With less than a week left before the end of the holiday, Su Jianjun filled up the Santana with a full tank of gas, planning to indulge a bit more in the last few days. Suddenly, Zhao Lixia approved the purchase of the car.

When Old Su heard this good news from the tigress’ mouth, he was overjoyed.

Finally, they could buy a car. He initially thought there was no hope, but who knew things would take a turn at the last moment.

At the same time, Su’s dad suspected he was being played.

After he filled up that tank of gas, Su Zelin said he’d talk to Zhao Lixia one more time, to either succeed or fall trying.

The timing was a bit too perfect.

It was just a few days before school started, not too early nor too late, and right after the gas tank was filled, making it hard not to be suspicious.

One couldn’t help but feel that the kid could have persuaded his mom long ago, but deliberately dragged on so dad would fill up his winter break fuel!

To mess with his dad, he really did put in the effort.

Although Su Jianjun was a bit angry, overall, he was mostly happy.

He had to admit his son had some skills. Who knows what method he used to convince the tigress, but she actually agreed.

When Su Zelin swaggered over to ask for a reward, Su’s dad responded straightforwardly by transferring five thousand immediately. The father and son set off that day, excited to pick up the car, with neighbor Qin’s dad tagging along to join the fun.

Su Jianjun had his eyes on the same model Santana. After driving it for a while during the holiday, he felt it was pretty decent. The price was reasonable, slightly over a hundred thousand, not too expensive.

The Santana 2000 was a bit better, but it was four thousand more, which didn’t seem worth it.

The place to pick up the car was the same auto shop in Shenghai as before. Jianglan is quite close to Shenghai, just about 150 kilometers away, so they drove there and returned the same day.

Not long after picking up the car, the holidays were also nearly over.

Every time the holiday ended, Su Zelin had to return to school earlier than others because the digital store’s peak season started with the new school year, and work arrangements needed to be prepared early.

As expected, the five stores raked in profits during the back-to-school promotion once again. Seeing New Era frantically raking in money, Song Yuwei was a bit shocked, feeling it was faster than robbery, and legally too.

She now finally understood why New Era was able to open five branches within a year.

As Su Zelin was counting the money until his hands cramped, another piece of good news arrived.

"President Su, someone from New World contacted me today, saying they hope to join. What do you think?"

Brother Xiao Yang said over the phone.

Su Zelin chuckled upon hearing this.

Hey, can’t handle it anymore?

In fact, New World hadn’t been open very long either. If you exclude the month of winter vacation, it had only been operating since New Year’s Day, roughly two months.

Zhang Yuanhang wasn’t a patient person. This leader’s son was overly ambitious, thinking he could succeed just because others made money with this model.

However, getting hit right from the start was a severe blow to him. Being used as a stepping stone by New Era and labeled as a knock-off and copycat, his image at the Polytechnic University was ruined, and there were management issues. It was a complete mess with no progress during the New Year or back-to-school peak seasons, leading to a gloomy atmosphere. Zhang Yuanhang was disheartened.

Seeing his son lose motivation, Zhang Baisheng, as a father, gave him a clever idea. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

If you can’t beat them, join them!

If New World’s brand switched to New Era, the knock-off image issue wouldn’t exist.

How to operate and manage the team — having already opened five successful branches, New Era naturally excelled in this.

This was the fastest and best way for New World to resurrect.

"Franchise, huh..."

Su Zelin wasn’t actually opposed to franchise stores.

Last semester, he discussed plans for New Era’s future development with Brother Xiao Yang.

One option was to stick to the current direct ownership model,

The other was to recruit franchise stores.

This was also a common method used by future chain businesses to expand their scale.

Each had its advantages and disadvantages.

Direct ownership stores are managed by the head office itself, from setting up the stores to team building, store manager appointments, employee recruitment, and training all handled personally.

The head office holds absolute control. This method is stable but because each store requires a significant investment of energy and funds, the development speed is slow.

Franchise stores are just the opposite; you can use others’ money, resources, and manpower to grow and expand your brand awareness while also charging franchise fees.

At first glance it seems like a win-win, but this is not the case.

Each franchise store’s investors, management, and teams vary, leading to inconsistent quality issues. Some poorly managed franchise stores might even affect the entire brand’s image.

It’s like the saying about one bad apple spoiling the barrel.

Choosing between the two models is an important issue worth discussing for many new companies.

But for Su Zelin, this was not a problem.

He had long made up his mind.

A hybrid of both models is the best method.

Direct ownership stores must continue to open, serving as high-quality, exemplary stores with the best image and service, while also accepting franchise stores.

But the application review for franchise stores should be strict.

Just like KFC and McDonald’s, if you, as an investor, plan to open a store in a certain city, these major fast-food brands’ headquarters will first bring people over for an inspection, ensuring the store’s location is superb with enough foot traffic before the first step is considered fulfilled.

If the foot traffic is insufficient and the store employees are idle, it would affect the giant’s brand image.