Rebirth in Hong Kong: From Dessert Shop to Industrial Empire

Chapter 2 Finding Business Opportunities
Sham Shui Po is located in the northwest of Kowloon and has a population of approximately 400,000. It is one of the most densely populated administrative districts in Hong Kong, and also the poorest administrative district on Hong Kong Island.

The entire Sham Shui Po District includes areas such as Sham Shui Po, Cheung Sha Wan, Lai Chi Kok, and Shek Kip Mei, and contains a large number of textile factories, garment factories, and hardware factories.

At its peak, it had more than 6,000 factories and over 100,000 workers, making it the core area of ​​Hong Kong Island's manufacturing industry.

The mornings on Hong Kong Island in January are still a bit chilly.

Standing on the street, Chen Bingwen tightened his coat and took a deep breath.

The salty, damp scent of the sea breeze filled the air, instantly clearing his mind.

Last night he thought about how to improve the business of Chen's Dessert Shop in a short period of time and earn enough money to pay the rent.

Simply relying on conventional methods such as product improvement and sales methods will certainly not yield significant results.

We can only find another way.

However, we need to investigate and understand the market before making a decision on how to proceed.

It was just dawn, and many vendors had already started setting up their stalls under the arcades on both sides of the street.

Not far away on the street corner, Uncle Fu, who sells newspapers, is neatly stacking stacks of newspapers on a wooden shelf.

"Awen, where are you going so early?"

"Uncle Fu, I'm going for a walk around the neighborhood."

"Young people should go out and explore more; your parents can manage the shop."

As they passed the newsstand, Uncle Fu chatted with Chen Bingwen with a smile.

Walking down the street, acquaintances would greet Chen Bingwen from time to time.

The mornings in Sham Shui Po are full of life, with steaming food stalls lining the streets and crowds of people selling breakfast.

Chen Bingwen walked along Guilin Street toward Changsha Bay.

Shops line both sides of the street, with hardware stores, fabric shops, and tea restaurants standing side by side.

It was rush hour, and the streets were teeming with pedestrians, with workers hurrying to work everywhere.

Chen Bingwen walked at a steady pace, with a clear goal in mind.

He plans to use Chen's Dessert Shop as the center and explore every street and alley within a one-kilometer radius.

This is the best area that Chen's Dessert Shop can cover under the current traffic conditions.

Anything further away has no statistical significance.

He wanted to understand the business situation of other dessert shops in the area, as well as the characteristics of their products.

At the same time, we will create a profile of the customer base in this area.

Only by understanding all of these things can we make targeted improvements to Chenji.

Otherwise, solutions come up on a whim will only be castles in the air.

He would walk and look around, and if he encountered something that interested him, he would stop and learn more about it.

If he passes by a dessert shop that is already open, he will go in and order a bowl of dessert to try.

After wandering around for a while, the morning passed quickly.

As noon approached, the number of people on the street increased significantly.

Workers appeared in groups of three or five on the streets, going to nearby tea restaurants or snack stalls for lunch.

"Brother Wen, what are you doing here?"

Chen Bingwen was about to follow the workers to see how they arranged lunch when a familiar voice came from behind him.

He turned around and saw a burly young man in overalls with a big smile standing behind him. It was Gao Zhenhai, his good friend from his previous life.

"Ah Hai!"

Chen Bingwen shouted happily, walked over naturally, and playfully punched Gao Zhenhai on the shoulder.

Gao Zhenhai was Chen Bingwen's best friend since childhood. The two were about the same age and studied and fought together.

Chen Bingwen was three months older than Gao Zhenhai, and because he was more thoughtful in his work, Gao Zhenhai always respected him.

After graduating from high school, Chen Bingwen stayed at the dessert shop to help his parents. Gao Zhenhai went to work in a hardware factory.

"Why are you out strolling around today? Don't you need to help Uncle Chen with the shop?"

Gao Zhenhai was overjoyed to run into Chen Bingwen on the street and kept talking to him.

"There are fewer customers in the morning, so I came out for a walk."

"It's rare that you have free time. I just got paid today, so I'll treat you to dinner."

As Gao Zhenhai spoke, he patted the pocket containing the money, and without asking Chen Bingwen's opinion, he pulled him toward the tea restaurant next door.

Chen Bingwen smiled and let Gao Zhenhai pull him into the tea restaurant.

The two found a seat by the window and sat down. Gao Zhenhai picked up the menu and said, "Brother Wen, order whatever you want."

Chen Bingwen waved his hand: "Just one serving of Yangzhou fried rice will do."

Gao Zhenhai only earns a little over 800 yuan a month, and it's not easy for him to make money. Chen Bingwen didn't want him to spend too much.

Gao Zhenhai patted his chest nonchalantly: "Brother Wen, it's my treat today, so don't be shy! We got paid, so we have to celebrate properly."

"There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Besides, you have to go back to work later. Yangzhou fried rice is just right."

Seeing that Chen Bingwen was determined not to agree, and that he would indeed have to go back to work later.

Gao Zhenhai didn't insist anymore, so he ordered a char siu rice and handed the menu to the waiter.

"Brother Wen, you have no idea how busy our factory has been lately. We have so many orders that we can't finish them all. We're working overtime every day, and we don't even have weekends off."

I worked overtime until almost 10 pm last night, and I had to get up early this morning. I'm completely exhausted.

Gao Zhenhai had so much to say after not seeing Chen Bingwen for several days.

He told Chen Bingwen everything he had seen and heard at work, like spilling beans.

Chen Bingwen nodded and said with a smile, "It's really not easy to work outside. I came out today to see if I could find a new way to make Chen's Dessert Shop's business better."

"Brother Wen, it would be great if your dessert shop could open near our factory."

"Hmm? Why do you say that?"

Gao Zhenhai sighed and said, "Working in the factory, you start in the morning and work for several hours straight, without even having time to drink water."

By noon, lunchtime is only half an hour, not even enough time to go to your shop for a bowl of sweet soup. We can only grab something quick or buy something from a snack stall to fill our stomachs.

Chen Bingwen nodded, and said thoughtfully, "It takes more than twenty minutes to walk from my shop to here, so there really isn't enough time."

"That's right, I always feel like something's missing if I don't drink some sugar water."

Many of my colleagues in the factory share this idea.

Gao Zhenhai's words made Chen Bingwen realize that the numerous factories and large number of workers in Sham Shui Po were a natural pool of potential customers.

There is definitely huge untapped potential in the demand for sweet soups.

If we can seize this opportunity, it might really revitalize Chen's Dessert Shop's business.

At this moment, Chen Bingwen had already quickly formulated a specific implementation plan in his mind. While listening to Gao Zhenhai talk about some interesting things in the factory, he sorted out his thoughts in his mind.

Given the current situation of Chen's Dessert Shop, there is absolutely no possibility of opening a shop here.

However, from another perspective, the workers' pain point is the lack of sugar water to drink. If we only address this pain point, the matter becomes very simple.

All you need is a small cart, a thermos filled with sugar water, and some tableware. You can push it to the factory gate or a place where workers gather during lunch and dinner time every day to sell the sugar water on the spot.

In this way, the workers had access to sweet soup, and Chen's business expanded.

However, the drawback of doing this is also obvious: it makes it easy for competitors to copy your work.

Moreover, business can be affected by bad weather or police inspections.

However, it's a bit premature to consider these issues before even making any money.

The most urgent task is to make money before we can consider other issues.

(End of this chapter)