Chinanews client, Beijing, August 19 (Zuo Yukun) Have you ever thought about opening a small shop?
Take care of yourself, have your own style, sell what you like, and make friends you like. Even if you can't be a good businessman, you must be a heart-warming shopkeeper.
If a small shop is alive, the people's livelihood is prosperous. In July, the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the "Notice on the Promotion of Small Store Economic Promotion Actions" issued by the Ministry of Commerce, which put forward the vision of small store construction, reaching the goal of "100 cities, 100 districts and 100 million stores" in five years.
Citizens prepare dinner outside their small shop. Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Chang
The "Human World" and "Human Ideal" in the shop
“Actually, for me, I don’t have a diploma or other craftsmanship. The purpose of opening a small shop is to earn some living expenses to support my family.” Ms. Zhang, who sells Anhui Fuyang roll cakes on the eighth floor of Xidan Pearl, Beijing, has been in Beijing for ten years. I have done shopping guides in shopping malls and micro-businesses in Moments. Two years ago, she rented a small stall in the prosperous area of Xidan to sell her hometown specialty rolls.
"In fact, this is a roadside snack in our hometown. Everyone pushes a tricycle to practice stalls. I never dare to say how well they did it." Zhang Jie is very humble with her craft, but her rolls are not passed by. The recommendation of less food bloggers has become a "net celebrity". "Enthusiasm, adequate quantity, deliciousness, and authenticity" are their most comments.
Speaking of her own experience in opening a small shop, Sister Zhang felt that she had to be able to endure hardship. Her alarm clock is set all year round at 4 o'clock in the morning. She wakes up to make cakes and cooks, and is busy until 10 o'clock in the evening to get home.
"When I first opened for a few months, it was still dark at four o'clock in the morning. I fell off the stairs of the rental room and broke my knees and ankles. The moment I fell, I was thinking, Don't fall to death. I still have a son to raise." Sister Zhang mentioned this experience with a smile. She said that after she calmed down at the time, she got up in a second and rushed to the store.
Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that by the end of 2019, there were more than 80 million registered small shops across the country, driving about 200 million jobs. The sweat and efforts of 200 million ordinary people are hidden in these 80 million small stores. It may water the expectation of a mother, the dream of a pair of children, the abundance of a family, and the harmony of a city.
In August, Li Zhong, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, stated at a regular briefing by the State Council Information Office that he encourages the development of self-employed businesses, guides workers to establish small-scale economic entities, and supports the development of various specialty shops.
Speaking of characteristics, the "Little Concerto Grocery Store", which ranks No. 1 on the Popular Dianping's Beijing Grocery and Gifts Hot List, is different from the fireworks of Zhang Jie's roll-moon store. It is an "ideal" store with full personality.
Lao Cao's grocery store. Photo courtesy of respondents
"The store just wants to show something that is different from others in terms of thinking and management. I want to let everyone know that there is such a small store that is still incompatible with the general concept of the public, and at the same time the idea is clear and not artificial." Lao Cao told Chinanews.com.
Lao Cao’s grocery store is really "miscellaneous", with second-hand classic stereos, sixteen-track machines, plugs, hammers, wrenches, second-hand car stereos modified by himself, M65 jackets, boots, masks... and all kinds of strange things. Strange, unnamed things, as well as his own "concertino" brand notebooks, postcards, bookmarks, and stickers.
Facing the influence of e-commerce platforms on small grocery stores, Lao Cao’s management is very "Buddha": "What we sell is a service. We also buy some goods from Taobao, and we sell what you can see and touch. Things, as well as a kind of fun of shopping, the extra price is equal to the ticket money for setting up an entertainment venue."
In the view of Zhang Jie and Lao Cao, although the takeaway and online shopping are very developed now, the experience of face-to-face communication in offline stores cannot be replaced by online stores. This may be the reason why small stores maintain their vigor.
After the epidemic storm, the small shop economy quickly recovered
However, the sudden outbreak of the epidemic has both hit the business of Zhang Jie and Lao Cao.
"Our stall rents for more than 100,000 yuan a year, because everything is processed by ourselves, and we also rented a special kitchen. During the epidemic, we opened our eyes every morning and didn't make any money. The rent of several hundred yuan was gone. This is the main reason. Difficulty." Sister Zhang told Chinanews.com.
