"ShanNiao Dialogue" with Li Jing, Founder of Lu Chaoshan Restaurant Brand: Keeping the original intention and forging ahead

Recently, the company undertook a design project for the Lu Chaoshan brand, and as a result, Lao Cui, the founder of ShanNiao Space Design, conducted an exclusive interview with Li Jing, the founder of the Lu Chaoshan brand.

Mr. Cui: Why did you choose the catering industry in the first place?

Mr. Li: I used to work in the tourism industry, traveling all over the world. I really enjoyed dining. Later, when I had a baby, I never wanted to leave home again. I wanted to accompany him every day as he grows up, while still being able to have my own business. The most important thing was that I liked it and didn't want to spend too much energy on work. I didn't want to miss out on my child's growth. Initially, I chose to franchise Huang Ji Huang.

Mr. Cui: I remember designing the Huang Jihuang Three-ju Stew Pot for Mr. Li more than a decade ago. At that time, Huang Jihuang was thriving, and I personally oversaw the design of over 300 stores.

Mr. Li: At that time, we were in the era of rapid development of the catering industry. Although the cost was relatively high, the market risk was relatively low, and the cost of trial and error was also lower. We first started with Huangjihuang, then explored the fish business, Hangzhou cuisine, and now we are also operating a Xinjiang cuisine restaurant. We are a catering management company that imports popular brands from the current market to Zhuhai.

Mr. Cui: We are currently working on your "Lu Chaoshan" project. The preliminary SI and VI have been completed. I would like to ask you, why did you establish the "Lu Chaoshan" brand at that time?

President Li: Because we all started as franchisees. After so many years, we all have a sentiment that we want to create our own brand. I am also a person who values sentiment. The first store was designed by you, and I want you to design my first brand as well. It has been about 10 years, of course, this is just one of many things. The most important thing is that I like your design style, which can interpret my requirements for this brand and create a brand of my own. This is the ultimate goal that every catering person wants to achieve. So these 10 years are just a prelude, and I have just begun.

Cui Gong: When I dine out, many restaurants provide gloves for adults but not for children. I was wondering if we could offer some small gloves for our little guests. This would be a truly humane gesture. Since I have children myself, I sincerely hope that our Lu Chaoshan restaurant will also offer children's meals in the future. If we can handle this aspect well, you can see that restaurants like Yuanqi Sushi and Xibei do a really good job with children's meals.

President Li: Your idea is really great. I must adopt it. We will also put small gloves, aprons, and even small toys on the small trays. Because when young women come out to dine, their first consideration is definitely their children.

Mr. Cui: Mr. Li, it's been over 10 years. Why are you just now considering establishing your own brand?

President Li: Because I believe in professionalism. When I first started, I thought I could create a brand, but after doing it for a long time, I realized that you can't just casually create a brand on your own. Because you lack experience, technology, understanding of the market, and operation of the brand, you are basically a novice in everything. If you casually create a brand, the success rate is very, very low. So the brand effect it presents actually comes from the efforts you can't see behind it.

Engineer Cui: That's quite right. I often see some clients we come into contact with switching between brands, which can be quite difficult to manage. Sometimes, even when our designers give professional advice, they don't necessarily listen.

President Li: I believe it's essential to have a clear understanding of oneself, but this understanding must be grounded in long-term grassroots experience or honing through specific tasks.

Mr. Cui: It still depends on accumulation. Only then can you make better judgments. I have been serving the catering industry for over 10 years. Over these years, I have seen restaurants rise and fall overnight, with very few succeeding. So I hope everyone can take this matter seriously. It's not a joke.

President Li: It's hard to grow branches and leaves. If you want to have a flourishing growth, you must have a strong root system. So, you must grow roots first.

Mr. Cui: Mr. Li, as a person in the catering industry, you have 10 years of experience. I would like to ask you to give us, especially my female fans, who also include many female catering entrepreneurs, some advice.

President Li: I dare not make suggestions, but I'll share my own feelings. I think girls should focus more on life and emotions. Only when you have a good life and love can you create beauty and love. If you just devote too much energy to work every day, your work may improve, but I think there may not be a qualitative change. You still need to love and experience life, and then pass on this beauty.

