Ep 140.2: The Secret to Picking F&B Winners & Winning Michelin Stars | Loh Lik Peng (Founder & CEO, Unlisted Collection)

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


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