Yukinoshita's Correction Method

"Collaboration? Where are we going to find suitable emerging brands? Besides, their marketing success is because they don't have our problems. And our problems can't be solved with just one marketing campaign." Sakurada pointed directly to the core of the problem. "Our third space requires high costs to maintain, while their Third Impression only needs to tell a good story... Times have changed, and the rules are different now."

"Sakurada, you..."

"That's right, I'm planning to leave. The predicament is there, and I can't change it. But the opportunity is also there, and I want to seize it. I'm preparing..."

Yui Yuigahama stared at the recording pen that had finished playing. "I didn't quite understand what they were saying, but... does the manager not want to continue working here?"

"Amazing!" Tobe Kakeru exclaimed, "It's just a new product, and it can already... I can't shout that loudly."

Remembering where he was, Tobe Kakeru immediately fell silent.

"It's really scary... a lot of people are talking about it." Hina Ebina swiped her phone, then suddenly looked up at Haruno Yukinoshita, "Haruno Yukinoshita- senpai also interested in these things?"

"Oh~ You guys don't know yet?" Haruno Yukinoshita pointed to herself, "Cloud Snow Tea that I co-founded with Yunshan."

"Huh?" Tobe Kakeru's eyes widened, but he quickly accepted the fact. "That makes sense..."

Yumiko Miura sipped her latte, staring at Hayama Hayato: "So when you said something was wrong, you meant helping... Haruno Yukinoshita- senpai?"

"Today is a family gathering of elders, and our two families have known each other for a long time," Hayama Hayato explained. "So I'm coming along."

Haruno Yukinoshita sighed deeply, "I'm busy dealing with relatives on the 1st, and I have to start work on the 4th. I'm always incredibly busy the day before, so I only have time today."

"A dinner party..." Yumiko Miura gently bit the straw, feeling that it didn't taste as good as before.

"Ah, here they come!" Haruno Yukinoshita waved in one direction, "Shizuka, over here~"

"I told you not to call me that." Shizuka Hiratsuka walked over with a glass of Ginjo Latte, turning to look at the students. "What are you all doing together?"

"It was a chance encounter." Yui Yuigahama tilted her head. "But why, teacher..."

"I know the elders, we're having dinner together." Shizuka Hiratsuka scratched her hair in frustration. "Didn't Yunshan and Yukino come?"

Yui Yuigahama chuckled, "You should be at home taking care of Xixi now."

"Taking care of a baby again..." Shizuka Hiratsuka's eyes lit up. "Hey, Haruno Yukinoshita, could you tell her I'm helping a friend take care of her child and won't be going today?"

Haruno Yukinoshita shrugged. "If that reason worked, I would have used it myself."

Shizuka Hiratsuka: "Tsk."

Hina Ebina asked curiously, "Why does it seem like none of you really want to participate?"

Haruno Yukinoshita stated, "With elders around, there are too many rules."

Shizuka Hiratsuka sighed helplessly, "And she's so long-winded."

Hayama Hayato gave a wry smile, "I can't join in the elders' conversations, and I end up becoming the elders' conversations too."

I don't want to participate...

Yumiko Miura felt that this latte tasted pretty good.

Chapter 694 Key Issues

"Just as I predicted." After listening to the recording upon returning home, Xue's mother nodded gently. "It has indeed begun."

As expected...

Haruno Yukinoshita tried hard to control her expression.

My mother's predictions were generally correct.

Things proceeded largely as she had predicted.

It just always has a little problem.

Now, Haruno Yukinoshita hears that her mother has a new idea, she feels that there's bound to be new fun to come.

"Oh?" Haruno Yukinoshita asked cooperatively, "What do you mean by 'beginning'?"

"A new entrant." Snow Mother's eyes narrowed dangerously. "A entrant unlike any before."

Backup 2qun ba jiujiu si durian

"Aren't they different?" Several brands flashed through Haruno Yukinoshita's mind. "Haven't people already started imitating them?"

Snow Mother unfolded her folding fan. "Think it over carefully."

Unable to slack off, Haruno Yukinoshita could only ponder on her own, "After the Chiba main store officially opened, several shops imitated the style of Cloud Snow Tea, but none of them quite captured the essence. Most of them quickly went out of business, and only a few survived. Although they weren't large, they all made some money..."

Haruno Yukinoshita spoke, she organized her thoughts, then suddenly paused. "They weren't entrants, but speculators. They rushed in whenever they saw an opportunity, and most of them could only leave in a hurry. Only a small number survived by chance—basically, luck outweighed ability."

Snow Mother nodded. "What strategies will they adopt next?"

"Basically, we'll imitate Cloud Snow Tea's business philosophy, making minor innovations in some details, copying the general direction while differentiating ourselves in specific areas, either by going for the high-end or using low prices. However, due to the price of fruit, a low-price strategy is very unfeasible unless we accept investment..." Haruno Yukinoshita's eyes flickered slightly. "Oh, right, there's also financing, or rather... leveraging the customer traffic accumulated in a short period of time to package and sell the store for a good price."

