I Dropped Out of Regulation College to Begin a Snack Model. Here is My Recommendation.

This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Chris Hwang, the 33-year-old cofounder of The Golden Duck, a Singaporean snack model. It has been edited for size and readability.

I am Chris Hwang, cofounder of The Golden Duck. At 23, I dropped out of regulation faculty to start out the snack model, which, a decade later, is now offered in over 3,000 shops worldwide.

The Golden Duck is a gourmand snack model that reimagines Asian flavors like salted egg yolk. Our imaginative and prescient has at all times been to be the Ben & Jerry’s of snacks.

We began small. In 2015, we launched with only one product — salted egg yolk chips.

In the beginning, our capability was so restricted that we made the merchandise in a house kitchen. Because of this, we might solely make about 50 packs of chips a day.

Because it began getting extra common in Singapore, we scaled up the enterprise.

Including workers, sustaining high quality, and controlling the processes once we scaled up have been among the most difficult elements of our journey.

We have additionally weathered many storms. The pandemic was a really unhealthy time for the enterprise, and all our tourism income evaporated in a single day. We needed to cut back our workforce from 200 to 120, and inform pals we would introduced on board that we can’t have the ability to work collectively anymore.

From my 10 years of expertise operating The Golden Duck, listed here are 5 items of recommendation I might give to anybody fascinated about beginning a brand new model.

1. Get began and take a look at low-cost

For those who’re fascinated about it and you’ve got not but, simply get began.

You do not have to give up your job. You are able to do one thing on the weekends, however begin constructing a street map.

Nothing is stopping you from testing it proper now. You do not have to spend hundreds or tens of hundreds of {dollars} constructing issues, particularly within the age of AI.

So, you probably have a dream, simply get began.

You may fail at first. That is truly my fifth startup, however the failures gave me the fireplace to maintain placing my again into it and dealing loopy hours.

And while you begin, take a look at with as little capital as potential.

I’ve seen folks begin companies with $5,000 and rake in multimillion-dollar revenues now. I’ve seen folks begin companies broke, and a few have scaled up enormously.

I feel folks do not do that sufficient. You do not have to spend some huge cash to check a enterprise thought.

2. Know your buyer

Actually get to know your buyer.

Fall in love with them, give them a reputation, know the place they keep, have a complete thought about how they spend their budgets, and what issues they care about

With this methodology, we discovered success in Singapore, Hong Kong, and some different markets. Nonetheless, to scale this globally, we have to establish this buyer so we are able to converse to them.

Our goal buyer is 30 years outdated. She does not have to drive a automobile, however a few of them do. She lives quarter-hour out from downtown Singapore.

She loves her meals. She could be very lively on social media, whether or not it is Instagram or TikTok, and she or he loves sharing the very best bits of her meals journeys. She has huge goals.

It’s good to be particular about who your clients are to market successfully to them.

3. Innovate to your buyer, not your self

You need to innovate for what your client desires, not what you need.

I really like snacking. Usually, I’m my buyer, however not at all times. Do I’ve the identical style buds because the Italians? Or the French? I do not.

And I want to acknowledge that. So, if I am going to these markets and take a look at these merchandise and see what their greatest sellers are, I do know what I am going after.

Then my problem is, can I make my product higher for you, not higher for me?

4. Immediately, authenticity is king

Folks all all over the world are creating genuine experiences.

Everyone knows what bitter cream and onion style like, and everyone knows what barbecue tastes like. However why not have bitter cream and Sriracha, one in every of our latest flavors within the canister line of chips that we launched in 2024?

By now, everyone is aware of what truffle taste is, however why not have truffle wagyu? Once more, that is one of many flavors that we launched.

And I see a development that persons are trying not only for fascinating one-off experiences. They’re searching for fascinating new staples.

So, I feel there is a very robust case for not simply Asian flavors however all flavors from all over the world. There’s an enormous alternative there.

5. Fail small, rectify quick

I do know that many entrepreneurs have shared the recommendation of failing small, so I am not going to beat that drum anymore. I feel everybody is aware of what it means.

However rectifying after the failure is tremendous vital. So that you fail small, after which what? Do you simply sit there and say, “It did not work?” No.

Entrepreneurship is all about evolution. Most companies do not discover their area of interest till an excellent one to 2 years in.

Meaning you need to iterate. OK — perhaps your buyer does not prefer it this fashion. Maybe they prefer it with somewhat bit extra salt. Perhaps they do not like chips. Perhaps they need a packet of potato wedges as an alternative of chips.

For those who do not rectify after every of these small failures, you then’re simply going to name it quits too early.

As a result of entrepreneurship is like life. It is all about evolving, altering, and rising.