A cafe run by professional managers of Beta Coffee.

Gather IT circle executives, 30 shareholders and professional managers to take care of.

Beta more than 60% are regular customers, IT employees are discounted, there is a recruitment wall, "it is a loss if the Internet employees in Hangzhou do not come"

Song Yunyun, reporter of Weekly Financial Weekly / Wen

No. 41 Tongpu Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou.

This is Beta Cafe, a very famous gathering place in the IT circle. Its more than 30 shareholders are executives of major IT companies.

IT people can get a discount on consumption here, and IT bosses often come to visit. Here are Mac computers for you to use, climb over the wall, here are free movies for you to watch, projected on the wall, and there are photo walls, recruitment walls, looking for people to hire at a glance.

More than 30 shareholders raised 1 million yuan to start a business to earn Alibaba's money.

"there were only five people to be built at the earliest. At that time, I was drinking tea at Bai Raven's house. Bai Raven said that he wanted to be such a cafe, and everyone gathered seven hundred thousand or eight hundred thousand. " Sijian, one of the founders of Beta Cafe, is also the COO of Xiaomi. He told Financial Weekly that the original idea of Beta Cafe was to be a circle of Internet, e-commerce, technology and fashion life, as well as a conference room and lounge.

"Beta Coffee has more than 30 shareholders, all over the country, are executives of major Internet, telecommunications and other companies, we think that there is such a meeting place is very good, convenient communication."

In this way, about $1 million was raised and a piece of fengshui was chosen, and the Beta Cafe officially opened in June 2009. "this place is relatively close to Alibaba and Taobao, next to a digital entertainment industrial park, and the transportation is also convenient. In addition, the meetings and activities under Ali Group can also bring us some profit support. "

Beta has just opened and has encountered a series of problems such as performance, customer feedback and so on. Later, we began to implement the manager rotation system, and after experience, we understand that it is not easy to be a home. "We need mutual tolerance and trust. Everyone has a distinct personality, which requires more understanding and support. "

Professional managers take care of cafes

A year after the implementation of the manager rotation system, these IT elites really did not have the time and energy to run a coffee shop, and then hired professional managers to take over. Since then, shareholders began to hold regular meetings every two weeks, and the store manager will also issue regular reports to strive for timely and transparent information communication.

Sijian said that Beta Cafe is not for profit, but a concentration of the spirit and attitude of the Internet. Shareholders don't care about dividends, it's the equivalent of an Internet elite club. But responsible for their own profits and losses, there is no need for shareholders to continue to invest in the future. "

At the end of 2010, cafes began to break even. Financially, Beta Cafe is not profitable, but some of its shareholders, friends and customers have received venture capital here, some have talked about tens of millions of cooperation here, and some have found partners here. It means much more than making money itself.

"basically, for Internet employees in Hangzhou, if you don't come to Beta, you will feel lost."

Alibaba executives often go there.

The decoration style of Beta Cafe is mainly simple. "the flavor of IT is stronger, such as our recruitment wall, photo wall, all kinds of cubicles, with all kinds of books, magazines, board games, toys, Rubik's cube."

Recruitment advertisements can be posted directly on the recruitment wall, lamps and coffee machines are sponsored by friends, and dolls of all Internet companies, including World of Warcraft limited edition toys, are placed on sofas and coffee tables. There are chargers for all mobile phones and Apple computers that have climbed over the wall for free, which claims to be the fastest in China.

"the Beta Circle is a very good place for marketing and promoting the brand, because a lot of people who come to Beta have formed a habit. He comes and hopes to meet some people, so he often posts Weibo after signing in and sees some big guy, such as Sun Tongyu. Let everyone watch."

Beta Cafe regularly holds forums, salons, investment meetings, photography sharing meetings and so on. For example, the "China E-commerce Mid-range Forum" has been held twice, and COO, product director and design director are invited to give the participants the most practical guidance.

Beta's catering is relatively ordinary, the price of coffee is about 30-50 yuan, mainly blue beans, but also provides a business package.

More than 60% are regular customers, and IT employees have a discount.

More than 60% of the guests at Beta Cafe are regular customers who are from the IT circle. The employees of Alibaba and Taobao give a 20% discount, while the IT company gives a 10% discount on business cards. We have also issued iron cards to the founders and friends in the circle, and enjoy VIP services when business is good. When business is bad, it may be more expensive.

"there is also a beauty card, there are fewer beauties in the IT circle, so we should gather more beauties and come in. When we pay the bill, we will say, verified by Beta Coffee, you are a beauty customer. If you send a beauty card, you can get a 25% discount."

According to Si Jian, in addition to the Hangzhou store, the Beijing store has also opened, Guangzhou store opened in July, and Shanghai store and Shenzhen store are under preparation.

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com