最近，公司做了一个卤潮汕的设计项目，于是山鸟空间设计创始人老崔对卤潮汕品牌创始人李晶做了一期专访。

崔工：当初为什么选择餐饮这个领域？

李总：以前做旅游行业，全世界到处跑，就很喜欢餐饮，后来有了宝宝，再也不想离开家了，想每天陪伴他成长，然后还能拥有自己的事业，最重要是自己喜欢，又不想花太多的精力去工作，不想错过孩子的成长，最开始是选择加盟黄记煌。

崔工：我记得十多年前给李总设计过黄记煌三汁焖锅，那个时候黄记煌发展的蛮好，光我经手设计的门店就有300多家。

李总：那个时候赶上餐饮高速发展的时代，虽然成本比较高，但是市场的风险比较小一些，试错成本也低一些，自己先做黄记煌，然后做了探鱼，杭帮菜，现在也在经营一家新疆菜，我们是一个餐饮管理公司，就是把当下比较好的一个品牌，输入到珠海。

崔工：我们现在在做您的那个卤潮汕的项目，前期的SI和VI都已经做完了，我想问一下您当时为什么要创立卤潮汕这个品牌？

李总：因为起点都是做加盟商，我们做了这么多年，总有一个情怀，要自己做一个品牌，我也是一个很讲情怀的人，第一家店是你设计的，我想第一个品牌也让你来给我设计，大概隔了10年，当然这只是其中之一，最重要的还是我喜欢你的设计风格，能够诠释出我对这个品牌的要求，创造一个自己的品牌，这是每个餐饮人的一个最终要达到的目标。所以这10年都是序章，我才刚刚开始。

崔工：我在外面吃饭，很多餐厅会会提供大人的手套，小孩的手套就没有，我就在想我们是不是可以为我们的小客人也提供一些小的这个手套，这个就是真正人性化的一个东西。因为我自己也有小孩吗，所以真诚的希望我们卤潮汕，未来它也有儿童餐。现在能把这一块抓的好的话，你看元气寿司和西贝啊，儿童这一块做的真的非常好。

李总：你这个想法真的非常好，这一点我一定要采用，小手套啊，小围裙啊，我们还会在那个小托盘上，放上小小的小玩具。因为年轻女性出来用餐，肯定第一个考虑的就是孩子。

崔工：李总，10多年了，为什么才开始打算创立自己的品牌？

李总：因为我相信专业，刚开始做的时候，我以为我可以创造品牌，但是做了久了之后，我就发现不能随便去自己做一个品牌，因为你欠缺的经验，技术，还有对市场的了解，以及对品牌的运作，所有东西你基本都是小白，你随便创立一个品牌的话，那成功率是很低很低的，所以一个品牌它呈现出的一些品牌效果，其实它背后的付出你是看不到的。

崔工：这一点说的很对哈，因为我经常看到一些比如我们接触到的一些客户，这个品牌做一下，那个品牌做一下，有时候就会很难hold住，包括我们设计师给的专业的建议，他都不一定听。

李总：我觉得一定要认清楚自己是谁，但是认清自己，一定是要基于长期的基层啊，或者是具体的一个事情的打磨当中。

崔工：还是要靠积累，你才能更好的去判断，我也是服务餐饮人10多年，这么多年过来，就是看着餐饮，一下起来的，一下又倒闭的，成功的很少，所以希望大家要谨慎的对待这件事，真的不是开玩笑的。

李总：是长根很难，你想要枝繁叶茂的话，你必须要有一个很强大的根系，所以一定要先长根。

崔工：李总，作为一个餐饮人，您也有10年的经验了，我想让你给我们，尤其我的女性粉丝啊，里面也有很多女性餐饮创业人啊，给我们几条建议这样子。

李总：建议就不敢说了，说说自己的感受吧，我觉得女生啊，精力要放在生活上，感受上多一些，只有你很好的生活，很好的爱了，才能创造出美好，创造出爱，如果每天只是把太多的精力投身在工作上，当然工作可能会有起色，但是我觉得可能没有质的变化，还是要去热爱生活，体验生活，然后再把这份美好传递出去。

Effect picture of Chaoshan-style braised food（卤潮汕效果图）