{"id":1999,"date":"2019-12-07T10:32:02","date_gmt":"2019-12-07T02:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hapa.asia\/?p=1999"},"modified":"2020-02-19T16:03:09","modified_gmt":"2020-02-19T08:03:09","slug":"owning-a-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/2019\/12\/07\/owning-a-restaurant\/","title":{"rendered":"Owning A Restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Road\nto Riches or, Road to Ruin?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many aspiring chefs and entrepreneurs dream\nof opening their own restaurant. However, not all succeed so Hospitality Asia\nspoke to several industry players to find out how successful such ventures are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restaurant openings are a daily\noccurrence in Asia but for every one that opens, another closes. There are many\nreasons for openings and closings as palates change, consumer preferences\nswitch, social media likes and dislikes fluctuate and owners over-extend\nthemselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most\nagree that it\u2019s never easy opening a new business especially a restaurant,\nwhich often depends upon customer discretionary income. Some words of wisdom\nfrom those who have ventured here could be helpful to those about to start out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\nexpert panel includes entrepreneurs who are industry veterans as well as a\npassionate young chef who just opened his first outlet. Gain insights from Kent\nChua (co-founder, Rhombus Connexion), Michele Kwok (co-founder, Soul Society\nGroup), Hans Gill (co-founder, Tiki Taka) and Chef Nik Syazmin (owner\/chef,\nMean Mince).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Road to\nSuccess<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nik Syazmin (Min) is chef\/owner at the\njust opened, New York-styled burger restaurant, Mean Mince in Mutiara\nDamansara. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since\nprimary school, food has been important in his life. At every opportunity, he\nlooked for internships whilst pursuing culinary courses working at Sushi Groove\nand The Royale Bintang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a\nmanagement trainee in Switzerland, he interned at Schweizerhof Weggis. The\nhotel was owner-run and this provided many opportunities for Chef Min. After\ngraduating and armed with Swiss work experience, he started at the Playboy Club\nLondon. Here, he researched his dream concept, Mean Mince. \u201cWhen you start your\nown restaurant, you can create menus and rules while deciding the restaurant\u2019s\ndirection,\u201d he claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nadds, \u201cOwning Mean Mince not only allows me to experiment and create recipes,\nbut to source ingredients from reputable suppliers. I can also hire staff with\nthe same passion for work as great food is born out of love and passion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nMichele Kwok, the biggest joy in owning restaurants is that she is free to\nconceptualise the brand and product from the beginning. \u201cTo set the direction\non how we position ourselves, to nurture our culture and identity from infancy,\ngives me my highest high,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kent\nChua from Rhombus claims, \u201cI recall one day, two weeks into the opening of our\nfirst outlet, The Beer Factory in Sunway Giza, my partner and I stood outside\nan empty outlet with zero customers. We both looked at each other and started\nlaughing – the kind of laughter you have during exams back in high school when\nyou know you are going to fail. Fast forward today with our group grossing over\nRM80 million revenue; we still laugh about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hans\nGill, co-owner of Tiki Taka, ventured into the industry nine years ago when he\nopened D Legends Bar in Taman Tun. Maintaining high quality and service\nstandards earned it the Perfect Tiger Serve at the HAPA-GAB awards. He adds:\n\u201cMy travels around Spain alerted me to dining on many bite-sized dishes. This\nconcept of pintxos was unknown in Malaysia so in 2016, we launched in Medan\nDamansara. It took Kuala Lumpur by storm and won us Best New Restaurant at the\nMalaysia Tatler Dining Best Restaurants 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rocky Road<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there are many pluses, the road\nto success can be rocky. At Mean Mince, staffing is the main problem as many\nlocals don\u2019t want to work in the service industry. The only option is to hire\nforeigners but problems arise with work permits since the authorities have no\nsteadfast guidelines. \u201cThen there are budget overruns, unavoidable delays in\nrenovations and hiccups in gaining permits,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michele Kwok echoes these sentiments, \u201cI didn\u2019t come equipped with a hospitality background, neither am I a qualified chef. I wasn\u2019t aware of standard operating procedures. We had no budget to hire professionals, so it was just my partner and I and a few foreign workers. I never knew the authorities would be tedious as regulations change regularly and there are many departments to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best\nknown for developing SOULed Out, she comments that you don\u2019t know what you\ndon\u2019t know. She ponders, \u201cIf we knew all that we needed to endure, would we\nhave gone on this journey of never-ending trials and tribulations; that remains\na huge question.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nKent Chua, knowing the business is important. \u201cYou think you can rely on your\nmanager and that just by hiring an outlet manager, everything will be okay.\nHowever, you need to get your hands dirty and lead by example. You need to\nprovide clear direction for the team, you need to be hands-on to understand\ninside out what you\u2019re delegating to your manager. If not, it will lead to\nfrustration and misunderstanding,\u201d he suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before opening Tiki Taka, Hans Gill wished he had known that opening a restaurant would not be as easy as it looked. \u201cIt sounded easy and glamorous but it turned out to be anything but easy. However, if you work hard, the rewards are fantastic.