Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Chapter 1351: Wasn’t This A Scam?

Li Shi and Che Rong were very satisfied with the current situation of Star Bird Fitness.

In fact, after Dream Realization Ventures had also invested in Star Bird Fitness, investors, including Li Shi, had lost their control of Star Bird Fitness. As the boss of Star Bird Fitness, Che Rong actually had a lot of autonomy.

However, Che Rong was still used to reporting to Li Shi often and listening to some suggestions from Li Shi.

That was because Che Rong knew very well that Star Bird Fitness could achieve its current success not only because Li Shi paid for it, but more importantly, Li Shi gave him a clear path!

If he had not used the smart fitness drying rack to completely modify Star Bird Fitness’ business model according to Li Shi’s words, found his position in the gap between Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and Deposit Fitness, and boarded the fast lane that Tengda had created, Star Bird Fitness would not have developed so well even if he had obtained the investment.

After all, it was the difference between teaching a man how to fish and teaching a man how to fish. Investing money would only help Star Bird Fitness temporarily survive the difficulties. However, they still had to rely on a profitable model to develop it.

Both of them drank their tea in silence.

After some consideration, Che Rong said, “Boss Li, I have another question to ask you.”

“Now, Star Bird Fitness has undergone a period of rapid development. Its shops have already been opened in other cities in Handong Province.”

“Do you think Star Bird Fitness will continue to burn money and expand, or should we stop for a while and make profits first?”

At the moment, Star Bird Fitness was not profitable. It might have earned money, and other investors were continuously investing in it, wanting to take a share of the profits. However, in the rapid expansion phase of the business, all the money was used to open branches.

At first, Che Rong could be said to be ambitious. He first renovated all the shops, then opened more shops in Jingzhou, and even expanded to other cities in Handong Province.

However, now that the scale of the shop had expanded to a certain extent, Che Rong naturally felt lazy.

He wanted to rest and earn money lying down.

After all, from Che Rong’s point of view, being able to get so much investment and open branches in the entire Handong Province was enough success as a gym.

Many gym owners had only opened a few chain stores in a city and had already begun to make money lying down, let alone the current situation of Star Bird Fitness.

If Che Rong could enjoy his life in peace, investors could also quickly obtain rewards.

It might seem like he was not thinking about improving by lying down and eating his old books, but he was focused on stability. If he continued to expand, even though it looked very motivated, what if he failed?

If he expanded blindly, once the capital chain ruptured, he might completely fail. It was impossible to expect a miracle to happen twice.

Thus, Che Rong was very conflicted about this. He was very hesitant, so he wanted Li Shi to make the decision.

Li Shi frowned and put down his teacup.

“Why are you hesitating on such a problem? Of course, we have to continue expanding!”

“This is not a matter of courage. It’s purely a matter of vision.”

“The fact that you’re asking this means that you don’t understand the situation at all. You’re short-sighted!”

Che Rong was a little ashamed. “Boss Li, I really don’t have much experience in entrepreneurship. At most, I have some experience in managing gyms. Therefore, please give me some pointers.”

Li Shi nodded. He knew that Che Rong was indeed not very good in this aspect. Otherwise, Star Bird Fitness would not have ended up on the verge of bankruptcy.

An ordinary person would not be able to suddenly become enlightened and become a business genius like Boss Pei. He would have to rely on Li Shi’s guidance now.

“You want to stop expanding because you are afraid of risks, right?”

“Talk about short-term benefits or long-term benefits. Those are all empty words. If we expand, we will definitely succeed. We will definitely be able to earn more money in the future. Even fools would choose to continue expanding.”

Che Rong nodded. “Yes, that makes sense.”

On the surface, it looked like he was tired and did not want to work hard. In fact, it was because he felt that the price-quality ratio would be too low if he continued to work hard. The risk he took and the effort he put in were not worth it compared to the possible returns.

Li Shi continued, “However, as long as you look at Tengda’s business model and Boss Pei’s style, you will know that the benefits of Star Bird Fitness’ continued expansion are far greater than risks. The chances of failure are actually very low!”

He sipped his tea and began to combine the actual situation of Tengda’s various industries to analyze Che Rong in more detail.

First of all, Dream Realization Ventures’ model was to withdraw the investment once the company’s profits reached a certain level. If it was not profitable, they would continue to invest.

Putting aside what the other companies would think, putting it on Star Bird Fitness, this was encouraging expansion!

In other words, if you maintain your ambition to expand, I will continue to invest in you. If you feel that you have opened enough shops and want to slack, we will bid you farewell.

In other words, if you remain humble, we will always be friends. If you want to enjoy life, you can take away the previous income. You can enjoy life, but I have to continue moving forward.

Dream Realization Ventures would take this sum of money and continue to invest in a company that dared to advance.

