Tell us more about yourself!
I'm Isabel, I'm twenty-five this year and I graduated from Singapore Management University (SMU) two years ago. I'm the co-founder of An Açaí Affair along with my business partner, Anna, who is also my age from SMU. We started An Açaí Affair back when we were twenty, back in 2016. At that point we were both in year two of SMU when we started.
We started An Açaí Affair because we were both passionate about Açaí. Back then, we felt that not a lot of people knew about Açaí and it was really quite a pity because it's a great product. Also, we both had the same dreams and goals of running our own business one day so we just put the two together and that's how An Açaí Affair came about.
Where were you in life when you decided to set up a business? And how was that journey like for you?
I don't know about Anna, but for me, I was really very lost about what I wanted to do in life, after I graduated from schoolI felt like almost everyone else in school knew where they were going, and what direction they were heading towards, like, “Oh, I want to work in a bank, so I'm thinking about finance.” That got me thinking about what I wanted to do.
Personally, I've always been more inclined towards setting up my own business because my mom is also an entrepreneur, and she does F&B too. So growing up, she inspired me to want to pursue that too. I thought that setting up a business was a good opportunity for me because I had nothing much to lose as I was still in school and I didn't really have the pressure of having to find a full-time job yet. -I thought that starting in school was the best time and when I met Anna, she also had the same ideas and dreams as myself, so we just decided to try it out together.
I didn't really expect it to blow up and for it to become my full-time job, but I'm very thankful that it did.
How did you get to know about Açaí? Especially how it wasn’t well known back then (in 2016).
Yeah, it wasn't, it was more popular overseas, like in Bali, U.S and Australia. At that time, there were two or three Açaí players in the local market. We tried those and it wasn’t bad, but we felt the (steep) price point deterred people from trying it. People thought it was like an atas* dessert, so we wanted to make it more affordable and available to the masses, and that was the whole mission of the business.
*Atas: (Singaporean slang for something that is more luxurious)
“It was nice. A lot of our friends and family came to support and they could actually see the tangible result of the hard work that we put in. It was very reaffirming.”
- Isabel on An Açaí Affair’s opening day
Tell us about an iconic or memorable moment when An Açaí Affair opened.
I guess the point where it became real was when we really opened for business and strangers just started coming in and were interested in buying our products. I mean, even today that feels a bit surreal. It's like, wow, you actually want to buy something I created, you know?
The point where we were really happy was when we broke even. That was a huge relief because we both took a loan - I took a loan from my dad and Anna took a loan from her boyfriend and when we paid back our loans in full, it was a huge moment for us. It was a huge relief, and a huge load off our backs.
You talked a bit in the video about the loan from your family and Anna from her boyfriend. What was that conversation like for you?
Oh. It was tough, because typical Asian parents, right? They were very skeptical, like, “Hah, you want to start your own business, are you sure? What even is Açaí?” They hadn’t heard of Açaí before, they didn’t know what it was and thought it was just another passing fad.
To get them to believe in the product was one thing, but to get them to believe in me, that I was really serious about doing this, was another thing. It took a lot of convincing and in hindsight, that was good because it made me really think about what I was doing and it made me do the necessary preparations to convince my dad, such as coming up with a solid business proposal where I had the costs, the projections and everything else worked out.
Now that your business is off the ground, how do you feel about the idea of borrowing money from your loved ones to start your own thing?
I mean, it's a double-edged sword, right? Borrowing from them (your loved ones) is interest-free and it's an easier way to get funds. But on the flip side, it's a huge pressure because you don't want to lose all their hard-earned money. So, it kind of motivates you to work even harder to try to pay them back in the shortest time possible. When we both got loans, it really forced us to bootstrap and minimise startup costs as much as we could. We worked really, really hard to earn the money back so that we could pay it back. Borrowing money from family, or loved ones is great, but it can be really stressful.
Was there a backup plan, ever?
