Ookitaiyaki's Blog

ookitaiyaki — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:04:57 +0000

Totally underestimated the crowd on chu san. Prepared slightly less than enough fillings to cope with the demand. Not that demand is super high, just that supply is lower than usual. =P And this lack of ‘forecast’ and seemingly bad decision making is probably due to the CNY festive mood. All the bak kwa, pineapple tarts, leisure gambling etc is making us slow up there.

Today was -_-” major withdrawal/coldturkey. But what gotta be done gotta be done with a little procrastination allowed. Somehow, we feel that we are too nice to ourselves. People who make it there are normally people who are super hard on themselves. But definitely there will be a tradeoff. Priorities in life again. But we know that if we wana make it big, we needa be hard very hard. Unless we choose not to even embark on that route. If muliti millionaires billionaires are still working their ass off, what makes us think that we can slack our way to success? Not that we wana or can be that rich la

Anyway, flyers distribution works wonders. Too bad it’s difficult to apply for approval at RCS. Though we managed to greatly decrease our advertising & promotion cost – we used to use external flyers distributors which is super EX. After kenn ‘enlightened’ us, we arranged for our staff to distribute instead. Today was the first day and response is positve!!! At least something to make the cold turkey more bearable. hehe. Gona persevere on flyers distribution. Everyday every possible second would be used for flyers distribution. N sidenote: Our flyers are super not cheapo and very cute!!!

2nd and 3rd product still in the midst of planning. Sick of typing 2nd and 3rd product; can’t wait for them to be named. =P After settling our 2nd/3rd p, would be much more relax than now!!! We will soon get used to the ever changing nature of businesses.

Aim: 1 year anniversary: Stability; 2nd year anniversary: Breakeven. The aim that needs to be drilled in daily. 1 year anniversary is jus 2 months away. STABILITY STABILITY.

Stability:
1) 2nd and 3rd p launch
2) Flyers distribution stability – as in daily religiousy
3) Standard procedure simplified to the simplest form
4) Minimise labour cost – wider job scope or lesser people
5) Routinisation. VERY IMPORTANT. It’s only with routines would things be simpler for us.

So HUAT AH Ooki!!! It will and must huat. Luck and hard work- we have both!!! yes…we have both! =P

Been long since we blog~~~

ookitaiyaki — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:58:40 +0000

Been long since we wrote about our business life. It’s been a huge mess recently – basically partnership issues which is basically Ooki’s core. BUTTTT we have settled it and it’s back to a healthy partnership with many great plans ahead. Hoping for the best and doing everything it takes for the best to happen. hehe =P And as ‘celebration’, went BKK with benny and wilson last week. VERY FUN! If u guys are reading this, thanks for all the fun, laughter, walking 400m, eat till we die, cheap shopping, kena cheated show, bangkok boys, stressful street, all the massages n too bad no SPA!!! Of cuz we know we brought much fun to u guys too.haha.let’s do this sometime agn k!

Sidenote: Sometimes it’s amazing how everything in life can fall from heaven to hell. How the happiness within can so easily vanish with just 1 unhappy event. It’s amazing how humans automatically focus on the negatives and no matter how many positives there are around, they are not gonna be able to fight and win the negatives. And it’s so easy to return to heaven once that 1 particular issue has been solved. That’s why people say life is suffering – when we are happy, we still fear that the very next moment, everything would be gone. BUTTT we muz have a conscious effort to keep the happiness there and see every challenge as yet another obstacle to be cleared, rather than yet another obstacle posed. yeap…practice makes perfect; practice after preaching.

New promo 2 for $2 starting from tmr!!! will be distributing flyers as well. Once this is settled, we’ll have to full force on our 2nd product – Japanese Cheesetarts!!! Aim is to launch after CNY. Super many things to settle for this; from food photos to marketing materials to design for packaging to recipe to aesthetics to focus groups to price point to presentation method to launch. blah blah blah blah blah. Juz gonna get our ass moving. then, will be our 3rd product. Pan ordered – needa get the machine done, recipe out, suppliers, presentation, food pics etc etc etc. Targetted launch date in march!!! After all these are done, there will be yet another round of improvements to be made to Ooki. After typing this, seems quite scary.

