華裔夫婦在美國打造中式快餐王國

Andrew and Peggy Cherng, now 65 and 62, respectively, opened their first Chinese restaurant in 1973 with $60,000 from savings and a Small Business Administration loan, plus relatives who worked for free. Today Panda Restaurant Group is the nation's leader in Asian fast-casual eateries, exceeding $1.7 billion in revenue in 2012. Their Rosemead, Calif., company now manages a total of 1,500 Panda Express, Panda Inn, and Hibachi-San restaurants in 42 states and Mexico City, and it is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The co-CEOs' story:

靠着儲蓄金和美國聯邦小企業署的貸款湊起來的6萬美元以及自家親戚們的免費勞動，現年65歲的程正昌和62歲的蔣佩琪這對夫婦在1973年開辦了他們自己的第一家中餐廳。如今，熊貓餐飲集團（Panda Restaurant Group）已經成爲美國亞洲休閒快餐業的領軍企業，2012年的營收超過17億美元。這家總部位於加利福尼亞羅斯米德市的集團公司旗下管理着1,500多家熊貓快餐廳（Panda Express）、聚豐園餐廳（Panda Inn）和Hibachi-San日本料理餐廳，遍佈全美42個州以及墨西哥首都墨西哥城。今年是熊貓餐飲集團成立40週年。這對夫妻檔CEO分享了他們的創業故事：

Andrew Cherng: I was born in Yangzhou, China, two years after World War II started. I was 5 when my family escaped to Taiwan. Eight years later, we moved to Japan.

程正昌：二戰開始之後的第二年，我出生在中國的揚州。5歲時，我們舉家逃往臺灣，8年之後，又移居日本。

Peggy Cherng: I was born in Burma, and my family went to Hong Kong, where I grew up. I came to the United States for college and met Andrew at Baker University in Baldwin, Kans.

蔣佩琪：我出生在緬甸，後來隨着全家定居香港並在那裏長大。之後到美國讀大學，在堪薩斯州鮑德溫的貝克大學（Baker University）學習時遇到了程正昌。

Andrew: We went on to the University of Missouri, where I got a master's degree in applied mathematics. Peggy stayed a couple of years longer to get her Ph.D. in electrical engineering. Every holiday I had, I worked in New York, waiting tables in a restaurant. My father was a chef but hadn't owned his own business. I didn't like that. In my heart of hearts, I knew I wanted to be in business.

程：我們後來又一起去了密蘇里大學（the University of Missouri），我在那兒攻讀應用數學碩士。佩琪比我多上了幾年，拿到了電子工程學博士學位。當時我在紐約上班，每個節假日去餐廳吃飯都要排隊等座。我父親本身就是廚師但卻一直未能擁有自己的餐廳。我不想那樣，從內心來說，我知道我想要擁有自己的事業。

Peggy: I never thought about going into business. I was trained to be in the sciences.

蔣：我倒是從未想過做生意，我所受到訓練是要投身科學事業。

Andrew: It's just dumb luck that my cousin leased a restaurant in Hollywood called Ting Ho. He didn't speak English and turned to me for help. So in 1972 I moved to California and worked seven days a week in the restaurant, getting paid $800 a month. After a few months, we had some work disagreements and I found a restaurant in Pasadena to take over. My dad and I borrowed some money from that same cousin and got an SBA loan, scraping together $60,000. We opened Panda Inn on June 8, 1973. The whole family -- my parents, a brother and sister -- all worked at the restaurant for free. We lived in a two-bedroom apartment in San Gabriel and didn't have any money. Peggy would come to visit, and we got married in 1975.

程：我有個表兄正好在好萊塢租了個叫Ting Ho的餐廳，但他又不會講英語，所以就來找我幫忙。這對我來說簡直是個天上掉餡餅的好事兒。1972年，我搬到了加州。在他的餐廳，我每週工作7天，月薪800美元。過了幾個月，我們倆在工作上出現了一些分歧。當時帕薩迪納市正好有一間餐廳要出租，於是我父親和我就從我那位表兄那兒借了些錢，又向聯邦小企業署借了一筆貸款，就這麼一共湊了6萬美元把那間餐廳盤了下來。1973年6月8號，聚豐園餐廳正式開張。我們全家，包括我父母、一個哥哥和一個妹妹，全都在餐廳裏免費做事。當時，我們身上所剩無幾，全家人就擠在聖蓋博市的一間兩居室的公寓裏。佩琪常常來看我們。我們在1975年結婚。

Peggy: I worked in engineering for McDonnell Douglas and Comtal/3M until our third child was born.

