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Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)
Interesting interview, and I've always liked Botak Jones' portions and food (they give a whole chunk of French Fries!). But it would seem Botak Jones himself is more of a spender than saver, and I am surprised he does not pay all his credit card bills in full.
Recently, I also discovered that the Marine Parade branch of Botak Jones had disappeared. Why was this so? Could it be that expansion was too quick and overheads started piling up? I do miss my Botak Jones though....
Sep 26, 2010
me & my money
Botak brimming with F&B shoots
Founder of popular Western food chain reaping rich harvest from what he sows
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Mr Bernie Utchenik, better known as Botak Jones, with his wife Faudziah Mohd Ali. Together they hold 51 per cent of Great Big Food, which owns a popular Western food chain. -- ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN NG
Detroit-born Bernie Utchenik is better known by his moniker Botak ('bald' in Malay) Jones, which is also the name of the popular Western food chain that he runs as a major shareholder. Set up in 2003, the chain which comes under the parent firm Great Big Food, has grown to 12 outlets - seven Botak Jones, four Botak's Favorites - most of them in food courts in the heartland - and a new restaurant Botak's Backyard in Dempsey.
Mr Utchenik dropped out of Wayne State University in Michigan when he was just a year shy of graduation. At the time, he was working full-time in a jewellery firm while studying. After several years in the jewellery line, he toured the United States on his Honda motorcycle for six months and ended up running a ski lodge in Aspen, Colorado.
After a number of jobs in different sectors, including working on offshore oil rigs, he found his calling in the food and beverage business in the 1990s in Singapore.
He first came to Asia in 1991 as an oil industry engineer. In 1996, he settled down here and started pub restaurant Bernie's with some friends in Upper Changi Road, under the holding firm Four Amigos. When he left the firm in 1999, he had made five times his personal investment of $65,000.
He then set up Bernie Goes To Town in Boat Quay with two friends. The total initial investment was $500,000, of which $200,000 came from Mr Utchenik. Unfortunately, the investment turned sour and he sold it in 2000, leaving him more than $200,000 poorer.
He slipped into despair, sold his Land Rover and Harley-Davidson motorbike and downgraded to a cheaper rental flat. He worked at the Home Beach Bar in Robertson Quay and at Handle Bar in Alexandra Road for a short stretch before venturing into running his own business again. The first Botak Jones opened in Tuas in 2003. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Last year, Mr Utchenik, who turns 58 next month, became a Singapore citizen. He is married to Singaporean Faudziah Mohd Ali, 48, who is director and head of administration at Great Big Food. They have no children together, but she has two children from her previous marriage.
Q: Are you a spender or a saver?
I am definitely a spender, although I try to keep a little aside for rainy days. I watched my father slave away for us his whole life and when it might have been starting to turn good, he suffered a stroke when I was 19 and passed on eight years later. He was never able to enjoy any reward from his labour so I think, subconsciously, I feel it is better to smell the roses as I go by. If I were a smart fellow I would probably have saved more than I had spent. What to do?
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I have three cards and I try to use them where I can as I don't carry a lot of cash with me. I try to pay off the balance every month but if there is a special purchase that takes a while to pay off, I may have some balance on the account. I try to clear it quickly though. My average bill is $1,000. I don't own an ATM card so if I need cash, I get it from the bank.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
Although I may not agree with all of his teachings, I am with investment guru Robert Kiyosaki when he says the best way to acquire an asset is to create one. This is what I have been working on. Rather than invest in other things, I believe in what I do so much that I would rather invest in my own ideas.
I started Botak Jones with my wife, with an initial investment of $10,000. A silent partner came up with another $10,000. There were other shareholders along the way. Now my wife and I own 51 per cent in Great Big Food. We have re-invested at least $200,000 in the firm so far. I had some stocks in the past which I sold around 1999 when I needed the money.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
My father was a furniture salesman and my mother was a bookkeeper. We were considered to be in the lower half of the middle class, so we didn't have a lot of expendable dollars around the house. We lived in a small three-bedroom house in Michigan.
