36 min
Ep 140.2: The Secret to Picking F&B Winners & Winning Michelin Stars | Loh Lik Peng (Founder & CEO, Unlisted Collection) So This Is My Why
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- Careers
Hey STIMIES!
Welcome back to Part 2 of the So This Is My Why Podcast with Loh Lik Peng - CEO & Founder of Unlisted Collection.
In Part 1, we covered Lik Peng’s journey from wanting to become a doctor (just like his parents) to becoming a commercial litigator and purchasing his first hotel property: Hotel 1929.
The property that kickstarted his crazy career pivot.
But the F&B industry is a tough place to be. You need a good dose of hard work, luck and… a talent for spotting F&B talent (which Lik Peng has!).
In this episode, we dive into the intricacies of his international hospitality business, tackling questions like:
Why does he give equity to his chefs?
How does he identify and convince culinary talents like Rishi Naleendra to come on board?
How does he work together with the chefs to ensure that they have everything they need to build a thriving business?
How attaining a Michelin star flipped a switch within the chefs he works with
What are his thoughts on brand building?
When is it time to pull the plug? (His most painful failure was with One Leicester Square in London)
His big passion with museums; and
So much more
If you haven’t heard Lik Peng’s origin story, listen to the previous STIMY Ep 140 Part 1 episode first.
And if you have, then stick around for Part 2!
Are you ready?
Let’s go.
Highlights:
2:52 Lik Peng’s hands off approach
4:20 Discovering Rishi Naleendra & being a good spotter of F&B talent
5:51 Did Lik Peng conduct any due diligence on his potential talents?
6:56 Building the infrastructure for an F&B business
8:20 “I didn’t understand what P&L was before. If I knew, I would’ve never said yes.”
9:06 Keep an eye on the numbers!
10:12 Winning a Michelin star flipped a star switch…
11:18 When are chefs ready to strike out on their own?
12:05 Brand building
13:30 Overcoming moments of blind panic
14:46 When do you let go?
15:33 Biggest failure
17:57 Passion for museums
21:30 Do you still identify as a lawyer?
21:43 Which pivot was the easiest and why?
24:01 Finding your second & third act in your career
25:14 What book are you reading now?
25:14 Art of finding the right talent
27:00 Any non-compete clause?
27:38 Three key things that you’d attribute your success to
30:14 One COVID casualty
31:23 Luck
📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/140
🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/w22CAJupO48
💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062
✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442
Hey STIMIES!
Welcome back to Part 2 of the So This Is My Why Podcast with Loh Lik Peng - CEO & Founder of Unlisted Collection.
In Part 1, we covered Lik Peng’s journey from wanting to become a doctor (just like his parents) to becoming a commercial litigator and purchasing his first hotel property: Hotel 1929.
The property that kickstarted his crazy career pivot.
But the F&B industry is a tough place to be. You need a good dose of hard work, luck and… a talent for spotting F&B talent (which Lik Peng has!).
In this episode, we dive into the intricacies of his international hospitality business, tackling questions like:
Why does he give equity to his chefs?
How does he identify and convince culinary talents like Rishi Naleendra to come on board?
How does he work together with the chefs to ensure that they have everything they need to build a thriving business?
How attaining a Michelin star flipped a switch within the chefs he works with
What are his thoughts on brand building?
When is it time to pull the plug? (His most painful failure was with One Leicester Square in London)
His big passion with museums; and
So much more
If you haven’t heard Lik Peng’s origin story, listen to the previous STIMY Ep 140 Part 1 episode first.
And if you have, then stick around for Part 2!
Are you ready?
Let’s go.
Highlights:
2:52 Lik Peng’s hands off approach
4:20 Discovering Rishi Naleendra & being a good spotter of F&B talent
5:51 Did Lik Peng conduct any due diligence on his potential talents?
6:56 Building the infrastructure for an F&B business
8:20 “I didn’t understand what P&L was before. If I knew, I would’ve never said yes.”
9:06 Keep an eye on the numbers!
10:12 Winning a Michelin star flipped a star switch…
11:18 When are chefs ready to strike out on their own?
12:05 Brand building
13:30 Overcoming moments of blind panic
14:46 When do you let go?
15:33 Biggest failure
17:57 Passion for museums
21:30 Do you still identify as a lawyer?
21:43 Which pivot was the easiest and why?
24:01 Finding your second & third act in your career
25:14 What book are you reading now?
25:14 Art of finding the right talent
27:00 Any non-compete clause?
27:38 Three key things that you’d attribute your success to
30:14 One COVID casualty
31:23 Luck
📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/140
🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/w22CAJupO48
💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062
✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442
36 min