Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Another update! Get your tickets! (confidently!)

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It’s said that Yichang is a great city for travel.

But this time, Li Younan didn’t plan to stay long in Yichang.

In the morning, he woke up naturally, got ready briefly, and by afternoon, took the high-speed train back to Chongqing.

Once back in Chongqing, he took a stroll around the hotpot restaurant again.

After nearly a week of adjustment, Chen Kunjie was thoroughly on track.

The daily turnover was astonishingly high, of course, most of the diners found the place through Li Younan’s videos.

As Li Younan put it, this is an era where "even good wine fears a deep alley."

The unique features of your hotpot restaurant must be known to more people through the flow of traffic to turn into tangible profits.

Chen Kunjie understood this clearly as well.

So, although Li Younan seemed like a hands-off boss, it was clear that the restaurant’s success owed much to his influence.

Now, many of Li Younan’s fans voluntarily started traveling to the places he had visited.

Thus, when Li Younan made videos, he set a principle for JK Dragon, which was to be authentic.

Aside from that obviously promotional video for the Nanchang project, most of the check-ins emphasized genuine experiences.

And with this hotpot restaurant, Li Younan himself was involved, so if his fans came to Chongqing, of course, they’d come to check it out.

Preparing the hotpot base daily had become a routine event.

The hotpot base was consumed quickly, with almost no leftovers, so it had to be made fresh every day.

This fit perfectly, as many people came specifically to watch the hotpot base being prepared.

Other streamers even came by to film the preparation process, and those videos went viral.

There are now actually 6 employees working at the restaurant: two chefs, three waitstaff, and one dishwasher.

Honestly, the costs are still quite high.

But the clear advantage of having more people is that everyone doesn’t have to work as hard.

On this point, Chen Kunjie and Li Younan share the same values.

Chen Kunjie said, "We’re not capitalists. If the work environment is better, everyone is more relaxed and earns more, then they’ll treat the hotpot place as their own home, naturally improving service quality and work standards."

Of course, the costs aren’t as daunting as imagined.

During this period of adjustment, Chen Kunjie also observed their character.

His conclusion was that these people were honest, hard-working, diligent, and grateful, which was enough to deserve their earnings.

Each person receives a 1% commission, directly reflective of sales, but it only increased costs by about 6%. Though wages also rose, they remained within a reasonable range.

In the end, the store’s net profit was around fifteen to sixteen percent.

As the business was incredibly successful, even though there were 8 large tables, they weren’t always enough.

Especially when guests came in pairs or trios, the 8 large tables seemed a bit wasteful.

Because of this, Chen Kunjie specifically purchased a batch of small tables and set them up in the outdoor space, adding seven or eight more tables.

While this increased the workload for the employees, they were happier, each hoping the hotpot business would grow larger and more prosperous.

However, dreams of expansion were still being spun.

When Li Younan visited this time, he happened to catch Chen Kunjie giving a motivational speech.

Chen Kunjie said, "Do you see that? There’s a foot spa next door and a KTV on the other side, but neither is doing well. If we keep going steadily, we can take over the second-floor space, and maybe even the shops on the left and right. Then we can hire even more employees. But you all are different; as founding members, once we expand, new hires won’t have the same commissions as you."

Afterward, Chen Kunjie briefly discussed future plans with Li Younan.

The current 1% commission on sales was fine because there were few employees.

However, as business and numbers grow, this method won’t work.

After serious consideration, future commission methods will be adjusted.

Initially, some benefits will be sacrificed, such as changing commissions from sales-based to fixed amounts or according to service tables, allowing veteran employees to earn more. But with expansion, returns will gradually align with a reasonable range.

Li Younan found that Chen Kunjie had a sharp mind, adapting well, so he let him manage as he saw fit.

Initially, Li Younan hadn’t the bandwidth to participate actively in the restaurant’s management.

However, it was evident that if the restaurant truly expanded, Li Younan would have to invest real money.

For this, Li Younan was mentally prepared.

Chen Kunjie didn’t plan to open numerous branches; he only considered taking over the adjacent spaces to create a larger hotpot place.