Get the inside scoop with Yvonne

Hindsight is 2020 (#HI2020) is a ground up initiative founded and led by a class of 2020 graduate - Jessica Lee Yi Ling from Singapore Management University (SMU). In this series, she uncovers personal stories of resilience, courage and love amidst this crazy year we call 2020. Through the reflections and learnings shared in #HI2020, she hopes to empower internship and job seekers to improve their status quos and encourage aspiring entrepreneurs and volunteers to pursue their passions in 2021.

Get the inside scoop with Yvonne Kwek

Ever dreamt of opening up your very own ice cream shop? Yvonne Kwek did. That dream has since become a reality - The Humble Scoop. For those of us screaming for ice cream, Yvonne works hard to serve up these scoops of happiness, in hopes of bringing back precious memories of growing up in Singapore. She gives us the inside scoop on her experience making a career switch and starting this business from scratch.

Here’s 3 key things you will learn

1.      Dreams are only dreams until you wake up and make them real.

2.      Don't miss the forest for the trees.

3.      Discipline is doing what you know needs to be done even if you don’t want to do it and no one tells you to.

Before starting The Humble Scoop, I understand that you used to work as a SIA cabin crew. What motivated you to make a career switch?            

Since pastry school, my friend (Mei Xuan, Scooper #3) and I have toyed with the idea of opening our own ice cream shop, but whilst we went on to try out other things, this thought was always at the back of my mind.

I've always been experimenting with different flavours on a small ice cream machine at home and one by one, the flavour list grew longer and longer.

My boyfriend (Ivan, Scooper #1) chanced upon the vacant unit in Katong Shopping Centre and encouraged me to turn this dream into reality.

Did you consult anyone about this? If yes, what kind of comments or reactions did you receive?

I consulted friends and family on flavour feedback but not on actually opening the shop. That decision was made between my boyfriend and I. I couldn't bring myself to actually tell people about this - what if they dissuade me / what if I fail , I'll have to explain myself to them . There would be people fully supporting me - what if I disappointed them.

I was concerned about many things - the coming months , should I take this leap of faith, months of no pay, the bills I had to fork out money for, what if I couldn't put food on the table for my family, what if I can't feed my cat, what if people didn't actually like the ice creams I made, what if I'm not good enough, what if I fail (I was 29 then), what am I supposed to do if this doesn't work out.

Yes, there were constant 'what if's running through my head at any point of time.

Tell us how the idea for "The Humble Scoop" came about. What sets your desserts apart from other options in the market?          

Being cabin crew, I've been to many places around the globe and ate ice creams and gelato . I loved how they would feature what is unique to their country, or feature farm-to-table ingredients. We do have some artisanal ice cream shops in Singapore which have very lovely ice creams and I wanted to make ice creams that brought back memories of growing up - that are unique to us.

Singapore is a mish mash of cultures and people from different parts of the world - that’s how our country started - and with them, they brought different flavours. So arguably, we don't have flavours that belong to us (eg. chicken rice from Hainan, Bak Kut Teh from Malaysia etc), but we have adapted the flavours to suit our local palatte. So when we talk about local flavours, it's very hard to pinpoint what is truly ours, but the memories that we made while experiencing the flavours, that we grew up with, those belong to us.

I believe many people would have come across familiar flavours that are nostalgic and close to heart, and I wanted to convert that into ice creams - to feed the inner child in us, no matter what age we are.

What does success mean to you? What plans did you originally have for The Humble Scoop in 2020?

I feel like as long as I do my best every time I'm making the ice creams/interacting with a customer - which at the end of the day I am able to bring happiness to each individual that chance upon us/choose our ice creams. It is success to us. Of course we would love to have a couple more stores island-wide so that we can continue to reach out to more people and bring our humble scoops of happiness with better accessibility to them.

We were hoping to secure a 2nd location by end of 2020 but with the COVID-19 situation, we needed to put a rain check on that plan.

Share with us your responsibilities as the founder of this business.

As founders, all three of us are very hands on (also because we are a very small company). We make our own ice creams, purchasing, market research, price comparison, planning for future flavour launch, do our own marketing, engage with customers, housekeeping matter (admin, accounts, document tracking), cleaning, plumbing, fixing stuff etc.

Basically everything. Because if you don't do it, no one is going to be there to do it for you.

What has changed for The Humble Scoop since you started?

The amount of ice cream flavours grew from an original ten to thirty as of end 2020, we have a couple more items on our menu (brownies, fried man tou). We grew from 2 shareholders to 3 . We managed to build a small team of part timers to assist us whilst we work on growing THS. We started delivery services; we are moving towards online platforms for our customer's convenience. We have a couple more freezers for storage too!

How has Covid-19 impacted your business? Has it slowed down or set you back on your business plans to break even? Tell us about some of the changes you implemented this year to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic.         

