From Coffee Boy To Boss Of Over 80 Outlets (Kopitiam Empire)

A Crazy Businessman

In 1988, Lim started Kopitiam Investment Pte Ltd to tender for a Bishan project.

At that time, Lim was already a veteran in the business; with experience in operating a chain of 8 coffee shops for more than a decade, as well as a canteen at the AT&T Building for two years.

The following year, he pumped in a whopping $2.01 million bid for a coffeeshop in Bishan Street 11, which chalked up his reputation as a fearless bidder who single-handedly hauled up Housing Board coffeeshop prices.

Lim recalls a particular taxi driver who remarked to him (without knowing who he was): “This towkay xiao eh, ai ke tiao lao hao (this towkay is crazy, going to commit suicide soon).”

Clearly, many thought it was an insane amount of hard cash to fork out for a location in a HDB estate.

However, the investment has since paid off handsomely – that piece of property is thriving and was worth about $6 million in 2008.

But behind each of his bold bids was deliberate planning and hours of sitting on Bishan benches like a vagrant.

There, he says he watched intently and carefully stored away details like the area’s demographic distribution, neighbourhood traffic, spending power and other wry observations like “young couples don’t cook at home to preserve their kitchens”.

Only when he was sure the gains far exceeded the odds, did he place his bid.

When McDonald’s first opened here in 1979, he also sat outside Liat Towers for a few days observing the beeline for burgers; and French fries.

He remembers mulling to himself: “If I can’t beat you, can I join you? If I can’t have foreign expertise, can I set up a local tier to lead? Can we prove and show Singaporeans can do it, too?”

Then, he went on to do it by taking over the ailing Lau Pa Sat Festival Market from Scotts Holdings Limited in 1995 at a cost of $8 million, pumping in an additional $4 million in renovation and $600,000 on advertising to nurse it back to health.

At that time, many people thought Lim was crazy to pump in so much money into a project that, until then, had not yielded any profit.

His business instinct was inevitably sharp as knife, and the market reopened for business as a 24-hour bustling food court.

Being A Boss Does Not Mean Having A Lavish Lifestyle

Despite his successes, Lim lives a very simple life.

Home for him is a modest three-room HDB flat in East Coast, and he said that he has no plans to move into a bigger house in the near future – partly because he just has no time to shift.

Every waking hour is devoted to his business. “Whatever money I earn, I put it back into the business. I keep rolling the cash. I don’t have much left to spend on myself.”

As the chairman of the Kopitiam Group, Lim today owns over 80 outlets – including food courts, coffeeshops, cafes and dessert stalls – in Singapore.

The kopitiam king also owns 98 per cent of Kopitiam Investment Pte Ltd, and he gave a percent share each to two long-time employees.

Lim clearly is the kind of boss who rewards others for their loyalty.

In fact, he makes it a point to reward his staff with a Rolex watch when they have worked with him for more than 10 years.

He said he also always listen to the suggestions of his staff because “they are all better qualified than I am. In fact, sometimes I’m a bit shy to admit that I’m the least qualified person in my company.”

His Secret To Success

The man sure is humble for someone who has worked his way up to build his own kopitiam empire.

So what’s his secret to success?

“Concentrate on a specific job [and] give your heart, soul, and 100 per cent. Don’t dilute your interest and plans. Go and go and go all the way to achieve your target,” he advised.

In his years of business, the 64-year-old never once pondered on failure. While his business is relatively successful, it does not mean that it has not faced any problems along the way.

“Of course we have labour and rent problems now. But if we are running a business, we need to expect that costs will go up in time.” 

“[In Singapore], everyone is thinking of progress. If you are willing to work your way, it’s doable. Everything is doable, as long as you put in the effort.”

People must have big dream, just like this businessman here who was already dreaming about turning it big when he was just a coffee boy. The belief system is very important as well.

Original Source: VulcanPost

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