#165 Meeting with several larger business owners/founders: Should businesses "run away with the money"? (03/08/2025)

This week, through a friend's introduction, I had the opportunity to meet with the owners/founders of some other Hong Kong brands for drinks and a chat. The people I met were all my seniors, and many of their businesses were larger than mine. I learned a lot: company management, interpersonal conflict resolution, store opening strategies, balancing and interacting online and offline, the relationship between the number of branches and business… For a "newbie" like me, it was truly a lot to learn. Many of these seniors had been in the industry for around ten years, and I felt they had already established a relatively stable position within their respective fields. And I, of course, am still just a clueless, inexperienced newbie.

I can't disclose the full content of our conversation that day, but there's one thing I want to reflect on: "sales targets." It seems that in relatively large retail chains—not many, but probably around ten or more—they set sales targets for their stores and their staff. This is something I don't currently have. Of course, it seems every company owner handles sales targets differently. Some are quite harsh; if a newly hired employee's sales are consistently mediocre, or not as good as employees in other stores, they basically won't keep them. I was a bit surprised when I heard this, but thinking about it, it seems like a common and reasonable practice. When we go out to buy things or eat at many large chain stores, the reason why the employees seem to perform so well is not only due to training, but also because there are definitely some disciplinary mechanisms behind it, and there are layers of management to ensure that things don't go astray or become poorly managed. When there are many branches and employees at the beginning, it's impossible to say that it's very free and stress-free. But how much "strictness" should be applied depends on the situation. Especially if I want to implement this kind of system when I don't have a sales target and have countless people to run around to, how will my colleagues react?

However, on the other hand, many of my colleagues at the shop are indeed very capable. They are proactive and hardworking, so the methods mentioned above, like running errands, are not necessarily necessary. Fortunately, many of my colleagues are very proactive, helping out and even doing a lot of "extra work" to lighten my workload, which I see and know. Therefore, I think it's better to give them more freedom. I don't want my boss to constantly control and pressure me when I go to work. It's the principle of "do not do to others what you would not have them do to you."

But as I asked different bosses that day, it's normal and common to have targets to meet or sales goals for the store. Of course, it could be very simple: give them a target, and if they achieve it, the whole company goes out for a buffet; if they don't, there are no penalties. But how to actually implement it, I'll think about it later. See you next week!