“If You Own A F&B Business, Never Invite Your Friends Over”: Shane Pow On How He Ended Up Losing Money From Entertaining Friends At His Restaurant

Local actor Shane Pow, 32, and Yes 933 DJ Jeff Goh, 40, were guests on the latest episode of Zhong Kunhua’s Kunversations podcast. There, they spoke about the difficulties of owning a business.

Jeff runs a marketing and events agency, which he started during his university days.

Shane, on the other hand, is part shareholder of Korean Hawker stall Gogiyo. Earlier this year, in an interview with 8days.sg, the actor revealed that the business, which he invested a “low five-figure sum” in, wasn’t doing too well.

As it stands, only one of the four original Gogiyo outlets remain, and Shane was forthcoming about the challenges he faced while running the F&B establishment.

“A few friends and I got into the business during the pandemic, and I liked our idea of bringing good and affordable Korean cuisine into the neighbourhoods. We initially planned to open 10 stalls, and expand it into a restaurant after. However, [business was not as brisk] after restrictions were lifted,” explained Shane.

He explained that people generally went for Korean food in groups, and would rather eat KBBQ in a place with air-con, so they might have chosen to “spend an extra 20 to 30 dollars to dine in a restaurant” instead. 

Back then Shane decided to invest in F&B due to his love for food, and he had many acquaintances who were already in the business. But things were tougher than he expected.

“It’s okay to go into F&B in Singapore if your goal is to earn a living. But what you sell is very important. If I were to open a stall again, I would sell chicken rice or bak chor mee, or even economic rice,” he said.

Over time, he realised though it would be more competitive to sell staple Singaporean dishes instead of “random Korean and Japanese fare”, there would still be a larger pool of consumers.

“Did you start the business with other people ‘cos you knew the risks of taking it on by yourself?” asked Kunhua.

Shane explained while the risks were a concern, he had no knowledge or experience on how to start a F&B business. He also had to dedicate his time to acting. For him, being a silent partner was the best way to go.

“I’ve always wanted to own a restaurant and investing seemed like a fun idea. I could also invite my friends over to have gatherings,” he said.

“And you end up spending your own money at your establishment,” added Jeff.

Shane immediately agreed, saying: “It’s true. If you’re interested in owning an F&B business, and you have many friends or clients to entertain, never invite them to your place."

He then gave an example, saying if he was the sole owner of a chicken rice stall and he wanted to treat every friend who came by, it wouldn’t be difficult to calculate the costs.

However, Shane has partners, and the business wouldn’t simply be able to “absorb” the costs. As such, he had to pay out of his own pocket.

“The money that I spent on my own business… We also sell beer, and people tend to order more food when they’re drinking… so I keep spending and spending. When I look at my credit card bill at the end of every month, I was like ‘Wah’. Turned out, I was the biggest spender at my own business,” he said bitterly.

On top of that, Shane and his partners decided they wouldn’t get any discounts to make things easier for accounting records, so they pay the full price when treating their friends to a meal.

“So for those who want to run a F&B business, try your best not to bring [anyone] over. Secondly, make sure you’re not there when they visit,” he laughed.

He realised he wasn’t earning as much as he thought he was, because he was also ‘losing’ the money while entertaining guests.

He concluded: “You can spend on PR, because it will bring more business in. But if it’s for personal gatherings, like when I host my friends from showbiz, the money spent is not a small sum."

“People from Mediacorp are all going down for free meals. Quick, tell us who these people are,” joked Jeff.

Listen to the full Kunversations podcast on meLISTEN.

Photos: YES933/ Instagram, Shane Pow/ Instagram