Then there are a million other things to be settled. Somehow, we are quite pleased with ourselves. Haha. to settle everything is satisfying and fulfilling. Yeap…a feeling that is exclusive. =P

Sidenote: Saw on channel 8 – there’s this mum with 2 kids (1 hyperactive), 1 blind mother in law and 1 uncle in law who used to stay @ bus stops, to take care off. $ is a problem, family is a problem, everything’s problematic. She mentioned that she does not want much from life, she simply wants a little more happiness and a little blessing, just a little but that little is nowhere to be found. Shows like this make us feel so blessed and contented – however, this feeling that we get often vanish after awhile. Let’s hope we can keep this exact feeling of bliss and content to stay with us for awhile more. and feel the happiness from within.

Happy chinese new year!!! Gong xi fa cai,nian nian you yu,shi shi shun li!! and for us, it’s a 3 full day of rest!!!! woohoo….4 more days (bitter first, sweet later). Hehe. have fun for CNY!!! Cheerssssssssssss

2 for $2 promotion!!!! FroFrom 9/2/2010

ookitaiyaki — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:57:28 +0000

ookitaiyaki — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:13:24 +0000

3 new flavours added to Ooki’s menu!!! Curry Chicken, Opera Chocx and Apple Custard!!!

ookitaiyaki — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:45:51 +0000

Mondays are the worst days ever! Every monday, Murphy never fails to haunt and hunt us down. Nothing will go according to plan. Nothing will be smooth riding. -_-” of cuz it’s all in the mind but our mind choose to look at all the negative stuffs on mondays; no thanks to Murphy as well. And miraculously, things will get better on Tuesdays and there will never be any cock ups on Fridays. Guess it’s the mental stress being built up cuz of too much slacking on weekends. =)

Wanted to get the bigger tart shell from our supplier in the afternoon but due to some crap incident, didnt manage to get them. Wanted to go to bedok to get our Jelly for Passion Fizz and due to the same crap incident, didnt manage to get them. and the crap incident has been haunting us for months now! wonder when will it leave us for good. Very super buggish and definitely decreases our efficiency.

Met up with a potential franchisee just now. Still very much under negotiations. Somehow, we are still unclear of how the situation should be. We choose them? they choose us? Both choose each other? But who choose who more? Very complicated simplicity. Maybe due to overanalysis. We’ll see how it goes. For certain things in life, forcing our way through will not work. Let nature take its course would be a simpler option.

There may be some obstacles in getting the unit that we ‘aim’ for very long already. Realised that nothing is definite. Even signing on the dotted line, does not mean anything in the case of tenent vs landlord. but we see it as a blessing in disguise, cuz in a few cases already, not getting that particular unit will give us a yet another better unit (smaller,cheaper,better location). Hope it’s the case this time round!!!

A few of our friends are going into Fnb business too. And 1 already failed. this is definitely not an easy route but it feels good to have people with the same interest. Strength in numbers…And it moralises us that we had a great start and despite obstacles, we know we will definitely make it!!!

It’s time we further improve on our taiyaki machine and warmer. Will be meeting our kitchen equipment guy to discuss regarding this soon. Need to fully automate everything so that efficiency can be improved. Basically, we aim to be so automated that anybody can operate our machine. Solves labour issue, increase productivity, decreases wastage etc etc etc etc.

Partnerships!

ookitaiyaki — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:52:01 +0000

Wouldn’t say that our partnership is without fights and quarrels. Rather, our fights and quarrels are so intense at times. But what make us still partners? Not only mere partners, but with respect and trust and no misgivings and hatred and grievances. Can’t say for sure that our partnership would be ever lasting, but we can quite confidently say that if we ever part, it is due to mutual respect and understanding, and not hatred and grievances.

So what exactly makes a partnership long lasting? (according to our experience and personal opinions)

1) ALWAYS believe that your partner’s INTENTIONS ARE GOOD. This is very very crucial. If you believe that your partner is a very nice person without any absolute ill intention, basically nothing will go way wrong.

