It's not complicated to build a club, but it's not easy to run a club.

Although Zhou Fangyuan was just an ordinary person before he was reborn, among his classmates and friends, there were more or less good mixes, so he had heard some sayings before.

About 13 years ago, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued a notice requiring leading cadres to promise not to enter or leave private clubs. Affected by the policy, the reception and booking of clubs have been affected, orders have decreased, and some clubs have even closed their doors for transfer in advance after opening for half a year. Beitong City has never been a big city, the number of clubs is limited, and guests who are willing to come to the club to consume are only the premise to enjoy the undisturbed environment and private food, and more importantly, to weave a variety of rich social resources.

On a certain occasion when he was drinking and chatting with his classmates, his classmates once told him that a businessman he knew and was doing business planned to run a private club, and after nearly half a year of renovation, his private club was successfully opened. At that time, this private club happened to be located in Hedong New District, in a villa area about a dozen kilometers away from Wenai Lake. And it is mainly used for business banquets, gatherings of friends and dining with business partners.

The villa was the businessman's own property, and he himself invested a lot of money in its renovation. It is said that 500,000 yuan was spent before and after, including furniture and equipment, a total of multiple luxury private rooms, and a small KTV and a mahjong room were installed - of course, there is still a gap compared with the real high-end club. But Zhou Fangyuan heard from a classmate who was fortunate enough to go in once that the interior decoration of this club is very European-style, with wine cabinets and bar counters.

After the renovation, the clubhouse was officially opened on July 1, but after less than 5 months of operation, Mr. Merchant had the idea of quitting.

"It's basically gone, and the staff and chefs are gone. When Zhou Fangyuan asked about the reason for the transfer of the private club, his classmate introduced the reason to him: "At that time, this boss mainly invited friends to dinner, and it was not originally for profit. Since the equipment and furniture are all new, the transfer rent is 240,000 yuan and the transfer fee is 360,000 yuan. The reason for the high transfer fee is that the student explained, "The club already has a lot of regular customers, and when the time comes, they will introduce them to the club and tell them to continue to operate." ”

And this is just the least conspicuous of all the clubhouses.

There are no high-end clubs in Beitong, and they can't be compared with luxury clubs like Chang'an Club. The local clubs in Beitong are roughly divided into several kinds according to their needs: high-end catering enterprises are set up to meet the needs of high-end customers; large enterprises are set up for public relations and meet internal needs; bosses organize to maintain personal relations and make friends; guests who come here to consume, enjoying the undisturbed environment and private food are only the premise, and more importantly, weaving a variety of rich social resources.

"There are four owners of the club, each of them has a stake in it, the boss is involved in a wide range of industries, logistics, real estate, catering, this club is an important place for the boss to entertain customers and friends. The classmate explained, "Because there are not many guests who usually come, we can receive up to four or five tables a day, and only two or three tables on weekdays." It is said that another club not far from this club is invested and operated by a boss in the automobile industry, and a large proportion of the guests usually received are "signed" by the boss, "The boss has a lot of friends, involving all walks of life, and the boss brings friends to sign the bill directly." Entertaining outside is not necessarily clean, the meals that you will cook at home must be to your taste, and even the variety of meals is finalized by the boss himself. ”

And these clubs are not for profit, and the cost of hotel service staff alone is a lot of money. Most of the Beitong Clubhouse loses money, and the balance of payments is already the best. The clubhouse is basically raised by the big boss, and when no one comes, the high-end clubhouse equipment has to be empty, but the salaries of the hotel staff and other water and electricity consumption have to be paid as usual. There is a big reason why this businessman can't support it is because the clubhouse is too expensive and consumed.

"Australian abalone, puffer fish, shark fin, Fuso snowflake beef...... All ingredients arrive on the same day by land, sea and air, guaranteeing absolute freshness. ”

This is a relatively common ingredient in Mr. Merchant's clubhouse, and Zhou Fangyuan's classmate was fortunate to be received once because of the nature of his work. According to him, the ingredients are fresh and valuable, and the price of a slice of snowflake beef ranges from more than 400 to more than 900 yuan, which sounds staggering. In addition, the clubhouse also provides fresh Australian crab legs, Australian abalone, puffer fish, top shark fin and other high-end seafood ingredients. According to the classmates, the largest amount of money they went to spend was the company's employee dinner, in the largest private room, a total of nearly 20 people participated, a total of more than 20,000 yuan.

