Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

July 12th, Tuesday…

It had been four days since the official opening of the Thriller Hostel, the peak traffic during the weekend had passed as well.

However, Pei Qian had not managed to pluck up his courage to take a look. He only managed to grasp the trends through the Manage Loss Trainee's report.

The greatest bad news during the opening was that Qiao Liang passed the Ultimate Horror despite his persuasion. However, Pei Qian could now do nothing about this anymore.

Assassination was not an option after all.

At this time, he could only comfort himself. Qiao Liang was only a UP Master in the gaming area. There shouldn't be too many people watching his video recommending the Thriller Hostel… right?

Pei Qian was sipping coffee in the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe as he checked the three-day visitor experience report of the Thriller Hostel.

It might only be three days' worth of data, but some linking could still be gleaned from it.

In short, it seemed… to be still alright?

The traffic was slightly higher than Pei Qian's estimates, but it was still within acceptable ranges because the actual income was within his estimates.

In short, he was still making losses.

Most traffic was in Desperate Escape, and the capacity was limited. It could only receive so many people in a day. The others could only continue queuing.

Until now, the number of people who had experienced Haunted House Nightmare and Ultimate Horror was not on the same magnitude as Desperate Escape.

The reason was simple; these two projects were simply too scary!

Haunted House Nightmare directly wiped out 90% of the people since they gave up after one try and could not obtain the admission ticket to the Ultimate Horror.

According to Pei Qian's original design, Desperate Escape was priced for the mass market. It would not make much money even when running at full capacity.

The Haunted House Nightmare charged moderately, but most rookies would be so scared after the first attempt that they would not enter again. Masters of the game would not enter again either after they cleared it once.

There was no need to mention the Ultimate Horror. Most rookies could not even obtain the admission tickets, and masters who have cleared it would be able to obtain partial refund based on their clearance data.

In other words, the Thriller Hostel was indeed theoretically profitable like what the system required, but that meant that Haunted House Nightmare and Ultimate Horror had to have sufficient traffic.

If these two projects were also full—plus 50% of the income from the Golden Maze, the Thriller Hostel could become very profitable. However, it did not seem too realistic from the current data.

The Golden Maze was rather awkward. This maze did not seem to have the effect of discouraging players, but there were not many items sold, especially all sorts of props in the golden zone because not many people had yet to experience the Ultimate Horror. Therefore, it did not have any added value to most tourists so it did not sell very well.

It was too early to break even, let alone making any profits.

In short, the current situation was completely acceptable!

Pei Qian could not help but feel happier.

For various reasons, the project that almost collapsed in terms of publicity, and yet the momentum had been good so far?

Hmm, this should obviously be attributed to my far-sighted judgment!

Pei Qian could not help but feel a little proud.

While watching the report, the mobile phone placed on the desk vibrated twice upon receiving a message.

Pei Qian picked up the phone; it was from Rui Yuchen.

"Boss Pei, the Fish-Catching Take-Out high-end brand 'Food Harmony' is ready for its official online launch. Could you please sample it this afternoon and give us your comments?"

Eh?

They're pretty fast!

Pei Qian had been watching its every move. He had grasped their every move from the beginning when Rui Yuchen and Lin Canrong began to link up in secret for research and development.

Moreover, the result of this observation was that… the success rate of this method seemed to be very low?

Therefore, Pei Qian had not interfered too much but was silently watching, waiting for this new high-end brand to go online.

"Alright, send it to the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe at Handong University," Pei Qian replied.

Since it was just launched, the Food Harmony high-end brand was only available in Fish-Catching Take-Out No.1 store, which was supplied by the Gourmet Laboratory.

He had to test waters and look at the feedback of most consumers before deciding whether to expand to the other Fish-Catching Take-Out stores or not.

It was because Food Harmony's menu was different from regular Fish-Catching Internet Cafes meals. Their delivery methods would also be different.

If it was to be promoted, it would mean that every chef from the Fish-Catching Take-Out would have to be trained again, some additional ingredients to be prepared, and food boxes and other food delivery supplies to be purchased in bulk.

In short, it could cost a lot of money so Rui Yuchen dare not promote it too rashly.

However, Pei Qian had the opposite idea. He would try it today, but if he felt that there was not much profit to be made he would hurry up and promote it to the rest of the Fish-Catching Take-Out stores!

The delivery guy came near noon.

He wore the same uniform as the other Fish-Catching Take-Out delivery guy, but instead of carrying an insulated delivery box, he had a simple, low-key food box in his hand.

"Boss Pei, please enjoy."

The delivery guy placed the food box in front of Boss Pei and turned to leave.

It was a little strange to be eating Fish-Catching Take-Out in the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe since the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe itself provided all the meals for Fish-Catching Take-Out.

However, Pei Qian did not mind it. He opened the food box smoothly after careful observation and saw the food within.

This food box was obviously custom-made. It was an insulated lunch box in principle, but it did not have a shiny stainless steel appearance. Rather, it was covered with a special skin-friendly material.

The exterior of the food box at first glance looked a bit like a traditional wooden food box with some traditional patterns, but it did not feel that way at all when you touch it. It had a very comfortable feeling.

Obviously, a lot of effort had been put into making this custom food box.

Stainless steel had good heat retention, but its appearance gave people a sense of cheapness—which would not be able to bring across the brand concept of Food Harmony. However, if they were to use traditional wooden food boxes, then it would not be able to retain heat and would not be able to guarantee the dining experience.

