Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

Chapter 18: Liu Fen's Transformation

Beixin'an, East Street.

Liu Fen was utterly stunned, as if she couldn't believe her own eyes.

To say that this foreign son-in-law opened the first fruit store, that was still the result of scraping resources together.

But to open a second one so quickly, with an investment of up to 1.6 million.

Such a fruit store, even if placed within the third ring road, would also be the highest end, top-tier fruit supermarket.

Standing at the entrance to East Street.

Not just her, even Song Huamin was baffled.

Mainly, there are three issues.

First is, where did the money come from?

Second is that this Chen Pingsheng really isn't simple, to be able to manage the fruit supermarket so clearly and plainly in such a short time.

That must be attributed to him having stumbled and rolled around in the fruit market for so many years.

The lease signed on the first, clearing out completed on the third.

Renovations and sign installation started on the fourth, and by the fifth, interior design and decoration began.

Liu Fen was almost fully involved in this process.

Her mentality was somewhat explosive, unable to distinguish what emotion she was feeling.

There was joy, but even more shock.

No matter what, as long as Chen Pingsheng could successfully open this store as well, then he would truly be firmly rooted in old Capital City.

With these two stores as a facade in the future, who would dare to look down on him for once being a durian seller on the street.

People, after all, only look at the present.

As long as you have money, whether you sell your bottom outside or whatever, you can come back in glory.

She truly hadn't expected that Chen Pingsheng could not only manage the previous store well but could also open a branch so quickly.

With this kind of ability, buying a house in Capital City was only a matter of time.

As her mindset changed, Liu Fen also became more proactive in helping out with work.

This location was previously a nicely decorated large supermarket, now it just needed a bit of modification to start operating normally.

The redesign of the storefront sign took three days, while staging the interior took a week.

By the tenth of March, the second branch, East Street Tengsheng Fruit Supermarket, formally opened.

The business strategy was exactly the same as the first store, starting with a promotion for an apple weighing three jin [about 1.5 kg].

All other fruits were sold at cost price as well.

The benefit of doing this is quite obvious, which is that the foot traffic increases day by day.

The habits of the Chinese are simple, they flock where it's cheap.

This time, he planned to run the promotion for two months to build reputation, word-of-mouth, and foot traffic, and then launch a major top-up event.

By then, he could directly earn a year's revenue in one month.

After that, just adjust prices and return to normal business operations.

He felt that this approach to selling fruits that he had figured out was definitely adaptable to all the major markets.

...

The nights in Capital City twinkled with neon lights, bustling with excitement.

Since opening the second branch, Tengsheng Fruit had truly become somewhat sizable.

At least in Beixin'an, the two largest fruit stores were both theirs.

Song Yanxi had also equipped herself with a large computer, mainly for managing the finances.

Both stores now had receptionists, so she didn't have to guard the shop all day long.

When she had free time, she would sit in the East Street office, drinking tea and watching the lively sales outside.

Her mood was excellent.

"Yanxi, the first store is about to start distributing profits as well, how was it last month?"

Now, whenever Liu Fen had some free time, she would come over to sit down, often bringing relatives with her.

The little ulterior motives in doing so were quite obvious.

Song Yanxi brewed her a cup of tea; the fifteenth of every month was the day for sharing profits.

This was something Chen Pingsheng had decided, although he could have opted to distribute profits every three months.

He thought there was no need for that.

To get a share of the money in just over a month, there was nothing more motivating than this.

It would also give Liu Jing and Chen Hao more confidence.

Song Yanxi took out her little ledger and said with a pleased expression, "Last month, the first store topped up cards with 1.1 million. Pingsheng said to reserve 300,000 in card credits, and the rest can all be distributed. After deducting the expenses for promotions and various costs, the profit should be about 280,000."

To reserve 300,000 in card credits and not distribute it was actually setting aside a risk fund.

Last month, the actual sales volume of the store was 1.6 million, and since most of the card money had not been spent yet, the profit was exceptionally high.

