Entrepreneur Banny Lam learned from his mistakes and hits the jackpot with his noisy Hong Kong-style cafe
In 1985, 16-year-old Banny Lam was a trainee in a Kowloon hotel. Today, he is director of the Paris Cafe, a local coffee-shop chain. But it was during those early years that he learned about the food and beverage trade, laying the foundations for his future success as a business manager and entrepreneur.
Mr Lam worked his way up the ladder in the hotel industry, gaining knowledge and experience in various posts, and by 1997 he was banquet manager. Additionally, he took a day release course in hotel and food and beverage management, which, along with his practical experience, gave him the confidence to launch his own business.
A magazine article provided the spark behind his first entrepreneurial foray.
'I read an article suggesting that there was money to be made by running a Hong Kong-style tea shop, so I gave it a try with my business partner. Unfortunately, after two years I realised that it wasn't going to make a lot of money. There was too much competition, and food and labour costs were too high,' Mr Lam said.
Coffee, however, was a different commodity, and one that remained undeveloped in the late 1990s in Hong Kong. He also took on board the lessons learned from the tea shop.