????一臺(tái)“ATM機(jī)”吐出的是紙杯蛋糕而不是鈔票，這未必會(huì)讓人發(fā)出“天才商業(yè)點(diǎn)子”的驚嘆。不過(guò)，這項(xiàng)新奇的發(fā)明正在滿足美國(guó)市場(chǎng)一種很常見(jiàn)的需求，那就是深夜想吃現(xiàn)烤蛋糕的沖動(dòng)。

????現(xiàn)在，美國(guó)六座城市的甜食愛(ài)好者隨時(shí)都可以在這樣的自動(dòng)化機(jī)器上買(mǎi)到紙杯蛋糕，每個(gè)售價(jià)4.25美元。這些城市包括芝加哥、亞特蘭大和紐約，其中紐約是出現(xiàn)這種機(jī)器最晚的城市。這些現(xiàn)烤蛋糕由芝加哥紙杯蛋糕生產(chǎn)商Sprinkles手工制作。

????Sprinkles聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人坎迪斯?納爾遜和查爾斯?納爾遜夫婦在坎迪斯懷上第一個(gè)孩子時(shí)有了這個(gè)新穎的想法。查爾斯接受本刊采訪時(shí)表示，坎迪斯覺(jué)得作為紙杯蛋糕公司的擁有者，自己卻不能在非正常營(yíng)業(yè)時(shí)間吃到現(xiàn)烤蛋糕是一件可笑的事。對(duì)蛋糕的想念促使這家公司于2012年在貝弗利山安裝了第一臺(tái)“紙杯蛋糕ATM機(jī)”。

????查爾斯說(shuō)：“2005年我們開(kāi)了第一家只賣紙杯蛋糕的蛋糕店。當(dāng)時(shí)我們的想法是，為什么紙杯蛋糕不能成為主打產(chǎn)品？我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，有些消費(fèi)者隨時(shí)都可能想吃紙杯蛋糕，但早上三、四點(diǎn)鐘就開(kāi)門(mén)營(yíng)業(yè)并不明智……很快我們就想到了‘紙杯蛋糕ATM機(jī)’”

????查爾斯是這個(gè)紙杯蛋糕帝國(guó)的首席執(zhí)行官，他不愿透露這些“ATM機(jī)”的具體收入。但他說(shuō)，每臺(tái)機(jī)器每天大約要賣一千個(gè)蛋糕。本刊估算，如果全部六臺(tái)機(jī)器一年出售的蛋糕數(shù)量約為36.5萬(wàn)個(gè)。按每個(gè)蛋糕4.25美元計(jì)算，這項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)的規(guī)模已經(jīng)超過(guò)900萬(wàn)美元。這種機(jī)器非常受歡迎，以至于本周早些時(shí)候它在曼哈頓首次亮相的時(shí)候，等著買(mǎi)蛋糕的隊(duì)伍都拐過(guò)了街角。

????12歲的謝恩?倫納德一邊咬著“ATM機(jī)”做出的黑白色紙杯蛋糕一邊說(shuō)：“真是又好吃又新鮮，很精致?！边@種機(jī)器已經(jīng)成了Facebook上的熱門(mén)話題，謝恩的姐姐格蕾絲正是通過(guò)Facebook聽(tīng)說(shuō)了它。上周四下午，姐弟倆和爸爸一起在“紙杯蛋糕ATM機(jī)”前排隊(duì)，和他們一起等候的還有大約40位紙杯蛋糕愛(ài)好者。

????不過(guò)，發(fā)明第一臺(tái)“紙杯蛋糕ATM機(jī)”并不像說(shuō)服消費(fèi)者使用它那么容易。查爾斯表示，開(kāi)始著手設(shè)計(jì)這種機(jī)器后，夫婦兩人很快意識(shí)到，當(dāng)時(shí)沒(méi)有什么現(xiàn)成的機(jī)器能為人們提供完整無(wú)缺的紙杯蛋糕。沒(méi)辦法，Sprinkles只好和一家歐洲公司合作開(kāi)發(fā)這項(xiàng)技術(shù)，要求是這種機(jī)器能把蛋糕遞出來(lái)，而不是像常見(jiàn)的自動(dòng)販賣機(jī)那樣讓商品從幾英尺高的地方落下來(lái)。然而，第一臺(tái)在貝弗利山投入運(yùn)營(yíng)的原型機(jī)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法完成每天做一千個(gè)蛋糕的任務(wù)。查爾斯說(shuō)：“那臺(tái)機(jī)器都要化了，它的零件真的在融化?！钡诙芜M(jìn)行設(shè)計(jì)后，這臺(tái)機(jī)器終于可以滿足不斷增長(zhǎng)的消費(fèi)需求，甚至是在一次烤四個(gè)蛋糕的情況下。由于縮短了消費(fèi)者等待的時(shí)間，它每小時(shí)可以做近100個(gè)蛋糕。

