自助酸奶店的經營成功要點
一條商業信息，讓許多讀者興趣盎然。問了很多問題，我在這裏集中談談。
首先，我在下麵附錄裏放上兩篇英文文章，供大家參考。第一篇文章提到的，就是讓我產生興趣的，也是在我們克利夫蘭建的店。如果你去那個連接，還可以看到店的圖片。第二篇則是來自《財富》雜誌。
其次，開一家酸奶店，投資數目並不小。我估計，起碼也得25萬美元了。再少，恐怕就難成規模，沒有氣勢。做這樣的生意，玩的就是“心跳”——感覺和環境，而不是節省。如果是為了省錢，顧客是不可能花每盎司50美分去購買在食品店10美分就能夠買到的酸奶的。到那種地方消費，為的是一份開心而已。所以，在設計上，你就得非常用心才行。
其中的設備開支是節省不了的。具體的預算，可以去幾家開加盟店的網站看看，獲得點感覺。很多加盟店要求在35到40萬。如果省掉四萬左右的加盟費，你還是需要不少的資金投入。
開支方麵，除了每台1.3萬美元的混合機需要至少四台之外，還需要冷凍櫃，還需要在裝修方麵開支。混合機在國內有，大約在5000-6000元人民幣。但是，美國是不是有限製，國內的質量怎麽樣，我就不知道了。如果是我，開第一家時，我寧願花大錢買美國的設備，對方說，幾十年都不會壞。你要的就是這種質量保證！否則，結果，你可能更虧，而不是節省。
做酸奶店的最大優勢是，你不需要擔心人工的問題，雇傭的都是薪水很低的年輕人。這，同時也是這個生意最大的劣勢：你沒有獨特性！唯一能夠讓你不同於他人的，除了你的地點之外，就是獨特的裝修風格。其它的，服務特色，品種配置，估計也很難鶴立雞群，與眾不同。
中國人喜歡說，錢能夠搞定的都是小事。在做生意這一塊，確實是這樣：靠資金投入就能夠做成的事情，很容易被競爭對手擠壓。目前有很多美國公司在進入，包括一家叫做幾個兄弟的餐館，也在我們這裏購買了一個場地，專門用來訓練做酸奶店的雇員。
這也是為什麽，那麽多美國公司開始涉足這個市場的原因之一。如果你坐擁很大的資金，同時，又和地產商們有比較好的關係，或者知道怎麽樣和地主們打交道，還對裝修在行，對企業的運行有點經驗，我個人估計，動作快的話，幾年下來，撈個百來萬的，還是有機會的。
你可別小看那些酸奶店看上去沒有多少顧客，就是那不起眼的顧客流量，可能就是每年好幾十萬的生意。五十萬的生意，利潤至少應該在一半吧！
最好的辦法，就是在一家店的門口呆上幾天，數數對方的顧客，再乘上5，就基本上可以估計出每天的平均銷售額了。每個顧客消費可能不止五元。一滿杯五元是拿不下來的。
附錄一： Self-serve frozen yogurt trend hits Northeast Ohio; local stores, franchises plan for aggressive growth
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/06/self-serve_frozen_yogurt_trend.html
WOODMERE, Ohio -- A hot retail trend promises to keep temperatures cool in Northeast Ohio this summer.
Self-serve frozen yogurt bars -- a concept incubated in Asia and along the West Coast -- are coating the region with swirls of flavor and buckets of toppings from virtuous fruit to indulgent fudge.
The Bechke family hopes to franchise its popular Lemonberry yogurt shop, which debuted on Pearl Road in Strongsville last year. Entrepreneurs in Maumee recently launched Yogurt Vi, which opened a store in April at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst. And Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, a West Coast newcomer to the market, could pop up in 30 Northeast Ohio locations during the next few years.
Yogurt Treats LLC, a company owned by developer Bob Stark's family and employees, recently opened its first Menchie's franchise in Woodmere. Additional shops are on tap in Avon, Fairlawn, downtown Lakewood, Mayfield Heights and Fairview Park.
"We're going to be in the vanguard of this flood of yogurt mania that's going to sweep across the United States," said Stark, who first encountered Menchie's in Los Angeles. "That's how I get my kicks - proving how our marketplace responds to great concepts."
This isn't frozen yogurt's first go-round. In the 1980s, TCBY started a fad with its "This Can't Be Yogurt" stores. But by the late 1990s, inventive ice-cream shops and consumer preferences for more indulgent desserts landed yogurt in the deep freeze.
A resurgence started in 2005, when Pinkberry opened its first shop in West Hollywood. The wildly popular retailer hopped from California to the East Coast, offering a tart-tasting treat that surprised American palettes and garnered celebrity praise.
Competitors followed, including a slew of self-serve shops where customers grab cups, dispense their own yogurt, add toppings and pay at the counter.
Elise Cortina, executive director of the National Yogurt Association, attributed the thaw to changing consumer preferences, a greater focus on health and the publicity surrounding probiotics - live microorganisms present in fermented foods such as yogurt. Studies show these healthy bacteria - called "live and active cultures" in yogurt - contribute to digestive health.
There are no solid numbers on the growth and sales of frozen yogurt stores, Cortina said, but the self-serve movement is clearly a phenomenon.
