Zhong Xuegao is still an "assassin"

Can every frustrated entrepreneur turn things around and become the next Luo Yonghao? The answer is no. This article tells the story of how Lin Sheng, the boss of Zhong Xue Gao, saved himself by paying off his debts through live streaming but still failed to turn the situation around. His story brings us some inspiration and is recommended for Internet friends to read.

At 7pm on May 28, Lin Sheng appeared on Taobao's live broadcast room on time and started selling sweet potatoes. Three big numbers were printed on the background wall of the live broadcast room: 729. This represents 729 employees who were owed wages and compensation. After explaining, Lin Sheng bowed to the camera.

Before, whether it was the controversial “I love to buy, but I don’t buy” or responding to the “Zhong Xue Gao fire is unstoppable” hot search, blaming the problem on the deliberate smearing of competitors, Lin Sheng rarely reflected in public.

But when this star company reached the end of its road, Lin Sheng became a "frustrated entrepreneur" and started live streaming to sell goods, performing "True Return". When talking about his mental journey of doing live streaming, Lin Sheng said that he was "very entangled", "actively reflect on himself, and try to save himself. No matter what method, continue to sell ice cream or live streaming, and try to resume operations."

Regarding the current operating status of Zhong Xue Gao, Lin Sheng also mentioned in the live broadcast room, "The company is controlling costs and withdrawing warehouses. Currently, there are only three or four warehouses, and many areas cannot be covered. I hope that after a period of live broadcast, the cash flow can slowly return to normal, and we will gradually open warehouses."

When Lin Sheng first started live streaming, many people said that he wanted to copy and become the "second Luo Yonghao". He was also restricted from high consumption due to arrears, and he also used live streaming to pay off his debts. However, the expected big sales did not come. The 5-hour live broadcast attracted 840,000 viewers. The entire live broadcast lasted less than 5 hours, and the number of fans increased to 1,839. Three types of sweet potatoes were put on the shelves in the live broadcast room, and more than 400 orders were sold in total.

As a representative of entrepreneurs who live-stream to pay off debts, Luo Yonghao's success has clearly inspired many frustrated entrepreneurs who are heading towards bankruptcy, debt or in crisis. Live-streaming has been developing for many years, and frustrated entrepreneurs have come and gone, either fighting alone or working together in the live-streaming room.

However, it is extremely difficult to become the next Luo Yonghao or the next Dong Yuhui who was made famous by Yu Minhong.

one,

After being called the "Ice Cream Assassin", Lin Sheng, who entered the live broadcast room, was given the title of "Sweet Potato Assassin".

That night, Lin Sheng's live broadcast room put three types of sweet potatoes on the shelves. The most expensive sweet potato was 68 yuan/3 jin, but due to the high price of this product, Lin Sheng gave it to the audience in the live broadcast room as a welfare lottery, and finally this sweet potato was shown to have sold 11 orders. The cheapest sweet potato was priced at 3 yuan/jin, and more than 200 orders were sold that night.

Lin Sheng spent the most time explaining the Jinshi sweet potato from the south. A 5-jin package was sold for 42.9 yuan, which is about 8.5 yuan per jin. More than 200 orders were sold that night. Lin Sheng explained in the live broadcast room, "Don't sell sweet potatoes too expensive, or you will be scolded, so we set the price moderately. We hope to find a product with the right price-performance ratio."

But the price of 8.5 yuan per pound is hard to associate with "value for money". There are constant doubts in the comment area, "After the ice cream assassin, are you going to make a sweet potato assassin?" "The sweet potatoes are sold at a price I can't afford"...

Netizens' lack of support was also reflected in sales performance. On that day, Lin Sheng's live broadcast room sold more than 400 orders of the three types of sweet potatoes, with a total sales of approximately 12,000 yuan.

"Repaying debts with sweet potatoes is too slow, we need to increase the added value." Lin Sheng explained in the live broadcast room. Obviously, selling sweet potatoes with low customer unit price and profit is not the first choice for debt repayment. "I was a little drunk at the time, and I said that it is natural to repay debts, even if it means selling sweet potatoes. Since I have said it, it is an attitude. We will bring it to every show in the future, but not only sweet potatoes. It is mainly to remind myself to clear it little by little and reduce the number of 729."

Facing questions about sweet potatoes being too expensive, Lin Sheng explained in the live broadcast room: "Most people think that ordinary things should be cheap, but in fact, the most expensive things in the world are pure air, sunshine and clean water, and the people around you who treat you well. But this is easily overlooked by us. Behind a delicious sweet potato are the farmers' hard work, and we need to cherish it."

