Wu Lizhong: The rich man made from fried stinky tofu

Wu Lizhong: The rich man made from fried stinky tofu

Walking on the Lu Xun characteristic street in Shaoxing, the air is filled with the aroma of stinky tofu. This comes from the three-flavor stinky tofu shop opposite Lu Xun’s ancestral home.

Even in this hot weather, there is no empty space in the quaint store. There are even six or seven customers queuing up in front of the counter under the sun, staring straight at it. Holding the pot of fried stinky tofu, sweating profusely, waiting for the stinky tofu to come out of the oven.

It is such a small shop of more than 60 square meters. When the business is good, the daily turnover reaches 20,000, and it only sells the stinky tofu sold on the streets of every small southern town.

Before making stinky tofu, the money and journey were bumpy.

The shop owner is Wu Lizhong, who was born in 1973.

The pair of small single-lidded eyes on the dark face are very clever, as if they can come up with ideas in a blink of an eye. A thick golden chain is looming in the collar of the T-shirt.

Wu Lizhong’s stinky tofu is indeed different from others. Its skin is golden, but it is covered with a dense layer of pores, as if it was fried with a layer of eggs. Take a bite, it's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, salty and fresh, not smelly but fragrant. No wonder the locals say: "Have tasted Wu Zifang stinky tofu, and you won't know the taste of meat for three days."

Wu Lizhong has only been working as a stinky tofu for three years. When he was 21 years old, he worked as a substitute teacher in a vocational school. After that, he worked in an office in a public institution, and also worked in overseas companies. He was also cheated out of 30 Thousands of dollars of experience. He said he never imagined that after seven years of wandering, he would finally make money from the stinky tofu in his hometown.

He currently earns more than one million a year from stinky tofu.

Before becoming a disciple, he first learned from his master’s mother

At the age of 28, Wu Lizhong set his sights on deep-fried stinky tofu. In Shangyu, everyone knows about the "stinky tofu" made in the ancestral hall of Songxia Town. The owner of this stall, Shen Tianzhi, started frying stinky tofu at the age of 17 and has been frying it for 60 years. In the words of the locals, he has become a sperm.

Wu Lizhong always eats his fill every time he passes by. With just a pot and a coal stove, why is this stall selling stinky tofu the most popular in Shangyu? Sometimes it makes a net profit of 100 yuan a day. ?It’s still a small business now. Once this technology is started, Wu Lizhong blinks and decides to learn from his master.

Wu Lizhong went to Shen Tianzhi’s stinky tofu stall dozens of times, and was pushed back every time by Shen Tianzhi who said, “This technology will be brought to the coffin.” I asked my relatives and friends to find connections to intercede, but the stubborn old man also turned them away. Wu Lizhong was almost desperate, but with a blink of an eye, he had another idea. The next day, Wu Lizhong quietly called Shen Tianzhi's wife aside. His mouth was as sweet as honey: "Master, please let the master accept me as his apprentice. You two can only be together for one more year at most." If you earn 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, why not give you 30,000 yuan in tuition and let me watch you work for a month, and then you can rest for the next 11 months. ?

This analysis made the old lady’s thoughts come alive. No matter how stubborn the stubborn old man was, he could not be as stubborn as his wife, so he could only accept Wu Lizhong as his apprentice. Wu Lizhong succeeded in solving the problem in this way.

The first stinky tofu specialty store in the country

The month or so when I studied under the master was the coldest time of the year. Wu Lizhong’s home was more than 20 miles away from the master’s home. Lu, the master usually got up at three o'clock in the morning to make tofu, Wu Lizhong had to get up at two o'clock in the morning to rush to learn.

After leaving the mountain, Wu Lizhong also learned from his master, using a stove and a pot, and set up a stall in an alley to fry stinky tofu. During the practice stage, he had actually used another idea.

In April 2002, a stinky tofu specialty store called "Sixty Years Old Mill" opened in Shangyu City, causing a sensation in Shangyu. It was also the first stinky tofu specialty store in China. . ? Five yuan for eight small pieces of stinky tofu is a bit expensive, but others are just small stalls. Only when you open a specialty store and ordinary people will feel fresh and clean, some people must think it is worth it. ?

