Returning with sincere labor - Li Shihong of Yucong Home Cooking Restaurant
My name is Li Shihong,
I was laid off in July 1997. At the same time, I was working in a state-owned enterprise My husband who was working was also laid off. Faced with the dilemma of having no food to eat, facing his infant children, and his old and frail mother-in-law, I realized how important a job is to a person. We looked through newspapers for job advertisements and asked relatives and friends to find out about jobs, but we felt at a loss.
Later I worked as a promoter in a shopping mall and a salesperson in an insurance company. The more I worked, the more I gained. I always worked a few hours longer than others. In order to make more money, I also helped people make supper and processed sauces. Later I learned from my neighbor that people in my situation could receive unemployment benefits from the streets. With the mentality of giving it a try, I found the Zhongshan Road sub-district office where I belonged. The comrades from the sub-district labor and social security service center warmly received me, and also carefully inquired about my living situation and asked me what difficulties I had. Facing the warm concern, I was so moved that I poured out all the words I had hidden in my heart. After they listened carefully, they encouraged me and said, you are so young and have personality, why can't you change your concept and turn "requiring jobs" into "creating jobs". This can not only solve personal employment problems, but also serve the society. The government will also provide full support.
When I got home, I thought over and over again, what is my expertise? Which expertise can help me accomplish my career? I thought about opening a restaurant, and after discussing it with my husband, he also strongly approved of it. We looked around for a place, and finally settled on a place in Haibo Food Street, but when we asked, the annual rent was 37,000 yuan. For our small, not wealthy family, this is undoubtedly an astronomical figure, which is equivalent to pouring cold water on my heated mind. At this time, the sub-district office extended a helping hand to us and gave us our first start-up capital of 2,000 yuan. Although the money was not much, it was of great significance and rekindled our passion for entrepreneurship. The words "If you have trouble finding your mother's family, you are welcome to come home often" almost made me cry. In the next few days, my husband and I ran around asking relatives and friends to borrow money, and finally collected 30,000 yuan. There was only more than a month before the New Year, and it took a day of talking before the other party agreed to transfer the house. Rent it to us.
In this way, my husband and I started a new job as both bosses and assistants. Regardless of the number of people or the number of people, it is guaranteed to be open every day; regardless of whether the food is expensive or cheap, quality must be the first priority. I was busy until New Year's Eve, and returned to my mother-in-law's house with only a few sauced chickens in my hands. Because we don't have time or money to buy new year's goods, let alone buy a few new clothes. My mother-in-law understood our business very well and the family was very happy, but at that time we were under a lot of pressure. Whether the hotel can be run successfully is not only related to our work, but also to the credibility of repaying debts and the government's expectations.
I believe that sincerity will eventually be rewarded. Soon, the business of our hotel began to boom, and the return of funds also accelerated. My husband and I discussed that we should seize the business opportunity to expand the scale. Later, we took a fancy to a newly built outlet room on Hexing Road, so we rushed to the Weihai Road Industrial and Commercial Office to inquire about the business license. After asking about it, we found out about opening a restaurant. It involved multiple departments for approval, and we didn't know what to do for a while. The staff of the Industrial and Commercial Office learned that we were laid-off workers and borrowed money to run a restaurant. They were very sympathetic and personally took us to the pre-approval office where we needed to apply for a business license. The relevant departments helped us introduce the situation and went through the relevant procedures, allowing us to open our business in the shortest time. I named this home-cooked restaurant after my daughter: Yu Cong. This means that we should take good care of this hotel as we take care of our own daughter. As the business got better and better, I first thought of my laid-off and unemployed sisters who had the same experience as me. I hired more than a dozen laid-off workers to work in catering and cleaning.
But not long after, an elder sister resigned. I knew that her family life was very difficult, and there must be a reason for her resignation.
I learned from the conversation that she was mainly afraid of losing face. I was angry and sympathetic, so I finally changed her job type to retain her. Once, an employee was injured in an accident at work. I rushed to the hospital to pay the medical bills, and then drove him home to recuperate. When his illness improved a little, he bought some fruit to thank me. I said, your financial situation is not good, how can the food you buy taste good? You should seize the time to recuperate, and you will still be working after your injury!
The sincere relationship with employees makes this group as united and friendly as a family, and everyone is enthusiastic at work. "Yucong is sincere forever and serves enthusiastically every day" has become everyone's common sense. The reputation of the brand has been established, which has also brought about the booming business of this store. Now it has developed into three chain stores with more than 100 employees, including laid-off workers.
My entrepreneurial journey has received great support from the party and the government, and various preferential policies for laid-off and unemployed people have been fully implemented here. The only thing I can repay is to run the company well, strive to expand its scale, create more jobs, and solve problems for the party and the government.