For the future, what Peng Xin fears most is "not seeing the changes of young consumers", not the so-called industry competition.

Editor Mina

Source interviewee

It happened to be New Year's Eve. On February 11th, 221, Naixue Tea officially submitted a listing prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Peng Xin will read these reports, whether positive or negative.

"Do you want to fight back against these disputes?" China Entrepreneur asked Peng Xin.

"There is no counterattack, and it is the most important thing to judge whether the core business of the enterprise is healthy." She said.

"will there be pressure?"

"The real pressure comes from enterprises and management, not from public opinion. How can there be pressure when the business is operating and developing very well? " Peng Xin said with a smile.

Nearly four months later, on the evening of June 6th, Naixue's tea was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for hearing. According to the newly disclosed prospectus, the company's adjusted net profit in 22 was 62.17 million yuan, and the so-called "bloody listing" was thus broken by performance.

during the road show, Peng Xin felt the enthusiasm from the capital market, and many research reports of securities companies gave a recommendation rating to Naixue's tea, calling it "the first tea in the world".

according to the prospectus, as of the last practical date, Naixue Tea has opened 556 direct stores in more than 7 cities in China and Osaka, Japan. According to the data disclosed by burning knowledge consulting, as of December 31st, 22, Naixue has the most extensive network of high-end ready-made tea shops covering China in terms of the number of cities covered.

Peng Xin is very confident about the future. She said that Naixue has opened so many stores, and today's sales are not based on discounts, but on products and brands, which is a benign interaction between enterprises and customers. "We have more than 35 million members, and nearly half of the transaction volume comes from members."

Some people say that Naixue's tea was listed in a hurry, but Peng Xin denied this statement. "Listing has always been on the company's schedule, and there is no such thing as' hurry'. We want to be a global brand, and listing is not the ultimate goal. "

Soul figure

Peng Xin in front of the camera often wears a dress or a shirt with a long skirt. She has long hair shawl and a bright smile, and she has the temperament of a little fresh goddess. Her image and pursuit of a better life are also in line with many consumers' first impressions of Naixue's tea brand. In their view, this is a brand with the founder's strong personal color.

In a sense, Peng Xin became the spokesperson of Naixue's tea. When you mention Peng Xin, you will think of Naixue's tea, and Naixue used to be Peng Xin's screen name. In the eyes of many people, it seems that Peng Xin and Naixue's tea can be equated.

Peng Xin thinks this is the brand she wants to make. "I hope Naixue's tea is a place where you can socialize and date, and it conveys to consumers an elegant and comfortable sense of space."

under the design of this storefront environment, Peng Xin found that Naixue's tea user group gradually diversified, and families, couples, business people and so on often came to spend it. Naixue's tea also had many male user groups, which was different from the outside imagination.

Peng Xin is also different from the image of gentleness and gentleness imagined by the outside world.

Peng Xin is described by most people around him as "outspoken", "bright personality" and "pursuing perfection". A few years ago, Peng Xin met an old friend. He said to Peng Xin, "We people in our fifties and sixties don't drink these things (new tea)."

Peng Xin immediately replied, "That's you. I'll still drink when I'm 5 or 6 years old. Don't you see what the children are drinking now?"

no brand wants to be abandoned by young consumers. How Naixue's tea can withstand the time review is also the biggest problem Peng Xin faces.

Husband and wife and comrades-in-arms

Peng Xin and Zhao Lin have maintained a relationship of "both husband and wife and comrades-in-arms" all these years.

They also argue with each other, but after each argument, Peng always feels "very good". After an argument, the two reached the understanding that all arguments should find some defects and problems from their own perspective and explain the problems clearly to each other, otherwise the matter can't move forward.

most of the time, Peng Xin is the one who has the upper hand. "If I can't answer some questions, he will bring me the solution he thought of." This usually enables them to find a better solution in the debate.

However, in the capital market, mom-and-pop shops have always been the point that investors "mind". "Many people will ask about this, and they are afraid that it is not good for couples to start their own businesses."

