Chapter 430: Chapter 165: Cracking Down on Copycats—A Slacker’s Dirty Trick!

Following trends like this is actually quite common in the world today.

Say you open a successful milk tea shop in a city, once the business is booming, it’s sure to be followed by several similar ones in a few days.

As for big brands, there’s even more to say.

Take the well-known Western fast-food brand KFC for example, various knockoff stores have been popping up like mushrooms in different cities across the country.

Names like Ken De Ji, Ken Ta Ji, De Ke Shi, Mai Ken Ji, Ken Mai Ji, Texas Burger...

As for the English versions, they’re even more ridiculous.

According to enthusiastic netizens, knockoffs using KFC-like names have formed an alphabet, AFC, BFC, CFC, DFC... all the way to ZFC, except for KFC.

Ah, sorry, KFC is the original, forgot to include it in the count.

All of them also sell mainly fried chicken, fries, and burgers, copying store names, decor styles, food tastes, and even employee uniforms.

The most successful among them is Wallace, which managed to open over ten thousand stores nationwide using its imitation strategy, becoming a direct competitor to KFC.

As it happens, the owners are from Zhejiang Province, from Wenzhou, two brothers with the surname Hua.

Seeing the money-making potential of KFC, the brothers had a sudden inspiration and started their entrepreneurial journey with eighty thousand yuan, founding their brand in 2001.

They initially targeted college students because KFC was still a novelty at the time, and college students are more open to new things, so they opened a high-end KFC knockoff near a university in Fuzhou, copying the decor completely but offering cheaper prices, successfully attracting many student customers.

In this era, because information wasn’t as advanced, following trends was somewhat rarer, but still unavoidable.

Su Zelin was already mentally prepared, he just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

"Baohong, don’t get so worked up!"

He smiled slightly, calmly saying, "Let them copy. Someone imitating us actually shows one thing—what we’re doing is excellent!"

"A failed company wouldn’t have imitators. Our model is undoubtedly successful to attract others’ attention and imitation."

"Being imitated isn’t scary. Following someone else step by step, always lagging behind, makes it extremely difficult to surpass!"

Wallace is strong, right? But can it surpass KFC?

No, it can’t!

And among thousands of knockoff stores, only it successfully stood out.

Surpassing the original isn’t impossible but usually happens when the original drops in quality or the imitator has unique advantages, occurring only in rare circumstances.

"A successful enterprise requires many factors, including favorable timing, location, and people. Simply copying a brand, decor, or strategy won’t lead to success!"

"From the key staff to the employee team, even the small details can have a huge impact, as they say, the devil is in the details!"

"For that store to surpass us, their boss would need to be better than me and President Yang, build an excellent team, and actively innovate. If they just follow us, they’ll always be left behind, eating crumbs!"

Kang Baohong regained his spirit.

After Su Zelin’s analysis, he realized the copycat didn’t really possess any advantages that would pose a significant threat to New Era.

Just the founders alone seemed to be on a completely different level.

Kang Baohong was now an avid fan of his boss, deeply admiring Su Zelin’s vision and skills.

That imitator couldn’t possibly outperform the boss!

Moreover, New Era also had a capable President Yang, which made it an even stronger contender.

Our team building was also very successful, positive, united, and cohesive, which isn’t necessarily the case for others.

"Boss, President Yang, I was indeed not calm enough!"

Kang Baohong took a deep breath, quickly adjusting his mindset.

I still lack composure, reacting too wildly to challenges. Compared to the boss, the gap is too wide. I need to learn more from him to stay calm and accurately analyze problems in the company’s development path.

"That’s more like it!"

Su Zelin expressed his satisfaction.

"There’s no need to get upset over such trivial matters or even look down on them."

"As New Era grows bigger and stronger, its reputation will expand. Even without this copycat, others will follow."

"Facing such situations, New Era’s task is to excel in itself. Remember, we are pioneers in the digital industry, wielding control, while others are merely chasers, drinking our leftovers!"

"The existence of knockoff competitors, to a certain extent, can even highlight New Era, elevate our position in the industry, and keep us on our toes, ensuring we never stop progressing!"

The boss’s speech enlightened Kang Baohong.

This is probably what the boss meant by saying everything has two sides.

What seemed like a troublesome issue suddenly didn’t seem like a big deal anymore and might even have some advantages.

Brother Xiao Yang aptly chimed in, "President Su is right. In the path of business development and expansion, competition is everywhere, and this is something we must always face. Oh, and I’ve heard some insider info from the suppliers. The owner behind the newly opened store near the polytechnic is the son of a prominent leader in Lin’an, with the last name Zhang. He’s quite young, just graduated from college, with a background in computer science. He has a bit of cunning but is a rookie and outsider in the digital industry, with little experience and a high opinion of himself, disdaining to join forces with industry insiders, currently fighting alone!"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com