Wasn’t this attitude clear?

Even if he looked at the problem from the most utilitarian point of view, he could continue to spend money from Dream Realization Ventures if he continued to expand. Wasn’t it nice?

Giving up on expansion was actually equivalent to giving up Dream Realization Ventures’ financial support, Tengda’s protection and Boss Pei’s friendship!

Second, stopping expansion was nothing more than fear of risk.

However, this risk was actually very low for Star Bird Fitness.

That was because the business model of Star Bird Fitness had been verified in Jingzhou and even Handong Province, which meant that consumers approved of it.

Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out, Deposit Fitness, and the other industries of Tengda were all first in Jingzhou, then Handong Province, and finally expanded to the entire country. They had already taken this route countless times, and they had all succeeded.

Star Bird Fitness was also following this old path steadily!

What’s more, Tengda’s shops had already been completed in the early stages of site selection, publicity, and market development. Star Bird Fitness was very convenient. They could just open new shops near Tengda’s industries in the new city. How simple was that?

They would not be afraid of stepping into pits as long as they followed closely behind Tengda!

Given Boss Pei’s layout ability and high success rate of entrepreneurship, Star Bird Fitness could win by lying down and shouting ‘awesome’ as long as it was not stupid.

Since that was the case, what reason was there not to expand?

Things in the business world were also rowing a boat against the current. If one did not advance, they would retreat.

If Star Bird Fitness did not expand with Tengda, other companies would naturally see this business opportunity. At that time, they would think of ways to squeeze Star Bird Fitness away.

At that time, would Boss Pei take care of a company that did not have any ambition? Would he talk about favors with a boss that did not have any ambition?

That was hard to say.

Li Shi took another sip of tea and finally summarized. “Therefore, Star Bird Fitness must follow Tengda’s footsteps from any angle and continue to expand until it spreads across the country with Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out, and other industries.”

Che Rong nodded in realization. “I see, I understand!”

“Boss Li, now that you mention it, I’m enlightened.”

“In other words, not only should Star Bird Fitness expand objectively, but even Boss Pei is actually encouraging Star Bird Fitness to continue expanding?”

Li Shi nodded. “Of course! Otherwise, why do you think Boss Pei specifically asked Dream Realization Ventures to invest in this? The projects that Boss Pei thinks highly of must be unique!”

“Boss Pei thinks highly of your project, but you don’t think about making it big at all. You only think about earning a little money. Do you think Boss Pei would be happy?”

Che Rong quickly nodded. “I understand, I understand! Then, I have nothing to worry about. I’ll definitely work with Boss Pei to drive Star Bird Fitness across the country!”

Li Shi could not help but nod slightly seeing Che Rong being so proactive.

It did not matter if he did not understand at first. As long as he could make sense and closely surround Tengda, this entrepreneur would be saved.

Li Shi sipped his tea and suddenly thought of another problem.

“By the way, I have a project here. Do you want to participate?”

Che Rong perked up. “Oh? What project?”

In Jingzhou’s investment circle, Boss Li was the person closest to God if Boss Pei was a god.

The project that Boss Li mentioned was definitely a good project!

Li Shi said slowly, “Thriller Hostel’s roller coaster project.”

Che Rong was stunned. “Huh?”

“This… I’m afraid it’s not something I can participate in, right? Thriller Hostel is Tengda’s business. Even if others want to interfere, they can’t, right?”

Li Shi shook his head slightly. “You don’t know about this. The Thriller Hostel project might not be able to be directly involved but it can be indirectly involved.”

“The restaurants, shops, and hotels around Thriller Hostel were actually funded by me and other investors. The benefits are very good now.”

“Recently, Boss Pei has also spent more than a hundred million yuan on Thriller Hostel to build an indoor roller coaster.”

“The person-in-charge of Thriller Hostel, Chen Kangtuo, came to me at noon. He said that the roller coaster would be officially open at the end of the month. He did not have any publicity funds, so he hoped that we investors could help him with publicity.”

Che Rong was confused. “Huh? Why does that sound like extortion?”

The corners of Li Shi’s mouth twitched. “What are you talking about!”

“Tengda Corporation invested more than a hundred million yuan into Thriller Hostel. Would Boss Pei not give us the publicity funds?”

“Would you believe Chen Kangtuo if he said that he did not have publicity funds?”

“Obviously, Boss Pei is not reluctant to give us money for publicity. Instead, he is hinting at us to give up our profits!”

Che Rong blinked, his face filled with confusion.

He hadn’t heard wrongly, right?

The person-in-charge of Thriller Hostel had come to ask the people in charge to pay for the publicity of the roller coaster. Wasn’t that asking for money? Why did it become a concession?

Boss Li, are you sure there’s nothing wrong with your thinking?