The next morning, after selling the breakfast they had prepared, Hu Mao and his wife found Lin Cheng with their bank cards.
"We've been working here for a few years and have saved some money. But we have two children to raise and we have to send money back and forth to both sides of the family, so we don't have much saved. Here is 50,000 yuan. Do you think it's enough?" Yang Fang asked uncertainly, holding the bank card.
Lin Cheng thought about it and nodded.
"Okay," Lin Cheng paused and said, "You just need to pay 40,000."
Hearing this, Hu Mao and the others were stunned and asked, "Don't you want 50,000?"
"The initial investment doesn't have to be too much, and you still have to leave some money for your children's tuition and book fees, and rent a house, right?"
"Take out 40,000 first. I will try my best to make up for any shortfall during the process." Lin Cheng said.
"How can this be? How can you be so shameless?" Hu Mao and Yang Fang said in unison.
They knew that Lin Cheng and Lin Momo would leave after filming the show, so proposing to open a store was actually helping them. And this week, due to the restrictions of the show, it was not easy for Lin Cheng and his friends to make money.
So? Thinking about it, the couple felt embarrassed to accept money from Lin Cheng's family again.
Only after hearing Lin Cheng say that they would not take the money they earned from the show with them did the couple nod and look at Lin Cheng and Lin Momo with gratitude in their eyes.
After some discussion, Hu Mao, Lin Cheng and Lin Momo went out to the street.
The streets in the old town are not wide, but relatively complex.
"There are three main busy streets around here. There's one over here, one here, and one over there." Hu Mao pointed in the directions of several streets and introduced them to Lin Cheng.
Several people walked one by one on several streets.
The first street is behind the main road. Although there are many shops on both sides, most of them are late-night snack shops, and the time when the heaviest traffic is concentrated is mainly after 9 pm.
The second street is relatively narrow, with many unlicensed snack stalls on both sides. It was here that Hu Mao's family used to sell steamed dumplings in the morning.
…
After comparison, Lin Cheng finally chose another street adjacent to this one.
On one side of the street are old residential areas, while on the other side are newly built residential areas. The first floors of the houses along the sidewalk are shops.
There is a vegetable market and a school nearby.
The key point is that there are many small restaurants and eateries on both sides of the road. According to Hu Mao, many of them have been in business for more than ten, twenty, or even thirty years.
Meeting Lin Momo's curious eyes, Lin Cheng patiently explained to her the reasons for choosing this place.
"It's close to residential areas and has many old shops, which proves that there is a stable source of repeat customers. It's close to the vegetable market, which can guarantee the sales of primary processed products. And there are schools nearby, so there's no need to worry about not being able to sell bean snacks."
Another point: this is not a main road, so the shop rent will be relatively low.
After listening to Lin Cheng's explanation, not only did Lin Momo show an expression of "so that's it", but even Hu Mao beside her couldn't help but nodded.
The three of them walked back and forth on the street a few more times.
In addition to restaurants, there are almost all kinds of other hardware stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, fruit stores, small clothing stores... on the whole street. In addition, there are also some two-dollar stores and clearance stores for decorative ornaments that are temporarily opened here.
"The size and location of this store are pretty good." Lin Cheng said, pointing to one of the stores that was selling clearance goods.
The shop is not big, only about 15 or 16 square meters. Various handicrafts and decorations are scattered all over the floor. The shop is also covered with signs saying "last day", "direct sales from the manufacturer" and "big sale".
Lin Cheng and his companions went to a small food store not far from the store to inquire about the situation.
After chatting for a while, Lin Cheng got to the point: "I want to ask you, how many days has that store over there been open?"
"You? That clearance store you're talking about has been open for a few days, I can't remember exactly how long, but it should be about five, six, seven, or eight days." The owner of the store recalled.
"How much is the rent? Do you know?"
"Those are rented on a daily basis. I don't really know how much it costs per day. If you are interested in renting them, you should ask the store owner for details."
Lin Cheng nodded.
Several people found the store owner's information on a rental notice posted next to the store, borrowed a phone from the owner of the small food store, and called the other party.
The call was connected quickly.
"Who?"
"Hello, I saw the rental information you left next to the store."
"Yes, yes. Do you want to rent a shop?" the person on the other end of the phone asked.
"I'm interested in this. How much is the rent for your shop?" Lin Cheng asked as soon as he saw Shandi.
"Rent, you have seen the shop, right? I am the landlord of this shop, there is no other fees, and it is a popular shop on the street..." The other party talked for a while, and finally said: "If you rent it alone, it is 200 a day, but the minimum rent is 3 days, it depends on how long you rent it. If you rent it for a long time, I can give you a discount on the price."
"How about renting it?" the other party asked.
"Let me think about it." After saying that, Lin Cheng hung up the phone.