????查爾斯說(shuō)：“消遣一直都是購(gòu)物和餐飲的核心。人們可以簡(jiǎn)單地去買(mǎi)個(gè)紙杯蛋糕吃，對(duì)吧？但我見(jiàn)過(guò)有人坐在我們放在貝弗利山的那臺(tái)原型機(jī)旁邊，連著下了12單，買(mǎi)了12個(gè)蛋糕，因?yàn)樗麄兿敕瓉?lái)覆去地看那臺(tái)機(jī)器的機(jī)械手臂和它播放的視頻。”

????從商業(yè)角度講，這臺(tái)機(jī)器讓Sprinkles做到了一件幾乎不可能的事，那就是延長(zhǎng)營(yíng)業(yè)時(shí)間卻不增加成本。查爾斯說(shuō)，讓員工在夜間非正常營(yíng)業(yè)時(shí)間工作很難，從安全角度考慮也很危險(xiǎn)?，F(xiàn)在，這家公司可以隨時(shí)出售紙杯蛋糕，而且不需要支付員工工資，也不需要讓他們冒風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。此外，通過(guò)這臺(tái)機(jī)器出售的蛋糕每個(gè)可以賣到4.25美元，而不是Sprinkles店里的3.75美元。為了避免在制作過(guò)程中損壞蛋糕，必須把這臺(tái)機(jī)器做出的蛋糕放在紙盒里，而每個(gè)紙盒在店里的售價(jià)為0.5美元。

????查爾斯解釋說(shuō)：“這只是一種便宜的消遣，人們什么時(shí)候會(huì)因?yàn)?.5美元而改變心意呢？”

????納爾遜夫婦發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)為他人提供便利的商業(yè)途徑并非完全誤打誤撞。他們都有在舊金山一家投資銀行工作的背景。在自家廚房里開(kāi)紙杯蛋糕店之前，兩口子的工作是幫助科技公司上市。2003年，他們帶著一個(gè)創(chuàng)業(yè)點(diǎn)子搬到了洛杉磯，那就是，開(kāi)一家蛋糕店，而且只做紙杯蛋糕。一開(kāi)始，坎迪斯和查爾斯找不到愿意租給他們場(chǎng)地的人。查爾斯說(shuō)，原因是只做紙杯蛋糕這個(gè)想法過(guò)于古怪。接下來(lái)，他們看到的是泰拉?班克斯（美國(guó)超級(jí)名?！g注）和亨利?溫克勒（美國(guó)影星——譯注）這樣的名人給他們下了訂單，他們的生意也從此起步。Sprinkles甚至準(zhǔn)備和一家中東特許經(jīng)營(yíng)商合作，在海外開(kāi)34家門(mén)店。

????查爾斯的下一個(gè)重大項(xiàng)目是基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)，目的是為沒(méi)有和15家Sprinkle臨街店鋪相連的“紙杯蛋糕ATM機(jī)”提供支持。查爾斯說(shuō)，雖然這些機(jī)器每次能裝760杯蛋糕，但為了保持新鮮，每天要補(bǔ)一、兩次貨。如果管理者能找到劃算的辦法來(lái)實(shí)施這行工作，這種“ATM機(jī)”模式就會(huì)具有無(wú)限的潛力。查爾斯指出：“我妻子和我一直都把注意力放在創(chuàng)新上。創(chuàng)新者的挑戰(zhàn)在于，你總是在做以前沒(méi)有的事。它能帶來(lái)更多收益，但難度更大。”(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))

????譯者：Charlie

????An ATM that spits out cupcakes instead of cash doesn't necessarily scream "genius business idea." Nevertheless, the quirky invention is now filling a popular demand in the American market: late-night cravings for freshly baked sweets.

