Hong Kong’s dial-a-chefs and other small businesses who serve you at home
Business model is a win-win, with companies saving on rent and customers enjoying the convenience of home service, be it to cook your dinner, style your hair, make you up or look after your pet
Once her client approves the menu, chef Stella Chan Wing-yan and her business partner Cheng Siu-po get to work, placing special orders with seafood suppliers and shopping for other choice ingredients.
However, instead of prepping in a professional kitchen, Chan does the cooking in private homes.
In Hong Kong, this in-home model is particularly attractive to small businesses – after all, it substantially reduces spending on rent and other overheads.
A former PR executive with more than 20 years’ experience, Chan loves to cook and quit her job to take it up full-time.
“I wouldn’t like to open a restaurant, as it would incur very hefty costs, especially rent. Landlords don’t care if you make a profit, they just keep increasing the rent every year. If they know you’re making a profit, the rent would even be higher,” she says.
“Besides rent, shop renovations and wages, there are many other extra costs involved in running a restaurant. You need to stock up enough ingredients to give your customers a good choice.
“My menu is tailor-made and I only buy the ingredients I will use. I also ask customers to pay a deposit. This helps me control the budget.”