Tastemakers: He overcame business failures and debts of nearly $1m to start a zi char restaurant

SINGAPORE – Saddled with $100,000 of debt at age 33 after his first coffee shop venture tanked, Kuala Lumpur-born Danny Chan was unfazed.

He started over as an economy rice cook, and eventually had a chain of four coffee shops and over 30 food stalls to his name a decade later.

But rapid expansion had its pitfalls. At age 43, he fell into greater debt, this time to the tune of nearly a million dollars, after a lack of manpower and operational issues forced him to break tenancy and wind up operations.

The intrepid entrepreneur pulled himself together again and continued operating his remaining coffee shop in Bishan, where he ran a zi char stall.

At 44, cobbling together $200,000 from selling his gold jewellery, cashing out his insurance policies and earnings from his stall, he founded eatery Yu Cun Claypot Curry Fish Head in Upper Paya Lebar in 2014.

It was his last gamble doing what he knew best – hustling in the food and beverage industry. And his tenacity has finally paid off.

This year, after celebrating his 54th birthday, he marked the 10th anniversary of his zi char restaurant with the opening of a second outlet at Sultan Gate on Nov 17.

Occupying a three-storey shophouse unit that seats 128 diners, the outlet cost $500,000 to set up. Mr Chan is renovating the third storey to put in private rooms. 

The eldest of three siblings, he first came to Singapore at age 13 with his family. His father worked as a tiling subcontractor and his mother helped out.

His parents enrolled him in Secondary 1 at San Yu Adventist School, but he dropped out a year later as he could not catch up with the English syllabus. He had attended a Chinese school in Kuala Lumpur.

He found a job as a trainee at a Cantonese restaurant run by a Hong Kong chef, enduring daily scoldings and being rapped on his head with a ladle whenever he made a mistake, because it was “less terrifying” than going to school.

Within a year, he did well enough to lead the food preparation station and cook staff meals at the now-defunct restaurant in South Bridge Road for the next three years.

After he completed national service, Mr Chan obtained his Singapore citizenship at 20. He then worked as a kitchen assistant at Lei Garden in Orchard Boulevard, cooking staff meals for a year until his father enlisted his help on mosaic tiling projects.

At 24, he married a Malaysian, incentivising him to start his own business and earn more in order to sponsor her application for permanent residence.

He rented half an HDB shop unit in Toa Payoh and started a provision shop with his wife Daphne Ong, now 50. She became a permanent resident in 2003 and a Singapore citizen in 2008.

Eager to earn more, Mr Chan supplied canned beverages to drink stalls in hawker centres and coffee shops, and eventually took over a drink stall at Newton Food Centre when its owner retired in 2000.

In 2003, he jumped at the opportunity to start a coffee shop with a partner at PSA Tanjong Pagar Complex for $200,000.

But he soon found he had bitten off more than he could chew. Nine months of losses later, he had to cough up $100,000. As he was strapped for cash, his partner, who ran an economy rice stall chain, paid his share of the debt first.

Mr Chan’s partner then offered him a job as an economy rice stall cook, with a 50 per cent profit share.

Mr Chan recounts, in Mandarin: “In the beginning, business was poor and my cooking wasn’t up to standard. I often had cramps in my hands from the constant cutting, chopping and frying.”

But within a year, he took on a supervisory role and hired a head cook. He opened another three stalls in Jurong East, Boon Lay and Jalan Bahar over the next three years, taking a 50 per cent stake in each of them. He quit the partnership in 2007 to have more autonomy and control over his business.

With his wife assisting him, he set up an economy rice stall in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 for $10,000, followed by a second outlet in Bendemeer for $20,000. 

He was on a roll thereafter, investing $200,000 in a coffee shop in Woodlands in 2009, another in Yishun Ring Road, then two more in Bishan Street 12 and Yishun Avenue 3 within two years.

At the peak of his business, he ran four zi char coffee shop stalls, an economy rice stall chain with 26 outlets, and teamed up with his younger brother to start a bak chor mee chain with 11 outlets across Singapore.

He had 220 employees at one point, but then found himself a victim of his own success.

“Success was a facade. My wife and I regretted expanding our business so rapidly that it became difficult to manage. My staff depended on me for leadership and their rice bowls, but I felt so lost and directionless.”

As his coffee shops operated 24 hours a day, he could not rest or switch off his mobile phone.

“My heart would beat very fast each time my phone rang. There were always problems,” he says.

At times, fights would break out at the coffee shops late at night and he would have to head down to speak to the police. If cooks or cashiers did not show up for work, he stood in for them.

Things unravelled in 2012 when his operations manager was poached by a competitor, leading to a mass exodus of staff. Faced with manpower shortages, Mr Chan began to wind up stalls and coffee shops.

By 2013, he had accrued over $900,000 in debt to suppliers and landlords from breaking leases.  

“I was burned out and felt all I had done had gone up in smoke,” he says.

Having to support himself, his wife and four children – three sons and a daughter – Mr Chan started Yu Cun Claypot Curry Fish Head as a standalone eatery with no air-conditioning in Upper Paya Lebar.

When debt collectors knocked on his door, he negotiated for a longer payment period.

“I told them that if they give me a chance to earn some money, I can pay them back. The only other option is to pay them with my life, in which case nobody wins.” 

It took four years to settle all his debts. During this time, he developed his signature dish of Claypot Curry Fish Head ($38++), red seabream cooked with a medley of vegetables in a curry prepared with housemade spice paste.

Once that was done, he upgraded his eatery, installing air-conditioners and adding new dining tables and chairs.

At his Sultan Gate outlet, he serves dishes such as the Royal Flush Seafood Curry Fish Head ($55.90++), an elevated fish head curry with squid and prawn, with deep-fried egg floss on the side.

Also popular is the Black Jack Superior Fish Head Pot ($55.90++), which comprises 21 ingredients, including yam, chicken and Chinese herbs.

His two elder sons have joined him to work full time at his restaurants after serving NS. Apart from them and his wife, he has a staff of 26 working across both outlets. 

Mr Chan’s eldest son Chan Jun Jie, 30, is the operations manager at the Upper Paya Lebar outlet, while middle son Darius Chan, 28, is a director at the new outlet.

After undergoing coronary angioplasty and stent insertion twice, in 2015 and 2020, Mr Chan has learnt to find time to relax by exercising and taking day trips to Johor Bahru with his wife.

His daughter Chan Shing Yi, 19, who is studying communications at the University of Newcastle, has also expressed interest in joining his business. His youngest son Chan Tze Long, 11, is a Primary 5 pupil. Home is a three-bedroom condominium in Ang Mo Kio.

Not one to mollycoddle his kids, the family does not have a helper, as he wants them to be independent and help out with housework. His sole indulgence is a BMW X3 M40i, purchased two years ago.

Mr Chan has no intention to retire, and plans to open two more outlets.

He says: “My family stood by me and supported me through my darkest times. It was at Yu Cun that I finally felt a sense of fulfilment and found my sense of direction. It is a second home to us as a family.”