Peng Xin is very helpless. She thinks that women in the new era should not give all demands and pressures to each other. It is a particularly comfortable feeling that they are "neck and neck".

Peng Xin will take these questions as a spur and constantly alert himself.

In terms of enterprise management, Peng Xin resolutely draws a "boundary" with Zhao Lin. She is responsible for products and brands, while Zhao Lin is responsible for the strategic direction and talent building of the whole company. Both parties have the final say in their respective fields.

In the process of expanding the team, Peng Xin is also constantly improving his cognition, and more and more has the perspective of entrepreneurs. She and Zhao Lin began to employ professional managers in various sectors, and let professionals give full play to their talents.

Peng Xin compares himself to the "Tang Priest" in the team. Maybe he is not the strongest, but he knows his beliefs and goals. Comparing the heads of various business sectors to "the Monkey King" is very effective. "But you have to let them know the company's values and let them implement them firmly."

What she wants to acquire is to build an international tea brand called "Naixue Tea". It's a long way to learn from it, and the new tea story belonging to Peng Xin has just begun.

brand tonality

if we want to explore the development track of domestic new tea industry, 215 is an important time node.

In this year, a number of brands, such as Naixue Tea, Hi Tea and Modern China Tea Shop, which were positioned as "new tea drinks" by the outside world, were established one after another.

When it comes to new tea, the first thing that comes to mind is cheese milk tea. The combination of salty cheese and tea has become the iconic product of new tea. For the pioneer of cheese tea, there have been different opinions and debates, and major brands are also secretly competing, trying to flaunt themselves as the initiator.

Some people doubt that the so-called innovation, whether it is cheese tea or fruit tea, is just to improve and upgrade the existing products in the industry and carry them forward through marketing means.

Peng Xin believes that tea is mainly divided into three categories: fruit tea, milk tea and pure tea. All brands innovate in these three categories, and even if there are differences, they are "subtle" differences. "Everyone will actually become more and more similar in classic and signature products."

when it comes to products, Peng Xin makes an analogy with the coffee industry and bluntly says, "Today in the coffee industry is the future of the tea industry." Through observation, she found that the products of all coffee brands are nothing more than American, latte, mocha, cappuccino and other classic products, as well as drinks prepared by different formulas on this basis.

"The products sold in cafes are all the same, but do you think Starbucks and Costa are the same?" Peng Xin asks.

For this question, many consumers will answer "different" without thinking, but few people think about where this sense of difference comes from.

"For example, in the choice of raw materials and the production of products, each brand will have some differences, so there will be subtle differences in the products. The brand tonality of Starbucks coffee and Costa is also different. "

In the early days of starting a business, in addition to creating explosive products, Peng Xin will also focus on creating a "comfortable big space", opening the store in the core of the downtown business district and shaping the high-end positioning. "In the early days, this made the brand of Naixue tea very different (from other brands)."

in addition to the "third space concept" of Starbucks, the combination of tea and soft European bags is also a very important label of Naixue's tea, which is a distinctive label that distinguishes it from other brands and leaves consumers with a certain brand awareness in the early days.

Embrace Capital

In December 215, Naixue Tea opened three stores in Shenzhen. To this end, Peng Xin and Zhao Lin mortgaged the house and borrowed 5 million yuan from the bank.

fortunately, the three stores quickly gathered popularity and became popular. But if you want to open more stores, 5 million yuan is a drop in the bucket.

"We opened 16 stores in the first year. According to the calculation of 2 million yuan invested in a store, we need tens of millions of yuan. In addition, at that time, we also wanted to build the central factory and distribution center, so as to support the expansion in the second year, which required investment in advance. " In order to develop rapidly, Peng Xin and Zhao Lin began to contact capital and seek financing opportunities.

In Peng Xin's impression, in January-February 216, many colleagues and investors from all over the country took the initiative to come to the door because Naixue's tea was extremely hot.

