Linqian Village. January 20, 2020, the 26th day of the 12th lunar month. Wu Qinghui returned to his hometown in Jiangxi, Linqian Village in Nanfeng County. In 1995, Wu Qinghui left Linqian Village, and like countless young people chasing dreams, he rarely returned in the following 26 years. He went to Beijing in 2001 and founded the hair therapy chain brand 'Hei Aomi' (also known as 'Zaichufa') in 2006. More than ten years later, Hei Aomi has over 600 chain stores nationwide, earning Wu Qinghui the nickname 'Brother Fa'. In 2019, Hei Aomi developed smoothly. In May, a national summit shook the industry; renowned artist Zhao Yazhi was appointed as brand ambassador; in June, they received a multi-million-yuan investment from Heima Fund. On January 17, Hei Aomi held its celebration annual meeting early, and all employees were on holiday. Wu Qinghui also returned to his hometown for the New Year ahead of schedule. Linqian Village was filled with smoke from cooking fires and a festive atmosphere. Some mischievous children set off firecrackers, causing chaos and the sound of chickens and dogs, mixed with not-too-strict scoldings from adults. 'Raising the sail to cross the sea, this will be a good year for the company,' Wu Qinghui, unable to stay idle, sent out tens of thousands of yuan in lucky money red packets in the company group, delighting colleagues who kept flooding the chat with 'good boss' emojis. A thunderclap. January 23, the 29th day of the 12th lunar month. 'Wuhan is locked down!' Although he was used to staying up late, a message in the early morning startled Wu Qinghui, leaving him wide awake. The Wuhan store had reported that flu and pneumonia were severe, but reports had said it was fine. Having experienced SARS in 2003, Wu Qinghui had an instinctive alertness to the epidemic. The company group chat exploded; everyone was asking about Wuhan news, forwarding news, and inquiring about colleagues at the Wuhan store. Like countless Chinese people, Wu Qinghui had a sleepless night. Emergency meeting. January 24, New Year's Eve. In the morning, Wu Qinghui urgently convened an online executive meeting for Hei Aomi. The meeting mainly discussed response measures regarding safety protection and store operations. Although he harbored a sense of luck, his years of crisis awareness led Wu Qinghui to have each department submit a mind map titled 'How Should We Respond If the Epidemic Expands' a day later. The situation in Wuhan became increasingly tense, with strict government control measures escalating, and cities nationwide were mobilized. But in Linqian Village, apart from Wu Qinghui, the villagers did not feel much impact. Battle plan. January 25, the first day of the New Year. On the first day of the Gengzi year, firecrackers sounded weak, and brilliant fireworks seemed dim. Wu Qinghui had no mood for New Year greetings and couldn't sit still. He convened another emergency meeting. The meeting established the Hei Aomi Emergency 'Epidemic Battle' Command Center, discussed, and ultimately formed a 60-day 'Epidemic Battle' overall action plan. In the evening, Wu Qinghui wrote a New Year's greeting letter titled 'No Winter Will Not Pass, No Spring Will Not Come,' and sent it to the Hei Aomi team and partners as the New Year bell tolled. Later, many partners said that letter was the longest and most heartfelt New Year blessing they had ever received. Stabilizing morale. January 26, the second day. The epidemic worsened, and the whole of China was filled with a tense, solemn atmosphere of war. Countless patients were calling for help, countless supplies arrived in the affected areas, and countless medical staff volunteered to go to the front lines. At the same time, articles like 'Under the Epidemic, Small and Medium Enterprises Can't Survive Three Months,' 'Entrepreneurs Should Learn to Lie Low During the Epidemic,' and 'K Brother King Announces Closure' went viral online. Amidst the buzz of news and rumors, some employees began asking whether to start work as scheduled, and some executives privately inquired about downsizing, causing unrest. Wu Qinghui convened an online executive meeting and decided that no matter how great the difficulties, Hei Aomi would absolutely not lay off employees! The epidemic would eventually pass, and every veteran employee was an asset to Hei Aomi. Not laying off also avoided the need to rehire, retrain, and re-integrate in the future, which would miss the post-epidemic development period. After the announcement 'You Never Give Up, I Never Let Go' was released, Hei Aomi's morale quickly stabilized. Wu Qinghui notified that a discussion meeting on the 'Epidemic Battle' plan would be held the next day, knowing it would be the most important meeting before the decisive battle. All in on