I was waiting for a call from a potential partner for a new food & beverage outlet which I had just started setting up at his hotel. The appointment was set for 11:30am Kuala Lumpur time, according to his Whatsapp message. As usual, I would be nervous with thoughts of how the discussion would go wrong and that Kevin would not agree to my proposal and would come to a conclusion to stop the partnership with me. 11:30 am loomed near and I could not stop my stomach from churning and making me nauseous even after I finish my innercise in my Winning the Game of Fear program from Neurogym. It wasn't a good sign, I thought, because this would mean that I still had a long way to go to reprogram my mindset of always playing out thoughts of how I would fail rather than how I would succeed.
I kept telling myself that everything would be all right and somehow I would be able to negotiate a solution that would enable me to continue the operation of the restaurant, after having opened just 11 days before the Movement Control Order or MCO was put into place by the Malaysian government due to the Covid-19 pandemic which had just hit the country. It would be 2 1/2 months now that the restaurant although 80% almost completed in renovation, is now empty and idle, having to let go the newly appointed workers at the end of March.
The restaurant, being situated at the mezzanine floor of the hotel, with customers having to enter its lobby and up the stairs passing the newly painted Sang Kancil and the Malaysian flora and fauna artwork in order to access the restaurant made the restaurant almost unknown to the public as the hotel itself was not allowed to operate. We had planned a launch where the residents of the many apartment buildings neighboring the hotel would be provided free food and introduced to our new restaurant only to have the plans put on hold due to the announcement of the lockdown three days prior to the launch date.
My plans was to have an income stream from the sales in order to fully complete the renovations and the cash flow to finance the operating expenses. Instead I was left having to use my leftover funds to compensate the workers before they left and bear the cost of keeping my other cafe of three years open to cater to take-aways and deliveries from what was left of the customers that remained in the building that provided the bulk of patrons to this cafe, Little Cottage Cafe.
As the MCO became strict and foreign workers were randomly arrested without questioning, the majority of my boys, my workers, foreign, were afraid to venture out of their residences to come to work. I was left with my manager, my son-in-law (living with me) and a local part-time employee to operate and service the cafe. Suppliers could not deliver my raw materials, and buying them waiting in long lines at the local supermarket proved to be difficult and time consuming especially more so when the 1 person 1 car rule was enforced. I ended up having to drive, find parking, wait in line, shop and carry the groceries and delivering to the cafe alone without the usual helping hand from my husband or from any possibility of help from the remaining workers that remained even.
Sales for the next 2 months dropped to less than 10% of the usual sales, not enough to cover costs, let along rent or wages. I am fortunate that those remaining have agreed to accept deferment of their wages. I still felt a sense of hopelessness, yet kept diligent in showing up at the cafe every morning, telling myself that I had to set an example, and a positive front to keep everyone's spirits and hopes up. I was not willing to lose the ones closest to me. I knew I needed them and since they were willing to give me their temporary sacrifice, I had to ensure that I made it seem worth while for them and for me in the coming months. Keeping the cafe open, whilst not being able to start operating of the new restaurant was a way of providing a sense of worth to everyone involved. The few customers whom we provided meals for were appreciative of our service, as it was difficult for them to venture out elsewhere. We made new friends, and built a small community within the vicinity of the cafe and the residences in the building. We barely made RM100 a day, sometimes just RM20, but we kept showing up. Our landlord still charged us the usual rent for the months we barely reached 10% of our usual sales.
The current 2 week phase of the MCO is still to last until this 9th of June. We are now allowed to accept dine-ins by regulating customers by taking and recording their temperatures, sanitizing their hands and getting them to record their names and contact number as a safety precaution in case any case of Covid-19 were to appear in our establishment. It is still another week until the 9th of June, in which the MCO may either be lifted or extended.
Our sales have increased to RM300 a day as people brave themselves to venture out to eat at our cafe. Everyday, we share the sales figure and celebrate in our hearts that there is an increase in sales. We are excited when customers order the higher priced items on the menu instead of the RM10 rice meals which we came up with especially during the MCO in order to appeal to the reduced wages that almost everyone had to go through during this time. Orders for our RM15 chicken rice and our RM12 banana pancakes had my son-in-law and myself climbing over each other to cook the meal for the customer in as quick a time as possible. I would watch as each customer took a bite and ate, apprehensively holding my breath to see any indication as to how the food tasted. It was like the time I first opened a breakfast nook in 2008. I would keep in mind what each customer liked and take into account their preferences, even until this day.
Reopening our doors after 2 1/2 months is just like opening for the first day of a new business. "How many customers will I get today? Will they come back? What about tomorrow? Will there by more customers?" These are my hopeful thoughts, alongside my other thoughts, "What if they don't come back? What if the MCO gets extended?" Thoughts that will doom me with questions of "What if I fail?" instead of hopeful and positive questions of "What if I succeed?". I really do need to innercise more and program my mind to think of future success rather than the possibility of failure when I have yet to fail.
And so when I receive the call from Kevin, I tell myself to keep an open mind and to understand where he is coming from. Everyone, especially in their own business venture is facing financial uncertainty and trying to find the best way to recover from their losses. I do not assume that Kevin is out to destroy me as he is proposing a way to help his business. I have to take control of my decisions based on his proposal to do what is right for my business. It is merely coming up with a strategy based on the given circumstances that is put in front of me. So when ask myself, "What if I succeed?", I have programmed my brain to think of ways for myself to succeed and I proceed to take the necessary actions so that I may benefit from the proposal and suggestions, even if those suggestions have given me a due date to decide on whether I continue with the operation of the new restaurant based on my lack of financial resources. If I think I will fail, I will indeed fail. But I will not fail because I have come up with a plan for my success. It may not be the original plan, but that is what success is all about. It is not sticking to the plan, but instead to make up a new plan. I guess I am winning the game of fear after all.
I will tell you more on that when the plans have been put into action.
The New Outlet, The Hive Restaurant