On the first day of business, customers lined up in a long line, and the queue was always there. First, business was really good, and second, Wu Lizhong was so nervous that he couldn't even light the coke stove four times. Unexpectedly, it was a coincidence that the stinky tofu was out of the oven slowly and the queue was never short. People passing by saw such a long queue and thought it must be a good thing, so the queue stretched for dozens of meters on the street.

Sixty Years Old Mill? The stinky tofu specialty store became an instant hit.

There is scheming everywhere

Wu Lizhong’s journey seems to be a logical one, but in fact there is scheming everywhere. The name of the store alone shows Wu Lizhong's filial piety, commemorating the 60-year stinky tofu career of the 80-year-old master; secondly, it also shows that his stinky tofu has a long history and is enduring.

With the specialty store, in addition to dining in, Wu Lizhong also provides packaging and take-out. He customized a packaging box for stinky tofu and painted several tables with ancient people tasting stinky tofu and sipping Shaoxing wine. Very handy. This also seems to be the first package about stinky tofu.

Winning the right to operate the three-flavor stinky tofu

Shangyu's 60-year-old mill continues to be prosperous to this day, but Wu Lizhong still regards it as a small test, and he is not satisfied with every day An income of several hundred dollars.

He has been waiting for the next opportunity to come. In October 2003, in order to allow tourists from all over the world to taste the most authentic Shaoxing tradition of stinky tofu, Shaoxing, the hometown of Lu Xun, launched a competition for the whole society to ask who can make the most fragrant stinky tofu in Shaoxing, and the final winner was Will obtain the right to operate the No. 1 snack in Shaoxing, Three-flavor Stinky Tofu. In an instant, hundreds of "stinky tofu" making experts from all over the place gathered together.

Wu Lizhong felt that the opportunity had come to break out of Shangyu and break into Shaoxing, so he resolutely took off the hero post. This competition not only tests the skills of frying stinky tofu, but also requires the top five players to submit a future business idea for a stinky tofu shop.

Wu Lizhong’s plan is eye-opening. He said that he would develop the stinky tofu shop as a chain store, with unified in-store decoration design, unified packaging box design, etc. The plan A thick stack of books.

After more than a month of fierce competition, Wu Lizhong became the head of the Sanwei Stinky Tofu Shop with an absolute advantage. This "competition" made him famous. From the first day it opened, the Sanwei Stinky Tofu Shop became a hit. Wu Lizhong struck while the iron was hot, and not long after, two stinky tofu shops named "Wuzifang" opened in Shaoxing's antique market and Lu Town.

During the peak season, the queue stretches dozens of meters along Lu Xun’s characteristic street, blocking the traffic on the road. More than 20 shop assistants with 11 pots are too busy to handle it. ?Wu Lizhong revealed that when business is good, the daily turnover is more than 20,000 yuan.

Chain stores are blooming all over the country

The next development of Stinky Tofu is completely in accordance with Wu Lizhong’s idea and will take the road of a national chain.

Last year, Wu Lizhong applied to local industry and commerce to register Wu Zifang, the first trademark in the stinky tofu industry, and also applied for a national patent for the technology of frying stinky tofu.

Then, in terms of chain promotion, Wu Lizhong chose a more worry-free business method of regional agency. ?I only manage regional agents. Different regions pay different franchise fees at one time, and then pay a certain management fee every year. I don't care how many chain stores are opened in a region. These are all handled by the regional agent, which saves me a lot of trouble. ?

To date, Wu Lizhong has agents in 60 regions across the country and has opened more than 200 chain stores. Wu Lizhong said that he can earn one million yuan this year from just franchise fees, management fees and other peripheral income. The profit from selling stinky tofu is indeed good. A piece of stinky tofu worth 20 or 30 cents can be sold for 5 yuan. Wu Zifang makes a lot of money every time he opens it.

Could it be that Wu Lizhong is not afraid that people from other places will steal his technology and establish another banner? Wu Lizhong said he was not afraid, because he only had some recipes. He distributed them to chain stores every month and conducted quality inspections every month. Without this recipe, he would not be able to make the Wu Zifang flavor.

But Wu Lizhong is also prepared. If a chain store leaves Wu Zifang and opens a new store, Wu Lizhong's plan to deal with him is: open a Wu Zifang near that store to defeat him. .

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