This kind of high-end club generally does not have a menu, which can attract businessmen and celebrities, relying on the signature dishes of their own stores. Guests who are familiar with the situation of the club have booked in advance, and if there is any change, please communicate in advance. The club's menu will also be updated in a timely manner, in addition to the special fresh seafood flavor must-order dishes, the clubhouse will also prepare several special snacks and snacks to attract customers, and regular customers will specially order an extra one.

To say that it is not easy to operate, this is certain, but since the club can operate, it naturally has its own business scope, to say that it is not easy to operate, it is normal, but it is not difficult to maintain.

However, since the promulgation of the "Eight Regulations" at the end of 12 years, the official consumption of party and government organs has shrunk significantly. According to survey statistics, from the first to the third quarter, the operating income of star-rated hotels in the province decreased by 16.3% year-on-year, of which the catering revenue decreased by 15.49% year-on-year. For private clubs, there was a slight increase in reception at the beginning of the year.

The style of thrift and thrift makes many businessmen dare not go to the big hotel anymore, and choose some private clubs with strong privacy for dinner.

"From the end of the year to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, it is the off-season, and from March, we can receive about three or four tables a day. ”

This is what Zhou Fangyuan's classmates told him, because of the particularity of the work, his position and status are not very high, but he often follows the leaders above him in and out of some places that are difficult for ordinary people to enter.

The private club that the classmates said was also opened by a businessman, and the villa was built on the street, more than 300 square meters, four floors high, and there were eight or nine rooms. The main Lu cuisine and private dishes, the menu is updated at any time, and it can be made according to the taste of the guests, and the minimum consumption per person is not less than 300 yuan. There are only 4 private rooms in the store, and there are also mahjong tables and other entertainment options in the attic on the top floor.

"I don't dare to go to big hotels and restaurants, so many of them can only come to the club to eat. ”

This situation, in fact, Zhou Fangyuan's classmate was experiencing it himself, otherwise he would not have known so many things.

According to the working hours of the club, the morning and afternoon are basically cleaned, and the official work starts at 4 p.m., and the reservation customers will come to the door when night falls, and the night banquet will end at about 12 p.m. But this situation did not last long, and with the strict orders of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection one after another, the business of the club became less and less. The businessman boss who runs the club said frankly that near the end of the year, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection demanded that no one should enter or leave the private club, and many bosses did not want to embarrass themselves. "Rather than leaving the clubhouse idle, it's better to transfer it quickly. The shrewdness of the businessman made the businessman boss plan ahead.

Due to the hidden location of the club, it has become a place for many businessmen to avoid being "photographed" and can eat with peace of mind, and it has also become an "extralegal place" that is not easy to be supervised. Some clubs claim to be not operating externally, so they do not have any licenses, are not registered in the industrial and commercial registration, do not have catering licenses, do not have health permits, and are operating without a license, and the operation of the clubs cannot be effectively supervised.

Some clubs can't even provide menus, and the price of each dish is unknown, but this also captures the psychological characteristics of some banquet guests: those who can afford to spend in the club are either public money or large sums of money. Most of these customers spend by card, not caring about the amount of money, but more about taste and face.

Privacy is a great guarantee, but because of this, clubs are often affected by policy adjustments for the first time, large clubs are better, after all, the volume is large enough, and the network is wide enough, but small clubs are more troublesome, even if there is no impact of the policy, because of its own small coverage, profitability often becomes a big problem. Of course, large clubs don't have to worry, in fact, large clubs have an advantage in this regard, and the reason is simple, because they don't need ordinary people to provide them with profits. What's more, like the handful of high-end clubs in the top in China, you can't get into it even if you have money.

The members inside are either rich or expensive, and the owners of the club don't care about the profitability that will be generated, what they care about is the network effect that it will bring.