Hu Mao at the side calculated: "200 a day. A store that's doing a clearance sale here would only cost 600 for three days. It's not expensive."
—Actually, it’s cheaper than this.
Lin Cheng thought to himself.
When renting a shop, such a clearance merchant will choose a shop that has not been rented out yet or is in the transition period, and then play tricks. They rent the shop for a minimum period of time, and then, even if the time exceeds the agreed number of days, as long as the landlord does not find a new occupant of the shop and does not urge them, they can open the shop for a few more days, until the landlord takes back the shop or the merchant has to move to the next place because of the decrease in customers in the same place.
"Long-term rental may be able to bring the price down even further," said Lin Cheng.
More than half of the shops on this street are old ones, and these shops usually do not move to new locations easily. However, if new shops cannot innovate in the things they sell and do not have their own characteristics, it will be difficult for them to maintain long-term operations on this street. This is why these shops have been changing owners all the time and can only be rented temporarily or on a short-term basis.
Seeing Hu Mao's puzzled expression, Lin Cheng analyzed: "Temporary short-term rentals generally don't make much money. If the long-term rentals are not unsuccessful, the landlords probably won't bother to choose short-term rentals. So, when negotiating the contract, you can try to negotiate a lower price."
This is also one of the reasons why Lin Cheng took a fancy to this store.
Of course, there is another consideration that Lin Cheng has not yet told Hu Mao - the store selling small appliances next to this store is about to go out of business.
Judging from the details of the store, it should have been open for about four or five years. Such stores have average business, but are relatively stable. Generally speaking, the owner does not pay much attention to the goods on display in the store.
But when he was communicating with the owner of the small food store just now, Lin Cheng noticed that the owner of the small appliance store wiped the small appliances displayed on the shelves very clean, and even when the shelves were full of goods, he still took out other goods from the warehouse to fill the shelves.
There is a possibility: the boss does not plan to do this business anymore and plans to sell as many of the existing goods as possible, and perhaps close the business when the one-year lease contract expires.
By the time Hu Mao's store is stable, they can rent the store next door and expand the store.
—
The two called the shop landlord again.
However, this time it was Hu Mao who used his mobile phone to call the other party.
After receiving the call, the landlord seemed a little excited when he heard that the property was planned to be rented long-term. He immediately put aside other things and rushed to the store in person to meet with Lin Cheng and others.
Several people agreed to meet at a noodle restaurant on the street.
"Are you planning to rent it for a long time?" asked the landlord.
"Yes, we rent this shop and plan to run a catering business," said Hu Mao.
The landlord nodded and said, "I have rented this shop to someone else to open a noodle shop before. The water and electricity are all available inside. If you want to do it, just make some minor repairs."
"My shop originally rents for 200 yuan a day. If you want to rent it for a long time, I can give you a cheaper price of 5,300 yuan a month, with a minimum rent of half a year, one month deposit and one month payment. What do you think?"
After that, without waiting for Lin Cheng and Hu Mao to speak, the landlord added: "This price is already very cheap for you. If you don't believe me, you can go to other shops to ask. The dumpling restaurant next door is only 2 square meters larger than my shop, and it has increased to 5,500 a month since last year."
Lin Cheng and Hu Mao did some research before the landlord arrived: on this street, except for the shop owners' own shops, the monthly rent of other shops usually ranges from 4,000 to 6,800.
"We can sign a longer lease term with you, but as for the price, I hope it can be lower." Lin Cheng said.
"This..." The landlord's eyes moved slightly, he lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then looked at Lin Cheng again: "How long do you want to rent it for?"
"Guaranteed for 5 years." Lin Cheng said.
As soon as these words came out, the landlord's expression became a little surprised: "So long?"
After being surprised, the landlord looked at Lin Cheng uncertainly and said, "I'm not sure if you can really rent it for five years. Although it's troublesome to keep renting a shop for such a long time, to be honest, it doesn't make much difference to me whether you rent it for one year or five years. Besides, renting it for five years at once may not be as good as signing a contract year by year."
Why? Say that? Someone in the live broadcast room asked in confusion.
Soon someone else answered this question:
Because prices are rising.
That's right, if you just talk about signing a contract, if it is signed year by year, then the landlord can raise the price every year. If it is signed for several years at a time, the landlord will not be able to raise the price. Of course, if you want to earn more by signing a contract year by year, there is also a prerequisite that the store can be rented out all year round every year, and the tenant must accept the increased price.
…
Of course Lin Cheng also thought of this.
"If you are considering the rental income in the next few years, we can stipulate in the contract that the amount at the time of signing the contract will be the basis, and the rent can be negotiated to increase by no more than 2% of the signed amount each year thereafter."
Is this possible
Theoretically, there seems to be nothing wrong with it.
With this agreement in advance, it seems reasonable to have a moderate increase every year.
Is it reasonable? I don’t know, but I feel like the landlord seemed to be persuaded, haha.