蔣：我們第三個孩子出生前，我一直在麥道公司（McDonnell Douglas）和3M公司的工程部門工作。

Andrew: My dad passed away in 1981. I was very comfortable taking charge. I'm a driven person and I like to accomplish things. In 1982 we opened another Panda Inn in Glendale.

程：我父親1981年去世，我很自然地擔起了餐廳管理者的責任。我是個非常有幹勁的人，喜歡成就感。1982年，我們在格蘭代爾市開出了第二家聚豐園餐廳。

Peggy: That's when I joined the family business.

蔣：我就是在那時加入了家族生意。

Andrew: Through my connections, I met the Donahue family. Terry Donahue was the head football coach for UCLA, and his brother Dan was the developer for the Glendale Galleria. They invited me to open a Panda Express in the mall. It was October 1983, and the first Panda Express worked out okay. So I opened more restaurants. In 1985 we went from five to nine stores in one year.

程：我通過人脈結識了唐納修家族。特里?唐納修是加州大學洛杉磯分校（UCLA）橄欖球隊的總教練，而他的弟弟則是幽谷拱廊商場（the Glendale Galleria）的開發商。他們邀請我在商場裏開一家熊貓快餐廳。我記得那是1983年10月的事兒，而這第一家熊貓快餐廳經營得不錯。因此，我又開出了更多的餐廳。1985年那一年，熊貓快餐廳的門店數就從5家增長到了9家。

Peggy: It was opportunity driven. In the first 10 years, we were mall-based stores.

蔣：當時的機會很好。前十年，我們都是在商場裏開店。

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.

程：一開始，我們把開出的這些熊貓快餐廳都視爲一個個獨立的門店，並沒有太多的基本構造或是控制。到了80年代末90年代初，我們就開始實驗一種創新。馮氏超市集團（Vons）總裁比爾?達維拉也是我們餐廳的顧客，我說服他將我們的餐廳開在馮氏超市內。那時纔是我們第一次把熊貓快餐廳開在商場之外的地方。我當時很保守，所以店面都很小，每週的平均營收只有6,000到7,000美元。

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.

蔣：在商場裏，購物的顧客很自然地就會光顧餐廳。因此，要想在街道上吸引更多的客流量的確是個更大的挑戰。所以當時我們就搞了一些街頭營銷活動，比如顯眼的餐廳門牌，再比如打折促銷等。我們可以肯定的是，亞洲菜餚在當地很受歡迎，而且房租也不貴，這樣可以確保我們的利潤率。最佳的位置就是街角，無論白天還是晚上，人流量都很大。

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

程：我當時主要負責開新店和餐廳運營，而佩琪負責其他的事宜。

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.

蔣：作爲工程師，我清楚地知道我們需要一個系統。我們是1980年代最早使用電腦的餐廳之一，這樣可以使點餐更加便捷。電腦還可以蒐集各家門店中哪些菜品最受顧客歡迎，同時彙總至總部辦公室。我們藉此可以獲得更多的運營信息。

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.

程：在這個過程中，我們的餐廳面積越來越大，環境也越來越好，顧客的就餐體驗也就更佳。我們食材的採購成本較高，因此我就想要降低人工成本。但只有優質的服務才能帶來更多的生意，所以對員工也不能過於吝嗇。於是我們就讓員工進行輪崗訓練，讓他們可以一人勝任多項任務。

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.

蔣：80年代末，中餐館給人的印象就是夫妻經營的小店，沒有成規模的連鎖企業。1973年以前，中餐館只供應炒雜燴菜。隨着越來越多華裔移民的到來，各式廚藝技能和菜系也豐富起來，而熊貓快餐廳的菜單上也開始出現更復雜和地道的菜品。

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.

程：我們做了40年餐飲生意，沒從投資者那裏拿過一分錢，也從未跟銀行借過太多貸款。我們有着健康的資產負債表和根本用不完的銀行的貸款授信額度。

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.

蔣：1997年，我們總共已經擁有了254家餐廳，總營收達到1.78億美元。從那時起，我們就定下目標要成爲一家十億美元級的企業。到那時，我們就會形成完整的供應鏈體系，即通過第三方供應商向各家餐廳供貨，而我們則通過連鎖經營的管理哲學來運營企業。

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.