"This is when the newcomers show themselves." Snow Mother gently waved her folding fan. "A single, accidental success doesn't mean much, so even though Cloud Snow Tea's Chiba branch performed well, it didn't attract investment; instead, it attracted observers. It wasn't until the Kyoto and Tokyo branches succeeded that more people saw the replicability of this success."

"Three months is enough time to make big decisions..." Haruno Yukinoshita analyzed, following her mother's train of thought. "With the success of the two branches and the hype surrounding this collaboration, the actual time to take action will be further shortened, and various big moves will happen soon."

Snow Mother patiently guided her. "If you're a professional in this field..."

Haruno Yukinoshita answered fluently, "Prepare a business plan, analyze the feasibility of Cloud Snow Tea, then attract investment, test the waters with the first store, and open branches as soon as possible after it's successful."

"What if you were an investor?"

"Prioritize opportunities to invest in Cloud Snow Tea, and after assessing the risks, rationally choose to invest in Cloud Snow Tea or invest in cultivating an existing brand... Only consider investing in individuals last."

"Whichever it is, it means the days of small-scale operations are over. What follows is more professional practitioners, larger capital flows, stronger impacts, and bigger trends." Xue Mu closed her folding fan. "Those small fish and shrimps that could be ignored before will grow into sharks or even whales in a very short time."

Haruno Yukinoshita frowned slightly. "Is it that fast?"

"It wasn't originally there..." Snow Mother tapped her palm lightly with her folding fan, "But Yunshan was too eager to show off this time, which led him to reveal the core gameplay—of course, even if he hides it, he won't be able to keep it hidden for long."

"Core gameplay... hype?"

"It's a systematic project comprised of product, marketing, operations, and business model, transforming short-term bursts of traffic into long-term stable customer base," Xue Mu explained. "Using regional culture to bind emotional value, the fusion of Chiba flavors in one cup is a manifestation of this idea; cultural symbol marketing to break through boundaries, that's the approach of the Kyoto store; a diversified business model combined with lower-tier markets, that's the coffee of the Tokyo store... The culmination of all these is the Ginjo Latte."

"Chiba's Daiginjo sake, high-priced liquor becomes low-priced coffee in your hand..." Haruno Yukinoshita murmured, "Regional culture, symbolic marketing, and penetrating lower-tier markets—the core is to turn products into social currency, achieve cross-circle dissemination through marketing, ignite popularity, and harvest traffic."

"There's a lot of debate surrounding Ginjo Latte right now, and the more debate there is, the more buzz it generates." Yuki rested her bent fingers on her chin. "Yunshan's plan for the future is simple: respond to the debates little by little to maintain the buzz."

"The first wave is sales figures, which will be announced tomorrow to generate discussion." Haruno Yukinoshita recalled Dong Yunshan's past operations, "Then we'll address the issue of ingredients, confirming that daiginjo sake was indeed added, followed by addressing health and safety concerns, and then putting it on the shelves in Tokyo and Kyoto stores... There's also the crackdown on imitators to solidify our position as the first to create it... Finally, we'll take it off the shelves to harvest the last remaining buzz."

This combination of tactics will generate buzz for at least three months.

"The same method can be used for other products, and even if the results aren't as good, the investment can still be recovered quickly." Xue Mu's gaze was far-reaching. "He built a fairly mature system from scratch, and most importantly... unlike other investments, this system can generate a large amount of cash in a short period of time."

Cash flow... Her family owns a construction company, Haruno Yukinoshita is incredibly perceptive when it comes to cash flow issues.

Compared to the cycles and taxes of real estate, Cloud Snow Tea's high cash returns are practically like printing money.

Of course, this is all predicated on proper management.

The problem is, according to this method of using Dong Yunshan...

"When everyone adopts this approach, competition becomes more intense, but it also presents a good opportunity to expand while the hype is high." A cold glint flashed in Xue Mu's eyes. "Once the Kyoto and Tokyo stores stabilize, we need to start rapid expansion, which requires substantial financial support—this is the most critical issue right now."

"A problem?" Haruno Yukinoshita asked, puzzled. "With Cloud Snow Tea's current performance, securing funding shouldn't be a problem at all, right?"

"Of course there's a problem." Snow Mother raised her eyes. "If the ownership of Cloud Snow Tea isn't clarified, we won't be able to get enough funding."

"... It really is true." Haruno Yukinoshita suddenly realized.

Before investing, you must first consider who you are investing in.

If Yukinoshita Family is in control, then naturally the vote will go to Yukinoshita.

If Dong Yunshan is in control... investors are very likely to suspect that Dong Yunshan is a pawn for the Yukinoshita Family.

Chapter 695 Wedding Date Moved Up

"Three months." Snow Mother unfolded the paper fan into three folds. "A new branch will be opened in three months, and the true ownership of Cloud Snow Tea must be determined within three months."

Has it finally come to this...?

Haruno Yukinoshita sighed inwardly.

Even if we have a good chat on New Year's Eve, it doesn't mean my mother will compromise on important decisions.

If Cloud Snow Tea wants to achieve rapid expansion within three months, it will need corresponding financial support.

Currently, Cloud Snow Tea is not a good investment target.

