that the snaking queues his Punggol kiosk enjoyed in its early days have now abated to a more manageable “group of regulars”. “We were really very busy those first few months,. But the crowd started dying down in April, once a lot of people stopped working from home. As we are located in a neighbourhood mall, that affected us quite a lot.” he says. “The worst month so far was June, probably ’cos it was the first school holiday where many people could travel .
But the real trouble comes when it comes to hiring staff. “As first-time business owners, there was a huge learning curve, of course. But most of my sleepless nights come from hiring manpower. It is really, really tough,” he sighs. “We pay the industry averagbut it’s about finding people that are even willing to do the job in the first place that’s so difficult.”
Despite the challenges, Wai Yeen has ambitious expansion plans. “If everything goes well with the Northpoint City branch, I’m hoping to open two new outlets in 2023.will probably come together with a central kitchen, so that we can make our batter there and send it to our other outlets,” he says. Where exactly? “Other neighbourhood malls, but it’s too early to say now lah,” he shares.