Zhou Fangyuan had heard such a story in his previous life, of course, he listened to it completely in the mood of listening to the story at that time.

said, "There was a stainless steel businessman who asked to join the club with a membership fee of 300,000 yuan, and after review, it was found that the businessman was not a 'celebrity', but wanted to know some 'celebrities' through the club to do business, and the club rejected the businessman's request to join." ”

This is a high-end club, money is not the only condition to enter a private club, and some high-end private clubs are demanding and breathtaking. There are more than 4,000 private clubs of various sizes in Beijing, and private clubs only serve a small number of people, and the average person who eats a meal is at least 3,000 yuan. These clubs are divided into health clubs, fitness and leisure clubs, cultural and entertainment clubs, and party catering clubs. Most of the clubs adopt a membership system, and only those who have a certain status and pay a certain amount of membership fees can become members of the club and enjoy the services provided by the club. The positioning of private clubs in the capital is also different, and some clubs are publicly listed and open to the public, such as the famous "Lan Club" opened by the owner of "South Beauty" in Beijing, but there are more "private" clubs on the market that are neither listed nor signed.

There is a private club in Haidian, and the standard for membership is the owner of an enterprise with assets of more than 10 million yuan, and a one-time membership fee of 500,000 yuan. For a private club in Chaoyang, the standard for becoming a member must be a "celebrity", and a one-time membership fee of 300,000 yuan must be paid. One of the shareholders of the club once gave an interview, and he told reporters that not everyone can become a member of the club, and that it is not enough to have money, and only to pass the qualification examination. A traditional Chinese medicine health club near the downtown entrance of Xicheng District, the condition for membership is to pay a membership fee of 120,000 yuan, and from the second year, pay an annual membership fee of 60,000 yuan. During the interview, the reporter noticed that these clubs were all chosen to be in secluded places and were not listed, and few people knew about them.

"For a small group of people!"

This is the purpose of most high-end private clubs. For example, if a club requires a membership fee of 500,000 yuan and there are more than 80 members, then the club only provides services for these 80 people.

A private club in Haidian, whose membership includes some film and television celebrities, is conditional on not having too many members, because they can't be served with other people so as not to disturb their lives. For example, the shareholder who was interviewed is the owner of a club in Shijingshan, and he has been running the club for more than 10 years. He told reporters that the positioning of private clubs is to serve a small number of people and serve the elite, and the services provided are high and refined. This in itself determined that the size of the clubhouse could not have served the general public. In addition, due to the high cost of clubs, ordinary consumers simply cannot accept them, which is also a major reason for serving only a small number of people.

It can be said that almost all private clubs emphasize privacy, and in order to create a private environment for members and other guests, some clubs stipulate that they do not accept two groups of guests at the same time. For example, there is a club, with an area of more than 800 square meters, with conference rooms, lounges, restaurants, traditional Chinese medicine massage rooms, chess and card rooms, etc., which can receive 40 people at the same time, but the club stipulates that only one group of guests is accepted, even if there are only two guests, no longer receive other guests, and the whole club only provides services for these two guests. However, the clubhouse will charge a service fee for a certain number of people at the time of charging.

It's not a story, it's really a private club.

In order to emphasize privacy, the service staff of the clubhouse will leave as soon as the guests are talking. When dining, the service staff will wait outside the restaurant immediately after pouring the wine for the customer, so as to minimize the time spent on the spot. The waiters in the club are specially trained, and one of the main contents is not to listen to the guests' conversations, not to remember the names of the guests, not to ask any questions to the guests, and never to disclose any information about the guests in the clubhouse.

Zhou Fangyuan wants to do, it is definitely impossible to do that kind of low-grade club, he is now also a business celebrity who came out of Beitong, in the whole country, faintly has the meaning of becoming a representative of Beitong businessmen, after all, other businessmen who came out of Beitong are not famous in the domestic business circle, Zhou Fangyuan is different, the main reason is that Yuanfang Group is too famous, and now he wants to make a club, naturally it is a high-end club for private clubs, and he himself doesn't care whether he makes money or not, what he needs is the network of contacts in the entire business community of Beitong City.