Truong Dung - From a failed welder, he climbed to the throne of "hot pot king" Haidilao

In the list of "The World's Richest People in 2019" announced by Hurun Research Institute, Truong Dung - founder of Haidilao restaurant chain - ranked 192nd with total assets of more than 56.5 billion people. bad.

However, to achieve success like today, few people know that Truong Dung had to go through many difficulties to build a career.

3 times starting a business regrets

Zhang Yong was born and raised in Jianyang city, Sichuan province, China. His father was a cook for a factory, and his mother was an elementary school teacher. During his school days, Truong Dung's academic performance was very poor, so after graduating from junior high school, he decided to switch to an apprenticeship at a technical school, then worked as a welding worker in a tractor factory. In Sichuan for many years, life was extremely hard and boring.

At that time, next to Truong Dung's house, there was an old woman, and her husband and wife lived mainly on the business of roast goose meat. One day, he was very surprised to learn that she and her husband had earned tens of thousands of yuan just selling roast geese, while he worked hard every month and only earned 90 yuan (about 315,000 yuan). VND). This has become a source of motivation to help him start rekindling his intention to start a business.

On a visit to Chengdu, he felt extremely strange when he saw so many people crowding around the game machine to look for luck. So he immediately thought: "Or should I also buy one and leave it in Gian Duong, so isn't the money just pouring into my pocket?". So, young Truong Dung used the amount of 2,000 yuan (about 7 million VND) that he had accumulated during 2 years of hard work, plus borrowed money from some friends and relatives. received a total of 5,000 yuan (about 17.6 million VND) just enough to buy the machine.

But Truong Dung did not expect that, on the way to Chengdu, he was lured by a scammer to buy a watch made of fake gold, so 5,000 yuan flew without wings, the first start-up plan also quickly failed. defeated in regret.

Not so discouraged, Truong Dung quickly got up and started implementing the next business plan. At that time, gasoline was not widely traded as it is now, but a ticket was required to be able to buy it. This type of voucher is only distributed to drivers of state-owned or government companies. So Truong Dung immediately came up with the idea of making a profit by purchasing and reselling gasoline.

He quickly wrote a big sign with the words "Buy-Sell petrol". Every time a car passed by, he held up this sign. But unfortunately, during the two tiring days, not only could he not get a guest, but he was also spit on by a driver and drove away. For the third time, he decided to open a small restaurant selling malatang - a soup quite similar to hot pot, originating from Sichuan province (China) that is popular with many people.

Truong Dung at that time earned more than 10,000 yuan (about 35 million VND) from selling this soup. The business seemed to be going very smoothly, unexpectedly Truong Dung was cheated by a girl who lost all the money and continued to return with empty hands. After experiencing three failures, he suffered, thinking that an uneducated person like him would be the same fate. There was a time when he let go of everything and believed in fate, perhaps someone like him could not be successful.

Don't give up and receive the sweet fruit thanks to the unique service

After 3 failed startups, Truong Dung is still determined not to give up. He realized that because he was always in a hurry, he wanted to take a "shortcut" to success, wanted to make money quickly but did not want to work hard. Therefore, he decided to do business slowly step by step like the old woman selling roasted geese in the past. Like the name means "fishing at the bottom of the river" - Truong Dung's Haidilao brand this time has a rather humble starting point.

Truong Dung and some friends accumulated 8,000 yuan (about 28 million VND) and started a hot pot shop. At that time, Truong Dung's hot pot shop had only 4 tables. Who can believe that 20 years later, those 4 tables have created the famous Haidilao restaurant chain. So what has created Haidilao's success?

At the age of 19, Zhang Yong first enjoyed hot pot at a restaurant in the countryside of Sichuan province. Different from what he imagined, the hot pot there was very ordinary, just like the meals in the factory canteen. The only impression that remained in his mind was the unprofessional service attitude and the below-average hot pot quality. That is part of the reason why he decided to open his own hot pot restaurant, in which the quality of the food and the service style must be the top priority.

Sichuan is considered the home of hot pot, there are countless hotpot shops with different prices and distinct flavors. Therefore, opening a hot pot shop in Sichuan is not easy. Truong Dung understands that he can hardly succeed if he only relies on the taste of the food. Based on previous business experiences, he believes that if you want to be successful, you must bring different values to customers, you must give customers great experiences that no other store can do. Only then can attraction be created.

One day it rained heavily, a regular customer stopped by Truong Dung's hot pot restaurant. Seeing that the customer's shoes were covered with mud, Truong Dung helped the guest clean the shoes. Another time, a customer complimented that the chili sauce of the restaurant was very good, so Truong Dung immediately packed some for the customer to take home. It is this unique service that has helped Truong Dung attract countless customers, and his shop is also becoming more and more famous.

Serving is not only trying to satisfy customers, but also trying to bring unexpected joys to them, giving them experiences that exceed expectations, he said. All these seemingly small details can turn out to make customers ready to become brand ambassadors.

In an interview, the owner of the famous chain Haidilao admitted that when he first opened the restaurant, he had no experience in cooking for his business and didn't even know how to make a traditional Sichuan hot pot like this. how. What this billionaire thought at that time was just how to give customers the most memorable and unique culinary experience.

In addition, Haidilao is also known for its generous employee benefits. In some cities in China, employees of this restaurant chain can receive a salary of up to 8,000 yuan (about 28 million dong) / month. They are even provided with food, accommodation and a clear promotion path. After becoming an official employee, each employee will be supported with train tickets. If they work for 3 years, they will even receive an education support package for their children from 2,000-5,000 yuan (about 7-17.6 million VND) and many other benefits.

So with only 4 small tables, from a modest store opened with little capital, Haidilao has now become a restaurant chain with the largest scale in China. After 24 years of establishment and development, Truong Dung has brought Haidilao further not only in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong but also expanded to Korea, Japan, the United States, Singapore, Vietnam... Mr. Haidilao's owner has become a shining example for many people who have experienced failure and are intending to start another business with more motivation to strive.

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