Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Chapter 1074: Li Shi Decided To Invest In The Gym

Xue Zhebin nodded in agreement. “In that case, he made a huge profit hiring Lin Jiaqiang for such a strong endorsement!”

“The publicity video at the news conference was very well done. This kind of nonsensical witty style allowed Lin Jiaqiang’s acting skills to be fully displayed. It left a deep impression on everyone.”

“On the other hand, Lin Jiaqiang’s personal experience after the product was released also dispelled many people’s doubts.”

“The most important thing is that the Lin Jiaqiang’s business partnership fee is very low, but his reputation is not low. You can say that every cent is spent on the blade. It’s super worth it!”

“Previously, I was still feeling smug about the marketing activities that I did. Compared to Boss Pei, I’m far from that!”

Li Shi smiled. “That’s normal. Anyone who interacted with Boss Pei would have similar thoughts.”

“Boss Pei is just like that. His actions interlink with each other. Every choice that you think is ordinary might have a series of tricks behind it!”

“If we hire someone who is very close to us or Zhang Zuting, we would definitely be able to invite them. However, their figures are too good. It would not be convincing to endorse this product. Everyone would think that their figures were trained in the gym and have nothing to do with the smart fitness drying rack.”

“On the other hand, Lin Jiaqiang has a fitness requirement. Boss Pei is very confident in his products, that’s why Lin Jiaqiang could lose weight so effectively!”

“I have to say that this strange and ridiculous product has once again overturned my understanding.”

“Sometimes, I wonder why Boss Pei has so many ideas and wisdom at such a young age. I can only say that there are still geniuses in this world...”

Everyone sighed at Boss Pei’s foresight as they reviewed the series of stunts from publicity to sales of the smart fitness drying rack.

Yao Bo suddenly thought of something as they chatted.

“By the way, have you heard of this news, Boss Li?”

“Tengda’s first experience shop is confirmed to be at Golden Prosperity Square.”

Li Shi was stunned for a moment. “Golden Prosperity Square? Isn’t that the shopping mall that you guys took over?”

Golden Prosperity Square was similar to the name of the Jinding Corporation. In fact, it was related. The Jinding Corporation had some investments in Jingzhou, and Golden Prosperity Square happened to be one of them.

However, Jinding Corporation was only one of the shareholders behind Golden Prosperity Square. They had a certain say but they did not have absolute control. They basically did not ask about the daily operations of this shopping mall.

Thus, Yao Bo did not know about this immediately.

Yao Bo said, “I just found out about this not long ago. Tengda seems to have been more secretive this time. The shopping mall has also been keeping it a secret. They might only publicize it after some time.”

Li Shi perked up. “Thank you! This news is too important to me!”

“I’ll buy a few more shops nearby!”

“Oh right, did the shopping mall give Tengda a discount?”

Yao Bo answered, “Of course, it’s a discount! I heard that it’s a 40% discount on rental fees. The rent is waived for half a year. What’s more, they squeezed out a total of 7,000 square meters to rent to Tengda.”

Li Shi nodded approvingly. “Yes, the discount might not be much, but it’s not bad.”

“Remember, you have to be sincere when dealing with Boss Pei! The more sincere you are, the greater Boss Pei’s returns in your favor!”

“Tell the person-in-charge of the shopping mall to give them as many benefits as possible in the future. Don’t be stingy. Boss Pei will definitely repay them with ten or a hundred times the profits.”

Yao Bo quickly said, “Alright, I’ll call the shopping mall when I get back and remind them!”

...

After the meal, Li Shi sent Yao Bo and Xue Zhebin off. He then took a car for about half an hour and arrived at a shopping mall.

This was an inconspicuous shopping mall. It was not even ranked in Jingzhou.

After arriving at the mall, Li Shi went straight to the basement level. This was the headquarters of the Star Bird Fitness chain.

Not long after, a middle-aged man in his forties walked out briskly.

“Boss Li! Please come in.”

This middle-aged man was called Che Rong, the boss of the Star Bird Fitness.

