为同学留个聚会地，温州两名15岁少年合伙开咖啡店Set aside a gathering place for classmates, two 15-year-old teenagers from Wenzhou partner to open a coffee shop

Tide News Client Reporter Li Muzi Wenzhou Urban Daily Reporter Huang Mengsi

In Qidu Street, Lucheng District, Wenzhou, there is a coffee shop called "Nine Year One Class" that is quite famous. This store features black as the main color scheme, vintage clock tables, French black pearl chairs, and stylish furnishings.

But what really sets this store apart are two immature partners - Xiao Luo and Xiao Dai, both 15 years old and just graduated from Class 9 (1) of the Qidu Branch of Wenzhou Experimental High School. With the support of their parents, this summer they stepped into their own entrepreneurial story.

Xiao Dai (left) and Xiao Luo (right), photographed by Huang Mengsi, a reporter from Wenzhou City Daily

Set aside a gathering place for classmates

Class monitor and partner open a coffee shop

When the reporter visited, Xiao Luo was sitting at a table, reciting English words in a low voice. I've been busy until quite late these past few days, and I haven't had time to memorize the words. I have class in the afternoon, "he said shyly.

Xiao Luo and Xiao Dai were both class monitors when they were in ninth grade, and they cooperated seamlessly in class affairs. In mid May of this year, Xiao Dai approached Xiao Luo and asked if he wanted to open a coffee shop together. Xiao Luo found it quite interesting and readily agreed.

The answer given by Xiao Dai as to why he chose Xiao Luo as a partner is, "He is quite bold, has ideas, and has strong execution ability

When it comes to why he wants to open a store at the age of 15, Xiao Luo is honest: "Firstly, to accumulate social practice experience, and secondly, to earn some pocket money. But most importantly, to leave a place for his classmates after graduation where they can often meet and gather together

Xiao Dai has a longer-term idea: "I have always had a dream of entrepreneurship, but when I was a student, there were too few opportunities to interact with society. This is just a window for us to engage with the real world in advance

Entrepreneurship cannot be separated from initial capital investment. Xiao Luo said that he borrowed 90000 yuan from his mother as start-up capital, while Xiao Dai took out 40000 yuan of pocket money and borrowed 50000 yuan from his parents, both of whom provided support.

Although the storefront is rent free in the early stage, renovation requires a large amount of capital investment, and relying solely on the start-up capital of 180000 yuan from two people is far from enough to cover it. Therefore, Xiao Dai's father decided to invest and make up for the funds.

In mid May, after inspecting the site, Xiao Luo and Xiao Dai finalized the project and started construction in the early stage. After the June high school entrance examination, the two of them devoted themselves wholeheartedly to store decoration, installing light strips, arranging furniture, and creating photo walls by themselves, spending about two weeks before and after. Xiao Dai smiled and said that in order to save expenses, he would do everything he could do on his own.

Photo wall taken by Huang Mengsi, a reporter from Wenzhou City Daily

The photo wall in the store is their favorite corner, filled with photos of teachers and classmates, graduation posters, and handwritten messages. We plan to collect some school uniforms and things around the campus in the future

Speaking of the origin of the store name "Nine Year One Class", Xiao Dai explained that it is not just a class number, but also represents the entire youth of the two of them and the whole class during their three years of junior high school. He also hopes that every customer who enters the store can find a little bit of their own youth here.

Two weeks after opening, the turnover was nearly 8000 yuan

The boy admits that it's not easy

On July 4th, the "Nine Year One Class" officially opened. As of July 20th, including member recharge, the turnover has reached over 7900 yuan. But the two teenagers admitted, "Doing business is not as easy as imagined

At the beginning of its opening, the store had low visibility and could only sell single digit cup volumes per day. Xiao Luo frankly said, "I was quite anxious at that time, it was different from what I expected." It wasn't until the enthusiastic recommendation of the homeroom teacher Zhang that the news of the 15-year-old boy's partnership entrepreneurship spread, and many customers came to admire it.

