A Restaurant Owner?
He quit his job to become a backpacker and traversed 32 countries over five years, collecting nearly 100 German local dishes in Germany. Upon returning to his homeland, he founded the modern German restaurant Haxnbauer®. Known for its German-style pork knuckles, or "pork knuckles crunchier than chips," his restaurant dishes are crispy outside, tender inside, and come in various flavors. Adored globally, foodies from all around the world come to visit. Meanwhile, Haxnbauer is also the global official restaurant partner of Bundesliga™, the German top-tier football league, and the designated restaurant for the League of Legends™ tournament. Currently, there are 14 branches nationwide.
Jiang’s Journey
UM: You majored in International Economics in college and later worked as a business analyst in the country's largest software company. What made you ultimately choose the catering business?
Jiang: I met a client at a previous job who highly admired my performance and abilities at work. When he decided to start a catering project, he considered me a reliable partner and persuaded me to participate in the project.
UM: Compared to your other work experiences, what's unique about the catering industry? Many say that this industry is high-risk. What's your opinion on it?
Jiang: I believe the catering industry is extremely challenging. It encompasses an efficient combination of various dimensions such as raw material procurement, logistics arrangements, product development, real estate research, production arrangements, and personnel management. Although the initial work involves a vast and complex chain, the most important task in the catering industry is to reflect transactions in one geographical location! This creates tremendous difficulties for catering practitioners. I think the catering industry is indeed high-risk.
UM: What do you do when business performance is poor or when facing a bottleneck?
Jiang: Don't complain! Stay calm, analyze market changes and internal problems. As someone in the catering business, you need to be constantly aware of changes in the internal and external environment.
UM: With the continuous development of new media, how does your restaurant advertise through it? Do you participate in trending topics?
Jiang: Before discussing changes in new media, you need to understand your customers first; otherwise, you cannot discuss new media. Media is the channel that connects businesses and customers, so understanding customers enables you to find the most effective communication path. We always pay attention to various mainstream media platforms, including Dianping, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, etc. As for trending topics, participation should be cautious. After all, doing the essence of the work is the key.
UM: Why do you think you could create one of the top German restaurants in the country? Where are the differences between Haxnbauer and other German restaurants?
Jiang: I believe we have a rather professional understanding of Western casual dining. We understand the needs of domestic customers and know how to accurately deliver customer value to our target consumers. Haxnbauer has always been providing authentic and tasty dishes to Chinese consumers as its first requirement. At the same time, we keep up with the times in terms of dishes, which distinguishes us from other German restaurants.
UM: What impact has COVID-19 had on the restaurant? Has any model changed as a result?
Jiang: The impact is significant. The restaurant now places greater emphasis on food quality and service.
UM: What is your future goal for the restaurant?
Jiang: I hope it can become the leading Western casual dining restaurant in China.
UM: What qualities do you think have contributed to your success?
Jiang: I feel that I am still far from being successful. To achieve better results, one must maintain a good mindset and an indomitable spirit. Believe that there is nothing in the world that cannot be done, and try every possible way to overcome difficulties.
UM: What advice do you have for college graduates who are starting their businesses?
Jiang: Entrepreneurship is a road full of various difficulties. The key is to be mentally prepared and not to give up easily. Before starting a business, it's better to communicate more with experienced predecessors.
UM: What is your motto or favorite quote?
Jiang: Stay hungry, stay foolish.
UM: The experience of being a backpacker seems very interesting. How did you source your funds during this time?
Jiang: I had saved up the necessary funds through my work before becoming a backpacker.
UM: What is your biggest takeaway from this experience? Was there anyone or anything that left a deep impression on you?
Jiang: I believe the biggest takeaway from this experience is that reading thousands of books is not enough; you must travel thousands of miles. If the knowledge obtained only comes from books, without being experienced in practice, it will not be profound. The best way to understand a society is to be on-site.
UM: Did you encounter any significant difficulties at the beginning of your venture? How did you solve them?
Jiang: The pandemic in the past three years is the biggest difficulty I've encountered. We conducted a lot of market and political analysis, and hope to weather this tough period through employee motivation and internal optimization.
UM: How did you quickly understand an industry and accumulate resources when crossing boundaries?
Jiang: First, you should communicate with experienced people in this industry, not be afraid to ask questions, and compare key points with your original industry to see if there is the same underlying logic to grasp the main points as soon as possible.
UM: What's your opinion on networking? How do you accumulate it?
Jiang: Networking is a reflection of your worldview. When you can provide others with a useful perspective on the world, you have the basis for networking. Maintaining a positive outlook when communicating with others is an important method for accumulating contacts.
Not only is Mr. Jiang a successful businessman, but he is also a person with a high-quality taste in life and a certain life attitude. Many of his ideas and attitudes are worth learning for all.
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Producer: Isabella Wang
Interviewer & Text: Hebe
Editor: Isabel Yang
Translator: Roy
Formatting: Amy Pan