Keeping the nightlife lights on at ABV Riverside
Singapore
ALTHOUGH hobbled by restrictions meant to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus, most industries have largely been able to adapt, turning to online platforms and tools to keep some revenue flowing in.
Companies in the nightlife industry have not been able to do so, and many have shuttered during the past year.
Determined not to give up just yet, pub owner Yvonne Yeo closed four of her five pubs last year and took a leap of faith to set up a food delivery firm, OTD, in May 2020 as a way to pay her bills and the rental for her remaining pub.
"When your original source of income is down, human instinct is to look for another one," said Ms Yeo.
"My decision was to shut four of my outlets and maintain one. It's my very first outlet, so it's more about the sentimental value. To me, you just have to survive and get earnings from another industry to sustain it."
She chose not to follow the lead of some larger nightlife businesses that pivoted to food and beverage (F&B) services, as she felt it would be difficult and impractical to do so.
Her reasons included the fact that most nightlife outlets do not have a proper kitchen and are not equipped to handle large-scale food preparation.
In addition, the finger food usually served in nightlife establishments would stand no chance against offerings from restaurants.
She was also reluctant to give up entirely on the nightlife industry, which she has been in for nearly a decade, as she loves the vibrancy, relaxation and human interactions it offers her both as a business owner and a patron.
"You make a lot of friends, and when people come over to relax, they chit-chat with you and I widen my knowledge. Everyone from all walks of life, blue collar to high fliers - you learn things from them and share experiences. This is something I appreciate," she said.
Still, the shift to logistics was a scary one for Ms Yeo, as she was completely new to the industry and relied heavily on friends with logistics businesses for advice and contacts.
"I went in like a blank piece of paper. I had to learn where to get the drivers, how to punch the jobs out, how to set your pricing, how to charge customers and pay the adhoc drivers to maintain market rates and still survive on the margin," she said.
Other practical challenges included understanding how to manage drivers, who might be choosy about the jobs they accepted even though at the end of the day, OTD needed to fulfil all the jobs from each client.
Fortunately, she has gotten the hang of the business over the past year and secured a few steady clients.
OTD is now generating enough income to pay off the rental for her Boat Quay pub, which her landlord agreed to reduce for the months that it remains closed.
She has acquired a snack counter licence for the business, now called ABV Riverside, and she hopes to reopen it as a bistro soon, when the current restrictions on F&B establishments are loosened.
Ultimately, Ms Yeo believes the nightlife industry will come back to life in time, and she looks forward to reopening her bar alongside fellow nightlife operators that return to the industry after this crisis.
One change she expects when that happens is for more pubs to be revamped as bistros, with an equal focus on food and drinks.
From her experience, the younger generation is showing interest in such concepts that offer a good variety of food and drink for a night out in one place.
"When the time is right and Covid-19 goes away, I believe the way nightlife is going to return will be even more interesting," she added.
"By then, the operators will have taken in other forms of experiences, outside their trade. In the night trade, people are very creative. They can come up with a new idea that's not in the market."
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