‘Be confident’: Yum Cha second-gen owner’s advice on taking over the family business
Building authority is not about inheriting a title, it is about earning trust through actions and results
The strategies and stories that shape today’s leaders.
[SINGAPORE] Melody Tan had two things going against her when she took over the reins of her family’s F&B business. She was entering a male-dominated industry and she was a second generation upstart.
For other women in her shoes, Tan has one piece of advice: “Be more confident.”
“I’m in a male-dominated industry, and very often they have never really seen a woman in charge,” the 39-year-old said. She currently runs Yum Cha, a dim sum restaurant which her father, Jack Tan, started with his brothers in 2000.
Tan first joined Yum Cha in an official capacity in 2009 as a marketing executive before working her way up. Before taking on the marketing role she did various odd-jobs at the restaurant, ranging from bussing tables to deliveries.
Working officially at Yum Cha was very different from when she was doing odd jobs during the school holidays. Back then, the staff appreciated her unofficial help but things changed when she returned full-time and especially after she started taking on more management responsibilities, she said.
“When I started to make important decisions that concerned their work, then that was when I would sometimes hit a roadblock (and feel like) they might not fully respect me or think I don’t know what I’m doing,” Tan said.
Her experience is hardly unique.
In Singapore, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up 99 per cent of all businesses and account for about 70 per cent of the country’s employment. These SMEs, which can range from a neighbourhood convenience store, to a restaurant or a factory, are often family owned.
Back then, one of the ways she won the trust of staff was by engaging them and taking on their suggestions where she saw fit, though Tan admits that there have also been occasions where she regretted taking their suggestions against her own intuition or research.
“Even if we make a mistake, we have to just keep moving forward, so I think you must really believe in yourself,” Tan said.
One of these key decisions involved keeping the number of outlets it has at two. Its flagship outlet which sits on the second floor of a shophouse in the heart of the Chinatown district and a second outlet in Changi Business Park, close to Singapore’s Changi Airport.
Late last year, Yum Cha set up a central kitchen to ramp up its food production capabilities and facilitate its move into catering. The central kitchen, which is helmed by her brother, supports events catering, contract manufacturing for restaurants and country clubs, and some of the kitchen operations for the two restaurants.
She acknowledged that competition in the F&B industry has been tough, especially with the influx of mainland Chinese chains, and that she and her team have been looking at different ways to expand the Yum Cha business.
The company is using this strategy to not only maintain the quality at Yum Cha’s two restaurants, but also bring Yum Cha’s products to where people want them and with specific customisations.
“For example, for people that are getting married, we have a set called ‘Double Happiness’,” Tan said. The Double Happiness mini buffet features Yum Cha’s double happiness baos.
“For kids’ birthdays, we have cute dim sum sets for kids,” she added.
Tan revealed that the combined income from the food production and catering business now accounts for 10 to 15 per cent of her revenue, and expects it to reach around 20 per cent by the end of December.
Setting up a central kitchen was a leap of faith driven by a core belief: the generation that is taking over must believe in themselves before others can.
That will also eventually help the staff recognise the subsequent generation as bosses in their own right as building authority is not about inheriting a title, it is about earning trust through actions and results.
“I look into data to make decisions, and also through networking I learn a lot about why other business people succeeded or failed. So I think I need to be confident, and when my staff realise I’m different, and what I say makes sense and they try it and it works, then it also builds their confidence in me,” Tan said.
Three questions with Melody Tan, second-generation owner of Yum Cha Restaurant Group
Q: Was there a pivotal moment in your career or personal life that changed your approach to leadership?
When I joined the family business, I came in with the mindset of a second-generation leader – full of ideas, eager to introduce changes and convinced that innovation was the way to take the business forward. What surprised me was that my father’s first lesson was not about business strategy. It was about people.
He reminded me that in F&B, we are not just serving food. We are creating experiences. The way we treat our employees determines how they treat our guests; the relationships we build with our suppliers shape the quality of what we serve; and the culture within the organisation ultimately becomes what customers feel when they walk through our doors.
He believed that skills can be taught, but values and attitude come from within. For him, respect, humility and responsibility were not just personal principles – they were the foundation of a sustainable business.
Naturally, we have had differences over the years. I wanted to move faster and introduce changes more quickly, while he had spent decades building the foundations of the company and understood the importance of preserving what made it special.
Through those differences, I learnt that leadership is not about replacing what came before. It is about understanding the legacy you inherit, having the courage to evolve it, and ensuring that the values behind the business remain strong as it moves forward.
Today, I think less about growth for growth’s sake and more about the kind of organisation we want to build – one that continues to create value for our guests, our employees and the communities around us.
Q: What is one piece of “unconventional wisdom” you swear by, but which most business schools would tell you is wrong?
I believe that saying no is sometimes the most important business decision you can make. In F&B, there is often pressure to expand – whether through opening more outlets, launching new concepts or pursuing opportunities to grow the brand’s footprint.
But I have learnt that not every opportunity brings you closer to where you want to go.
An expansion opportunity may look attractive commercially, but if it does not align with your values, operational strengths or the identity of your brand, it can distract you from what you do best and dilute what made the business successful in the first place.
Meaningful businesses are not built overnight. I believe growth has different seasons. There are moments to expand, but there are also moments to strengthen your foundation.
The leaders who build businesses that last are not always those who move the fastest – they are those who know where they are going and have the discipline to stay true to their direction.
Q: When you feel burnout creeping in, what is your non-business related “panic button” activity or routine that reliably resets your focus?
When I need to reset, I like to take a walk by the sea at East Coast Park. There is something about being outdoors, away from the constant noise of meetings, decisions and daily responsibilities, that helps me regain perspective.
Running a business often means being in problem-solving mode all the time. Sometimes, the best ideas come not when you are trying to solve a problem, but when you give yourself the space to step away from it.
My family is also my greatest grounding force. Spending time with my children has a way of putting everything into perspective. They do not care about business targets, board meetings or deadlines – they simply want my attention and presence.
Being with them reminds me that while building a business is important, it is equally important to be present for the people we are building it all for.
