Previously in Part 7
I mentioned how Jerry and I got through all the deep shits we got ourselves into, and closed down our cafe business, sold everything off for RM50,000. In the process, we almost lost something which meant a lot to us. Check out Part 7 HERE.
After closing down the business and sold it to someone (who is quite well known now, I might mention about this "someone" in the near future), one of our master chef who was quite close to us asked what is our next plan.
With that RM50,000 on hand, we still think that we can run a business with it. But what kind of business should we run? Other than our experience in F&B (food and beverage) businesses, we do not have any other knowledge or skills to run some other business.
He suggested us to check out Port Dickson (which is his hometown) to start the new business because the cost of living there was fairly low.
The new business
So we went. We drove around Port Dickson, seeking business opportunity, yet still under F&B. We noticed that there's no Penang food in Port Dickson, hence we decided to run a conventional coffee shop (or Kopitiam as what Malaysian call it) selling some Penang food. Penang is renowned as a food paradise, people just love the food in Penang. So we thought selling Penang food would be an attraction for the shop.
We rented a corner shop, getting all the renovation, equipment and stalls set up. This time we bought all the used equipment instead of buying new ones as we learned our lesson the hard way in our first cafe business. We named the shop "Maybo" in memorial of our angels (refer to Part 2 of my story). We had 4 stalls in the shop selling different types of food. We rent out one of it to our master chef's brother to sell Chicken Rice, and the other 3 was selling Penang Hokkien Mee (Prawn Noodles), Penang Fried Koay Teow, and Chinese Dessert.
Unfortunately we rarely take pictures back then, so I can only show you the location of our shop here.
The bitterness inside
It was just the 2 of us when we started, taking care of so many things all at once. When I started to cook and sell the noodles, my skin couldn't stand the heat and I started to get red rashes all over my face. I was so frustrated and so upset with it as it has that burning sensation on my face whenever I'm near to the heat which was so uncomfortable. Not to mention how ugly it looks. Yet, I knew very well that I need to do this every day, so instead of troubled by it, I chose to ignore that and just continue to do what I should; having the faith that it will heal by itself after a while. Which it did! Thank God.
Poor Jerry had to wash all the plates and he almost cried while washing the plates, feeling miserable. It was just the two of us, pat on each other's back, supporting each other every day, working hard for our living as well as to pay our debts off.
After almost a month of running the business, we were able to hire 3 foreign workers to help us at the stalls. Jerry is overlooking all the foods, and I was in charge of the Chinese Dessert and all the drinks in the shop.
The joy of getting loyal customers
We had some pretty good responses and some loyal customers after the shop was opened for 2 months. One of the loyal customers was a family from Singapore, a couple and their 2 children. They bumped into our shop when they had their holiday in Port Dickson (Port Dickson was quite a popular holiday place for Singaporean). Why did I remember them? Because they said we had the best "Teh Peng" (Teh Ice / Ice Tea with Milk) ever! They never had a nice "Teh Peng" in Singapore all the while, also not those that they tasted in Malaysia during their visit previously. Hence everytime when they are having their holiday in Port Dickson, they will come to our shop for food and of course, the must not miss "Teh Peng"!
There was another couple came to have their breakfast every morning at 7.30am and they will always order 2 cups of Nescafe, some food, and start reading the newspaper before heading to work.
Another loyal customer was an old lady. She was in her 60's or so. But she didn't sound or act like an old lady at all. She was working as the head of construction and her voice was super loud. She was so active and always supported us by bringing all her workers to our coffee shop for lunch.
Ok, I'm not gonna continue the loyal customers part, if I do, you might be bored to death 😂 I was just expressing how much I missed them and how much I'm grateful for their support. We made friends with some of our customers and we still keep in touch with some of them until today.
Other than "Teh Peng", the signature food that we had back then was XO Fried Rice, Penang Hokkien Mee (Prawn Noodle), and my Chinese Desserts with a different menu every day.
Is it worth it?
The daily life of running a conventional coffee shop is very routine and tiring at the same time. The shop was opened from 7am to 6pm. Jerry has to wake up early in the morning at 4am to go to the wet market to purchase all the fresh ingredients and start cooking after that. I started to cook all the Chinese Desserts (we will have at least 4 - 6 desserts per day) and prepare all the drinks at 6am. Customers will start coming in at 7am or 7.30am. When we close the shop at 6pm, we have to clean and tidy up the place and got back home at 7.30pm or 8pm.
Jerry was too tired and fell as sleep at the back of our shop with our little puppy, Carol, who is now in heaven.
The business started to drop in the 8th months of operation. So we prolonged the operation hours until 9pm each day, hoping to get more customers during dinner hours. However, it was not like that. We ended up paying more to our workers and utilities without having more revenue and we got back home at almost 12am every day.
Did we earn some money to pay back our debts? The answer is No. Not even a minimal salary for ourselves. What we get out of this business was just a place to stay and cover our 3 meals per day, that's all. So we kept asking ourselves whether it's worth it to continue.
Never give up?
In my previous story, someone commented that we should never give up in everything we do. I kind of agree and disagree with that statement. If you know very well that you will achieve what you want by not giving up and keep trying, then yes, don't give up easily. Do expect all the road bumps along your entrepreneurship journey, because success will only come after you hit hard on those bumps, get yourself up again and climb over it.
However, if you know clearly that it wouldn't work out well no matter how hard you tried and how long you hold on to it, "give up and let go" is what you should really think about. Analyse thoroughly and you will see which path should you go.
We knew very well that the coffee shop will not turn out well after holding on it for a year. Hence, we decided to end the business and move back to Penang. Without any savings in our bank accounts, and all the debts on our shoulders, what we can do is to get a job so that we have the salary to sustain our living as well as to pay our debts off bit by bit.
That led us to a very interesting field, Aesthetic. I got a job as a Plastic Surgery Consultant, learned all the dark sides of that industry and been through quite a dramatic period after that.
What is the dark side of Plastic Surgery?
What is the drama that I've gone through?
Stay tuned for Part 9 and do hold tight to your jaw and not to let it fall when you read it!
Related Post:
My Part 1 Story: What I have been through in the UK when I was 19 years old
My Part 2 Story: I met the angels in the UK
My Part 3 Story: Goodbye Jerry
My Part 4 Story: I got myself 3 Apprentices in the UK and was arranged for a marriage
My Part 5 Story: Failed miserably, losing all RM500,000 from the UK
My Part 6 Story: Hell of an opportunity
My Part 7 Story: Getting through the deep shits..