Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

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April 26th, Tuesday…

Pei Qian was trying to create a simple mind map on his computer in the office. The content of the mind map was simple. It was all the departments of Tengda that could generate profits so far, as well as some auxiliary and transactional departments.

The relationship between these departments was complex and different in nature.

Some made a lot of profits, some made some, and some made none at all.

Some departments have obvious superior and subordinate or horizontal relationships while some departments are not so close.

The relationships between profitable departments and administrative departments seemed to be different as well.

The mind map, in general terms, was to write all kinds of key information in small boxes and use the various lines to connect this key information and mark the relationship between them.

Pei Qian decided to use different colors and different lines to show the status of each department and the relationship between the departments.

The departments in the red box represented profitable departments.

The departments in the blue box indicated those departments that were not profitable and whose situations were relatively optimistic.

The black lines indicated that the two departments were connected. For example, Fish-Catching Take-Out was now providing fitness meals to the gym. Another example would be that ROF Computer-Installation and Upwind Logistics were basically twins joined at the hip.

There was yet another kind of red line which represented an association between the two departments that was likely to occur.

Pei Qian's thoughts were simple. He wants to use this mind map to straighten out his thoughts and then predict possible departmental linkages in advance.

However, Pei Qian seemed to quickly discover in no time that things did not look too optimistic after the preliminary sorting.

It seemed red everywhere on the mind map. Only a few departments like Fish-Catching Take-Out, Upwind Logistics, and TPDb website remained unprofitable in blue.

Moreover, the workload was much larger than he thought! The various blue lines were intricate, and after sorting out, they were more complicated than he thought previously.

What was more, there was a bug called OTTO Technologies which was connected to almost all existing departments…

The dense black lines represented the unsalvageable relationship between the various departments. The entire mind map had become a spiderweb with various explanations and small prints. It seemed to be rather troublesome.

Pei Qian tried to draw a red line between the two unrelated departments to predict special relationships that could exist between them. He nearly went crazy after drawing a few lines.

There seemed to be theoretical possibilities of linkages between all departments!

Pei Qian was only trying to imagine the worst-case scenario after the two departments were linked. He marked them with a red line.

They would not be marked out if they were some ambiguous and specious connections. There were too many lines, and adding on would only mix up his point of view.

Pei Qian looked at the relationship diagram between the two departments that he had spent two hours adjusting. He could not help but lean back on the chair with a hand to his forehead.

"How did things become like this…?

"My company has reached such a bad state without me knowing?

"Even I cannot fully understand the intricate relationship between these departments."

If there were only three or five departments, their relationships would be simple and could be straightened out.

However, there were more than a dozen departments now. Who knew which of these departments would develop some inexplicable linkage?

It was impossible for Boss Pei's employees to report everything to him for his decision. Boss Pei would not be able to have his own time and rest if he were to patronize these trivial matters every day.

In the current situation, he could only focus on the key departments and let the rest go.

"If I were to look at it optimistically, the situation is actually still alright. I've lost money in the last cycle and slowly figured out how to lose money. It should be easier in the future.

"The Manage Loss Trainees should have already infiltrated the various departments. I'll gather them next Saturday to have a thorough understanding of the situation in all the departments.

"I'll use the intelligence gathered by the Manage Loss Trainees to perfect this mind map. I would at least be able to have a preliminary understanding of the departments and be able to obtain early warnings. The risk is better controlled as compared to before…

"There is too much information in this mind map and no use being urgent about it. I'll take my time to perfect it."

Pei Qian carefully saved and backed up this mind map so that he could check it at any time and reflect on it to prevent any possible dangers that might happen.

He could not help but sigh. Creating a loss seemed to be becoming more technical.

He was about to rest and watch a show when a knock came from the door. Lin Canrong entered carefully after obtaining permission to 'enter'.

Pei Qian was a little surprised. Why was Chef Lin here?

Lin Canrong was the manager of Ming Yun Private Kitchen. He had worked hard at his post in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and later at Ming Yun Private Kitchen. He had never been to Tengda's headquarters.

He would only report to Boss Pei by phone or wait until Boss Pei went to Ming Yun Private Kitchen for dinner before reporting.

What was wrong today? Why come to the office?

"Is there anything with Ming Yun Private Kitchen?" Pei Qian asked with slight anticipation.

Pei Qian disliked those who came to report from a profitable department. Most of these departments came to ask Boss Pei on how to spend money, which was very annoying. However, Ming Yun Private Kitchen was different.

That was because Ming Yun Private Kitchen had no more room for improvement!

They were full every day, and the seats had been reserved until next month. They might be making money, but there were only so many seats. Its income had stabilized long ago and had no other room to increase.

That was why Pei Qian felt that there might be something wrong with Ming Yun Private Kitchen for Branch Manager Lin to come all the way here. Could it be losing money?

How exciting!

Lin Canrong seemed to be in a bind and struggled internally before he started. "Boss Pei, you seemed to have made Fish-Catching Take-Out independent and encouraged them to open new branches. A special Gourmet Laboratory seemed to have been set up to research new menus?"

The matter with Fish-Catching Take-Out was arranged two weeks ago. Pei Qian's consideration was for Fish-Catching Take-Out to open more branches and generate more losses. He, therefore, encouraged them to expand.

Two weeks had gone by so it should be in full swing now.