I think everyone growing up learns to find their own level of enjoyment until they start earning their own money. So my father treating the family to candy every Tuesday night was a big affair. As I started to work on my own, the 'candy night' became less important as I was always focused on doing better. I have worked since I was 12, cutting lawns, delivering newspapers and shovelling snow. When I was 16, I worked part-time after school at a furniture firm where my father was working. I was a saver then and saved enough to buy a car.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
I have made three investments outside of my own ventures. One was in forex in the 1980s, which failed miserably. I lost US$10,000 when the British pound I bought devalued. The next one was quite profitable but the amount was not significant enough to put me on Easy Street. I invested US$10,000 in Microsoft in the 1990s when Bill Gates became the world's richest man. I thought what was good for him would eventually be good for me. I was right and the stock split four times after I bought it.
Q: What property do you own?
At this time I own no property.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
I think my wife's diamond ring. It's a GIA certified emerald cut 1.03K VS2 E colour. I used to be in the jewellery business, so I was able to make very good buys in high-quality gems. I bought it for US$4,000 at a trader's price in Cleveland, Ohio, although the appraised value was US$20,000.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
My wife and I own 51 per cent of Great Big Food. I am hoping that in the next two or three years, besides making profits, we can sell some or all of our interest in the company and use that as our retirement fund.
Q: Home is now...
An executive HDB flat in Yishun. We rent it from some very nice people we had met as customers.
Q: I drive...
My wife and I share a blue Toyota Rush. It'll do until we can decide on a colour for the Bentley.
lorna@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORST AND BEST BETS
Q: What has been your worst investment to date?
It has to be Bernie Goes To Town as my partners and I ended up losing over half a million when everything was considered. I had spread myself too thin and I had a finger in every pie in the operations. The staff were pilfering and we ran out of cash. We had opened something big without the reserves to keep it going. I went from the darling of F&B to nothing. I didn't want to show my face.
Q: And your best investment?
It has to be Bernie Goes to Town as I learnt so much about business, people and myself that after getting back on my feet, I felt I had become much more capable than before. Definitely one of the most profound learning experiences of my life.
Recently, I also discovered that the Marine Parade branch of Botak Jones had disappeared. Why was this so? Could it be that expansion was too quick and overheads started piling up? I do miss my Botak Jones though....
Sep 26, 2010
me & my money
Botak brimming with F&B shoots
Founder of popular Western food chain reaping rich harvest from what he sows
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Mr Bernie Utchenik, better known as Botak Jones, with his wife Faudziah Mohd Ali. Together they hold 51 per cent of Great Big Food, which owns a popular Western food chain. -- ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN NG
Detroit-born Bernie Utchenik is better known by his moniker Botak ('bald' in Malay) Jones, which is also the name of the popular Western food chain that he runs as a major shareholder. Set up in 2003, the chain which comes under the parent firm Great Big Food, has grown to 12 outlets - seven Botak Jones, four Botak's Favorites - most of them in food courts in the heartland - and a new restaurant Botak's Backyard in Dempsey.
Mr Utchenik dropped out of Wayne State University in Michigan when he was just a year shy of graduation. At the time, he was working full-time in a jewellery firm while studying. After several years in the jewellery line, he toured the United States on his Honda motorcycle for six months and ended up running a ski lodge in Aspen, Colorado.
After a number of jobs in different sectors, including working on offshore oil rigs, he found his calling in the food and beverage business in the 1990s in Singapore.
He first came to Asia in 1991 as an oil industry engineer. In 1996, he settled down here and started pub restaurant Bernie's with some friends in Upper Changi Road, under the holding firm Four Amigos. When he left the firm in 1999, he had made five times his personal investment of $65,000.
He then set up Bernie Goes To Town in Boat Quay with two friends. The total initial investment was $500,000, of which $200,000 came from Mr Utchenik. Unfortunately, the investment turned sour and he sold it in 2000, leaving him more than $200,000 poorer.