2) TRUST: Once u trust your partner, everything will be smoother riding. And when we refer to trust, there are 2 kinds. 1st kind is very important – trust that she has no ill intention (very related to point 1). 2nd is trust that she will do a good job (this trust has to be built by 2 partners : to learn to trust and to earn trust)

3) FRANKNESS: If partners speak their mind and be frank in everything, every intention is basically good (cuz no one would be frank with bad intention. also, bad intentions will no longer be bad once spoken) and there is basically trust too! (very related to point 2 & 3)

4) ACCEPTANCE: Partners must accept the good and the bad points of the other partner. Once we accept, things would be easier. But how are we to accept? This brings us to the point 5

5) Both partners must try their best! We must understand that everyone’s abilities is very much different and we must trust that everyone is doing their best.

So with the above 5 points, we have made it this far. fights still exist definitely and it will pissed the hell outta us. Morale would be low, stress level would be sky high. Everything will seem so bleak. BUT, hang on and believe the 5 points above and everything bleak will past and it will definitely become clear. clearer than before actually. =)

CHEERS TO ALL PARTNERSHIPS!

New plans for ooki!

ookitaiyaki — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:56:31 +0000

Many plans in the pipeline for our dearest ooki!!! There will be new flavours,new product,new marketing gimmicks,new shapes and sizes,new way in presenting our products,new packaging,new avenue for customers to reach our taiyakis!!!! New new new new new!!! Targeted time to launch everything – before cny. For now,it’s planning,gathering info,implementing.a long way to go,many things to be done,gonna be tough but it’s all worth it.by cny,we can happily stuff ourselves with new year goodies.knowing that we deserve the break and the treat. Can’t wait for 14/2/10!!!

Kenn is right to say that kindness begets kindness.not that we r super kind la.juz not exactly evil.haha.for our 2nd product,our friend’s friend will be helpin us with the recipe developing! He’s working at a famous hotel and recently gotten an award from some prestigious organization.n he’s helping us f.o.c but of cuz we will be ‘automatic’ enough to pay him the market rate for recipe developing.can’t wait to meet him this Saturday! Den we can practice n do food tasting once agn! We are seriously very lucky.along the way,we met many nice peeps who rendered us help in many ways and taught us many things. Life is tough but made easy by people around us.much easier.sometimes,it may seem like nothing to them but really mean alottttt to us.very very very very much appreciated.

A random thought: life is a plan,a big plan planned by someone out there. Some believe it’s god,for others it may just be an illusive person.he made every single human so different and life so
Diverse.he planted these people strategically.he has a purpose for everyone.the purpose is to allow everyone to teach everyone something.that something may be obvious and it may not be. And that person made it fun such that some people realise more of the teachings while others may not. Sometimes,when we look around us,we question what rights do we have to be unhappy and upset with life.that person made life in such a way that everyone will be luckier than others in certain aspects at certain pt of time.so if we do ever realise, life is really not that bad.and even good!

ookitaiyaki — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:15:53 +0000

1/1/2010 – Fateful day of the transformation of the holiday mood to the stuffiness of reality. While driving home, work conversation started randomly but naturally. That exact second, that exact feeling – reality sinks in. Not that it’s bad but it takes some adapting to. After 2 weeks full of fun and joy! Anyway, 2010 is gonna be a superb year for all! The year where everything is smooth-riding, where everything is happy and fun, the year of the best! And only the best will see it as the best! It’s all in the mind; the power of the mind!

Resolution; Cliche but yes, we all need resolutions:
Janel: No procrastination + be nicer to family
Ami: To share happiness + be nicer to family
We swore over a piece of cake! If we don’t keep to our resolution, we will be cursed with no cakes ever in our life! Which is really bad.HAha.

We are newly addicted to the game of bridge. It tests the mind, trains strategy planning and emphasizes on teamwork! We were once hooked in Uni days and here we are, back into the arms of bridge agn!

