Price reduction?

Wei Yan fell into deep thought.

The sports meet had already been held several times, and each iteration was generally more refined than the last.

The sports events were already quite comprehensive, so there was no need for further changes.

After each event concluded, there would also be a performance segment.

What other activities could be added to enhance the atmosphere of the sports meet or boost employee cohesion?

Knock, knock, knock!

The office door was suddenly knocked, and Xu Yuan soon pushed it open and walked in.

"General Manager Wei, this is the project progress for the past few days. Please take a look."

Xu Yuan walked to the desk and handed over the documents in her hand.

"Hmm, take a look at this."

Wei Yan nodded, accepted the documents from Xu Yuan, and simultaneously handed her the sports meet materials.

Since he couldn't think of any good activities himself, he would let someone else take a look; perhaps she would have some good suggestions.

"General Manager Wei, this is…"

"You'll know once you've finished reading it."

"Alright!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan stopped asking and lowered her head to review the contents of the documents.

A while later,

Wei Yan had finished reviewing the project progress, which was largely in line with his prior expectations, so he paid it no further mind. He looked up at Xu Yuan and saw that she had also set down the documents in her hand.

"Well? Have you thought of any activities that could enhance the atmosphere of the sports meet or boost cohesion?"

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.

"General Manager Wei, I do have some ideas, but they might be a bit too time-consuming, which might not be appropriate for a company event."

"Tell me your thoughts first."

"General Manager Wei, I feel that if we want to make the sports meet grander, we should make it more formal. It should include the necessary procedures, such as an opening ceremony and a closing ceremony—elements that were missing previously."

"For instance, for the opening ceremony, we could arrange for each company to train a group of people. At the start of the ceremony, these groups could march in formation. As for the formation arrangements, each company could design them based on their specific field, and they could also come up with a slogan."

"However, although this is an employee sports meet and the formations don't need to be overly strict, they shouldn't be too chaotic either; a basic level of neatness must be maintained. But doing this would require time for training. And as long as there is training, it will eat into the employees' working hours and reduce work efficiency."

Xu Yuan briefly explained all her ideas and concerns.

"Hmm, I understand. You may go back to your work."

Wei Yan nodded. Once Xu Yuan had left, he searched for videos of sports meets online and began watching them.

He then began designing the specific procedures for the sports meet. Xu Yuan's suggestion was indeed good, but the issue of delaying employee work time was a valid concern. Therefore, he decided to draft the plan first and then have General Manager Chen review it.

If it was approved, he could then proceed with the arrangements.

…

Nanhe Coffee.

At a coffee table in the corner.

Song Xia looked at the sparse number of customers in the shop, her face full of worry.

"Teacher Su, General Manager Chen will be here soon. How are we supposed to explain this?"

"We have no choice but to explain it truthfully."

Su Dan shook her head helplessly. She was at a complete loss regarding the appearance of a competitor at such a time.

The main issue was that the other party had completely replicated the business model of their Nanhe Coffee, leaving them with no options.

She had even tried talking to the people over at Nanrui Coffee, but their attitude was extremely firm, and they wouldn't even give her a chance to negotiate.

A while later,

The shop door opened.

Chen Mo pushed the door open and walked in. After glancing around, he noticed Su Dan and Song Xia sitting in the corner and walked straight over.

"Hello, General Manager Chen!"

"Hello, General Manager Chen!"

Seeing General Manager Chen approaching, Song Xia and Su Dan hurriedly stood up to greet him.

"Hmm, please, have a seat."

Chen Mo nodded, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He scanned the coffee shop and noted that the customers were very sparse; the current volume of customers didn't even reach half of what it had been a short while ago.

Hmm!

Exactly; this was the kind of coffee shop he needed.

Soon, a staff member brought over a cup of coffee.

Chen Mo reached out to take the coffee, then looked up at Song Xia and Su Dan.

"Tell me, what is the current situation at Nanhe Coffee?"

Song Xia observed General Manager Chen's expression and found that he didn't look dissatisfied as she had imagined; instead, he seemed rather pleased. This puzzled her, but the tension in her heart dissipated significantly.

After gathering her thoughts for a moment, she spoke quickly.

"It's like this, General Manager Chen. Our competitor is Nanrui Coffee. They have completely replicated our business model at Nanhe Coffee. Aside from their coffee being 5-10 cents cheaper than ours, everything else is basically identical, including the decor style, staff configuration, staff salary and benefits, and even our 'Love Seats'… and so on."

"Now, because their prices are slightly cheaper and all their configurations are similar to our coffee shop, most customers have essentially abandoned our Nanhe Coffee and chosen Nanrui Coffee instead."

"At present, our Nanhe Coffee is operating at a loss. However, we have investigated, and Nanrui Coffee's current operating state isn't very good either. Although they have attracted more than half of the customers to their coffee shop, they are also currently operating at a loss."

"We also tried communicating with the person in charge over at Nanrui Coffee to see if both sides could reach a compromise, as continuing to operate like this isn't good for either party."

"However, their attitude was extremely firm; they had no intention of compromising whatsoever."

Listening to Song Xia, Chen Mo was secretly alarmed. He hadn't expected that Song Xia and the others had already tried to communicate with the person in charge of the rival coffee shop. Fortunately, the other party's attitude had been firm, and they hadn't agreed to Song Xia and the others' suggestions.

If they had actually agreed, things might have gone wrong, and the coffee shop—having only just been losing money for a few days—might have returned to a profitable state.

Fortunately, he had come today. Such a thing must never be allowed to happen again.

After pondering for a moment, he looked up at Song Xia.

"Regarding this situation, do you have any countermeasures?"

He wanted to first understand Nanhe Coffee's response strategy, and then find a way to neutralize their countermeasures, striving to maintain this loss-making state.

Hearing General Manager Chen's inquiry, Su Dan pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.

"General Manager Chen, based on the current situation, if we want to win back customers, the only option is to start a price war."

"We could lower the price of our coffee, bringing it below that of Nanrui Coffee, or run a discount campaign to compete for customers against them through pricing. If we do that, however, it will come down to which side has deeper financial resources."

"Whichever side fails to hold out will be the one that loses this price war, but this approach carries too much risk."