Entering F&B: A millennial’s recipe for success

Whether you live by the creed of “eating to live” or “living to eat”, it is undeniable that choices for what goes into your belly are ever-growing. But competition in the local F&B sphere is fierce, with as much as 28 per cent of F&B outlets in Singapore closing within a year of opening[1] and many struggling to survive their first five years of operation.

Jonathan Yang is no stranger to such pressure. Having founded the successful Muchachos, he recognised a gap in the market for clean and healthy eating, especially in the island’s Central Business District where many gyms are located. Jonathan established The Daily Cut, a protein-based salad bar which was one of the first to satisfy the discerning requests of office workers and exercise aficionados for clean and nutritious lunches. Daily Cut quickly amassed a strong following and expanded to several outlets across the island.

We caught up with Jonathan to find out his secret ingredients to the success he has cultivated since opening his first F&B outlet in 2013.

What inspired you to be a restaurateur? Did your previous work experiences help you in this journey?

I never intended to be a restaurateur, so nothing in particular inspired me. Rather, all this was sort of an accident that was born out of a six-month sabbatical I decided to take from my previous job as a public relations consultant.

I consciously avoided doing any form of proactive PR for the business as I did not want it to start on a footing of pomp and fluff. I wanted to focus on developing the product to its best and let the quality speak for itself — rather than spend time thinking about how to make it look good.

What were some of the challenges you faced in your start-up journey?

I had zero experience in starting a company or a restaurant and had no idea how to go about things. The opening day of Muchachos for example, made only S$129 in profit! I used whatever knowledge I had, talked to people from the industry and tried to learn things on the go. It was basically a giant exercise of trial and error and figuring things out as the business progressed.

Even till now, there are certain challenges the restaurant faces, but we figure things out as a team.

How was the business idea and product created? What did you have to take into consideration when preparing to start your own business?

I started with the belief that every product that I create would have to be something that I wanted for myself. I also had to consider whether the idea for a burrito-focused Mexican restaurant would appeal to the consumers here in Singapore — especially with a market that predominantly serves Asian food.

It took me about two months of optimistic ideation and thinking about all the possible pitfalls and worst-case scenarios, all while being in a full-time job, before I took the leap of faith to go head-first into the business. I had to also figure out how my life would be like if my businesses failed and I had to declare bankruptcy.

How do you and your team constantly innovate and get creative with your menus?

It helps that the team genuinely loves the cuisine and the genres of food we work with, so the team is naturally driven to explore their own boundaries to discover new flavours. The environment is also kept open where the team can bounce ideas off one another and put these ideas to taste.

Do you employ technology to enhance and improve customer experience?

Yes, we work with technology companies such as Deliveroo and Waitrr to enable customers to purchase our food in manners that are more convenient for them.

Additionally, we work with CandyBar to implement a loyalty programme so that we can reward our most regular patrons.

As an employer, what’s your secret to running things smoothly in the kitchen? What is your management philosophy?

Things are rarely ever smooth in a kitchen, or at least not in our kitchens. That said, we still continually work towards that by treating our staff as colleagues and peers, not merely employees. This doesn’t necessarily mean becoming their buddies and sugar-coating feedback to them when the circumstances call for it, but treating them with respect and speaking to them like how we want to be spoken to.

It is also crucial that we be authentic in how we treat our colleagues. Everybody wants to feel like they are heard and seen for their efforts — so consistent actions of recognition at seemingly insignificant moments like acknowledging small process improvements in the kitchen go a long way than running a HR engagement programme. Of course, everyone loved it when we decided to close our operations for a few days so that we could go on a company trip to Bali!

What would it be if you must name a secret ingredient to the success of Muchachos and Daily Cut?

Passion, lots of grit and a touch of luck. Tough times are inevitable in building a business — being passionate about what I do and emotionally invested in the business helps in getting through those challenging times consistently. Without the fuel of passion to drive you, one will quickly lose steam in the ebb and flow of this cut-throat industry — and we have seen our fair share of those who have come and gone.

As with every successful creation, there’s bound to be copying. What’s your take on copycat brands out there?

We are not really fazed by copycats, though we’re not exactly flattered either. We accept that this is simply the nature of business and that if you have a good idea, it is bound to garner attention and be replicated. All we can do is to continue focusing on innovation and execution and hope our efforts will pay off in the long term.

Any last bit of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

There is still this culture in the start-up community that is driving the behaviour of founders constantly searching for the next round of funding after every unsuccessful one. I put across this analogy of a farmer selling his/her “Magical Duck that lays Golden Eggs” — if you truly believed that your magical duck is that fantastic and able to lay golden eggs for a very long time, would you spend more time working on the duck or selling it to investors?

So tell us, what is your favourite food on the menu?

Carne Asada and Lengua Burrito with sliced avocado instead of guacamole.

Jonathan Yang is the founder of popular eateries Muchachos and The Daily Cut. He spoke at DBS Asia X as part of DAX U, a series consisting of curated curriculum about innovation in different fields, offering DBS staff and the innovation community additional learning resources. Topics ranging from technology in data virtualisation to entrepreneurship tips and tricks are shared via brown bag sessions and mini-workshops.

[1] F&B businesses cannot rely on fads to thrive, Channel NewsAsia, 14 August 2017