online! January 27, the third day. On the third day, the Hei Aomi 'Epidemic Battle' plan online discussion meeting was held. Wu Qinghui knew that victory in the 'epidemic battle' depended on whether stores could survive. Whether stores could survive depended on whether they could achieve sales while closed. To achieve sales, promotion had to go online. But for a chain system whose genes were entirely offline, with business promotion originally relying on face-to-face interaction, how small was the chance of transforming online? The final decision of the Hei Aomi 'Epidemic Battle' plan discussion meeting was: all in on online! On the night of the third day, Hei Aomi held its first live stream of the new year, hosted by Dai Meina, dean of the training academy, from her home. The dean's first live stream encountered network congestion, with the stream interrupted four times. Mobilization for the decisive battle. January 28, the fourth day. On the fourth day, Hei Aomi held a mobilization meeting for its five major war zones nationwide. The war zone system was an upgraded organization implemented by Hei Aomi at the end of 2019, dividing the country into five war zones, each independently equipped with operations, expansion, promotion, and training personnel, led by a war zone commander to expand and operate the market. This new organization, established less than 30 days ago, faced its first completely unexpected hard battle in a hurry. How difficult was this battle? With over 600 offline stores, offline business accounted for more than 90%. If you cut off that 90%, how could you fight? Xibei said it couldn't survive three months; with all 600+ stores closed, how long could Hei Aomi last? The mobilization lasted a full day, with over 100 Hei Aomi employees and more than 700 franchisees and store managers online all day. Wu Qinghui gave a mobilization speech titled 'The Epidemic Will Eventually Pass, and Our Career Will Reach New Heights,' and the five war zone commanders released their respective 'Epidemic Battle' plans. During the mobilization, Hei Aomi announced multiple store transformation and training plans, as well as subsidy and incentive policies. Preparing for battle. January 29, the fifth day. On the first day, all stores were online with the SaaS system, and the training academy provided all-day online training on live streaming techniques, showcasing and analyzing excellent live stream recordings, with live drills and trial broadcasts. Skill courses included: existing old user operations: Moments and group marketing, home combing check-ins, daily game competitions, old-bring-new fission activities, limited-time flash sales, etc. At the same time, contactless delivery to home was widely promoted, and the development of home scenarios was comprehensively advanced. For new user development: through short video tutorials on Douyin, Huoshan, Xigua, etc., live streaming traffic methods, live event planning, etc., leading stores to fully acquire new users online. All five war zones established live streaming teams, submitting review materials for live streaming platforms to the national stores until 3 a.m., seizing every second for the stores, and opening the first batch of 173 live streaming accounts in the first time. Hard work, exams, and broadcasts. January 30, the sixth day. 503 franchisees and store managers passed the online live streaming knowledge exam, with 113 receiving excellence awards. That day, Hei Aomi held 37 live streams nationwide, with a cumulative broadcast duration of 94 hours and cumulative views exceeding 50,000. The company issued a notice for online work until February 9. First battle of the work start. January 31, the seventh day. All Hei Aomi employees clocked in online via video, and although they said 'Happy start of work' and looked calm, everyone had deep worries. At 8 p.m., the first WeChat live stream attracted over 10,000 viewers. No retreat until full victory. February 1 to February 10. On the 1st, confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide exceeded 10,000, and it was said this was just the tip of the iceberg. The atmosphere was tense and oppressive, filled with panic and confusion. That day, in 13 live stream activities with Hei Aomi instructors, the average new purchasing users per store exceeded 7. Dai Meina of the training academy caught a severe cold and isolated herself at home but insisted on live streaming until 11:30 p.m. On the 2nd, Hei Aomi spokesperson Zhao Yazhi sent a video of condolences to the stores. At Guangzhou Wuyang store, with only 5 viewers in its first broadcast, a Sichuan user made a purchase of over 2,000 yuan. On the 3rd, Hunan Longshan store held a group flash sale event, with on-site sales exceeding 10,000 yuan, including one employee