HKU women teach to support cafes

Wang Xiaoba, a coffee shop owner who is also a cook, waiter, electrician and gardener.

Photo by Huang Tingting

Xiamen net-Xiamen Business Daily News reporter | Huang Tingting correspondent | Wei Jing Chen Shuyang

"my cafe is characterized by me." This little girl who is a little narcissistic is called Wang Xiaoba. It has always been her dream to open a coffee shop, and she has come true. Now she works very hard as a cook, waiter, gardener and electrician in a cafe, but she told reporters that she felt extremely happy watching the cafe grow day by day.

On June 28, a "sharing meeting of my Entrepreneurship Story of the Human Library" was held in Wang Xiaoba's "siheyuan" cafe. This is the third phase of the "Youth Entrepreneurship Club" on the street of Xiamen and Hong Kong, which aims to help other young people follow the entrepreneurial path by sharing the entrepreneurial stories of successful people.

Raise a coffee shop by teaching English

Wang Xiaoba is one of the three "real-life books" at the sharing meeting. Born in 1985 and graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 2008, she is a good girl with both moral and academic excellence. Everyone thought she would find a stable job, but she chose to start her own business after two years of work. It was, in her words, a "belated period of rebellion".

In January last year, she opened the cafe in partnership with three friends. In addition to investing the money she had saved from two years of work, she also received strong support from her parents and relatives.

Everything is difficult at the beginning. In the first year of opening the shop, the cafe has been in a state of loss, and the partners can't hold on, so they all quit. Xiaoba wanted to cry without tears at that time, and she wanted to close down the store, and she had already found a job in Beijing, but her parents' encouragement kept her.

"the most important thing in the early stages of starting a business is to stick to it and have your own plan." Xiaoba said: "at that time, a word from my parents kept me-what else do you want to do if you can't do a thing well?" Later, I fumbled slowly and gradually had my own set of management methods. In order to support it, I support the store by teaching students English in the store. " Under Xiaoba's meticulous management, her cafe began to make a profit in March this year.

Attach importance to quality and customer feelings

Xiao Ba said that her way of doing business is to be enthusiastic, to have good things, and to consider the feelings of the guests. On one occasion, the shop suddenly tripped, and the guest ordered something and waited for a long time, so the guest was inevitably angry. After apologizing, Xiao Ba told the guests at the three or four tables that if he didn't want to pay the bill, he didn't have to pay the bill. Unexpectedly, these guests not only did not lose, but also became repeat customers.

Xiaoba's food is considered first in terms of quality and taste, followed by cost. For example, her cheesecake is made with pure cheese and no flour. Although it has been fully seasoned, the food in her shop is not more expensive than that of her peers, or even cheaper. In response, she explained: "I majored in food nutrition and science, so I will add my own understanding of food in the process of making food."

Xiao Ba's store is already profitable. After making money, she did not forget her employees. "our store earns more and employees earn more," she said. "if we get along, I'm happy to share shares in the store with them."

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com