He slipped into despair, sold his Land Rover and Harley-Davidson motorbike and downgraded to a cheaper rental flat. He worked at the Home Beach Bar in Robertson Quay and at Handle Bar in Alexandra Road for a short stretch before venturing into running his own business again. The first Botak Jones opened in Tuas in 2003. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Last year, Mr Utchenik, who turns 58 next month, became a Singapore citizen. He is married to Singaporean Faudziah Mohd Ali, 48, who is director and head of administration at Great Big Food. They have no children together, but she has two children from her previous marriage.
Q: Are you a spender or a saver?
I am definitely a spender, although I try to keep a little aside for rainy days. I watched my father slave away for us his whole life and when it might have been starting to turn good, he suffered a stroke when I was 19 and passed on eight years later. He was never able to enjoy any reward from his labour so I think, subconsciously, I feel it is better to smell the roses as I go by. If I were a smart fellow I would probably have saved more than I had spent. What to do?
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I have three cards and I try to use them where I can as I don't carry a lot of cash with me. I try to pay off the balance every month but if there is a special purchase that takes a while to pay off, I may have some balance on the account. I try to clear it quickly though. My average bill is $1,000. I don't own an ATM card so if I need cash, I get it from the bank.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
Although I may not agree with all of his teachings, I am with investment guru Robert Kiyosaki when he says the best way to acquire an asset is to create one. This is what I have been working on. Rather than invest in other things, I believe in what I do so much that I would rather invest in my own ideas.
I started Botak Jones with my wife, with an initial investment of $10,000. A silent partner came up with another $10,000. There were other shareholders along the way. Now my wife and I own 51 per cent in Great Big Food. We have re-invested at least $200,000 in the firm so far. I had some stocks in the past which I sold around 1999 when I needed the money.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
My father was a furniture salesman and my mother was a bookkeeper. We were considered to be in the lower half of the middle class, so we didn't have a lot of expendable dollars around the house. We lived in a small three-bedroom house in Michigan.
I think everyone growing up learns to find their own level of enjoyment until they start earning their own money. So my father treating the family to candy every Tuesday night was a big affair. As I started to work on my own, the 'candy night' became less important as I was always focused on doing better. I have worked since I was 12, cutting lawns, delivering newspapers and shovelling snow. When I was 16, I worked part-time after school at a furniture firm where my father was working. I was a saver then and saved enough to buy a car.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
I have made three investments outside of my own ventures. One was in forex in the 1980s, which failed miserably. I lost US$10,000 when the British pound I bought devalued. The next one was quite profitable but the amount was not significant enough to put me on Easy Street. I invested US$10,000 in Microsoft in the 1990s when Bill Gates became the world's richest man. I thought what was good for him would eventually be good for me. I was right and the stock split four times after I bought it.
Q: What property do you own?
At this time I own no property.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
I think my wife's diamond ring. It's a GIA certified emerald cut 1.03K VS2 E colour. I used to be in the jewellery business, so I was able to make very good buys in high-quality gems. I bought it for US$4,000 at a trader's price in Cleveland, Ohio, although the appraised value was US$20,000.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
My wife and I own 51 per cent of Great Big Food. I am hoping that in the next two or three years, besides making profits, we can sell some or all of our interest in the company and use that as our retirement fund.
Q: Home is now...
An executive HDB flat in Yishun. We rent it from some very nice people we had met as customers.
Q: I drive...
My wife and I share a blue Toyota Rush. It'll do until we can decide on a colour for the Bentley.
lorna@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORST AND BEST BETS
Q: What has been your worst investment to date?
It has to be Bernie Goes To Town as my partners and I ended up losing over half a million when everything was considered. I had spread myself too thin and I had a finger in every pie in the operations. The staff were pilfering and we ran out of cash. We had opened something big without the reserves to keep it going. I went from the darling of F&B to nothing. I didn't want to show my face.
Q: And your best investment?
It has to be Bernie Goes to Town as I learnt so much about business, people and myself that after getting back on my feet, I felt I had become much more capable than before. Definitely one of the most profound learning experiences of my life.
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