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cSuccess involves great effort, great risk and grit; not just passion.\u201d ~ Michele Kwok<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lessons\nLearned<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Chef Min knowing more about the right location would have been\nimportant. It\u2019s nearly as important as the menu. \u201cI knew Malaysians travelled\nto eat and hoped location would be secondary if the food was good. However,\nlocation has affected business to a certain extent. Getting the word out to\nthose living in other areas has been slow but it\u2019s picking up. However, I\u2019m\nconfident a good menu is the key to success.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While passion is\noverused, it remains important to Michele Kwok. \u201cIt is important to follow your\npassion because only when you are passionate about something, will you love\nwhat you do and that will motive you to excel. However, I would add, remember\nthat great achievement and success involves great effort, risk and grit; not\njust passion. Without effort and hard work, your talent is nothing more than\nyour unmet potential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She continues,\n\u201cThere are no shortcuts to greatness. It takes grit, passion, perseverance,\nhard work and sacrifice. To me, grit is far more important than any talent,\nskills and intellect I may possess. So fall in love with your goals and dreams,\nmuster the skills, but most importantly check if you have the grit to stay in\nthe game till you succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou need to get ready to get your hands dirty and lead by example. \u201d ~ Kent Chua<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI\u2019m very fortunate to have supportive family backing me daily.\u201d ~ Chef Min<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany businesses fail because they don\u2019t adapt fast enough to changing environments.\u201d ~ Hans Gill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kent\nChua adds, \u201cNo words can describe how hard it is running your own place, but\nbecause of that, you get immense satisfaction from simple things such as happy\ncustomers or increased revenue. Besides that, you get to meet a diversity of\npeople, which broadens your network and, as they say; your network is your net\nworth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hans\nGill agrees and claims that one of the advantages of owning his own concept is\nmaking new friends and being exposed to new opportunities. Learning to adapt\nfast is important for him too. \u201cSometimes your concept doesn\u2019t take off\naccording to your vision so you need to adapt and change. Many businesses fail\nbecause they don\u2019t adapt fast enough to changing environments. They get caught\nup with their concept or, love their idea too much to be critical of it and to\nidentify improvements and changes,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sound Advice for Budding Chefs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chef Min claims that a young chef with\npassion and financial backing should go for it. \u201cHowever, it\u2019s vital to know\nand determine your restaurant\u2019s concept, from menu, to capital, expected profit\nand marketing plan. I believe that with hard work and perseverance, opening the\nright restaurant can be lucrative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hans\nGill contributes, \u201cMy advice is to put in the work, it\u2019s a tough business and\nif you don\u2019t get your hands dirty at the early stages, you may\nnot succeed. Most successful entrepreneurs have all gotten their hands dirty by doing the dirty work over long hours. If you don\u2019t know what and why your staff are doing certain things, you have a problem. Learn how to do everything or at least have an understanding of everything.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kent\nChua, \u201cI would advise those wanting to start their own outlet to not jump\nstraight into opening one but to spend time working with good bosses in a\nsingle outlet or a chain. A good boss is one who gives you the opportunities to\nlearn and grow. Learn the challenges, the systems and management style for a\nsolid foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy\nadvice to young entrepreneurs is to take time to look at your interests, your\nskills, industry dynamics, the competitive landscape and your target customers\nto steer you in the right direction of growth and success,\u201d suggests\nMichele Kwok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Further Along the Road<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest negatives for\nrestaurant owners is not having enough time with their family and friends. Hans\nGill comments, \u201cYou cherish the moments you do spend with them though\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chef\nMin suggests, \u201cI\u2019m fortunate to have supportive family backing me daily. The\nbest feeling for a chef is watching people enjoying the food, seeing smiling\nfaces and empty trays. It is an indescribable feeling when customers compliment\nmy food; when they recommend their friends to try and when seeing new faces in\nthe restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michele\nKwok concludes, \u201cLooking back, the starting days were the best years of our\nlives \u2013 the learnings, the adrenalin rush, the challenges, the opportunities,\nall coming together like a ball on fire! The phoenix had indeed risen from the\nashes!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Road to Riches or, Road to Ruin? Many aspiring chefs and entrepreneurs dream of opening their own restaurant. However, not all succeed so Hospitality Asia spoke to several industry players…<\/div>\n
Read More<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"powerkit_post_featured":[4],"class_list":{"0":"post-1999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-talk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1999"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6197,"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999\/revisions\/6197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1999"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hapa.asia\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=1999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}