It started off with a big hoorah. Two young aspiring Singaporean entrepreneurs pumped in $30k of their money as an initial investment to start a hawker stall in Chinatown. They billed it as a new push towards F&B Hawker for the younger generation.
32-year-old Gay Yu Ting and 28-year-old business partner Alex Ho pumped in $15,000 each to open their stall, Sutachi, in December 2017. But slightly more than a year into this venture, both have decided to call it quits, after making substantial loses over the short period when they were in business. Sutachi Japanese-Italian fusion food at Chinatown Complex, with one rice bowl costing between S$5 and S$7.50.
According to the two, business was good in the first three months of their opening. However, once the novelty factor wears off, the stall was not making enough money to make their business sustainable. The monthly expenses, including rent and services, already cost about $8,000. This would mean that they need to sell 1,300 bowls of rice just to break even.
Yet another story of failed young hawker trying to cut it in the hawker business, mostly killed by the high rent.