Lin Sheng has mentioned "selling sweet potatoes" twice. On April 21 this year, Sina Finance CEO Deng Qingxu posted on Weibo that after Zhong Xue Gao founder Lin Sheng was "restricted from moving", he took a green train to Beijing overnight. Later, Lin Sheng posted on Weibo that he was "not afraid of taking a green train to Beijing overnight, even if it means selling sweet potatoes, he will pay off his debts."

Another incident happened on May 11, when Lin Sheng was a guest in the live broadcast room of Wu Xiaobo Channel. Facing the voices in the comments of the live broadcast room calling for "pay back the money quickly", Lin Sheng once again stated that no matter whether he was selling ice cream or sweet potatoes, he would pay back the money to employees and suppliers penny by penny and bit by bit, and he would always honor the debt.

In addition to sweet potatoes, Lin Sheng also sold tea and juice in his live broadcast room, and even used his live broadcast room as a "promotional platform" to bring in his supplier Enbolu, who is also Zhong Xuegao's "creditor". Lin Sheng said that Zhong Xuegao owed Enbolu more than 2 million yuan. On that day, Lin Sheng helped the other party sell a type of cheese in the live broadcast room, but the sales volume was only 25 orders.

Of course, the live broadcast room also has the much-watched Zhong Xue Gao. Unlike the high-priced sweet potatoes, the price of Zhong Xue Gao in the live broadcast room is discounted. The regular price of a velvet chocolate Zhong Xue Gao is 180 yuan for ten sticks, which is 18 yuan per stick. That night in Lin Sheng's live broadcast room, it was 112 yuan for twelve sticks, which is less than 10 yuan per stick.

However, the sales of Zhong Xue Gao were not good that night. A package of Zhong Xue Gao, priced at 106 yuan, sold more than 100 orders; a pack of 24 small ice creams, priced at 112 yuan, sold 58 orders; the total sales of the four ice creams that night amounted to about 30,000 yuan.

Lin Sheng may not have expected such a result. After all, six years ago, on May 20, 2018, Zhong Xue Gao was listed on Tmall and ranked second in the ice cream category in two weeks. It then became popular on Tmall, which is why Lin Sheng chose to live broadcast on Taobao.

two,

Compared with the dismal sales in the live broadcast room today, in 2021, Zhong Xuegao’s sales exceeded 1 billion yuan at its peak.

In the era when "all consumer products are worth redoing", relying on the high-end raw materials of "Ecuadorian Pink Diamonds" and the unique tile shape, Zhong Xue Gao has become the representative of Chinese high-end ice cream. On Double Eleven in 2020, it even defeated Haagen-Dazs to become the "Tmall Double Eleven Ice Product Category Sales No. 1".

Such achievements were made only two years after Zhong Xue Gao was first launched on Tmall. The existence of what seems to be "anti-business logic" nowadays can be traced back to the business background at that time.

At that time, the "new middle class" rose rapidly, driving a wave of consumption upgrades. New consumer forces such as women and post-00s were coming onto the stage, and new consumption was moving towards diversification and personalization.

The high-growth Zhong Xue Gao soon attracted the attention of investors. In July and November 2018, Zhong Xue Gao received angel round financing from Zhen Fund and Frees Capital, and Pre-A round financing from Tiantu Capital and Toutoushidao.

Early investors valued the ability of Zhong Xue Gao's founder Lin Sheng. As the marketing operator of traditional ice cream brands such as Madiel and Zhongjie 1946, Lin Sheng successfully delivered them to people's refrigerators in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and even international metropolises.

Lin Sheng once again copied the path of an internet celebrity with his Zhong Xue Gao. From 2019 to 2021, Zhong Xue Gao ranked first in sales of ice cream category on Tmall Double Eleven for three consecutive years. In 2021, Zhong Xue Gao not only received 200 million yuan in Series A financing, but also achieved revenue of over 1 billion yuan that year.

In 2022, Lin Sheng made a decision: to accelerate the sinking market. This is based on a data growth of Zhong Xue Gao. At the beginning of 2022, the growth rate of Zhong Xue Gao in the Southwest Region in the first quarter exceeded that of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. In May of the same year, Zhong Xue Gao entered the offline terminal system in more than 200 cities across the country through agents and other channels, and opened a brand flagship store.