"We think that frozen yogurt's here to stay," said Rob Streett, senior vice president for franchise development at TCBY, which revamped its brand last year and has opened about 25 self-serve stores. "We don't think it will cycle like it did before because of how tastes and consumer choices have changed."
Out of 450-plus locations, TCBY - which now stands for "The Country's Best Yogurt" - has just two, older-format stores in Ohio. But Streett said the company is considering expansion opportunities here and expects to station a real estate representative in Columbus soon, to canvass the Midwest and find new sites and franchisees.
In Northeast Ohio, the longtime retailer could be competing on crowded turf.
Tuesday night, the Menchie's store at the Eton Chagrin Boulevard shopping center in Woodmere was teeming with teens, families and children. More health-conscious customers eyed labels identifying low-carb choices, no-sugar options, dairy-free flavors and Kosher treats above 16 taps dispensing frozen yogurt and sorbet.
Industry onlookers say the self-serve format moves customers through quickly and lets store owners save money on staff, while consumers get more choices and control over portion sizes and calories. Menchie's, which is based in California and opened its first store in 2007, rotates through 100 flavors and more than 70 toppings.
"You can make it as healthy as you want," said John Bechke, president of Lemonberry yogurt in Strongsville and CQ Printing, a family-owned business in the same building. "I go myself, and I'm about 10 pounds overweight, and I will go over and get some non-sugar with some strawberries and pineapple."
Bechke opened Lemonberry after visiting self-serve shops in other states. The store offers six flavors and 12 toppings that change regularly. His family is negotiating a lease for a second Northeast Ohio location and just finished the approval process to start franchising.
Yogurt Vi (pronounced Vee) welcomes customers to its colorful Legacy Village space with a chandelier on the ceiling and an exotic array of toppings including lychee and jackfruit. The yogurt shop's parent company, Lam Ho Enterprises Inc. of Maumee, has opened stores in Cincinnati and Virginia this year.
The company's executives, Vincent Ho and Michael Lam, have a construction business and own Anthony Vince and Venetian nail salons and spas in Ohio and other states. After visiting self-serve shops in California, they decided to bring the concept to Cleveland.
This year, new Yogurt Vi shops will pop up in Chicago; Columbus; Nashville, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; and two sites in Maryland, said operations manager Kelly Wherley. Yogurt Vi is focusing on company-owned locations and hopes to open 20 additional stores in the Midwest and Northeast by the end of next year.
附錄二：Once Block-busted, now yogurt king
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David Kahn
Then: Owner, Blockbuster and Subway franchises
Now: Founder, Yogurt Mountain
Until David Kahn's business model cracked like a defective DVD, he'd been doing just fine as one of Blockbuster's biggest franchisees. "I had a huge mansion with five plasma TVs; I was driving around in a Hummer," Kahn, now 49, recalls. "I was getting my picture taken with President Bush."
There was just one problem: His business was doomed. Blockbuster's model, Kahn realized, hinged on the notion that it often didn't have your first choice, though it might have your second or third. Netflix, by contrast, gave you exactly what you wanted. In the spring of 2006, Kahn decided he had to get out. His bank let him do a workout, so he didn't go bust. But this career was over.
With no idea what came next, Kahn announced a family austerity plan. Goodbye went the mansion, the club, and the Hummer. Kahn converted credit card points into California Pizza Kitchen gift cards, just so he could treat the family to an occasional dinner out. But he refused to obsess over the loss of social status. "You don't say, 'This is where I'll always be.' You say, 'This is where I am now.'"
Next Kahn looked hard at his skills, deciding that his expertise was in franchises, not videos. He bought six Subway franchises in mid-2007 and did a stint at the company's training school. "A few months earlier, I had 500 employees," he says. "Now, you've got mustard on your shirt and you smell like bread. But I was fine with that; I was reinventing myself."
It wouldn't be the last time. Six months later, Subway rolled out its "$5 Footlong," smashing Kahn's profit assumptions. He sold the franchises for a small profit, but it was back to square one. What Kahn had going for him was a financial cushion, a supportive family, and a deep belief that he would figure it out. So he cashed in more miles and told his wife, Carol, "I'm going to fly to Los Angeles, and I don't know when I'll be back. All the trendy things start in L.A."
In L.A. he drove the streets to see what young people were eating. He was awed by Yogurtland, where people create their own desserts, and filled out a franchise application on the spot. But Yogurtland never called back, so Kahn decided to go it alone. Unfortunately, it was 2008; nine banks turned him down for a loan. Unfazed, he put his house -- actually owned by his wife -- up for collateral for a $300,000 government loan. "I always told him he could do it," says Carol. "But just in case, I hid $10,000."
The Age of Disruption taketh away, but it giveth too. Kahn was able to conduct research, source his product, and find distributors, all online for free. His marketing budget was a $100 "Now Open" banner -- and a Facebook page manned by his teenagers.
Yogurt Mountain opened on Sept. 10, 2009. By that weekend there were lines out the door, and a second store soon opened. In March 2010, Kahn sold 40% of his business to a private equity group for $3 million, a line of credit, and help opening new stores (there are now 35). He tinkers with yogurt flavors, but he has just one reinvention recipe: "You've got to go into survivor mode, and you've got to reprogram yourself. What's your alternative?"
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