Here is some solid business advice – never under-estimate how much people love food.

A hotpot restaurant in China went bankrupt in only two weeks after offering customers “all you can eat hot pot” for only 20 yuan ($19) per month.

As reported by Chengdu Economic Daily, the restaurant Jianmaner in Chengdu had to close after too many customers bought the membership and the business lost $80,000.

It’s a case of a business model going very, very wrong.

The idea was to build a dependable clientele which would allow the restaurant to get better deals with suppliers, like on beer. BUT in reality, the plan didn’t work out. The restaurant was receiving 500 customers a day, thanks to customers sharing their membership cards with family, friends, and colleagues.

People even lined up from 8 a.m. to get a meal, and the restaurant opened from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

It’s cringe-worthy for sure. The restaurant’s co-owner, Su Jie, said he only slept two or three hours a night throughout the whole ordeal.

https://twitter.com/YahooSG/status/1008620331731386368

 

Filed under: Food