华裔夫妇打造美国中式快餐王国

    程：一开始，我们把开出的这些熊猫快餐厅都视为一个个独立的门店，并没有太多的基本构造或是控制。到了80年代末90年代初，我们就开始实验一种创新。冯氏超市集团（Vons）总裁比尔•达维拉也是我们餐厅的顾客，我说服他将我们的餐厅开在冯氏超市内。那时才是我们第一次把熊猫快餐厅开在商场之外的地方。我当时很保守，所以店面都很小，每周的平均营收只有6,000到7,000美元。

    蒋：在商场里，购物的顾客很自然地就会光顾餐厅。因此，要想在街道上吸引更多的客流量的确是个更大的挑战。所以当时我们就搞了一些街头营销活动，比如显眼的餐厅门牌，再比如打折促销等。我们可以肯定的是，亚洲菜肴在当地很受欢迎，而且房租也不贵，这样可以确保我们的利润率。最佳的位置就是街角，无论白天还是晚上，人流量都很大。

    程：我当时主要负责开新店和餐厅运营，而佩琪负责其他的事宜。

    蒋：作为工程师，我清楚地知道我们需要一个系统。我们是1980年代最早使用电脑的餐厅之一，这样可以使点餐更加便捷。电脑还可以搜集各家门店中哪些菜品最受顾客欢迎，同时汇总至总部办公室。我们借此可以获得更多的运营信息。

    程：在这个过程中，我们的餐厅面积越来越大，环境也越来越好，顾客的就餐体验也就更佳。我们食材的采购成本较高，因此我就想要降低人工成本。但只有优质的服务才能带来更多的生意，所以对员工也不能过于吝啬。于是我们就让员工进行轮岗训练，让他们可以一人胜任多项任务。

    蒋：80年代末，中餐馆给人的印象就是夫妻经营的小店，没有成规模的连锁企业。1973年以前，中餐馆只供应炒杂烩菜。随着越来越多华裔移民的到来，各式厨艺技能和菜系也丰富起来，而熊猫快餐厅的菜单上也开始出现更复杂和地道的菜品。

    程：我们做了40年餐饮生意，没从投资者那里拿过一分钱，也从未跟银行借过太多贷款。我们有着健康的资产负债表和根本用不完的银行的贷款授信额度。

    蒋：1997年，我们总共已经拥有了254家餐厅，总营收达到1.78亿美元。从那时起，我们就定下目标要成为一家十亿美元级的企业。到那时，我们就会形成完整的供应链体系，即通过第三方供应商向各家餐厅供货，而我们则通过连锁经营的管理哲学来运营企业。

    程：大部分餐厅都是我们直营的。当我们和大学这样的机构合作时，我们会发放加盟执照授权它们经营并会帮助它们发展壮大。我们对质量会进行监督和控制，但餐饮业说到底还是要授权给员工，让他们发挥主人翁精神。如果员工没有成长的动力，竞争对手随时就会到来，而你的生意就会破产。

    蒋： 正昌是能够推动成长进步的梦想家。而我却喜欢系统性进程。因此，我的工作就是研究如何怎样才能成长。夫妻关系并不意味着工作上的合作就一定会愉快，但我们都学会了如何去处理工作上的分歧。有时并不一定要争“到底是你对还是我对”，最好的方法是把所有人的想法融汇、交织在一起。2010年，我们实现了当年的目标，年销售额达到了10.69亿美元。

    Andrew: At first we looked at them like a collection of individual restaurants. We didn't have much infrastructure or control. In the late '80s and early '90s we began to experiment. I talked to Bill Davila [president of Vons], who was a customer. I convinced him to put us in Vons supermarkets. Then we began to put Panda Express outside the malls. I was conservative, so we opened small spaces that averaged $6,000 to $7,000 a week in revenue back then.

    Peggy: Inside the mall, shoppers are your customers. It was more challenging to drive traffic to the street locations. So we did street marketing with door hangers and a discount program. We made sure that Asian cuisine was desirable in the area and there was a reasonable rent to ensure profit. The best location was on a corner, for good daytime traffic and nighttime access.

    Andrew: I'm the one who dealt with getting the stores open and functioning. After that, Peggy took care of the rest of it.

    Peggy: It was clear to me as an engineer that you need a system. We were one of the first companies to use a computer in the 1980s, which made ordering easier. It could collect information about the most popular items people ordered by networking the stores to the corporate office. So we had more information.

    Andrew: In the process, we made the restaurants bigger and improved the ambiance. That made a difference in people's perception. Our food costs are on the higher side, so I wanted labor costs to be on the lower side. Good service can create more business, so you don't want to be too lean. We cross-train people and have them multitask.

    Peggy: In the late '80s, Chinese food meant mom-and-pop restaurants. There were no chains. Before 1973, Chinese restaurants offered chop suey. As more Chinese immigrants came, they brought their cooking skills and cuisines. Panda Express moved the cuisine into more sophisticated, authentic food.

    Andrew: This is our 40th year in business. We don't have a single penny from outside investors, and we never borrowed heavily from the banks. We have a healthy balance sheet and more credit than we can use.

    Peggy: In 1997 we had 254 stores, and the revenue was $178.7 million. That's when we set a goal of being a billion-dollar company. By then we had a supply-chain system that distributed to the stores through a third-party vendor and operated under a chain mentality.

    Andrew: Most of our stores are company owned. When we deal with an institution, like universities, we license its operation and help it get set up. We have supervision and training for quality control, but business is really about empowering people to act like owners themselves. If people aren't inspired to grow, another business comes in next door, and you go out of business.

    Peggy: Andrew is the visionary who pushes for growth. I like my system process, so I work on how to enable the growth. Being married does not always make working together easy. We had to learn how to resolve business disagreements. It's not "Your way is best" or "My way is best," but the alternative way -- which incorporates everybody's ideas -- is best. In 2010 we reached our goal and had sales of $1.069 billion.