This month we're not doing a recharge promotion, so after the cash flow comes in, we can maintain a stable net profit of fifty to sixty thousand per month.

That's quite good.

Liu Fen was secretly amazed when she heard it; she had specifically looked into it before and found out that this son-in-law from out of town had really taken down the store with three hundred thousand.

The feeling was simply unimaginable.

Now, hearing that one could earn two hundred and eighty thousand a month, and that was with the premise of keeping three hundred thousand as a risk reserve and not distributing it.

She was even more shockingly astounded.

Liu Fen still had her own little calculations; now that this son-in-law from out of town was really becoming successful, she started to think about other things.

"Did he mention how to manage the money in the future?"

Song Yanxi rolled her eyes at her mother, who was really something else.

"Mom, Pingsheng said that the money earned from the fruit supermarket in the future will be managed by me, letting me buy whatever I want."

"It's good she has a conscience."

Liu Fen listened happily but also felt quite emotional.

This was the benefit of a couple who has been through thick and thin together, her daughter had suffered so much with him.

Now that life was good, he was genuinely good to his wife.

Liu Fen finally put her mind at ease, and by the time Liu Jing and Chen Hao came over,

Song Yanxi had already calculated all the accounts, and what was left was to distribute the money.

Her family took the lion's share, with a 51% stake, she was able to distribute 150,000 for February.

As soon as the money was distributed, it was exactly as Chen Pingsheng had expected.

Everyone was as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

Liu Jing said, "Old Chen, the situation with the second store is the same as with the first store; following this trend, our store will definitely be the best business in Beixin'an within two months."

"That's for sure," Chen Hao also said with a smile, "When we do the recharge promotion here again, I think we can easily bring in three to four hundred million."

Chen Pingsheng smiled faintly; a week after the opening of the East Street store, it was indeed doing better than he expected.

The daily traffic had already reached over two hundred.

"If nothing unexpected happens, this store should indeed be stable, and I plan to open three more within this month."

Opening franchise stores is hardest with the first one.

From the first to the third store, it's a process of replication where the most important thing is to unify standards and processes.

There is no barrier to entry for a business like a fruit supermarket; if you have money, you can do it.

Therefore, the competition is particularly fierce.

On any given street or at the entrance of a neighborhood, they're everywhere.

The reason Chen Pingsheng wanted to open stores so quickly was mainly to form a brand effect quickly.

With a brand effect, customers can be more confident about putting their money in.

Then, with a large-scale recharge campaign, the invested money can return ten or eight times over.

As for the net profits of the stores later, that's all living expenses for his wife, Song Yanxi.

All he needs to do is to make the random multiples during the recharge period.

With this in mind, he wanted to open stores as quickly as possible.

Liu Jing and Chen Hao, however, were both startled by his ambition; they didn't have the Golden Finger that he had.

Naturally, their approach was more conservative.

But after the money was distributed this time, they grew much bolder.

Luckily, there were six of them in the moving group, excluding Chen Ping.

Now, only Liu Jing and Chen Hao were managing individual stores, holding a 20% stake.

It was a complete departure from the indignity of street vending.

If given the choice, who wouldn't want to make money while standing dignified?

Now that they had a choice, naturally, they were supportive.

For the upcoming three stores, Chen Pingsheng didn't plan to invest huge amounts of money. Firstly, after the opening of the East Street store, he had less than three million on his card.

Secondly, Beixin'an was only so big; it couldn't simultaneously accommodate five super-large fruit supermarkets.

As for expanding beyond Beixin'an, Chen Pingsheng had no such plans for the time being.

By concentrating here, he could quickly form a brand effect and thus achieve a regional monopoly.

It would also prevent the entrance of large fruit merchants from outside.

The benefits are numerous, and to sum it up in one sentence: it's better to be the head in a small place first.

He no longer needed to look for the locations for the subsequent stores himself, as Liu Jing and Chen Hao would take the initiative to keep an eye out for good spots.