On a serious-boring-important note, gonna be brainstorming on Ooki tonight and having discussions tomorrow. Something that we havent been doing for awhile so it’s gona be a tedious one. yawnzzz already. But as people say, the body is busy but the heart and mind is not. Trying to cultivate this in us. Talking to 1 of our staffs this morning, discussing if in this world, everyone treats everyone with appreciation and respect, this world would sure be a better place. Some people are selfish and self centred due to the only fact that he/she deems others as that and sees being that as self protection. But our staff said that she would rather be nice and happy with self than be something she is not and be unhappy over it. Hmm…Somehow, we are guilty of the above. Needs to protect our own asses due to that certain amount of jaded-ness in us. But then again, it may be all in the mind. For now, whatever!!! Just gonna stay happy by doing things that generate pure happiness from within, and whatever that is. =)

ookitaiyaki — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 09:31:37 +0000

2nd day of retreat today.we left early Due to some social gathering.we can’t resist the temptation + retreat needs soooo much determination which we lack.hehe.but considering that we lasted through yesterday and 3/4 of today,we r pretty proud of ourselves!

Met up with our sec sch frens and din regret skipping the retreat.sometimes feel that it’s so difficult to find someone to have deep conversations with anymore.so feelig really grateful for the conversation that took place just now. The connection was instant,the conversation just flowed into various subjects which needs a certain level of connectivity emotionally. 2 issues that gt us thinking: expectations (no expectations vs high expectations: who gets more happiness) and over protective of self vs too giving (who will get more happiness in the end?).balance shd be the key but a balanced life is always diff to achieve.

One thing we realised recently while chit chatting: if we open up more often + give more in general, we will get more happiness and receive more in return. But when this characteristic of ours been with us for 24 yrs,it takes time to make adjustment to it.

Research for our 2nd product will be done next week.which calls for focus group soon! Aiming to Launch at ooki in mid January.allowing ourselves to slack till 1/1/2010!!!

Needa advertise on recruitment on monday. 1 of our Staffs tendered resignation cuz of personal reasons.sad that she’s leaving ooki.she’s such a nice auntie.labour is always an issue.luckily,we already accepted labour matters as issues and not problems! Acceptance -> solution is the way when handling ops stuffs.

Will also be advertising on facebook
Soon.many matters are put on hold
Cuz of the holiday season.basically no one is in the mood to do/think abt anything serious.consumer behaviour is forever a topic that we have to improve and focus on. Fnb retail is dynamic!!!

We can’t wait for thurs! Steamboat and a fun nite to come! :p

Holiday season!!!

ookitaiyaki — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:51:48 +0000

We can so feel the holiday mood! No mood to work,spent our day talking cock and bitching. Haha.We conclude that the older we get,the more we love festivals and enjoy the feel,the more fun we want to have,the more we appreciate the chance to just sit back and busk in the excitment.we used to dislike x’mas and new yr alot;complaining that it’s too commercialised and crowded. Nw that we think back,we were just too ‘carefree’ and stressless then to appreciate festivals as opportunities to have fun and de-stress.

Shopping malls are super crowded,faced difficulty finding car park space every single day this week.everyone’s happy.purchasing power’s high.mood’s high. Everybody’s desire to have fun is about to explode.hahah.just hope that our sales figure will explode too! But we feel that peak months like December doesn’t help to boost sales much for small kiosks like us. People are buying gifts and not snacks lor.now we know, next yr x’mas muz launch something along the line of gift set.it takes 1 year in operation to fully understand the retail cycle.n we are 3 months from 1 year! Cny is something new.wonder how cold it will be. Ooki will be closed from eve to chu er! Chu san Kai gong!

Went to a Japanese tidbits supplier this morning to get supplies.gona be selling 2 types of tidbits which we personally loveeeeee.will launch tomorrow! Most prob we will be our own 1st customer.totally can’t resist the tidbits sia. Ooki motto is to only sell products that we personally love!

Supposed to meet some china personnels this afternoon to show them ooki but meeting got postponed.we were actually looking forward to converse in mandarin with them.haha

Will be having a 3 days retreat from fri to sun! Hope we can come back in a piece…

Oh,and we went Indonesia embassy today! It’s like stepping into another country. Went to gather some information and to meet the person in charge of trade and commerce. Information and knowledge must always be gathered way before hand so that anytime we need them,they are already at the back of our mind.just need to extract and apply – increases efficiency by alottttt