Starting up in Yangon… “Can, or Not?”

It’s an empty cafe, I am tipsy after a few glasses of wine. We’re trying a wine happy hour and I seem to be the only one getting my drink on. It’s closing time and my supervisor walks over concerned. “She looked more concerned last week,” I thought to myself.

“Can I close the cafe?” “Sure,” I replied and rested my head.

I went into Yangon just after graduation with almost zero knowledge of the city and I didn’t have a system or model for building a business. My rudimentary decision making for the business was built as a flowchart with the question: “Can, or Not?” Imagine a Yes or No flowchart and at each point of the business plan you decide on the feasibility with a simple “Can, or Not?” Why this question? It’s a Singlish (Singaporean English, which is English but easier yet not actual English?) play on a longer sentence such as: “Can this be done or can it not?” It’s often used colloquially when talking about if something can be done.

Entering the city for the first time, I got a sense of what I was getting into with the taxi drivers at the airport. Upon seeing me they scrambled to gather around, asking “Where you want to go?” Some tried to grab my luggage to guide it and by extension, me, to their taxi. “Can or Not?” NOT!” I narrowed my vision and headed to the ‘official’ taxi stand. I got into the taxi and headed off to the city.

As we drove into mid-town, taller buildings became shortened, as buildings near the pagodas had a height limit relative to the pagoda’s height. I reached the location of the cafe, Myanmar Plaza. “10,000 kyats,” the driver looked over to me. I took out a few bills and examined them, I handed him one. “No that’s 1,000. 10,000 kyats.” I gave him the correct bill and headed out.

Myanmar Plaza was the newest mall built in Yangon, with twin office towers and a hotel attached to it. I walked into the office towers and found the cafe. I was greeted by my business partner, a fellow Singaporean who I met in the army.

The cafe was 500 square feet. It was in a nook between the two office towers. A hole in the wall. It was plain-looking, decked out in a wooden interior and black marble countertops at the coffee bar. It was simple. “Can or Not?” Can…?

My partner walked me through the ins and outs of day to day operations, introduced the staff, menu and the mall. After the introductions, we headed back to the apartment.

It was in a 5 story building with narrow stairs and no elevator, we were at the top. I grabbed my luggage and trudged up, luggage scraping the walls. We fumbled around with the keys and pushed the door open. The apartment was barely furnished and hot. The zinc roof of the building was directly above, baking the apartment in the day. My partner pointed to a large mattress in the middle of the living room, adorned with a mosquito net.

“We’ll sleep here,” he said, not making eye contact. “What? In the middle of the living room... with you? What about the other rooms?” “The staff live here too,” he answered. Some quick maths. “That’s a total of 10 people!” “Oh, and you have to be careful not to flood the apartment…” Can or Not? Can...

It wasn’t a bad arrangement, it allowed me to get to know the staff and to pick up the language and culture quickly. We bonded well, I went to the morning markets with them and learnt about the product and how to bargain with the fruit seller. We would often take taxis, which you had to bargain your price before getting in. I had to watch out for the betel nut as well. Which is a seed that some locals will chew on and spit out a red liquid. It is terrible for the mouth and is a carcinogen.

Over time, the city revealed itself. During the day, it was thriving. But at night you could see the cracks in the city. There would be kids roaming the streets in their bare feet selling flowers for cash, with their parents at the side of the road waiting to collect. Stray dogs roam the street, barking at things that encroached their territory. I’ve even gotten bitten before! Drunk driving was common, but police were easily paid off. But with light often comes darkness.

A few months in and things settled down. The fruit seller and I have come to an understanding on the price of avocados and I haven’t flooded the apartment. All’s good on the surviving part. However, the business wasn’t doing as well. The business has been operating like a bistro rather than a coffee shop and food service was hindering production. Things got to a point where customers left without their order because we were too backed up. That was the last straw. “Can or Not?” “Not.”

A revamp was needed, a version 2.0. I decided to model ourselves after Starbucks. We axed almost all the food offerings and replaced them with pre-prepared foods that customers could takeaway. We shifted our focus to beverages, intending to make the kitchen more efficient. It was a habit of senior staff to help junior ones with their work. This was encouraging but it would often cause delays for the customer. I gave them fixed positions in the kitchen and the tasks they should focus on. I fancied myself as a budding Henry Ford.

Some tweaks, a new menu board installed and we were up and running. New products included cold-pressed juices and cold-brewed coffee which we were the first to introduce to the market. Some of our customers weren’t too happy with the switch. They enjoyed some of the food offerings we’ve gotten rid of and wanted it back on the menu. I tried to explain the change. Some supported us while others never came back. But with every customer lost we gained more. The new SOP’s in the kitchen were getting their orders quicker than ever. Things were looking up!

A few weeks in, sales have doubled and the team ironed out their workflow. We toyed with the idea of renovating the cafe and adding an after-hours bar concept. But there would be additional parts such as a license to sell alcohol, hiring new staff, purchasing more equipment and new inventory to add. Let’s not forget about redesigning the space. “Can or Not?” Can!

The timeline was set, I spoke to an interior designer to discuss the concept. We played with ideas around flexible furniture and updated fixtures like black metal shelves and unfinished concrete walls. We settled the design and began working with a contractor to renovate. The project was a unique challenge. The renovation was during the holiday period, making materials harder to find. I had to also speak Mandarin, Burmese and English to get my ideas across to the different groups of people to coordinate the moving parts. We stayed up to oversee the renovation 5 nights in a row. But in the end, it was done.

We had a re-opening event where we invited friends to join us and introduced them to the cafe bar concept. People seemed to love it and we were stoked!

Fast forward a few weeks. The money spent on renovations and the new concept wasn’t paying off. The mall opened up the rooftop to 3 more bars 2 months after we reopened. The new bars filled a gap in the market we thought we could. What was next? This wasn’t a customer complaint or a sink that needed to be fixed. I felt that there was more to this at play that I understood but couldn’t comprehend.

Gumroad founder Sahil Lavingia put it this way, “It doesn’t matter how amazing your product is, or how fast you ship features. The market you’re in will determine most of your growth.”

“Can or Not?” this time I didn’t have an answer.

The supervisor left the keys by my head and headed home. It was 3 am when I came to, tee-shirt damp with sweat. I grabbed my belongings, a bottle of water and headed home. This was the lowest point of the journey so far and I was reaching a crossroads. My head felt heavy with doubt, or wine, I couldn’t tell. Version 2.0 felt more like a version 0.

The “Can or Not” framework ended up becoming too simplistic. I guess not everything is a simple flowchart.