"It is also inevitable that we closed business for more than half a month during the first wave of the epidemic. However, we are always lucky. We are not operating in restaurants and we are not in areas with high epidemics, so we will continue to operate when the epidemic eases. Now." Old Cao said.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, since the outbreak of the epidemic, nearly 60 million small shops have encountered operating difficulties, accounting for more than 70% of the more than 80 million registered small shops across the country. However, it is precisely because of the small and flexible nature that, with the support of various policies issued by the country, the small shop economy quickly regained its vitality.
Data map: The takeaway boy is taking orders. Photo by Liu Run
On April 3, Zhang's roll-up shop resumed business. "Now, my family should be able to restore about 70% of the flow of people, but the customers are still not as fixed as before, and they can sell more than 100 copies a day."
Sister Zhang said that during the epidemic, many people were suffocated and greedy. So recently, her family has "planted grass" on the Internet, and many more people come from afar to eat rolls.
Meituan big data shows that in June, the consumption recovery rate of small service stores across the country achieved a steady increase, which was 3.3 times higher than that in February when the epidemic was more serious; in July, the national small shop consumption recovery rate exceeded 90%. The transaction amount increased by 23% from the previous month.
"During the epidemic, the number of people patronizing the store can be reduced by half, and the business must be seriously affected." But even if he lost money, Lao Cao did not delay his employees' wages and the previously promised employee meals.
"The landlord mentioned the rent reduction, but I refused, but the rent payment time was delayed to ease. Don't make yourself so pitiful, think of ways to work hard, don't talk about it!" Old Cao said with a smile.
Similarly, Sister Zhang did not fire the helper in the store. The two are busy and continue to struggle in the city that is gradually returning to life.
"The rapid recovery of the'small shop economy' reflects that China's economy affected by the epidemic is gradually returning to the right track, and it also reflects the potential and resilience of China's economy." Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the Economic Policy Committee of the China Policy Research Institute, analyzed.
"Hundreds of cities, thousands of districts and 100 million stores" activate the city's "capillaries"
Small shops usually refer to individual industrial and commercial households in the wholesale, retail, catering, beauty salon, maintenance, distribution services and other industries for residents, micro-enterprises with less than 10 employees or annual turnover of less than 1 million yuan, and an annual turnover of 1,500 Online stores below 10,000 yuan.
"The small shop economy can only be popular and smoke-fired when it is combined with the needs of the people." Ma Peihong, deputy director of the Beijing Xicheng District Bureau of Commerce, said recently.
Small shops are like "capillaries", distributed in every corner of the city. The rise of small shops can not only bring convenience to surrounding residents, but also support families; moreover, the large number of small shops also affects the growth of employment and indirectly promotes the recovery and development of other related industries.
In July, seven departments including the Ministry of Commerce and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the "Notice on the Promotion of the Small Store Economy", proposing to promote the healthy and prosperous development of the small store economy. By 2025, cultivate 100 pilot cities (districts) for the small shop economy, empower 100 service companies, and form 1,000 small shop clusters with high popularity and "fireworks", reaching the goal of "100 cities, 100 districts and 100 million shops" .
Data map: Staff from the Taxation Bureau of Xifeng District, Qingyang, Gansu, went to the store to explain the latest preferential tax policies. Photo courtesy of Gansu Provincial Taxation Bureau
In reality, it is inevitable that small shops also have their natural defects. In addition to weak anti-risk capabilities, there are also public health and safety hazards.
In response, the notice puts forward a series of safeguard measures, requiring all localities to implement the current policies to support small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households such as tax reduction and fee reduction, financial support, and optimization of the business environment.
"In terms of fiscal policies, we must provide preferential tax and fee policies for small shops; in terms of financial policies, we must encourage innovation in financial products that serve small shops and improve the pertinence of financial services; in terms of social security policies, it is necessary to recruit people for small shops. Regulating its social security payment, it is also necessary to consider its affordability and provide appropriate subsidies," said Lou Feipeng, a researcher at China Postal Savings Bank.
How to do a good job in a small shop is a test of every small shop operator, as well as the patience and wisdom of city managers. (Finish)