Shane Pow’s Korean Hawker Stall Biz Isn’t Doing Well; Says It's Important To Go Into Business Knowing "You’re Not Going To Get Your Money Back"

Back in September last year, Shane Pow, 32, let on that his Korean hawker stall business, Gogiyo, isn’t doing too hot. According to the actor, business had dropped by half, and he might have to shutter a few outlets.

Shane started Gogiyo in late-2020 with three childhood friends. In an interview with 8days.sg then, the actor revealed that he’d invested a “low five-figure sum” into the business. Gogiyo currently has four outlets across Singapore.

When 8days.sg spoke to the actor during the press conference for his latest drama, Love At First Bite in early December, he let on that not much had changed since September.

"It's still the same. I feel like it's a very weird period now. A lot of my friends doing F&B are experiencing the same [issues],” he said.

"I think for the first year we started, we were still going strong. Maybe 'cos it was new, and then there were still Covid restrictions, and we were giving people some cheaper options for nice Korean food. But now that everything has opened up, when it comes to Korean food and all that, people want to have a proper meal in a restaurant [instead],” he said.

Admitting that they’re currently “stuck in limbo” when it comes to deciding the future of the business, Shane added: “[Gogiyo] is not a caifan or chicken rice store. It's not something that you'll buy every day, it's a once in a few days kind of thing. So we're just carrying on until the lease ends and we'll just see how it goes.”

Though Shane declined to share when the leases for the four outlets were ending, he did reveal that the leases are set to end “in the coming months”.

“We'll have to decide and see how it goes, but right now, I think, in the foreseeable future, I don't see our business suddenly tripling. But I think it's a good try lah, we all agree that we tried and gave it all we had. If it doesn't end well then so be it,” he said.

When asked, Shane confirmed that he has yet to break even for Gogiyo, but seemed to be pretty chill about it.

He explained: “Heart pain lah, it’s our hard-earned money, but no choice. It's always a risk when you do business. I mean I did F&B before, made some money, lost some money. I invested in other stuff, some made money, some lost money, there's no guarantee. The most important thing is to go in with the mentality that you're not going to get your money back, and that's what we went in with."

And no, unlike the many stories you hear out there of soured relationships and severed ties after a business goes awry, Shane and his childhood-friends-turned-business-partners are still going strong.

“They always say not to do business with your friends, but it also depends on who your friend is. I really feel that way. And all of us have agreed that our friendship is more important than the money. Some people don't have that kind of mentality, so that's why they say they lost a friend cos of [their business],” he said, adding with a dry laugh: " Then maybe that fella is not your friend, you know. I don't think he was ever your friend.”

The actor’s speaking from experience here, by the way. He went on to share: ”I mean, I've lost money before lah, with "friends". Then again, they're not my friends now.”

Apart from Gogiyo, Shane also spoke about a stylistic choice he made while filming Love At First Bite. If you have watched the drama, you’d know that Shane’s character Chang Sheng Jun sports a rather eye-catching beard.

Said beard, which was intentionally kept scruffy to reflect his character’s personality, wasn’t too well received by netizens whenever Shane posted pictures of himself on IG. But the actor’s not bothered at all.

“I'm used to comments that aren’t nice. It's really nothing lah. And also I feel that everybody is entitled to their own opinions. Anyway, it's on my face, it's not on your face, so it doesn't matter if you don't like it. It's fine. People were saying to shave it off and all, but I can't 'cos I'm doing it for the show... and I feel that this is needed for the character, it adds a little bit of layer to him,” he said.

Yes, Shane is quite literally taking it on his chin.

“A lot of people said that I look like a cheekopek [slang for a pervy uncle], my sister said it. I've always pictured myself with [a beard], but in my head, I looked manlier.  But after those three months, I realised that I look just like I am a small boy, like in secondary school with one or two strands of hair that they don’t want to shave off,” he laughed.

“It’s a good try lah, but give me another few more years. Maybe when I’m 50, then I’ll try again,” he added.

You can catch Love At First Bite on meWATCH here. The first episode is embedded below. 

Photos: Mediacorp, Kelvin Chia, Shane Pow/Instagram