Success doesn't come by chance to entrepreneurs. Seizing the opportunity and taking risks are the ingredients needed to cook up a winning business, especially in Hong Kong's competitive restaurant scene.
Jennifer Liu, founder and chairman of Sir Hudson International, a local restaurant group specialising in lifestyle dining, always knew she needed to aim high when she worked at a local architectural firm after graduating from Cornell University with a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1997. Her first experience of running a technology business with two partners ended when it was sold in 2000.
But her entrepreneurial drive did not end there. She took a break from her career and went to New York, exploring the cultural richness of the city and taking various courses from cooking to wine tasting, and art and antique appreciation to enrich her life.
She returned to Hong Kong in 2003, ready to get into the hospitality industry. It was the year when severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) struck, crippling the local economy.
Nevertheless, Liu took advantage of the gloom as rents plunged and experienced staff were available. After raising enough money from friends, family and overseas investments, Liu opened her first modern upmarket Italian restaurant at the Lee Gardens in Causeway Bay.
'Rents, labour and overall food and beverage costs during the Sars epidemic were a great bargain. My first Habitu Ristorante was an upscale Italian dining facility and it matched the profile of sophisticated clients that Lee Gardens wanted to attract. I just could not resist the low rent and costs, and the property developer was impressed with my business plan,' Liu says.
'I had already anticipated potential risks in opening an upscale Italian restaurant during Sars. However, I also knew that if I missed the opportunity, it may never come back again,' says Liu, who acknowledges that she is addicted to restaurant hopping in Hong Kong and overseas.