Everything you should know becore you start a F&B businessMany people dream o¢ opening an F&B business. We spoke to EC, who has run one sor four years. This is what he said his biggest struggles were.@ Hmmm... oo P ey He should = ae | go? ® fo @® i S ® ts 5 it VS 0<@ x) 712 02 2 J . HILO =) D 's not ONLY about good ¢ood Having good good is important, but establishing brand equity is key in beating out the competition. Running events, having special menu items or providing a great ambience will help. Ogten, the marketing ¢unctions of a F&B business will make or break it.You will worry about cash ¢low and margins Based on the sight o¢ restaurant crowds on Friday nights, you may think that F&B owners make a lot og money. Dont let that ¢ool you. While restaurants can make thousands in revenue on a good night, it could be hundreds or even close to zero on bad nights. This was especially true ¢or the past two years.Entitled customers are a paingul reality Service stage o¢ten bear the brunt ¢rom people who believe ‘customer is king. These customers may end up writing negative and damaging reviews o¢ restaurants online ig they simply don't get their way. lt may sound counterintuitive, but gor a good experience for all customers, individual customers can't always have their way.Manpower: a perennial headache There are a good number o¢ Singaporeans who do not want to work in the F&B industry. And due to government regulations, F&B owners have limits on how many foreigners they can hire to gill the gap. (A business has to hire 10 Singaporeans for every foreigner hired via an S-pass.)Increasing salaries to make the job more attractive to Singaporeans will mean either an increase o¢ ¢ood prices, or operating at a loss. Customers are unwilling to pay cor the former. No business can survive the latter. This is a dilemma multiple F&B business owners ¢ace in Singapore. *EC pays about $2,000 - $2,500 ¢or the entry-level stag¢ and more than double that ¢or management roles.Even good is not spared ¢rom ‘upskilling Food might seem like a timeless thing but surviving in the F&B business requires constant adaptation. During COVID, many needed to run cloud kitchens when physical dine-ins were not allowed. EC also diversigied the menu to tide the business through. Many that did not adapt closed gor good.Yes, passion is a big part o¢ F&B, but... Being a ¢ood lover is not enough. Just like anywhere else, . ! passion alone can't ¢eed you. Want to run a F&B business sustainably?Save some money. Make some plans. Set up good systems. Work hard, and be kind. Stay woke, salaryman