At that time, Naixue had just been established, and she and Zhao Lin personally talked about the financing. At that time, they wanted to focus more on the company's operation, so they hoped to complete the financing as soon as possible.

in the end, Tiantu Capital reached an understanding with Peng Xin and Zhao Lin. On February 17, 217, Naixue's tea received angel round financing from Tiantu Capital. Then, on July 25th, Naixue received another Series A financing of 1 million yuan from Tiantu Capital. On March 19, 218, Naixue's tea once again received hundreds of millions of A+ rounds of financing from Tiantu Capital. Tiantu Capital became the only institutional investor in Naixue's first three rounds of financing.

after the third round of financing, Peng Xin suspended the financing action due to the good cash flow and profit of the store. However, after the outbreak of COVID-19, Naixue's tea was forced to close for nearly two months. Besides the store rent, the labor cost of more than 1, employees made Peng Xin feel the financial pressure.

So, Peng Xin and Zhao Lin decided to raise money again.

According to the prospectus, from 217 to 22, Naixue * * * completed five rounds of financing of nearly 1.3 billion yuan. Among them, in 22 alone, Naixue completed three rounds of financing, and Shenzhen Venture Capital, Honghui Capital and PAG invested 2 million yuan, 5 million dollars and 1 million dollars in Naixue in April, June and December respectively. According to public information, the current tea market valuation of Naixue exceeds 3 billion yuan.

Cost and profit

"Why did the previous prospectus show that Naixue's tea lost money for three consecutive years?"

Peng took a hard test and didn't answer immediately. She picked up the pen and paper beside her and worked it out like a math problem.

She listed all the cost data one by one, and then substituted them into the formula to calculate, trying to explain the cost and profit level of the store and the back office to China Entrepreneur. "You see, the profit of the store is positive and has always been profitable."

on the other hand, from the perspective of the cost structure of tea, this can also be confirmed from the side.

according to the latest prospectus, the average price of Naixue's tea per cup is 27 yuan, the average price of baked products is 22 yuan, and the average sales value of each order is 43 yuan. Among the high-end ready-made tea chain stores in China, the average price of each order in the whole industry is only in 35 yuan.

Because of this data, Naixue's tea is ridiculed by some people as "the most expensive tea". In the impression of many people, this is "too expensive" compared with milk tea with a cup of more than ten dollars in the past. But if you compare the price of Starbucks coffee 3-4 yuan, the price of baked products 2-4 yuan, and a cup of Naixue tea filled with fresh fruit, tea, milk and other high-quality ingredients, will you still feel expensive?

The Wall Street Journal once analyzed the cost structure of a Starbucks large latte, in which the rent accounts for about 26%, followed by raw materials 13% and labor 9%. Naixue's tea prospectus shows that the cost of ingredients accounts for 37.9%, followed by staff cost of 3.1% and rent of 11.5%. Comparing the cost structure and sales price of Starbucks, we can probably understand why the "most expensive tea" in the outside world still doesn't make money.

in the face of such high cost, how to optimize Naixue's tea in the future if it wants to achieve profitability? Will the high cost of ingredients fall?

"I don't want to optimize the cost of raw materials, just keep it at this ratio. In the future, there may be one or two points of optimization after larger-scale procurement. " Peng Xin has her own insistence on the control of ingredients. In her view, Naixue's tea ingredients are very simple, mainly in three categories: tea, fruit and dairy products. "Only good ingredients can make simple things drink well."

Peng Xin has also stressed on many occasions that at this stage, what she values most is the "taste stability" of drinks, and giving users the best products is the foothold for Naixue's tea to operate for a long time.

In recent two years, Naixue's tea has been continuously put into tea farms and orchards to form a stable supply chain, trying to pursue the stability of taste.

According to the insiders, Naixue's tea cost structure conforms to the labor-intensive characteristics of the catering industry. Peng Xin introduced that Naixue's tea making is very complicated, coupled with baking products such as soft European bags, only the store side has been split into 14 different positions, and it takes at least two months to train a new person.

Many classic products, such as Domineering Grape and Domineering Myrica rubra, require employees to peel grapes and core Myrica rubra manually, which undoubtedly increases labor costs.

the cost of ingredients is not