No, I don't think so, we were all in. I mean if our business failed, then we would have to get a normal job and try to pay them back. Back then we were both a bit foolish and naive, but I guess it all worked out.
Why would you say that you were both foolish and naive?
We kind of jumped into it. We had no suppliers, no menu, but we saw the space at Katong and we were like okay, we want this space. So we put down a deposit for it and thought about everything else after. It was a huge risk at that point, but us being 20 and young, and we just like, okay, let's just try you know. It was quite scary, thinking back, thank God we managed to succeed.
What was it like when you were 20 and in school, and also running this business?
A lot of sacrifices had to be made. The first six months was just us shuttling back and forth from school to the shop and working shifts because at that point, we were still in the process of hiring and training the first batch of staff. So, it was mostly Anna and I taking turns to work at the store. It was a lot of sacrifice in terms of sleep, our grades and our social lives.
We both didn't go for our overseas exchange as well because we started (the business) when we were in Year 2 (of University) and exchange usually happens for six months for Year 3 students. We both couldn't leave the country for six months so we didn't go for exchange.
It’s been a few years since you opened, has there been a time where you felt disillusioned, or has anything changed for when you originally opened up shop?
At the start, our goal was definitely not to become super rich. It was really just to promote something that we loved and to make it as affordable as possible. But as the years went by we had to think about making the business sustainable and profitable. So for instance, because of COVID, the cost of ingredients really skyrocketed and we had to make the tough decision to increase some of our menu prices when… it wasn’t something that we wanted to do. But for the business to survive and remain profitable, we had to do it.
But generally speaking over the years, I think we’ve stayed quite true to the roots of our business.
I think we’re both lucky to have found each other.
Anna and I did have our disagreements in the first few years of operations. But it's been five years now and we are very familiar with each other's strengths and weaknesses, and therefore we have a good working relationship now. It’s good that we have different strengths that complement each other and because of that, we work well together.
- Isabel on working with a friend
What was it like starting a business at 20?
When we were 20, it was a challenge because we were very young and we were both girls. Most of the time, people didn’t take us seriously. For example, some suppliers would quote us for items at a more expensive rate because they thought that we were just blur, you know. But, of course, we had to do the extra work to ask around for different quotations and figure out the market price. So that was when being young worked against us.
On the other hand, I think it's also good because most of our employees are very young and it helps us to be able to relate to them and to speak to them on the same wavelength.
Were there any ugly things or things no one mentioned that you found out about when you were starting a business?
Definitely, I think that the biggest misconception is that starting a business is very easy and cool. That being your own boss means you can wake up at your own time, or just sit at home, shake leg and collect money.
But the reality is: it's really not like that. People only envision the glamorous side of things. Being your own business owner is actually like wearing many, many hats. You're the handyman, you clean the toilet. You’re also the delivery man, you drive goods around. You also have to deal with difficult customers who are rude and abusive. So it's these small things that people don't see. And because it's your own business, you don't really get an off day. It’s not like you can go on holiday, turn off your phone for two weeks and just not care. Even when you’re on vacation, you still have to be there and reply to your staff and care about the business. It’s really a 24/7 role that you can't really fully take a break from. I still do think it’s worth it though.
Do you have anything you want to say to young people who are starting up their own business?
I would say go for it, especially if you're still studying and if you have the time to spare. When you’re studying, you're not pressured to secure an income or to start a family. Even if you don't have much resources, I think it's okay, you can always start small first. You don't have to open a cafe or a huge store that requires a huge sum of money. You can- do pop-ups or start selling your products -online first.
The cost of starting those (home-based, online businesses) are close to nothing right? And through that you can kind of gauge the response of your target audience and see whether people would actually want to pay for your products. From there, you can slowly try to scale it up without incurring too much cost at the start.
I think if you don't do it then you’ll just have to live the rest of your life with regret lor. You don't want to do that. So I would -encourage people to just go for it.
This interview was edited for brevity and clarity.