Consistency Has to Be Measured, Not Left to Gut Feel
One of Siti's earliest lessons came from operating franchise businesses before starting Nippon Sushi. Although the experience came with a high financial cost, it showed her how important consistency is when customers visit different outlets of the same brand.At Nippon Sushi, recipes are not prepared based on estimation. Rice, sauces, and ingredients are measured by weight, while cooking times are clearly defined. A serving of rice, for example, should remain the same whether it is prepared at one outlet or another.This level of detail helps ensure that customers receive a familiar product, presentation, and experience wherever they dine. However, having standard operating procedures is only the beginning. Leaders must also verify that teams are following them through regular outlet visits, operational checks, and follow-up when standards slip.
Understand the Economics of Every Concept
Not every popular concept will become a sustainable business. Siti shared openly that she had launched and closed several brands while learning what works.One important factor was average ticket size. A concept may attract customers, but if each person spends too little, the outlet can struggle to generate enough revenue from the same number of tables and operating hours.When MyViet was expanded into Boat & Roll with a broader menu that included Vietnamese and Thai dishes, customers had more reasons to order additional items and share meals. According to Siti, this helped raise the average ticket size without requiring more seats.For F&B operators, the takeaway is that menu development should consider more than individual item margins. Leaders should understand how the menu influences total spend per customer, table productivity, and the outlet's ability to cover fixed costs.
Know Your Costs Line by Line
Siti repeatedly returned to one piece of advice: know your costs. Small differences can become significant when repeated across hundreds of orders and multiple outlets. A few extra grams of rice, salmon, sauce, or another ingredient may seem minor in one serving, but over time they can affect margins considerably.Her team compares similar outlets line by line to identify unusual usage. If two outlets generate comparable sales but one uses far more of a particular ingredient, the difference needs to be investigated. The cause could be incorrect portions, waste, inconsistent preparation, or weak inventory controls.This discipline is especially important for buffet concepts. At Shabuyaki, customers scan to order certain items, allowing the team to understand average consumption per person. That data helps the business plan purchasing and manage the cost of higher-priced ingredients such as beef.Cost control is therefore not a one-time budgeting exercise. It is a daily operating practice built on accurate portions, comparable data, and a clear understanding of where money is being spent.
Centralisation and Technology Make Scale More Manageable
Managing around 50 outlets would be difficult if every location prepared everything independently. Siti shared that a significant portion of the group's ingredients and products comes from a central kitchen. This reduces the amount of preparation required at each outlet, supports product consistency, and allows outlet teams to operate with a leaner workforce.The business is also implementing a warehouse management system that connects recipes, item quantities, outlet orders, and central kitchen usage. By recording the required quantity of each ingredient for every menu item, the system can compare expected consumption with sales and stock movement.Technology does not replace good processes. It makes those processes easier to repeat, monitor, and improve as the business grows. During the discussion, another F&B leader also shared how StaffAny had helped consolidate frontline workforce activity with back-office processes and payroll, reinforcing the value of connected systems when operations become more complex.
Labour Cost Control Starts With Operational Design
Siti shared that direct labour cost across her business is generally around 18% to 20% of revenue. Central kitchen preparation is one of the reasons outlet teams can remain relatively lean.However, controlling labour costs is not only about reducing headcount. It also requires careful management of scheduling and overtime. Her team sets overtime guidelines and monitors them during payroll so managers have clear boundaries while still recognising that some overtime may be necessary.The broader lesson is that labour productivity should be designed into the operating model. Menu complexity, preparation methods, centralisation, staffing levels, and scheduling all affect how many people an outlet needs. Businesses should therefore examine labour cost together with service quality and operational requirements, rather than treating it as an isolated percentage to reduce.
Scaling Requires Ownership Beyond the Founder
In the early stages of a business, the founder may be able to oversee every outlet directly. That becomes impossible as the company grows.Siti explained that the biggest change in scaling was learning to rely on the right people. She brought in regional partners and gave them a stake in the results, creating stronger ownership than a purely employee-based relationship might provide.She also described sharing a portion of outlet profit with partners before distributing the remainder. The aim was to align incentives and encourage them to think and act like owners of the brand. Scaling is not only about opening more outlets. It is about creating a structure in which capable people understand the goal, have authority to act, and benefit from the value they help create.
Competitors Can Help Build the Market
Siti also challenged the idea that every similar brand should be viewed only as a threat. Nippon Sushi entered a market where Japanese food was already widely understood, but Siti saw an underserved opportunity for a halal-certified Japanese restaurant.Her experience with newer concepts taught her that being the only brand in a category can make growth harder. Multiple players can educate customers, create conversation, and expand the overall market together.This influenced her approach to Nori Nori, the group's upcoming grab-and-go concept. Rather than avoiding a category because another company is performing well, she saw strong performance as evidence that customer demand already exists. The takeaway is not to copy competitors, but to understand what their presence reveals about the market and identify a clear proposition that gives customers a reason to choose your brand.
Plan Around Predictable Slow Periods
During the Q&A, an attendee asked how halal restaurants should manage the quieter daytime period during Ramadan. Siti's response was practical: Ramadan happens every year, so the business should plan for it rather than treat it as an unexpected disruption.Her team builds its annual plans around the stronger operating months and uses the Ramadan period for activities such as outlet renovation, refurbishment, and employee leave. Dinner and delivery remain important, but the business accepts that daytime demand will be different.For seasonal businesses, predictable slow periods can become useful windows for maintenance, training, and operational improvements that are harder to complete during peak trading periods.
Growth Should Follow Evidence, Not Excitement Alone
Siti's first Nippon Sushi outlet reportedly recovered its initial investment within eight months. That performance gave the team confidence to open the next outlet.At the same time, her closed concepts were reminders that not every opportunity should be scaled simply because it appears exciting. Market demand, positioning, food cost, ticket size, and timing all matter.Her journey showed that growth is rarely a straight line. Strong operators test ideas, measure performance, learn quickly, and are willing to close or reposition concepts that do not have sustainable economics. Failure becomes useful when it changes how the next decision is made.