Milk Tea Business

It has been few days after Wendy opened her milk tea shop. Let me share some of my thoughts for this small business.

My Position

I support Wendy with all my heart, but I intentionally keep a far distance from the business. There are several reasons. First, it is Wendy’s business, not mine (well, although legally speaking, I am also an owner). I know it is her dream to own a shop, and I let her do it without interference. Second, to run a shop requires a lot of time and energy, and I have my business to take care of. Sometimes, to put a firm line and won’t over commit is a must in today’s world. It is more of a joyful journey than a serious business anyway. I want to be a helper and observer, more than a participants. If I retire one day, I may be very happy to join in, and deliver milk tea to customers. That would be very interesting (more interesting than sitting in an office).

Milk Tea and Happiness

I was surprised to discover the connecting between a milk tea shop and happiness. Yes. It is just a mom-and-papa type of small shop. But when you quietly sit from a distance of the shop and see smile on people’s face, you just feel good about it. Just like Disney, milk tea is a business delivering happiness to people. Restaurant? Maybe “decent”, “elegant”, and “just nice”, or book store – “knowledge”, “empower”… for milk team, the term connected to it may be “happiness”, “romance”, and “relax”. I will be happy if someone say: That milk tea is so GOOOD!

A tip for this specific shop: the standard flavor of the shop tends to be a little bit sweet, as many customers told them. So you can choose mild sweet when asked.

Staff and Post-90s

I realized many of the staff in the shop were born after 1990 – the post-90 generation. They are doing very well – energetic, with nice communication skills. I was actually surprised. They were all recruited on Baixing.com within 4 days, and Wendy said: Good job! and I am happy to hear that.

Location, Location, Location

As you can imagine, the location of the shop is the key to the success of the business. Wendy was very lucky to find a shop in one of the best location in Shanghai. That is at the exit of the busiest Metro station (People’s Square Station), opposite to one of the landmark of the area (Raffle’s City), and besides arguably one of the busiest pedestrian in Shanghai – the one crossing Xizang Middle Road. To be short, it is at the center of the whole city. Technically speaking, it is 371 meters away from the theoretical center of Shanghai (which is the Park Hotel). If you search “Shanghai” in Google Maps, the shop is 300 meters away from the point marked as Shanghai. It is also within the same block of that point – the location of the Shanghai Municipal Government.

Sitting by the shop at night, and seeing huge flow of people passing you, and see the nero of Nanjing Road, you surely know that you are feeling the pulse of the city. I love that location.

Best Wishes to the Business

As any new venture, there are risks, and returns, joys, and sadness, ups and downs. There is a good start. At least the next time, we know where to hold our blogger meetup. I guess the next time, we will do it in People’s Park, with milk tea delivered. I believe Wendy may be kind enough to give us special “Buy one and get one for free” offer. :)

P.S. Another good news. I finally got back my eBay id: jianshuo. I love a simple ID without ugly numbers attached to it, like jianshuo99, or jianshuo2009. Now jianshuo is my gmail id, hotmail id, Facebook id, twitter id, Paypal id and eBay id. It is pretty good evidence that I am an early enough adapter to most new services. My eBay id was already 7 years old.

9 thoughts on “Milk Tea Business

  1. Headed to 人民广场 today, and decided to drop by the milk tea shop. Ordered a 仙草奶茶 and it was pretty good! Not sweet, just the right taste for me. The service was good too! I was a little lost at the process of ordering and getting the drink, but the cashier was very patient with me and greeted me warmly. Business will definitely be good because the shop is located strategically!

  2. Is this a franchised business? or Wendy orchestrated all the marketing and operational details by herself.

  3. Great! I love milk tea so much! and since Im visiting Shanghai next week! I will definitively stop by!

    Hehe!

  4. Hello,

    I would like to open a milk tea business myself here in the Philippines. Can you refer to me someone who can help me start the business here?

    Gerald

  5. Good day!i want to have a milk tea shop here in Quezon city Philippines.can you help me?

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