Lin Canrong was in charge of Fish-Catching Take-Out previously and was Rui Yuchen's boss. It was naturally impossible to hide the situation with Fish-Catching Take-Out from him.

However, Lin Canrong was now in charge of Ming Yun Private Kitchen. What did he mean, deliberately coming all the way here about Fish-Catching Take-Out?

Pei Qian nodded, slightly confused. "Yes, so?"

Lin Canrong seemed to be emotional. "Boss Pei, that isn't fair!

"I know that Fish-Catching Take-Out plays a very important role in the group's industries. It's making losses temporarily to gain market traction, cultivate customer consumption habits, and for greater profit. I have no opinion on the expansion of Fish-Catching Take-Out, but…"

Lin Canrong paused, and the corners of Pei Qian's mouth twitched.

What do you mean by making losses temporarily to gain market traction, cultivate customer consumption habits, and for greater profits!

Don't over-interpret it!

Lin Canrong continued. "The Ming Yun Private Kitchen is equally important! Why is Fish-Catching Take-Out opening so many branches even though it is losing money while Ming Yun Private Kitchen, which had been profitable and unmet demand, does not have any plans of branching out?

"The quality of Ming House is not as good as Ming Yun Private Kitchen, but it has made quite a lot of money. That meant to say that the demand of high-end diners has yet to be satisfied; there is still a move for profit!

"Moreover, I think that Ming Yun Private Kitchen should also set up a Gourmet Laboratory!

"Fish-Catching Take-Out had to think about how to better satisfy the taste of the public, but Ming Yun Private Kitchen also had to think about how to satisfy the tastes of the high-end diners!

"Therefore… I came here with two requests."

"First, is to make good use of the 'nameless restaurant' brand. We'll open a branch after selecting the location on the pretext that the quality is assured.

"Second, establish a Gourmet Laboratory dedicated to providing better dishes for diners."

Pei Qian remained silent. He had been happy over nothing.

So it was to propose more money-making methods to me! Branch Manager Lin, I'll definitely not promise you that…

Your analysis was on the dot.

Ming House was profitable; diners had to wait in line to dine at Ming Yun Private Kitchen. That all showed that demand for high-end dining had not been satisfied.

However, branching out Fish-Catching Take-Out was because it was not profitable!

One Ming Yun Private Kitchen was profitable enough. You want me to open another branch to make even more money?

Don't create more burden for me, I beg you!

Pei Qian was in distress over this as well. He could only eat at Ming Yun Private Kitchen at certain times after Ming Yun Private Kitchen gained popularity. He could only dine in the largest private room once per week and book the entire place on the 20th of every month.

However, Pei Qian would rather wait then to open another store and earn more.

Open branches? Dream on!

The Gourmet Laboratory should not be done as well.

Fish-Catching Take-Out was to suit the taste of the public. The ingredients were relatively cheap. Most people would not pursue fanciful dishes. The level of improvement possible for a gourmet laboratory was relatively small.

However, Ming Yun Private Kitchen was aimed at high-end diners. If I really were to let those powerful chefs set up a gourmet laboratory to study metaphysical dishes such as 'air-fried dishes', they will definitely be more famous and go out of control!

Therefore, Pei Qian was very resistant to these requirements and would not agree to it.

Of course, Lin Canrong proposed that Ming Yun Private Kitchen could also open a Gourmet Laboratory. That was reasonable and not easy to refute bluntly. He could only find a nice way to decline.

He thought for a moment and said. "Are you asking to open a branch because you think that Ming Yun Private Kitchen has achieved the best you can now?"

Lin Canrong was momentarily stunned. He did not know how to answer.

Achieved the best they could now?

If he really thought so, it was obviously complacency because there was no 'best' in this industry.

But what if he said that they had not done their best yet?

Lin Canrong felt that the service of Ming Yun Private Kitchen was much better than that of most high-end restaurants. However, it was very difficult for it to achieve a better price-quality ratio.

"It might not be the best, but opening branches and gourmet laboratories can be considered as on the path to pursue the best, right?" Lin Canrong said after much consideration.

Pei Qian: "…"

That made sense.

No, no, he should not be convinced. He would have to make even more profits if he were convinced!

Pei Qian coughed lightly. "You can freely control the money earned by Ming Yun Private Kitchen, but you cannot open a branch.

"As for the Gourmet Laboratory. It cannot be achieved with the current size of Ming Yun Private Kitchen. How could the chefs have extra energy to engage in research if they had to cook for the guests every day?

"Your first goal has to be to make sure the dining experience of the customers is good. Don't reduce the quality of the dishes to study new dishes. Don't go too far.

"I'll only allow you to use the research results from the Gourmet Laboratory from Fish-Catching Take-Out."

Pei Qian had now learned a very good way of refusal: come up with reasons for those that he wanted to reject, even if the reasons were a bit far-fetched.

Enforce those that he could not think of a reason for.

Everyone possessed such a high level of imagination now. They would think that Boss Pei had a different meaning even if Boss Pei put forward an unreasonable request. They would only think that their thinking was too shallow if they messed things up.

It could only be regarded as an accidental windfall after being misinterpreted so many times.

Sure enough, the expression on Lin Canrong's face changed. It seemed like he had a lot to say, but in the end, he swallowed them silently and replied in one sentence: "Okay, Boss Pei."