selling 5,043 yuan. By 1 a.m., replies and communication about work were still timely, with an online rate still over 60%. Wu Qinghui himself was always among the last 10% to log off. On the 4th, Sichuan Guangyuan Labor Building store used WeChat Moments short video dissemination, successfully closing 5 users, and delivered goods to 5 users after taking safety precautions. On the 5th, Hei Aomi's brand department participated in an online public welfare activity with spokesperson Zhao Yazhi; Hunan Shaoyang store used Douyin live streaming to successfully sell over 10,000 yuan. On the 6th, Hebei Handan store used Moments + Douyin live streaming to gain two new customers, with sales of 3,600 yuan; a hair transplant customer paid a deposit of 8,000 yuan. On the 7th, Shandong Qingzhou store sold over 35,000 yuan in 4 days through Douyin short videos, with sales still growing. On the 8th, Hubei Shiyan Dongyue Road store, through a group check-in activity, one user purchased 4,000 yuan, with total sales nearly 10,000 yuan. On the 9th, Beijing Guangqumen store sold nearly 5,000 yuan from just one group. On the 10th, over 50 stores exceeded 10,000 yuan in single-day online sales. In fact, over 95% of the Hei Aomi team had never done short videos or live streaming. Wu Qinghui called on the team to 'learn war in war, learn live streaming in live streaming.' With hundreds of live streams a day, the entire Hei Aomi system's understanding and practical ability in live streaming improved rapidly. On February 11, Wu Qinghui, founder of Hei Aomi, announced on social media: After less than 20 days of the 'Epidemic Battle' action, with all 600+ stores closed, 75% of stores had daily income, and over 50 stores broke through 10,000 yuan in single-day sales. On February 14, Hei Aomi celebrated its 14th anniversary. That day, across hundreds of live streams nationwide, a promotional activity 'Happy 14th Birthday, Hei Aomi' was launched. This birthday in 2020, with the unexpected epidemic crisis, was indeed the most unique coming-of-age ceremony for 14-year-old Hei Aomi. That day, although confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 60,000, the Chinese people became more confident in ultimately defeating the epidemic, and Hei Aomi became more confident in its own future. Wu Qinghui: Why did the 'Epidemic Battle' plan achieve remarkable results in 20 days? 1. Continuously exploring online, surviving under crisis Although Hei Aomi's main business was offline, Wu Qinghui always maintained a strong sense of crisis and learning. Hei Aomi began exploring online since 2017, gradually moving from traditional manual operations to data-driven and then to online. In 2019, Hei Aomi built its own SaaS system, which was fully functional in areas such as purchasing, inventory synchronization, online activities, live streaming courses, employee management, and user fission. This system was the key turning factor that allowed Hei Aomi to successfully transform the online second battlefield into the main battlefield in a hurry. 2. The team has basic internet combat capabilities and super execution In training, Hei Aomi has long maintained high investment, with headquarters employee training costs exceeding 1 million yuan in 2019 alone; the headquarters training academy conducted over 170 training sessions for chain stores in 2019. Thanks to this, although Hei Aomi's main business was offline, it was always preparing for online combat in terms of systems and personnel capabilities. In 2019, Hei Aomi also invested 5 million yuan to establish Beijing Yitouhaofa Digital Technology Co., Ltd., focusing on attacking the online market. At the same time, throughout the epidemic, the Hei Aomi team's super learning ability, execution, and combat capability were the core driving force behind successfully achieving the 'Epidemic Battle' goals. 3. Fifteen years of building an excellent franchisee team Hei Aomi's good treatment of franchisees and its high store survival rate are quite well-known in the industry. Hei Aomi's store support includes empowerment in site selection, decoration, personnel training, seed user cultivation, online customer acquisition, user management, and store operation capabilities, with a store survival rate of 92%. This is a relatively healthy chain system, with many franchisees who have been with Hei Aomi for over 5 years and trust it deeply. It is precisely because of this trust that Hei Aomi successfully mobilized over 600 stores to transform online in just a few days. It is also because of this trust that many franchisees believed first and resolutely acted, achieving phased success in just 20 days. (Sharing: 'Hei Aomi COVID-19 Epidemic Battle Supreme Action Command Map') Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.