I think he should at least take a holiday! Probably try "working smart" instead of just "working hard".
Apr 24, 2011
me & my money
All work and no play for restaurant owner
House of Seafood@180 owner believes hard work is the way out of poverty and he has never taken a break
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Entrepreneur Francis Ng has not gone on vacation all his life. In fact, since he set up his seafood restaurant business House of Seafood@180 in April 2008, Mr Ng, 38, has been working from 8am to 1am daily.
Coming from a below-average-income family, Mr Ng realised since he was young that his only way out of poverty was through sheer hard work.
He did not like studying and finished his Secondary 4 education at Serangoon Garden Secondary in 1991 when he was 19. Students typically finish Sec 4 education when they are 16 or 17. But since he was 12, he had been supporting himself and the family by working as a dishwasher and later as a store assistant at a 7-Eleven outlet.
After his national service in 1993, he gained employment with a car dealer and washed cars for a year before becoming a used-car salesman.
In 1995, he set up his own car dealing firm Turbo9000 Motor Trading with $20,000 of his hard-earned savings. It broke even after two years. But recognising that the business did not give a consistent income, Mr Ng, who is a food lover, decided to invest $100,000 in a 3,500 sq ft, 150-seat seafood restaurant in Yio Chu Kang in 2008.
He faced ridicule from some relatives and friends as he had no experience in managing a food business and the outlet was sited along the main road with no parking spaces. He provided valet parking service to customers and proved his detractors wrong when the restaurant became profitable after two years.
In July 2008, he invested $30,000 in a stall at a 6,000 sq ft coffee shop in Bedok. It broke even in six months.
Mr Ng said the popular dishes at his outlets are black pepper and chilli crabs, and nonya-style steamed sea bass.
Now the bachelor is facing his biggest challenge: a 40,000 sq ft, 300-seat seafood restaurant at Cosford Road, near Changi Point Road, 1km from the Terminal One runway. It opened last month. He also set up a bar and a bistro called The Bunker a few doors away. He has a staff of more than 70.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
I'm a saver. Whatever I earn is reinvested in my business, House of Seafood@180. Spending is kept to a minimum, basically only for daily necessities.
When I was a student working part-time as a dishwasher, I gave $100 of my $350 pay to my parents. When I was a car salesman, I saved about 60 per cent of my pay and managed to save $20,000 to start Turbo9000.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I charge $1,000 to two credit cards but I pay in full each month. It's not easy for the banks to earn any interest from me. I withdraw $500 from the ATM every month.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
My investment portfolio comprises cash, insurance and my businesses. I invest mainly in my business and I hardly participate in other investment vehicles. I own two life insurance policies and have a life cover of $500,000. I also have hospitalisation and critical illness cover.
I maintain one year's worth of cash reserves for my personal expenditure. This is partly because financial security is very important to me. I like to be cash-rich at all times.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I grew up in a humble family of six and I am the third child in the family. My mother was a housewife, but later worked as a cleaner to support the family. My father was a landscaping subcontractor with irregular income. He died in an accident at work. He was 60 then.
We lived in a zinc-roofed house in a kampung at Yio Chu Kang. We lived with my grandparents and extended family till 1986 when we moved to a four-room flat in Serangoon.
I started working part-time at the age of 12 to see myself through school. I had worked as a dishwasher, a 7-Eleven store assistant, a delivery driver, and done other odd jobs. I learnt from young that money doesn't come easily. Being thrifty is not just a virtue but a necessity in life.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
I am not a believer in financial investments like stocks. They are all just figures to me. I do not own shares except for the one time when I bought Genting shares at 66 cents in 2009 and sold them at $1.20 six months later.
As a business owner, I feel more secure having a lot of cash on standby and for my business expansion plans. I cannot afford for my cash to be stuck in shares.
Q: What property do you own?
In 2007, I bought a three-room HDB flat in Ang Mo Kio for $167,000. It is now worth about $300,000. I live alone.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
A used Mercedes E200, which I bought in 2004 for $70,000. It was a 13-year-old car then, made in 1991. I renewed the certificate of entitlement in 2009 and will continue driving it for the next 10 years. I find Mercedes cars reliable. It is fully paid up as I don't like taking loans.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
I've worked 365 days a year all my life. My present working hours are from 8am to 1am. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
In order to achieve a stable income when I'm old, I have to work hard. If my health is good, I will continue working and not retire. I think I will need $3,000 a month in my twilight years.
I would like to travel around the world with my loved ones. I will also continue to provide free meals to old folks as a form of charity. In 2009, I threw a free Chinese New Year dinner at my restaurant for 180 old folks from a home.
Q: Home is now...
My three-room flat in Ang Mo Kio.
Q: I drive...
The white Mercedes 200.
lorna@sph.com.sg
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WORST AND BEST BETS
Q: What has been your worst investment to date?
In 1999, I invested my hard-earned savings of $50,000 in a friend's new printing business. I was a sleeping partner. I lost all the money because my friend mismanaged the firm and it was closed down a year later. I learnt I must be hands-on in my investments.
Q: And your best investment?
I put all my savings into my food business. My outlets provide not only a stable stream of income but also employment opportunities for the elderly. Out of more than 70 staff members, more than 30 are above 50 years old.
I plan to expand my business overseas to Kuala Lumpur and to other parts of South-east Asia via franchising.
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