At the same time, the "Nine Year One Class" coffee shop has also become a gathering place for students from the Qidu Branch of Wenzhou Experimental High School. Everyone gathers here, drinking drinks and chatting about their youth topics.

At present, the coffee shop has 5 employees, including 1 professional barista, 1 kitchen chef, and 3 social practice students recruited from the school. "One of the students is specially responsible for video promotion. His Tiktok video once became popular and attracted many customers to the store," said Xiao Dai.

Not long after the trial operation, Xiao Dai also discovered some problems: the coffee shop lacked an attractive check-in point, making it difficult to attract customers' attention. We are preparing to solicit feedback from customers, continuously improve our shortcomings, deepen the unique style and cultural connotation of our store, and retain customers

How will the two teenagers manage this shop in the face of their upcoming high school life? The two of them said in unison, "We plan to hire someone to manage it." Next, Xiao Luo will go to Shanghai to study at a high school, where he can remotely monitor store and operational data; And Xiao Dai goes to school in Wenzhou and goes back to the store on weekends to take care of it.

Regarding the possible outcomes of this entrepreneurship, both individuals stated, "If the entrepreneurship is successful, we plan to incubate more branches. If it fails, we will accumulate experience, review the reasons, and start over from scratch in the future

In the eyes of parents and teachers

What's richer than coffee is the taste of growth

It wasn't until the opening day that I found out they were named 'Class One of the Ninth Year', and I was deeply moved. "In the eyes of the homeroom teacher, Teacher Zhang, this name was not chosen casually, but rather a concrete expression of Xiao Luo and Xiao Dai's appreciation for their three-year junior high school life and their reluctance to part with their classmates. It is also a memory of everyone's youth.

Teacher Zhang bluntly stated that students' primary task is to learn, but they can still have dreams outside of learning. Two boys proved through their actions that learning and dreams are not multiple-choice questions, but parallel lines that grow together. Of course, this luck also comes from the understanding and support of their parents

Mr. Dai, the father of Xiao Dai, provided concrete support for the dreams of the young people. Mr. Dai told reporters that he is the regional agent of a well-known coffee brand in Wenzhou and has opened six coffee shops in Wenzhou. This store was originally part of his planned project, but he ultimately decided to leave the entrepreneurial opportunity to the children to experience and try.

When I was 15 years old, I had already shouldered the heavy burden of starting a family, so I hoped that their youth would not only have textbooks, but also real business practices. "Mr. Dai said that before the project was launched, it was just before the middle school entrance examination. Despite his busy academic schedule, he still took two days off for his children and inspected six coffee shops.

Photos provided by interviewees for beverages in the store

Many children's graduation rewards for the middle school entrance examination are tourism and shopping. When I asked them whether they would choose tourism and shopping or running a store, they chose the latter, "Mr. Dai said." Right and wrong are experienced, not taught. In the process, we do not participate in management, only provide support. "In his educational philosophy, he focuses more on cultivating business model thinking, allowing children to stand in the perspective of managers, review product sales through online data, adjust business strategies, and learn business knowledge.

Mr. Dai also gained new inspiration from his son. He proposed the "Youth Partner" mechanism: teenagers can earn salaries through summer social practice, exchange small shares in stores, and deeply participate in store management decisions. He plans to gradually release his own shares in the future and attract more young people and students with entrepreneurial ideas to participate. He hopes that these young people will open more branches before graduating from university, so that they can have diverse practical experiences.

In the entrepreneurial story of Xiao Dai and Xiao Luo, Teacher Zhang also saw a vivid testimony about the essence of education. She said that the essence of education is people-oriented, and the most important thing for people is to learn how to live. Life is not just about grades and academic advancement, but also about passion, experimentation, and perseverance. It's about doing something meaningful with partners. Two middle school students chose to experience life and pursue their dreams in their own way after graduation, which is itself the most touching aspect of education

A small shop, two teenagers, three years of friendship, lifelong memories, "said Teacher Zhang. He did not deliberately expect the coffee shop to have a booming business, but only hoped that they would harvest a richer taste of growth than coffee in the process of doing things seriously.

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