On its 40th anniversary, No Signboard faces its biggest challenges yet
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On its 40th anniversary, No Signboard faces its biggest challenges nonetheless
No Signboard Seafood Restaurant's CEO Sam Lim talks near how he propelled the apprehensive hawker stall that his grandmother founded into a listed visitor, and how the pandemic is reshaping its strategy.
How did a man who took eight years to get through primary school pb a visitor to SGX listing? "I dared to inquire (questions)," said No Signboard Seafood Restaurant's CEO Sam Lim. (Photo: Alvin Teo)
14 Jun 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 05 Jul 2022 02:10AM)
A 40-year run is no mean feat in Singapore's competitive restaurant industry, specially when you lot've made the jump from bell-ringer stall to household name. So it'due south no surprise that No Signboard Seafood Restaurant's story is one that'due south oft told.
For the uninitiated, information technology goes something like this: In the 1970s, a adult female opens a apprehensive stall selling seafood dishes to make ends meet. Decades after, her grandson makes a assuming move, borrowing S$300,000 from a friend to transform the family hawker stall into a bustling eatery, and somewhen, a listed company.
Success stories similar these, yet, are oft paved with challenges. Between its lines are years of physical toil, frayed nerves and obstacles to overcome. Keeping up with the ever-changing times is a hurdle all unto itself, but No Signboard Seafood has rolled ably with the punches.
Just 2 years ago, its once steadfastly traditional flagship at The Esplanade was given a dramatic transformation and its menu redesigned to entreatment to younger foodies agile on social media. Of a sudden, its ceiling was framed with LED screens, its floors lined with stylish terrazzo, and the dishes that left its kitchen adorned with edible flowers and dollops of caviar.
To cope with the downturn, the company has had to manage its price structure and operational efficiency by reducing its staff force, closing its Clarke Quay outlet and shuttering its outpost in Shanghai. "We have to preserve cash so that when things plough around, we volition take the power to move forrard," Lim explained.
The 44-yr-old certainly knows a matter or two about life'due south changing tides. Overcoming adversity, afterward all, is what led him to announce to his family that he'd borrowed S$300,000 from a friend to motion No Signboard Seafood from their hawker stall in Race Course Road to a swanky eating house space in Kallang 21 years ago.
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HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
The Lim family grew up in a Tai Seng area kampung. In the late 1970s, as the kampung was earmarked for redevelopment, they were relocated to a three-room apartment in Bedok North which eventually housed x family unit members.
Its matriarch, Ong Kim Hoi, started No Signboard Seafood at a Mattar Road hawker heart in the 1970s. Unable to afford a sign for the stall, they simply painted a plank above it orange and the stall soon came to be known every bit wu zhao pai (no signboard) in Standard mandarin. The name, obviously, stuck.
Not academically inclined, Lim – Madam Ong's grandson – took viii years to graduate from primary school and trained as a motor vehicle mechanic at the Vocational and Industrial Preparation Board (now ITE). As a child, Lim watched his grandmother wake at 5am to buy seafood, get-go preparations for her stall at 3pm, and retire to bed only at 2am.
"When I was young, there was a lot I didn't know. Sometimes people feel embarrassed to ask (questions), but if yous don't know there's zip wrong with asking."
Between the ages of fifteen to eighteen, he took on various jobs as a petrol pump bellboy, window cleaner and chef at Swensen's. When he realised that he was never going to make enough money in those vocations, he began looking for a fashion to earn a higher salary.
"I constitute a job at a cargo hold where I worked virtually 12 hours a day as a mover. Everything was heavy and information technology was very hard work. Merely I fabricated a few thousand dollars, which was a lot of money. All this time, I just wanted to see what working outside [of the family concern] was like."
After National Service, Lim joined his grandparents, female parent and uncle at the stall. "Every mean solar day, I set upwards 20 to 30 tables and chairs and I would recall, 'how can we expand this business organization?'," he said. "Nosotros cannot stay like this forever. And then I thought of moving [the business] to a better location."
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TAKING THE Spring
Fate led him to Kallang Oasis in 2000. "It was a cute location, with two octagonal floating restaurants," he recalled. "I talked to the owner and we settled information technology the next day. I borrowed Southward$300,000 from a friend [to do it]. Everything happened quickly and I didn't really get a chance to explicate it to my family members. I but told my mother that this was what we were going to do and she told my grandmother. You lot know, when you're young, you're but bold."
Even if his grandmother had objections to her 22-year-sometime grandson's large plans, she never raised them. In fact, she never said anything near it at all. "She probably idea it was risky to spend so much money on a project, merely she but gave me a positive attitude," Lim said.
"From young, I've seen the changes in Singapore and in business. And I've inverse myself to adapt this society. Those who are non willing to change volition lose out."
"The worst case is that I lose this S$300,000, but I could work hard to pay it dorsum. Perchance information technology would have me iii to 4 years if I took on extra jobs, but my dream was to exist successful and provide a meliorate life for the family."
Happily, it is a dream he's fabricated come true. Today, No Signboard Seafood operates a chain of restaurants and various F&B brands and concepts that include Footling Sheep Hotpot, Mom's Touch Korean Chicken & Burger, and a beer make for Draft Denmark in Singapore. In November 2017, the company was listed on the Catalist Board of the Singapore Substitution Securities Trading Limited.
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RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
How did a man who took eight years to get through primary school lead a company to SGX list? "I dared to inquire [questions]," he said simply. "When I was young, there was a lot I didn't know. Sometimes people experience embarrassed to inquire [questions], but if you don't know there's cipher wrong with request. Even like how I can't speak good English. I just speak it anyway, then ane solar day, you just can."
A willingness to modify is another integral ingredient for growth, Lim added. "From young, I've seen the changes in Singapore and in concern. And I've changed myself to suit this society. Those who are not willing to change will lose out. Doing the right matter at the correct time is not piece of cake. No Signboard Seafood has been around for 40 years and has gone through a lot of difficult times… You have to make changes; otherwise, you cannot survive this long."
"It's difficult to predict what's going to happen next, but our strategy is to lay firmer roots in Singapore and expand our business concern within our shores before nosotros caput overseas once again when this situation settles down."
Despite the fact that it is now a wholly corporate entity, No Signboard Seafood continues to operate from the legacy that Lim'due south late grandmother created. At its heart, information technology is virtually sharing meals with family and harking back to a simpler fourth dimension when important bonds were formed around the dinner tabular array. That, and the crab dishes that are synonymous with its name. "No matter what, our white pepper crab and chilli crab volition ever exist on the carte. Without them, we cannot stay truthful to the make no matter how we alter or grow," Lim said.
When asked what his grandmother, who passed away in 2014, would make of the business's growth today, Lim said, "She would surely be overwhelmed that nosotros are public listed."
Meanwhile, though they take retired from the family unit business, Lim's mother and uncle withal serve equally the guardians of the family unit's treasured recipes and ensure the quality of the food and ingredients that the restaurants serve.
As No Signboard Seafood's story continues to unfold, Lim and his team discover themselves in yet more uncharted territory. The COVID-19 pandemic may nowadays unprecedented challenges, but in these times, home is literally where the heart is.
"It'south difficult to predict what's going to happen side by side," he said, "merely our strategy is to lay firmer roots in Singapore and aggrandize our business within our shores before we head overseas over again when this state of affairs settles down."
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