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I recently had the opportunity to speak with Roger Hew, founder of The Brew House and most recently Brew & Bake Boulangerie.
While sharing his story, he also shared many interesting business insights that aspiring restaurant entrepreneurs can learn from. Here are some pearls of wisdom from Roger.
Quality can be localized
When scaling your business, especially a restaurant, quality control can be your biggest concern. How do you make sure all retailers are equal in terms of quality? How do you evaluate it?
While some companies use a central kitchen system to maintain consistent food quality, Roger believes it is important to maintain quality at each branch.
He clarified that The Brew House does not operate on a central kitchen model. Rather, each restaurant has its own kitchen, and flavors may vary depending on the region.
This is because different places have different tastes. Some places like more spice, some like it sweet, and some like it salty.
“We’re not like other brands that have 40, 50 stores and a central kitchen that delivers frozen food and makes money,” he said. “For them, revenue is important, but for us, we want to make money, but first we have to maintain quality and customer satisfaction.”
Become a good payroll manager
One of The Brew House’s key focuses is affordability. To achieve this, we must first keep the cost of our products low.
Two factors help with this. One is to supply suppliers in bulk, the other is to pay suppliers consistently and in a timely manner.
Of the two, the former can be difficult for small businesses to achieve. But the latter is definitely something that companies can achieve at any stage.
“We’re not going to put off people’s payments,” Roger said. “With good pay and sufficient quantities, they support us very strongly.”
This became especially important during the pandemic when funding was tight. The Brew House has built good relationships with its suppliers through a history of good payments, which has allowed it to gain some leeway from its suppliers during tough times.
Focus on cash flow in good and bad times
Any entrepreneur will tell you the importance of cash flow and ensuring your business is on a good trajectory.
Roger believes this is especially true for restaurants, where cash comes in every day. While that sounds good, it also means restaurant owners need to pay more attention to their cash flow.
“If you don’t know how to plan and use your money wisely, you can end up spending it for the wrong purposes,” Roger explained. “That’s why you see a lot of restaurants that are able to open, but then close, because they haven’t planned well enough financially.”
Even banks won’t be able to help you when you’re in trouble. Therefore, it is important to save money for a rainy day. Roger also recommended investing funds in other financial instruments to support the business.
work with passionate people
Roger is no stranger to expanding brands. The Brew House currently has 39 locations. Some are self-owned, while others are operated by licensees.
Roger’s philosophy is to work with passionate people, especially when it comes to expansion through licensing and franchising.
Through this lens, he launched a new bakery brand, Brew & Bake Boulangerie. Roger launched the brand in December 2023 with the help of a friend in the confectionery industry.
Apart from passion, he also believes that entrepreneurs need to have a long-term mindset. They need to be willing to be there for the long term and build something together from the ground up.
“I always tell people, you have to spend a lot of time in restaurants,” he said. “In F&B, the first six months of your life are spent raising children. Every day of your life is spent in your restaurant or bakery understanding your customers’ wants, needs, and feedback.”
In short, Roger believes…
must be practical
Being an entrepreneur isn’t just about investing money in an idea and calling it a day. For Roger, it’s important to experience all parts of the job.
“I am already 50 years old and this year I am 51 years old. I started my journey when I was 25 years old. So 25 years of my life have been dedicated to the dealership where I work. ” he pointed out. “You must love the store you work at.”
Once you experience it for yourself, you’ll start to notice things like lighting, temperature control, music volume, and food presentation and quality.
“I don’t have time to catch up with old friends,” Roger admitted of the restaurant entrepreneur.
Of course, having done all the heavy lifting, things became a little easier for him. In his words, if he dedicates his 10 years of his life to what he loves, growing his business comes naturally.
“Malaysians love to invest their money, but they don’t actually invest there,” he said. “A lot of people ask me if they can invest, but I run a business. [They want me to] Running a business, they just make a profit. This is unfair. ”
Instead of that “unfair” arrangement, Roger believes the investor (or someone within the team) must add value to the business. Only then will your business succeed.
learn everything
On the same wavelength as the last point, Roger believes that to become an entrepreneur you have to learn everything. Not everything about your store, but everything about the industry as a whole.
First, Roger himself actually studied hotel management. When he returned to Malaysia, he looked into who the movers and shakers in the industry were.
He started his career at Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel and said he learned everything from as many departments as he could. He observed how they set up their businesses, how they negotiated prices, how they ran their day-to-day operations, and more.
“You have to be passionate about finance, marketing, promotions, human resources and purchasing,” he said. In short, you have to be careful about everything.
Are you ready to take charge of your own business?
Because, as Roger said, “Being an entrepreneur can be very lonely.”
Not even your friends will help you along the way. They may greet you and wish you well, but overall, the journey can be very isolating.
While people may look at Roger’s success now and think it’s been a blossoming road for him all along, he admitted it hasn’t been easy.
“We have learned a lot the hard way, through competition with others in the market and through our mistakes,” he said.
Therefore, perhaps the most important requirement for becoming an entrepreneur is to be patient.
A final pearl of wisdom from this entrepreneur: Just keep moving. ”
- Click here to learn more about The Brew House.
- Read other articles we have written about Malaysian startups here.
Featured image credit: Roger Hew / The Brew House
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