight, at this moment, he still felt that Zhou Ming had the air of a leader!