????In six cities across the country including Chicago, Atlanta, and most recently New York City, sugar addicts can now purchase a cupcake for $4.25 from an automated machine 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The freshly baked goods are handcrafted by the California-based cupcake shop Sprinkles.

????The novel idea came to the company's co-founders Candace and Charles Nelson when Candace was pregnant with their first child. She thought it was ridiculous that she owned cupcake bakeries and couldn't get a freshly baked treat at an odd hour, Charles told Fortune. That craving inspired the company's first cupcake ATM in Beverly Hills, Calif. in 2012.

????"When we created the first cupcake-only bakery in 2005, we thought, 'Why can't the cupcake be the star of the show?'," says Charles. "What we saw is that we had customers who were demanding cupcakes 24 hours a day, but it doesn't make sense to have your business open at three or four in the morning ... fast-forward to the cupcake ATM."

????Charles, the cupcake empire's CEO, wouldn't go into specifics about the revenue earned from Sprinkles' cupcake machines, but said each ATM serves about 1,000 cupcakes per day. By Fortune's calculations, if all six machines are selling roughly 365,000 cupcakes a a year for $4.25 each, Nelson has more than a $9 million business on his hands. The machine is so popular that when it debuted in Manhattan earlier this week, customers were lined up around the block to use it.

????"It's really good and fresh. It's exquisite," said 12-year-old Shane Leonard as he chomped into a black and white cupcake from the ATM. Shane's sister Grace heard about the machine because it was trending on Facebook. The duo stood in line with their father and about 40 other cupcake devotees on Thursday afternoon.

????Yet inventing the first cupcake ATM was not as easy as convincing customers to use it. When the Nelsons started designing the machine, they quickly realized nothing existed that could give a fully intact cupcake to a customer, says Charles. The company had to partner with a European firm to develop the technology that could deliver a cupcake without dropping it several feet like a typical vending machine. But once the prototype of the first cupcake ATM went to market in Beverly Hills, the machine couldn't come close to handling the 1,000 transactions it received each day. "The machine was melting down, the parts were actually melting," says Charles. After going through a second development cycle with the product, the ATMs can now adequately withstand growing customer demand and even disperse as many as four cupcakes at a time. The machine can also handle nearly 100 orders an hour thanks to faster customer transaction times.

????"Shopping and dining is as entertainment-focused as ever," says Charles. "You are still just buying and eating a cupcake, right? But I've watched customers on our original machine in Beverly Hills sit there and buy 12 cupcakes with 12 different transactions in a row because they wanted to see the robotic arm and the video play to go get it again and again."

????From a business perspective, the machine allow Sprinkles to basically do the impossible: increase hours of operation without raising costs. It is difficult to get employees to work odd hours during the night as well as dangerous from a security perspective, says Nelson. Now the company can sell cupcakes around the clock through the ATM without paying employees or putting them at risk. What's more, is that Sprinkles can get away with charging $4.25 for cupcakes that come out of the machine as opposed to the $3.75 price seen in stores. In order for the baked goods to be delivered without damage, they had to come in a gift box that the company sells in its stores for an additional 50 cents.

????"That's cheap entertainment though," explains Charles. "Since when has 50 cents changed your mind on anything?"

????The Nelsons did not stumble upon this business boon completely by chance. Both Charles and Candace come from a background in investment banking in San Francisco. Before opening a cupcake bakery out of their home kitchen, the couple worked on initial public offerings with technology companies. Then they moved down to Los Angeles in 2003 with the idea of starting a cupcake-only bakery. At first, Candace and Charles couldn't get anyone to lease them a space because the idea of a bakery that only sold cupcakes was too "kooky," says Charles. Next thing they knew, celebrities like Tyra Banks and Henry Winkler were placing orders, and the business took off from there. The company is even partnering with a Middle Eastern franchise operator to open 34 new locations abroad.

????Charles' next big project is to put the infrastructure in place to support cupcake ATMs in locations that aren't connected to Sprinkle's 15 storefronts. The machines, while hold 760 cupcakes at a time, have to be stocked two to three times a day in order for the product to remain fresh, says Nelson. If executives can figure out how to do that in a cost-effective manner, the ATM model has limitless potential.

????"My wife and I have always focused on innovation," says Nelson. "The challenge of being an innovator is that you are always doing things for the first time. It's more rewarding, but it's harder."