Entrepreneur Case Study

Interview with Mr Bernie Utchenik

Group Trump

The Interview

Who is this big burly man?

Born in Detroit in 1953 (58 years old today)

Considered to be in lower middle class

Starting working part-time since 12 years old

By 16 years old, he could buy a car! Dropped out of uni as he had learnt

all there is to learn

Who is this big burly man?

Working experience includes jewellery, factory and ski lodge ops and oil industry engineering

Lived across US, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and finally Singapore (in 1990)

Bernie’s – Rise & Fall

Opened pub restaurant at Changi Gardens in 1996

Opened Bernie’s BFD at East Coast Park later on

Bernie made $325k after 3 years Opened Bernie Goes To Town in Boat

Quay in 1999 with start-up capital of $500k

In 1 year, BGTT had to close down Bernie lost $200k

Botak Jones is born

First Botak Jones started in Tuas in 2003, with initial investment of $10,000

“Botak” = Bernie is botak; “Jones” = common American name

Bernie noticed that there was no good western (American) food in Tuas

There was a good sizeable potential market

Botak Jones is born

Business did not pick up immediately as it wasn’t easy to change S’poreans’ main staple of rice and noodles

Bernie stuck it through as he knew his food was good

He gave free samples Wrote to newspapers to seek coverage. His

hook – an ‘ang moh’ selling American food in a kopitiam – it worked!

People travelled from beyond Tuas to eat at BJ!

Botak Jones Today

Botak Jones is under Great Big Food Pte Ltd

51% owned by Bernie and his wife, Zee

11 outlets islandwide Catering service Office and 5,000 sq ft central kitchen

in Defu Lane

Company Mission

To provide well-made restaurant quality food and service in industrial and heartland residential areas where it hasn’t been available before.

Future of Botak Jones

Bernie is still passionate about Botak Jones.

Always looking for new ideas to expand.

They have plans to franchise their business in Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and China.

Bernie’s business approach

Be Passionate Feel passionate about what you do! For every business move you take, put

your heart in it and give your best. Eg. The Tale of the Aye Carumba! Sandwich It is difficult to hire people who are willing

to work in coffeeshops, even if the pay is higher

Very tall order to find staff who care about what they do

Bernie finds that it is easier to train staff with no prior skills or knowledge, but has the passion to want to do things right.

Bernie’s business approach

Good Service “How you want to be treated, is what

your customers expect you to treat them.”

“Treat everyone as a human being until they give you reason not to”

“If you screw up, the onus is on you to make up. It is also to punish ourselves to prove that we are sincere”.

“Never say ‘no’ to a customer” – things are always workable so long as there is an opportunity to talk things through.

Eg. Catering gone terribly wrong

Bernie’s business approach

Let Go

As business grows bigger, you will have to rely on others to help you

Giving the authority to others means that Bernie has to learn to trust them to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

He has got to think twice about visiting an outlet. If he ever does, he will be mindful to correct staff through the respective levels of management, and not do it on his own.

Bernie’s business approach

My rules may not be others’ [Back to Bernie’s] Bernie was more hands-off

to the daily business operations, as compared to the earlier two outlets.

The likely causes of the failure were pilferage, expensive acts and insufficient crowds.

To run a successful business, you have to understand the system, not assume everyone share the same values as you, and be prepared.

Analogy: Don a suit in Africa? Be armed with a gun

On Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs are very impatient people. They see ideas and can’t wait to act on them. They are not afraid to take up the challenge and bear the risks. They will not be able to live a full life, unless they try.

Entrepreneurs just know it. They have very good intuition or gut feel. They are able to do a quick SWOT analysis, without whipping out the calculator and calculating profits. However, a proper financial model is good to have as a final check.

On Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs might not be able to run a business, but they can definitely make a business. They are strategists. They create ideas.

The better you surround yourself with capable persons; the better you will be in the running of your business.

Entrepreneurs see products and services as the all-important factor in a business. They care about what they are doing – put a face to every burger you make.

All that talking made us hungry!

Any questions?The end