However, Zhong Xuegao, which is accelerating its decline, has encountered the biggest public opinion crisis since its establishment. In the summer of 2022, the news that "Zhong Xuegao did not completely melt in 1 hour at room temperature of 31°C" and "Zhong Xuegao cannot be melted by fire" triggered overwhelming public opinion controversy.

The public opinion storm has not yet subsided, the golden age of new consumer brands has quietly passed, and financing has become difficult. These factors have increased the financial pressure on Zhong Xuegao to a certain extent.

In early March 2023, Zhong Xue Gao's cash flow was about to break. According to "Daily People", the financial data received by Lin Sheng at the time stated: The company's operations had problems and cash flow was about to break. At the end of March, Zhong Xue Gao immediately lowered its prices and launched ice cream at a price as low as 3.5 yuan.

However, after a series of public opinion crises, the brand's reputation has seriously declined and consumers are no longer willing to pay for it. In the second quarter of 2022, Zhong Xue Gao was still the number one in Douyin's ice cream brand self-broadcast sales and hot-selling list. In the same period of 2023, Zhong Xue Gao ranked seventh, accounting for 4%.

In October of the same year, several employees broke the news on social media that Zhong Xue Gao owed them wages. In March of this year, along with the news that the price of a Zhong Xue Gao cigarette had dropped to 2.5 yuan, there was also news that Lin Sheng was restricted from high consumption.

Riding the wave of new consumption, an ice cream brand that started online rose rapidly in just two years and became a star company in the new consumption field. As the tide receded, crises emerged, and Zhong Xuegao, which failed to cultivate the internal strength of "long-term success", was eventually stranded on the beach.

three,

Obviously, Zhong Xue Gao’s business difficulties cannot be solved by live streaming. On the one hand, starting from the Zhong Xue Gao brand, reshaping its reputation and channels is not an overnight task. Lin Sheng’s first live streaming not only failed to reverse the public opinion, but also gave himself the title of "Sweet Potato Assassin".

After the live broadcast on May 28, Lin Sheng posted on Douyin, "Don't call me the sweet potato assassin." As Lin Sheng said, he was ready to be scolded for two months. Under Lin Sheng's video, many netizens ridiculed and mocked, "I still like your rebellious look" and "Why? You want us to pay for your failure"...

More importantly, it is very difficult to do live streaming sales well. Luo Yonghao publicly stated a few years ago that live streaming sales is not as simple as it seems. "You need to find good things continuously, and good things must have a good price. This is the core competitiveness. The team must have this ability, and the partners I found are very strong in this aspect."

On the other hand, it is not easy to sell goods through live streaming. At present, there are two successful examples of frustrated entrepreneurs selling goods through live streaming. One is Luo Yonghao, who is an internet celebrity and has a natural traffic pool; the other is Yu Minhong, who is also a representative of internet celebrity entrepreneurs. However, it was not Yu Minhong himself who became popular through live streaming, but Dong Yuhui, an amateur, who became a live streaming anchor with tens of millions of sales.

However, it is too difficult to become the next Luo Yonghao or Dong Yuhui. For example, Chen Nian, the founder of Vancl, and Wang Ke, the founder of Huajia, failed in the key step of traffic when they entered the live streaming because they did not have strong traffic and topic popularity. Another example is the "Seven Days and Seven Nights to Restart Tianya" live broadcast organized by Song Zheng (Laohei), the former executive editor of Tianya Community, which only earned 149,900 yuan. The live broadcast activity was eventually interrupted and bankruptcy review was filed at the beginning of this year.

On the other hand, some entrepreneurs who have their own traffic, such as Li Houlin, Li Yapeng and Wang Xiaofei in the Ex-husband Alliance of the live broadcast room, are relatively less well-known as entrepreneurs, but as the ex-husbands of celebrities, their traffic is naturally not low, but their live broadcast sales results are also average.

In the final analysis, live streaming sales depends on products and supply chain. Just as Luo Yonghao found a professional partner, a mature MCN agency has more advantages in terms of products and supply chain. However, the ex-husband buddies did not rely on professional MCN agencies. Except for Li Houlin who relied on Vision Entertainment and created some sales records in the live streaming room, the frustrated entrepreneurs in the entire live streaming room were all struggling on their own.

It is also because of this that, up to now, no frustrated entrepreneur has become Luo Yonghao, and it is difficult for Lin Sheng to become the next one.

Author: Xue Yaping

Source: WeChat official account: "Boxed Fan Finance (ID: daxiongfan)"