Introduction of Club Activities

The Chinese Students Association

Zhou Weiwei (Business School, 2nd Year)

  In November 2010, the Chinese Students Association opened up a store, as usual, at the school’s Eve Festival.
  Up until the last year, we sold boiled dumplings, to advertise the Chinese traditional culture. However, to the Japanese people, this food did not seem familiar and the handmade productivity was very low that we ended up in a continuous deficits. I have worked hard to successfully change those continuous deficits into a surplus.
  From the experiences that I have obtained by working at a bar and sending orders and managing the cash register, I fully analyzed the reasons for the annual deficits. By doing so, I have found out that there were two major reasons: many unnecessary expenses and the sales were low. By examining these two reasons, I have come up with the answers for them.

Reason ① The Unnecessary Expenses

To reduce the fixed expenses: By using one gas stove instead of two, we were able to reduce the expenses by paying for a gas stove as 3000 yen (37.52 dollars), and gasoline as 6000 yen (75.04 dollars). From that, we were able to manage a profit out of it.
To reduce the loss of food and dishes: From looking at the flow of the production, buying dishes were only done when it was needed.

Reason ② The Sales were Low

  Using the knowledge that I have obtained at the Master of Business Administration, or the MBA, I have considered about the “4Ps” in my improvement plan.
  Product:   Instead of selling the unfamiliar boiled dumplings, we have decided to sell the steamed dumplings, which will have more impact on the Japanese people.
  Price:   3 dumplings for 250 yen (3.13 dollars). This is not just seeking out the profit, but also setting up to a reasonable price so that many people will try our steamed dumplings.
  Promotion:   It was not enough to just show that the Chinese exchange students were trying hard to sell these products. We needed to put more effort into the products themselves, and advertise the original Chinese steamed dumplings.
  Place:   Because the location was chosen by the raffles, we created movable signs and organized a delivering service.

  As a result, we have changed into a popular store with more than 10 customers queuing at once and bought our steamed dumplings. From that, the sales turned to 220 thousand yen (2,751.28 dollars) of 250 yen per 3 pieces. In addition to this, the net profit was 12 thousand, which successfully made more than twice the amount of what we had in mind.

The view of our store

Of course our goal for the school festival is not just to make money. But by setting up the products into an inexpensive price and selling many of our dumplings, we wish to welcome the Japanese students to experience the traditional Chinese culture. Furthermore, the Chinese exchange students will encounter the traditional culture of a Japanese college as well as publicize the traditional Chinese culture and the friendliness of the Chinese exchange students. These are the main goals for the school’s Eve Festival.