Client Background
Ms. Z was born in the 1970’s, in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. Ms. Z currently has one son with her husband Mr. W, Ms. W. He is currently a Primary School student at Fuzhou Normal School Affiliated Primary School.
Business Background
China has rapidly become the second largest restaurant market, as a result of rising incomes and an ever-expanding middle class; combined with younger digital-centric customers popularizing digital payment/food-delivery apps, driving demand for the food industry. In addition, more attention has shifted towards casual and mid-range chains, as more high-end choices have lost consumer taste due to corruption and extravagant spending crackdowns by the state government.
In 2002, Ms. Z & her husband Mr. W opened their first Chuanxiang (川湘菜) cuisine specialties restaurant in D. Road, Fuzhou. The signature dish of their restaurant is their famous ‘Mapo Tofu’, competitively priced at just RMB 2 per serving. The popularity of this dish amongst diners, combined with its low price, has provided them with large profits and plenty of brand attention.
In 2012, noting the popularity of Mapo tofu, Ms. Z decided to create a restaurant dedicated to the dish. She travelled to Sichuan (Szechuan) to learn about the dish itself at its roots, refining her recipe and skills in cooking the famous spicy-tofu dish. She returned to Fuzhou and applied their top-down fast food chain restaurant experiences in August 2012, founding the ‘Mrs. C (C&M)’ brand; with minimal capital of RMB400k or (USD59k).
Since 2012, the Mrs. C franchise has grown from a humble husband and wife restaurant, to a fast-food chain with over 100 stores in 9 cities across China: not only in Fujian, but also in Nanchang, Guangzhou, Huizhou, Nanning, Xinxiang, Shenyang, Guangxi, and Zhengzhou. The restaurant chain has become renowned for its homely, family-style atmosphere: extending from the homestyle decor to the loud ‘welcome home!’ greetings by staff as diners enter. The ‘mapo’ themed dishes also are priced reasonably to cater to any budget, especially working class customers. Each restaurant aims to prove that ‘fulfilling cuisine, does not have to be expensive’.
Financial Goals
Both husband and wife aim for the Mrs. C franchise to operate more than 200 branches, across fifteen city states within China in the next 5 years. Targets include the major capitals, such as Beijing; Tianjin; Shantong, Zhejiang; Guizhou & Yunnan.
In addition, Ms. Z and Mr. W aim to accumulate their 2nd significant wealth in 2021, when their franchise Mrs. C will be IPO’ed in both Shenzhen & Hong Kong Stock Exchange at estimated market price valuation at RMB 840million (or USD118mio) or at Projected PE 8x / PS 2x with Net Profit Margin of 25% per annum & Projected Annual Turnover of RMB420mio.
Axiom served as an advisor to the entrepreneur couple by guiding them through the various regulations to list their business as an IPO publicly, ensuring they could register legally as an IPO entity on the Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges respectively.