Che Rong led the way eagerly. He brought Li Shi to the VIP room in the gym and personally made tea for him.

“Boss Li, what brings you here today? Let me know the next time you come so that I can entertain you in advance.”

Li Shi smiled. “Boss Che, you don’t have to be so polite. I suddenly thought of something today and came over to take a look.”

“About the investment you wanted... I thought about it and decided to invest.”

Che Rong looked pleasantly surprised. “Really? Boss Li, thank you so much!”

Li Shi raised his hand. “Don’t thank me yet. I have conditions.”

Che Rong quickly nodded. “Go ahead.”

Li Shi sipped his tea and considered where to start.

Star Bird Fitness was a chain gym in Jingzhou. There were more than a dozen shops but it did not make it into the top ten in Handong Province in terms of scale, market share, and reputation, not to mention in the country.

The fitness industry had been rather difficult for the past two years.

The domestic fitness industry began to develop rapidly around 2000. It was successfully enrolled in 2001. The topic of exercise began to be taken seriously. Many fitness cards in the gyms were hyped up to thousands of yuan each.

Such a craze naturally led to a large number of gyms. At about 2004, there were more than 500 gyms in Beijing. It could be said to be developing rapidly.

However, the competition would become more intense once there were more gyms. What’s more, the fitness industry was very homogeneous. If they wanted to attract more customers, they could only lower their prices. Thus, they gradually fell into a vicious cycle.

The annual card for large-scale gyms dropped from the original tens of thousands to about 3,000 yuan. The price of small clubs even fell to 700 to 800 yuan. There were only lower, no lowest.

This might allow customers to go to the gym at a more favorable price, but it also caused a series of chaos due to the low profits. For example, they could think of ways to promote private tutoring, and the gym could run away with money, etc.

Many gyms’ gross interest rates fell from 40% to less than 3%. Thus, in the past two years, there had been a crazy trend of failure. Just last year, which was 2011, more than 40 gyms in Beijing had closed down.

As a second-tier city, Jingzhou had fewer young people than first-tier cities. Its fitness habits were also worse. Naturally, the situation was not optimistic.

What made things worse was that after Deposit Fitness opened on a large scale, it provided a brand new fitness model that quickly snatched away a large number of customers that belonged to traditional gyms.

That made the situation facing Jingzhou’s small gyms, such as Star Bird Fitness, even more difficult.

Thus, Che Rong, the boss of Star Bird Fitness, had no choice but to seek investment everywhere, hoping to get through this difficult stage.

Li Shi’s Fu Hui Investments was very famous in Jingzhou. Of course, Che Rong had looked for him, but Li Shi had never given him a clear answer.

That was because Li Shi was an investor. Investments were about returns.

There was nothing special about Star Bird Fitness. Even if they invested, they might not be able to make money. Why would they invest?

Li Shi had originally wanted to reject Che Rong, but he suddenly changed his mind today.

“I can invest, but I have one condition: The money I invested must be used to purchase smart fitness drying racks and put them in various stores of Star Bird Fitness.”

Che Rong was stunned. “Huh? Boss Li, what do you mean?”

“I’ve seen the drying rack as well. It’s quite popular now, but it is a home fitness equipment, right?”

“Our gym is filled with professional fitness equipment. It’s better than this drying rack. Why should we change it?”

Li Shi shook his head. “One look and I can tell that you haven’t experienced it yourself.”

“The smart fitness drying rack is indeed a home-made fitness equipment. In terms of specific movements, it is not as good as professional fitness equipment.”

“However, it also has its own advantages. This is something that traditional fitness equipment cannot compare to! Combining games and equipment to make fitness no longer boring but full of fun, making it easier for people to persevere. This is something that traditional fitness equipment cannot do!”

“At the moment, most gyms are still unaware of this. This is a very good opportunity for us!”

“You might not be able to transform to the basic modes of Deposit Fitness, but you can still learn new fitness styles like the smart fitness drying rack!”

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