Mouthing Off | Why open a new restaurant in Hong Kong? It’s a great way to lose your shirt – but also a ladder anyone can climb up

More and more, I find myself wondering why anyone in their right mind would want to invest in the food and beverage industry in Hong Kong. It’s a tough and risky business at the best of times. With the coronavirus in 2020 and the political protests in 2019, the last two years have been brutal to say the least.

However, there are still hospitality entrepreneurs eager to enter the fray. I guess there’s a certain prestige to proprietorship – to be able to say you’re the boss, host friends for drinks and food, and have bragging rights if you’re behind a trendy establishment. But I’m not sure many investors really know what they’re getting into.

Some self-styled impresarios have never cooked on a line, got their hands dirty with washing dishes, or had to close a dining room late one night and be back a few hours later to prep the early morning breakfast shift.

The more successful restaurateurs actually have a background in catering and cooking. They’ve been around kitchens all their life or worked in enough of them to know the nuts and bolts of sourcing produce, handling temperamental chefs, juggling cash flow and payroll, and appeasing picky patrons who complain if a steak is medium instead of medium-rare.

You can’t expect to be a successful Premier League team manager if you’ve never played football. But some restaurateurs think they just need a cool concept and a branding plan. Things like execution, strategy and hard work they leave up to someone they hire to deal with – which is not just a bad mistake but a great way to lose your shirt.

There are a lot of stories of bankers and lawyers who tire of being workaholics and switch careers, opening a small cafe or a hobby-driven bakery. Occasionally, someone will bite off more than they can chew and open a big-time restaurant.