Running for 15 years turns a small tail sheep into a "head sheep".

From a photo studio apprentice to a government official to a successful entrepreneur, Yu Jiarong made three gorgeous turns, creating the legend of Little tail Sheep with more than 300 stores and a turnover of more than 5 billion today.

The just-concluded Baotou beef and mutton industry conference has made the industry pay more and more attention to Yu Jiarong, chairman of Inner Mongolia small tail Sheep Animal Husbandry Technology Co., Ltd.

At the opening ceremony, Yu Jiarong won back the most "Genghis Khan hot pot" certificate in the Guinness world, which attracted the attention of many people. At this exhibition, Xiaowei Sheep joined hands with the Central Enterprise China Animal Husbandry Group to participate in the exhibition, which also showed the strength of its helmsman.

From the "follower" of Baotou sheep to the leader of the industry; from the single catering industry to the rapid layout of the whole industry chain. After 15 years of persistence and running, Yu Jiarong, who acted quietly and calmly, finally changed the small tail sheep from a follower to a "head sheep", and also used his strength to cast the action power and influence of an excellent entrepreneur.

Cross the border to join the small-tailed sheep

Today's small-tailed sheep is among the top 500 most valuable brands in China, with a brand value of 14.6 billion yuan, ranking 234th. It has not only become a mutton sheep industry chain enterprise supported by Inner Mongolia Autonomous region, but also a national key leading enterprise in the industrialization of agriculture and animal husbandry.

As chairman, Yu Jiarong is far less famous in the industry than his little tail sheep. Because he has always been a low-key person, rarely talk to the media, which makes him maintain a consistent sense of mystery.

Looking back, Yu Jiarong believes that there are three most important things that affect his life: first, he spent a year as an apprentice in a photo studio in the 1980s, which made him understand that only through hard work can he get ahead; second, he resigned from his post as a government official in the 1990s and went into business; third, after stepping into the 21st century, he made the decision to buy the little tail sheep.

And it is the third thing that gives his life the opportunity to fly against the wind.

It was 2001, and Yu Jiarong, who had worked in the traditional photography market for many years, vaguely realized that with the popularization of digital technology, the traditional market would shrink and the transformation was on the way.

However, where should I start to change careers? And where to break through?

After some thoughtful thinking and research, Yu Jiarong set his sights on the hot pot market. In his view, the development of enterprises by making use of the resource advantages of Inner Mongolia grasslands will certainly lead to a prosperous cause.

However, his choice is not favored by people. At that time, the Baotou hot pot market was full of sheep, but most of them had no brand awareness. Therefore, many people advised him: "do not enter the catering industry, it is too hard, it is not worth getting up early and late at night." What a good industry you run now, and you're afraid you won't be able to survive if you earn several million dollars a year? "

Yu Jiarong is also well aware of the difficulty of changing careers, but there are more than 100 employees and dozens of retirees behind him, who are both pressure and motivation, so he resolutely invested more than 5 million yuan accumulated over the years into the small tail sheep.

During that time, in order to make the characteristics of small-tailed sheep, he went to the herdsmen's homes on the prairie and began to understand mutton and hot pot, from a southerner who did not eat mutton to tasting shredded meat more than a dozen times a day. The effort lived up to the dedicated person, finally successfully developed the small tail sheep god soup, "does not dip in the small ingredient rinse hot pot" to the whole country. As a result, Yu Jiarong also formed an inextricable bond with the sheep industry in Inner Mongolia.

"digging for gold and digging treasure" in the industrial chain

Running and expanding all the way, Yu Jiarong calmly led the small tail sheep all the way south, steadily expanding his territory throughout the country. And the small-tailed sheep catering also began from the original small-tailed sheep nourishing hot pot, fission out happy ranch, Wendugo, Mongolian camp and other brands, the number of stores in the country is more than 300. the number of stores as far away as the United Arab Emirates, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries also exceeded 30, with total annual sales exceeding 5 billion.

Looking back now, Yu Jiarong believes that the development process of small-tailed sheep is also a process of continuous improvement of its own whole industry chain, and its development has gone through three key stages.

The first stage: from 2002 to 2008, small-tailed sheep catering developed rapidly at home and abroad, especially when the financial crisis broke out in 2008, small-tailed sheep implemented the multi-brand management strategy of market segmentation and created the first buffet "Happy Ranch" brand in China. seize the strong consumer group of young people and expand the terminal market of small-tailed sheep. The second stage: from 2008 to 2012, in order to ensure the quality of catering meat, small-tailed sheep continue to invest money, from the establishment of processing base to the establishment of breeding base, constantly improving the industrial chain of small-tailed sheep. The third stage: from 2013 to now, the focus of operation has developed from a single catering business to the whole industry chain model of mutton sheep breeding, food processing, catering chain and market sales, completing the layout of the whole industry chain of small tail sheep.

And the whole industry chain development model also gives Yu Jiarong more self-confidence. He said that the whole industry chain is the core competitive advantage of small-tailed sheep. "looking at the whole country, there are few whole-industry operations from pasture to dining table like small-tailed sheep."

In Yu Jiarong's view, not all enterprises can do a good job in the whole industrial chain, which requires the right time and location. "and the small-tailed sheep happen to have such resources, because we first do the terminal, with the market support of hundreds of stores across the country, and then upstream, relying on the pure natural and pollution-free animal husbandry of the Inner Mongolia prairie. Finishing is a natural thing in the middle."

Create "the first Sheep in China"

When the running little tail sheep became stronger day by day, Yu Jiarong put the listing on the schedule again.

On December 15, 2015, Xiaowei Sheep completed the joint-stock transformation of the catering company and held a founding meeting, which is the first step in the listing of Xiaowei Sheep catering business. Yu Jiarong said that the company's goal is to achieve the main board listing of the small tail sheep catering business in three years, and the small tail sheep animal husbandry will have the opportunity to enter the capital market five years later, realizing the organic unity of the interests of shareholders, the company, employees and society, so as to make the small tail sheep truly "the first sheep in China".

In the overall development, Yu Jiarong also pays more attention to the combination of vertical and horizontal, taking advantage of each other to expand their own strength.

On November 27 last year, Inner Mongolia Xiaowei Sheep Animal Husbandry Science and Technology Co., Ltd. formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Animal Husbandry Industry and Commerce (Group) Corporation, which began a new journey of cooperation with central enterprises.

In April this year, small-tailed Sheep signed a comprehensive cooperation strategy agreement with Australian highveld Australia Heyward International Sheep Company, marking a new breakthrough in the international strategic layout of small-tailed sheep.

So, what kind of signal does the cooperation between Xiaowei Sheep and Central Animal Husbandry Group send out?

Yu Jiarong said that with the help of the east wind of the country's 13th five-year Plan, small tail Sheep plans to work closely with China Animal Husbandry Group in the next five years to tap and integrate livestock resources in Inner Mongolia, adjust measures to local conditions, optimize layout, and innovate mechanisms. build a high-quality breeding base for mutton sheep to promote the development of animal husbandry in Inner Mongolia Autonomous region. At the same time, take Inner Mongolia Autonomous region as the central base, integrate national and global mutton sheep resources, and strive to achieve an output value of more than 10 billion yuan within five years, so that more than 100000 farmers and herdsmen can enter the small-tailed sheep industry chain and increase their income and become rich. so that the small-tailed sheep has developed into the largest and world-class mutton sheep breeding, production and processing enterprise in Inner Mongolia and even in the country.