Therefore, the Fish-Catching Take-Out had made a comprehensive consideration in this regard. It must be able to retain heat and must be able to be distinguished from its appearance. The cost had to be controlled as well.

The cost of mass-producing such a custom-made food box could be reduced to between 20 to 30 yuan, but the price was still 10 times higher than the original porcelain bowl used by Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.

That meant that Fish-Catching Take-Out would be able to bear the loss if the porcelain bowl was missing, but not if it was the food box instead. That would be like the shared bicycle. If someone would not be held accountable for losing it, then many people would hide it for private use.

Pei Qian did not mind losing a few of them, but the system would definitely not allow it.

Therefore, the operating method of Food Harmony had to be different from Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.

Pei Qian opened the food box, there were several layers inside, which could be pulled out and placed on the table.

The food in the box looked good, and it could be seen that it had not been shaken violently. Obviously, it placed stricter requirements on the delivery personnel of Food Harmony.

Higher-end brands naturally would have better service and higher value add.

The meals within had an hors d'oeuvre and candied fruit platter, fried prawns with Longjing, double vegetables in broth, vegetarian mixed fried rice, and Matsutake seafood soup.

The shape and function of each layer in the food box were different. For example, this layer of the platter was divided into fan-shaped cells, and the layer with soup had a lid to prevent splashing.

The portions of the dishes were not large. They were generally all servings for one, but there was a variety, trying to achieve balanced nutrition. These meals were basically from Ming Yun Private Kitchen's menu, but the preparation method was definitely different.

It was impossible for Food Harmony to follow Ming Yun Private Kitchen's recipes. No matter whether it was in terms of time, investment, or price; it was only possible to selectively remove some time-consuming steps and optimize these steps.

They also had to ensure that the taste exceeded that of ordinary meals, and balance was made in terms of comprehensive experience and price.

Pei Qian took out the matching tableware from the food box and gobbled up the dishes in no time. He savored the flavors after he had eaten—it was not bad.

It was definitely incomparable with the original dishes from Ming Yun Private Kitchen, but the taste and experiences compared to regular Fish-Catching Take-Out were definitely improved.

Pei Qian gave it some thought and felt that it was not impossible for this to make a loss. The key was to look at the price and specific marketing strategy.

Pei Qian called Rui Yuchen when he thought of this.

"Boss Pei? You've tried it? How do you feel about the taste?" Rui Yuchen's voice sounded a little nervous but was filled with some expectations.

It was a new brand—a new product developed by him and Lin Canrong—so Boss Pei's approval was very important.

Pei Qian pondered for a moment. "How much is one set?"

Rui Yuchen replied, "Currently, it is… 58 yuan. Specific prices would depend on different catering."

His voice was lowered unconsciously, obviously having no confidence in the price. The price nearly tripled compared to the previous Fish-Catching Take-Outs.

Pei Qian was overjoyed, but he did not show it clearly as he continued to question. "What if the food box is lost?"

"Also, these meals are basically about one-third the regular portion. That means one portion had to be divided into three sets for sale? How can we ensure timelines and taste?"

To balance the nutrition, the entire set meal was made up of several dishes, each serving was not big. It was impossible for the chef to cook every small dish. He could only make one serving at a time and split it between three customers.

However, the timing of each customer was different. Even if it was kept warm, the taste would definitely deteriorate if it was left in the insulated pot for too long.

"For food boxes, we would need the customer to pay a deposit first to prevent the food box from being lost or used privately. Of course, the deposit is refundable at any time," Rui Yuchen said.

"As for the time, our current approach would be to unify the delivery time, but there is a problem that some customers may have to wait longer…"

Pei Qian: "How can we make our customers wait? This is definitely not appropriate!

"How about this, let's make it the same as Ming Yun Private Kitchen—make all of them book reservations. We only accept reservations made two hours in advance, cook, pack, and deliver according to everyone's order."

Rui Yuchen froze for a moment. "We only accept reservations? Boss Pei, isn't that too unfriendly to new users? Not only must you pay a deposit, but you have to make a reservation two hours in advance to taste a meal?"

Pei Qian smiled. "What we want are long-term customers. They have no fate with this brand if they are dissuaded by this setback."

"Furthermore, it is not appropriate to pay a deposit. Our meals are only open to the existing users of Fish-Catching Take-Out and Tengda who have good credit. If the food box is lost, we will either deduct their credit or money.

"We might as well make it even more exclusive since it is a high-end brand."

Rui Yuchen fell into silence at the other end of the phone. It seemed like Boss Pei could always propose something even more radical than him.

Only existing users with good credit could taste the food from the Food Harmony brand, and an advanced appointment had to be made two hours in advance. The price was two to three times more expensive than ordinary Fish-Catching Take-Out.

Rui Yuchen's initial goal might be to make it a high-end takeaway brand, but he still felt that this step was a little too big.

It would be a painful fall if he wasn't careful. However, it did not seem appropriate if he did not follow Boss Pei's guidance.

"Alright, Boss Pei, we'll do it the way you mentioned. I will conduct pilot runs in several major Fish-Catching Take-Out stores and report the situation to you again in a week…" Rui Yuchen replied.

Pei Qian smiled and nodded. "Okay, go. We'll decide next week if we will extend the Food Harmony model to the rest of the Fish-Catching Take-Out stores."