From an internal perspective, Dong Yunshan and Haruno Yukinoshita co-founded Cloud Snow Tea), and Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita are already engaged and have a very good relationship.

With Dong Yunshan's intellect combined with the resources of the Yukinoshita Family (893 and 964), and based on a deep bond, this collaboration can be described as a powerful alliance, and there is virtually no risk of it suddenly ending.

However, from the perspective of external investors, the situation is completely different.

For those looking to invest in Cloud Snow Tea, the most obvious concern, at its core, is the identity of Dong Yunshan.

Dong Yunshan may just be a front maneuver; the real controller and beneficiary is more likely to be Yukinoshita Family.

The current success of Cloud Snow Tea may be based on non-market-driven and unsustainable family resources.

Once financing is secured, these costs will be marketized, and profits will immediately shrink.

Of the money invested in Dong Yunshan, how much is actually being used to operate the brand, and how much has ended up in the Yukinoshita Family?

Even if one believes in Dong Yunshan's abilities, one is still worried about interference from the Yukinoshita Family.

When family interests conflict with company interests, can Dong Yunshan truly refuse the intervention of the Yukinoshita Family?

Although everyone knew that Dong Yunshan was the driver of Cloud Snow Tea's car, with the Yukinoshita Family sitting in the passenger seat, no one could be sure that Yukinoshita wouldn't suddenly reach out and grab the steering wheel.

Therefore, even if Cloud Snow Tea has a bright future, investors will not invest in Dong Yunshan under such circumstances where ownership is not clear.

So... what about directly investing in the Yukinoshita Family?

That won't work either.

This is not a better choice, but a completely wrong and irrelevant option; it represents a fundamental change in investment logic.

What investors are interested in is a new consumer brand that is founder-driven, asset-light, high-growth, and replicable.

If they were to instead invest in the Yukinoshita Family, they would be investing in an industry related to a construction company with political connections.

Or rather... part of a family business.

Family businesses often involve complex relationships, slow decision-making, and numerous non-market factors.

Financial investors are most afraid of this kind of opaque and unprofessional interference, which is riskier than investing in a simple startup.

Investing in Cloud Snow Tea through the Yukinoshita Family is essentially the same as directly investing in Yukinoshita Construction Company.

Even disregarding political rivalries, the asset-heavy, cyclical, and project-driven nature of construction companies is completely at odds with the projects that investors were initially interested in.

Most importantly, what if the founder of the Yukinoshita Family, Dong Yunshan, abandons the company after investing in it?

Therefore, to secure sufficient investment to support expansion, it is necessary to clarify the ownership of Cloud Snow Tea.

Dong Yunshan brought Cloud Snow Tea with her when she married into the Yukinoshita Family.

Or leave the Yukinoshita Family with the Cloud Snow Tea.

"Only three months..." Haruno Yukinoshita pressed her temples as if she had a headache. "Yunshan has always been very resourceful. We can't really use Yukino to blackmail him, can we?"

"Hmm?" Snow Mother's lips curled slightly. "Did I say that we absolutely had to determine the ownership of Cloud Snow Tea within three months?"

"Huh?" Haruno Yukinoshita blinked. "Could it be...?"

"I had been making a crucial mistake," Snow Mother chuckled and shook her head. "I mistook his confidence for youthful arrogance, so I thought every step had to be based on specific outcomes—but he didn't."

"He's always been very confident in his plans; he considers things based on future outcomes." Haruno Yukinoshita's eyes trembled. "So... we're always one step behind him."

The normal way of thinking is to consider the second stage from the perspective of the first stage, and then consider the third stage based on the results after the second stage is implemented.

Even with foresight, one must consider the different possible outcomes and make comprehensive assessments.

However, Dong Yunshan knew the outcome of the second stage from the first stage and began to consider the problems of the third stage.

Before the results of the second stage, there was youthful arrogance; after the results, there was the absolute confidence of the strong.

"Only by trusting him as much as he does can you keep up with his train of thought." Xue's mother's expression was complicated for a moment. "Then, you can be one step ahead of him and think of what he wants to do."

Haruno Yukinoshita nodded in sudden realization. "Then you can walk in front of him."

"No, then you can stop behind him." Snow Mother's lips curled up. "Slow him down by two steps."

"His gameplay has already taken shape, and more professionals or capital will join the game, making the competition increasingly fierce. If he doesn't take advantage of his current strengths to expand rapidly, he's very likely to be eliminated." Haruno Yukinoshita quickly organized her thoughts. "So he should have already been considering financing. He wants to start opening branches on a large scale in three months, so he needs to clarify ownership within three months!"

"The construction company is facing a tight cash flow, and he knows that, so we can't provide enough funding, that's for sure." Yukimura slowly fiddled with her folding fan. "But the Yukinoshita Family's partners combined can definitely provide enough funding for his expansion, provided that he and Cloud Snow Tea are part of the Yukinoshita Family."

"If he wants Cloud Snow Tea to completely break away from the Yukinoshita Family ..." Haruno Yukinoshita realized her mother's thoughts, "Then he'll need to find his own investment and raise funds for a share buyback."

Dong Yunshan needs money, so it needs to find investors.