Most students lead frantic lives running from class to books and their activities with hardly any time for anything else. A former Canadian International Matriculation Programme (CIMP) student at Sunway University College in 2004, and now final year student at Monash University, Sunway Campus, Tan Hai Liang has managed to balance time between his studies to make inroads into the food and beverage industry.
Doing a Bachelor in Business & Commerce degree and only 21 years old, he is the owner of a food outlet at the Sunway University College cafeteria.
“The CIMP involved students in projects and I chose to do mine setting up a kiosk at a food court” Hai Liang recalled. “I remember that 70% of the final marks were based on assignment and the rest on projects. This made us more rounded as we developed communication and presentation skills in the course of preparing our project work” he added.
During his project, Hai Liang noticed that there was a lack of food variety at its cafeteria, he decided to explore the trends in dining and food tastes by speaking with friends who studied at Taylors University College which is just a stone’s throw from Asia Café. That was when he soon realized that the food business was viable. “I came to know about the Lemon Grass Chicken chain of foods and I guess the CIMP project helped me get started” he said.
With his easy going nature, he managed to secure a deal with the Lemon Grass chain and after paying royalties to use the name, Hai Liang and his childhood friend, Quek Wee Siong ventured into starting up a Lemon Grass Chicken rice outlet at Sunway in July 2006. “We each put in RM15,000 to start the business” said Hai Liang.
The RM15,000 was not a handout from family but savings of all his ang pow money and “gift” money given by his parents for doing well in school since his childhood.
Wee Siong leaves Hai Liang to handle most of the business preferring to be the passive partner. “The business is improving and there are a lot of repeat customers” said Hai Liang. “I have not really started on promotions yet” he emphasized. But Hai Liang added “Maintaining the food quality and ensuring hygiene is important” His best selling dish is the Lemon Grass BBQ chicken which forms 70-80% of his monthly sales.
Not one to be complacent, Hai Liang strives to find ways to attract customers especially in the face of fierce competition. “I train my staff to be professional and deliver good customer service” he said.
In a recent holiday to Australia, Hai Liang surveyed the F & B market and realised that people go for certain foods because of branding and the brand equity. The human factor issue cropped up, “A smiling face and even good communications through utilising psychology has a role to play in attracting customers” he said.
So what does Hai Liang do in his spare time to unwind? “I have just picked up golf and go to the driving range when I can. Golf is excellent for networking and it teaches one about strategy” he said. “In life, it is very similar to golf as we need to ask ourselves, what do I want to do next?”. This business student enjoys catching up on reading. One of his favourites is “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. Hai Liang reads books on economics and finance and he reads the Edge, watches Bernama News and Bloomberg on a weekly basis to keep updated with the world’s economy.
Friends anchor him and are very much a part of his life. Hai Liang has five close friends (two were CIMP mates) who went to the same primary school in Klang and who share the same interests. “We support and encourage each other and share information. Our big dream is to run a corporation together in the future”, he said. At the moment two are studying in Australia, and three are in the UK, pursuing business, quantity surveying and medicine.
Hai Liang lives with his mum and takes pride in his close knit family sans his father who passed away. He has three sisters who he remains close with. His girlfriend is across the globe at Monash University in Australia and is in her final year pursuing the Bachelor of Business & Commerce degree. “I look forward to seeing all my friends when we graduate soon”.
Hai Liang’s advice to the young people who are thinking of going into business, “I would like to encourage them to start young, so they have time to pick up and learn from mistakes” He added, “The franchising industry in our country is young so there are many business opportunities. Don’t be afraid of risks as there is a risk in everything”.
This enterprising lad is already thinking ahead. He hopes to become a management consultant and help and teach others who are starting out. His ultimate dream is to become an investment banker.
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