When Covid-19 hit and we were instructed to close our shop within 2.5 hours. That moment was unforgettably devastating as there were so many unknown factors.

We had to adapt our business to better suit catering to our customers . We tried getting onboard the delivery platforms but they too were hit with a huge surge of F&B businesses all hoping to do the same. In the end, we couldn't even get our application registered with them. Hence, we started doing our own deliveries island wide at a minimum cost. This move helped our business survive as we had more orders coming in with customers trying to send love and joy to their friends and family. With this newly introduced service and added convenience, customers didn’t have to worry about the ice cream melting during the delivery too!

What kept you going during this trying period?

We received many encouraging texts, messages and letters from our customers. We had customers offering to buy our stock out when we were ordered to close in 2.5 hours - and that was when we had just completed production for the week!

The kindness and support from all the customers gave us support, knowing that we must have done something right for them to love us like this, was a huge form of encouragement.

Members of THS team also had each other to lean on to tide us through that period, so we are very blessed in that sense.

Having ran your own business for an extended period of time, what would you say are things you wish you knew or myths that you've come to realise are totally not true?  

I was quite blessed with people around me giving insights as to what is to come and what to brace myself for. However, knowing something and experiencing it full force is a very different thing.

I wish I knew how to manage expectations from different people better - so that we can provide better service/ products/ pricing to cater to more requirements.

What are the kind of traits you think one must have in order to start and maintain their own business?   

Resilience, self-discipline, time management .

Good news - No one is going to tell you what to do when you are your own boss, bad news, no one is going to tell you what to do when you are your own boss.

Especially at the start of the business, you need to do everything yourself - no one will do it for you, no one can help you for certain things. You'll need to figure it out for yourself. You'll have to clear out your to-do list and also find time to keep up with what's going on in the outside world, and within your industry, if not you will have fallen behind. It takes self-discipline to keep yourself going, especially when you are mentally exhausted already.

Based on your experiences this year, what are some must-dos for new F&B businesses like yours to not just survive but thrive in this crisis?

E-commerce is the new thing. As much as we are slowly recovering from the pandemic, consumer habits have also evolved.

There are more things that are easily accessible with the touch of a finger, and as much as people enjoy going out, but the taste of convenience is an addictive one.

If things can be delivered to your doorstep, most people would opt for that choice. Gone are the days that one has to run to 3 different places to prepare for a single dinner/ event. If I can use a reasonably priced service and save on my time and energy, why not?

Tell us your best takeaway from this year.         

I would say the realization that we have a lot of love and support from our customers, friends and family was a very big WOW moment for us.

Sometimes we are so engrossed in our daily tasks, our ice cream production and serving of the customers that we meet, we tend to lose sight of the bigger picture.

It really is comforting to know that we are doing things right (so far).

What would you say are the similarities and differences between working as a SIA cabin crew and running your own dessert shop?            

Other than the fact that I'm not in an aircraft, hahaha.

Similarities: I would say is our customer service attitude. I will try my best to serve our customers like how I served my passengers on board - with sincerity and always with a smile. I train our staff the same way, in hopes that our customers will too feel the warmth and welcoming vibes when they come into our shop.

I think it's very important to treat our customers right, because we not only want to bring happiness to them with our ice creams, but also with the 人情味 (human-touch).

Difference: I don't have to be in uniform / full make up anymore . Hahaha! But in all seriousness, I do not have as much products and items to offer my customers as compared to being on board where the wow factor is easily achieved with the items we have on board - complimentary birthday cakes , champagne, wines and more that were specially selected for the flights. But we still do our best with what we have in the shop .

As a previous SIA cabin crew member, how did it feel observing your ex-colleagues from the industry being negatively impacted by Covid-19? Do you have anything you would like to say to them to motivate them?       

I'm not too good with words, but I'm really sorry to those whom have lost their wings because of the pandemic, and also those whom are grounded as well. I know how much everyone misses the skies and our ever changing 'office in the cloud', do hang in there!

As they always said: "tough times don't last but tough crew do", it will be better soon!

With Singapore moving into Phase 3 from 28th December 2020, what plans have you made for yourself and your business?   

Well, we're glad to not have to split up bigger families/ friends when they come over to the shop so they can have a better time together!

Thank you so much for giving us the inside scoop on life as an entrepreneur. For those of us with a sweet tooth, tell us how we can get our own scoops of heaven that are worth melting for?

The Humble Scoop is located at 865 Mountbatten Road, Katong Shopping Centre, #B1-92 Singapore 437844.

We also provide island wide deliveries at $8 per address! Our menu changes weekly though, you can follow us at @the.humblescoop on Instagram/ Facebook to check out our weekly updates! We look forward to serving you in the near future!