The “Ah Tuck Roast Pork” Journey

One and a half years have passed since I first put my products out into the market, and quite a lot has happened since. I have made friends with other vendors when setting up booths at bazaars. Some with a large appetite for growth, some have the giving-it-a-try-and-see-how-things-go attitude, and a select few are homemakers killing time. Over time, friends and family have come around to support me. I felt the agony of sales reps when I used to FFK(go missing on an appointment) them. It sucks and it was pay back time.

I have laughed, cried, faced disappointment, got angry, felt joy, and relief while trying to make Ah Tuck work.

Never more have I felt the entire spectrum of emotions in life and never have I faced more reality checks. I have cried in the shower when the skin of 10 kilos worth of pork belly did not crackle. I have consistently eaten Maggi Ayam and Maggi Kari for 2 weeks until I fell sick, because I had almost run out of cash.

But through it all, life is so much better. I respect my time with my wife more, I seek God more, I became more self-motivated(and at some points more self-destructive). I acknowledged my weak spots but am still working to fully utilise my strengths, simply because I slide towards pessimism when “something” hits the fan.

I have met like-minded people who believe in the gospel of pork, building their businesses on the notion that pork has a strong and solid future here in Malaysia. Sometimes I think we are a delusional people. One of the best things that happened to me is realising the importance of people and relationships. When it came to building a business, I have previously always put processes and facilities before people. One problem of not having the right people always propped up, and I was blind-sighted by my ability to work the entire process. There’s a saying that goes “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. It is so true! I just understood the essence of this proverb after Ah Tuck.

So, if you want to start a business on your own. This is my advise. Mentality is more important than mechanics because mentality dictates the mechanics you will use, and how you will use them.

Don’t let emotions drive your focus.

Make logical decisions. This comes hand-in-hand with point 1. I am an emotional roller roaster and it takes me days to channel my emotions to make even a slightly important logical decision. When you are excited about something and you need to make a decision, always give yourself time to think about it because you can make more sound decisions once you have a calm mind.

Find people or a mentor who can provide different perspectives.

Three brains is better than one.

The 4 people I can count on are my wife, my mom, my mentor Jon Cheong, and my dad.

If the leaders of a company are the people constantly aligning teams to a certain goal, who is aligning those individual leaders?

That is where Jon comes in. Jon and I meet up often to evaluate my mental, emotional and spiritual state. My wife always gives me a very different perspective — the dark and selfish side of people that I often fail to see. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not a sinister, just a realist. My mom…well, what do all mom’s do? “Did you…?”, “have you…?”, “didn’t you think…?”, “why are you…?”…the nags. Funny enough she does sometimes have a point if I take away the emotions and just put those words on paper.

I would ask my dad questions of whether a client or venture is worth taking on when something seems too good to be true. He’ll usually tell me the flip side of the coin, and he has been correct before. Not always, but enough to avoid mistakes.

If you want to go far, go together.

Take time to invest in those who work with you. This is my weakest spot, and my wife persuaded me for years to look at this weak spot. I never did. Until 18th July when I made the decision to rejoin U-Fresh, the company that owns the Sanbanto Premium Pork brand. The family business that I previously said never to go back to. Well, guess what…God has a weird humour.

I’m learning to put time and energy into people. The toughest part is to be objective during an argument because I am an extremely emotional person.

I find that this is the hardest part of my job today, and there are days I just feel like killing people.

Stop fooling yourself into thinking you can do it all.

Sure! You can do everything. But it is always focus on one thing and let someone else do what you hate doing. If you try to do everything yourself you will definitely burnout, create mediocre stuff and fail to meet deadlines.

Multitasking will derail your focus. Delegate tasks that do not bring you closer to your goals.

Don’t believe me? When was the last time you multitasked and did a great job in every task? Were the results consistent? Now, think of the last time you did one task at a time. Did you perform well?

Find like-minded people.

I am extremely thankful for meeting generous people during my time building Ah Tuck. Friends who helped me with graphics on my Facebook account, friends who supported my business during bazaars, vendors who exchanged their food with mine because it was cheaper than paying cash, vendors who became friends albeit for one or two days, and business owners whom I worked with.

Finally, Be honest with yourself…

…Throughout every step of the way. Sometimes that gut feeling might just save you from unfortunate consequences. On other occasions, you need to be still and be alone, without distraction to ask yourself honest questions like “Is that RM15,000 combi oven worth investing in now?” or “Do I really have no time and need that RM2,000 convection oven or can I start work 2 hours earlier on busy days?”. Or when it comes down to staffing “should I continue to hire this person to do a half-hearted job while looking for a better candidate or should I release this person now?”

Did it turn out well?

This wonderful and magical journey has ended.

Without a doubt, 2014 and 2015 were the best years of my working life. I miss it but I am called to do something different today.

Did I make money in that 8 months? I did in the beginning, then I made a mistake and started losing money in the 7th month. It’s sensitive to share but you can ask me personally.

But you know what?!

I’d say ‘yeah’, it did turn out well because business was growing, I was happy, I learned a lot, met great people, and my marriage was strengthened.

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