…
At this point, the landlord was indeed tempted: he couldn't predict how the rent in this area would increase in the future, but agreeing on a price increase like this was better than renting several shops at the same price for more than a decade.
It also saves you the trouble of bargaining when the time comes.
So? Thinking about it, the landlord felt that he didn't seem to be at a disadvantage.
only…
"Is that so? It's not impossible to sign it, but I will have to charge a higher deposit, two deposits and one payment," said the landlord.
"The deposit is the second question I want to talk about." Lin Cheng said, and then continued: "The deposit can be set according to what you said, but we will not pay it all at once."
"What's the meaning?"
"I mean, after the contract is officially signed, for the first six months, 20% of the store's account revenue will be credited as a deposit in installments every month."
"You can also think of this as an investment. The deposit for the second deposit is about 10,000. If our store's monthly income is over 8,000, then the total amount that exceeds the second deposit for the next 6 months will be your investment income."
"What if you still can't earn 8,000?" asked the landlord.
"According to the agreement, if the amount credited in half a year does not reach the agreed amount, then we will continue to deduct from the monthly income until the agreed amount is reached. So, you will not lose money." Lin Cheng replied.
However, Lin Cheng's words caused confusion among everyone in the live broadcast room.
It feels so troublesome, so why should Lin Cheng do this? How should he do it
That’s right, I don’t quite understand the meaning of Lin Cheng’s doing this.
I think I understand.
I think I guessed the reason.
What? Reason
The reason is that I have no money! Hahahaha.
The reason is the money of Hu Mao's family, plus Lin Cheng and Momo have earned too little in recent days. If they pay the deposit for two months at one time, it will not be enough to open a store.
Hahaha, so that’s how it is. So funny, but also a bit sad. The deposit has to be paid in installments!
Lin Cheng: (On the surface?) Look at my genius operation?; (Actually) I have no money.
So what he said is so awesome. Lin Cheng just wanted to trick the landlord into agreeing to installment payment.
What nonsense are you talking about? I'm telling the truth.
That is, doesn’t Lin Cheng have any respect
…
This way.
The landlord pondered for a while before he understood what Lin Cheng said: this is an investment where there is absolutely no chance of losing money, and you might even make a little money.
The landlord's eyes moved slightly when he looked at Lin Cheng, but he was still worried.
"You said it well, but who knows what will happen in business? What if you quit after two or three months? Where can I find someone?"
"If the business doesn't last long, the initial investment in the store's decoration and facilities are basically new, so you won't lose money by disposing of them."
Lin Cheng's words hit the nail on the head and immediately dispelled the landlord's last bit of concern.
Finally, the landlord nodded.
After some bargaining, Lin Cheng finally signed a lease contract with the landlord at a price of 4,600 yuan per month.
At this time, the live broadcast room was already flooded with bullet comments:
I am impressed by Lin Cheng’s performance.
Learned something.
I learned it, but I never expected that one day I would learn how to open a store through a live variety show.
I don’t know whether it’s right or not, but I was fooled into it.
Is this a scam? No, this is a recipe for getting rich.
…
But why choose long-term rental? Wouldn't it be less troublesome to pay rent year after year? Some people have raised questions.
At the same time, Hu Mao, who had signed the contract with the landlord and obtained the shop key from the landlord F, also asked the same question.
This is easy to understand. Long-term leases are relatively more stable. I feel that the business that Lin Cheng lets Hu Mao's family do will not lose money. Moreover, after the show is broadcast, the business may be very good. Signing a five-year contract at one time can save the landlord from raising the rent when the business is good.
Moreover, at 4,500 yuan a month, based on a 2% increase, it will only increase by 90 yuan in the next year. In comparison, the increase is really not that much.
For landlords, it is also good to have stable rental, so that neither side should suffer.
…
What the audience said is just one of the reasons.
"A long-term shop lease contract is conducive to applying for a loan."
"In addition," Lin Cheng paused and continued, "If nothing unexpected happens, the old houses in this area may be demolished in about 3 to 4 years."
This was the news that Lin Cheng had accidentally learned from a company that had business cooperation with the Lin family when he was learning about the area before coming here.
Therefore, Lin Cheng specifically emphasized the issue of Party A’s breach of contract in the contract.
Once the house is demolished, the landlord must pay corresponding compensation to Hu Mao's family while receiving the demolition payment.
"When the time comes, you can move your store to the store outside the newly built residential area opposite. The compensation should be more than enough to pay the transfer fee of the store opposite."
What the hell? He even thought of this!
Lin Cheng is thinking too far ahead.
Although there is a small suspicion of "cheating", but if I knew that this place was going to be demolished, I would never have thought of what Lin Cheng considered.
I finally know why I can't get anything done.
I also know that I am probably only one step away from success, a brain like Lin Cheng...