程：大部分餐廳都是我們直營的。當我們和大學這樣的機構合作時，我們會發放加盟執照授權它們經營並會幫助它們發展壯大。我們對質量會進行監督和控制，但餐飲業說到底還是要授權給員工，讓他們發揮主人翁精神。如果員工沒有成長的動力，競爭對手隨時就會到來，而你的生意就會破產。

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.

蔣： 正昌是能夠推動成長進步的夢想家。而我卻喜歡系統性進程。因此，我的工作就是研究如何怎樣才能成長。夫妻關係並不意味着工作上的合作就一定會愉快，但我們都學會了如何去處理工作上的分歧。有時並不一定要爭“到底是你對還是我對”，最好的方法是把所有人的想法融匯、交織在一起。2010年，我們實現了當年的目標，年銷售額達到了10.69億美元。

Andrew: Doing everything ourselves is out of the question, so licensing is important. We're in Mexico now and will soon open in Canada. We're in a lot of universities. Airports are challenging in terms of securing the real estate because there are others who are more connected politically.

程：只靠我們自己事無鉅細地操辦一切顯然是不可能的，所以發放加盟執照就變得很重要。我們已經進入墨西哥市場，未來還會在加拿大開新店。不少大學裏也有我們的餐廳。但是機場就更困難一點，因爲很難拿到店面，畢竟有不少人都有着很強的政治人脈關係。

Peggy: We have an all-in mentality. Because we're immigrants, we have a can-do attitude. We're also very frugal. From 1983 to 2000, with every new store, we would take an established team to the new location to help open the store. Every team would live in one apartment for a month, and your supervisor might sleep in the same room as you rather than go to hotels. No one complained about not having privacy. It built team spirit.

蔣：我們有着兼容幷包的思想。而且因爲我們是外來移民，所以也很能吃苦耐勞，同樣，我們還非常節儉。從1983年到2000年，每一家新餐廳開張，我們都有一支現成的團隊前去協助。每支這樣的團隊都會在公寓裏住上一個月，就算是管理層也不會去住酒店，而是和普通員工一樣住在公寓房間。沒人抱怨說缺乏隱私，這是打造團隊精神的好方法。

After all these years, what I'm most proud of is seeing our people and the business grow. We have people who joined us as kitchen chefs and waitresses who are now vice presidents of the company.

這些年來，最令我感到驕傲和自豪的就是看到我們的員工與經營業績雙成長。許多人剛進公司時只是廚師或是服務員，而如今都已經做到了公司副總裁。

Andrew: I am most proud of building an organization where our people are inspired to better their lives. Empowering others to better their lives contributes an even greater impact to our communities and beyond.

程：我最深感驕傲的是打造了這樣一個組織，其中的每個人都被激勵着追求更好的生活。讓每個人生活得更好，也會對我們社會和國家的福祉有着更深遠的影響。

Peggy: Back in 1973 it was about making a living for the family. Today it's about challenging ourselves and seeing what all of us on the team can achieve.

蔣：1973年我們的努力只是爲了養家餬口；而如今，我們所有人作爲一個團隊的目標就是要不斷挑戰自己，邁上一個又一個新的臺階。

Our advice

我們的經營建議：

Details matter. At Panda, the little things are a big deal for us. We cut our vegetables daily. Our sidewalks are clean, and our washrooms are neat and tidy. When the little things get done, guests will notice it.

重視細節。在熊貓餐廳，沒有什麼事是小到我們可以忽略的。我們每天都會切碼蔬菜，我們的過道永遠乾淨，我們洗手間永遠清潔整齊。當這些微不足道的小事都能被做到最好的時候，餐廳內的顧客就會注意得到。

Anticipate the competition. We started Hibachi-San in malls in 1992 as a defensive strategy to keep Japanese restaurants from selling against our Chinese food at Panda Express.

搶佔競爭先機。1992年，我們在商場內開張Hibachi-San日本料理餐廳就是一種防禦策略，就是爲了防止日本餐廳供應跟熊貓快餐廳一樣的中式菜品。

Learn constantly. We maintain a list of recommended books about leadership and inspiration, including The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, by Don Miguel Ruiz, and Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson. We buy them, then sell them below cost to our associates. That way, those who want to read them must pay something for them, and the company absorbs the loss.

不斷學習。我們會提供有關管理學和成功學的推薦書單，其中包括唐?米格爾?魯伊茲的《心靈自由的實用手冊》（The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom）、沃爾特?艾薩克森寫的《喬布斯傳》（Steve Jobs）等。我們會購買這些書籍，按低於成本的價格出售給員工同事。這樣的話，真正想讀書的人就得付出點錢來買，而公司也可以減少一些成本支出。