 Welcome to Adventures in Small Business, a collaborative effort by the U.S. Small Business Administration Hawaii District Office, the Hawaii Small Business Development Center, the Mink Center for Business and Leadership, and the Veterans Business Outreach Center of the Pacific to showcase the stories of local entrepreneurs and small businesses in Hawaii. I'm Colleen McLooney from the Patsy T. Mink Center for Business and Leadership, and today we have Adrienne Tam from Bowtown Visiting. Morning. Hello. Hi. Thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for having me. So, can you tell us a little bit about Bowtown? Well, Bowtown started about maybe three years ago. Mm-hmm. It was actually a concept that I was doing, but my son is the one that was pushing me to do it. I was actually working at a job, which I was at seven years. Mm-hmm. And I guess I felt kind of like, oh, what is next? What is next? What adventure next? Right. So, you know, we tried this out and then never looked back three years later and I'm here. Oh, excellent. Yeah. It's always a huge endeavor to start your own business. Yeah. Was that something that you've been thinking, but had been thinking about prior? Yeah, because my grandma is also one of our matriarchs and she started a bunch of businesses back in Hong Kong, giving a shoe sell. Mm-hmm. So, I was like, oh, why not? If it's in the family, right? Right. If it's in the family, try something. Right. And has your family always been in food? Food and shoes. Oh, food and shoes. Yeah. Oh, amazing. Yeah. Amazing. But those were different times. They were very difficult now. Right. Right. Yeah. Oh, okay. And so, your son was your motivation factor to get your business started? Yeah, pretty much he was the one that got me, you know, kick-started me and I'd be like, oh, why don't you try something, you know? Uh-huh. So. Is that because he liked it so much or he thought other people would like what you were making? Yeah, because before I went out and ventured out, I was also running a bar and I had that in my bar. Mm-hmm. And he was like, oh, why don't you just try to see what happened? And then these pop-ups started coming out. Mm-hmm. And then my son was like, oh, why don't you just try to see what happened? So I was like, all right. Oh, excellent. I'll just try to see what happened. So tell us a little bit about what you make at Bowtown. So what it is is it's a Chinese steamed bun that's basically what it is. Like if you had the duck in before from the Chinese restaurant. Same concept, but I do different. Like I do savory or I do sweet. But I put all kind of all kind of ingredients inside, not just your normal, that you see a Chinese, you know, restaurant, the duck skin and everything like that. Oh, okay. So, yeah. In my yelp, there's a bunch of other pictures. Oh, okay. You can see if you scroll down that I did a bunch with a quail egg. Oh. Yeah. With beef tongue, soft shell crab. Oh, very diverse. Yeah, just because, you know, the bun is just like a bun. If you were to cook it instead of steam it or bake it, it's just like a burger bun. Oh, okay. It's just a different texture, different taste. Right. And light. Correct, yeah. Right. Oh, that's fantastic. We're going to see some pictures in a little bit of some of the food that you offer. Oh, that's terrific. You've been doing it for three years. Correct. And let's see, so was it difficult for you to get started as an entrepreneur? You know, once I started to get like, get the ball rolling, it was kind of easy after that. You know, but for me, sometimes I'm all over the place, so I needed to really buckle down and get organized. So I had to keep things in folders, write it down, et cetera, et cetera. Right. So I just had to keep like a log. Oh, okay. Yeah. And the more entrepreneurs that I meet, the more I see how creative they are. Yeah. And how almost every entrepreneur that I've met has multiple ideas. Yes. And so it's really difficult to get them to focus on one idea. I think that's, yeah. Was that your challenge? Yeah, just staying focused and making sure I just knocked on one barrier at the other instead of just jumping and jumping. Sometimes I do carry on too many things. Right. That's like a distraction, you know. Ah, okay. Yeah. Okay. And so what are some of the challenges that you face then in opening your business? So the number one challenge I face is employee staffing. Correct. So a lot of times, well, I had two issues. Oh, okay. One time, you know, I asked somebody to work and they agreed to work. See, my motto is if you don't want to work or you have other things or you decide to change your mind, just let me know ahead of time. I can always try to find somebody or I get my mind ready that I'm not going to have this extra person and I got to do more, you know. You have to do more work. Yeah. So get myself ready for that. So it was kind of funny, you know, I mean, I had a story. One guy called me saying that he broke his arm and he was in the hospital. So I don't know if I should say my story or back to that with that. Oh yeah. Okay. So what happened was when he told me that I was like, oh, and you stayed in the hospital the whole day, the whole night. And I was like, you know, I got bit in the face by a dog and they just stitched me up, stitched my nose up. And after three hours, I was out of there. When he told me he broke his arm and he was, you know, in the hospital the whole night, I was just like, oh, come on. You could at least just say you change your mind or come up with a better story. But so I think number one for me is finding the right employees for what I do. Because I guess what I do set up wise is it's not traditional where you can just get in there and then you just, you know, you have to set up. You've got to open a tent, you know, sit your area. But when you do set it up, it's like a kitchen. It's like, because I've been working in a hotel industry for a long time as well. So I mirror certain things that I've learned, you know? Right. Like even with the ticketing, it's just like if you are looking at a, like if you're in a restaurant, it's right ahead of you and you have your dish out, everything is the same. Oh, okay. Yeah. But just, I think the tough part for some people is just their setting up. Oh, okay. And so you've learned, so your history and experiences in hotel food industry. Food industry. Yeah. So about 20 years so far now. So I've learned from all sorts of people, you know, all sorts of mom and pop stuff, too. Right. There's a lot of trick and the trades. You learn a bunch of stuff, you know? Mm-hmm. It's good. You know, I've never, I was never, I guess you call it a school. I didn't go to school for it. I just learned on the job. Fantastic. Yeah. That's great. And so other than staffing, are there, what are any other challenges for you as an entrepreneur? I would say, I guess when you work with family too, everybody has an input, yeah? Yes. But it's hard because it's like, it's your baby. Yes. It's hard to run your baby. Ah. Okay. So family. Yeah. You get family to help you then. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, I don't know where I'd be without my family helping me. Oh, yeah. I'm always appreciative, yeah? Definitely. Yeah. It's just hard to hear some things sometimes. Right. But that goes with the territory, you know? Right. Right. A lot of love, yeah? Yeah. And so how many do you, how many people do you usually staff at an event? Um, so I have about five total. Mm-hmm. One to just do the buns, steam the buns, because the buns just constantly need to be replenished, steamed again, replenished, because it's just the volume that we do. Right. And then two guys on the line and then me cooking. Mm-hmm. So I can control everything while I'm cooking, and then I can hop over and help the guy on the line. So that's the formula I figured out so far. Oh, excellent. With trial and error and everything like that. Right. Even when I first started, we had about 10 menu items. And that was just killing everybody. Yeah. But for me, I was just always like, man, I want to do the same thing, every event, same thing. So I had to learn to kind of just do couple items well, very well. Mm-hmm. That were sellers. And then just, you know, just modify as I go and just add. Ah. Yeah. So we do three items. But right now it's the tam-tam, which is pork belly. Mm-hmm. And then the other one is chicken and KFC. And I do this lobster tart with mac and cheese. Oh. Yeah. So, you know, those are the three items that I do consistently because also because of the load and the handling of some people can't do too much. Right. So I just got to do what I can with the staffing I have. And I noticed those three items are enough. Ah. And it's still good enough to, you know, for us to have a good night. Yeah. So I did three wonderful items. Yeah. You must see repeat customers then. Yeah. Since you're not available every day at a brick and mortar or at a specific location and people are following you. So my dad, he would laugh because he was like, yeah, he would tell me that, oh, this person came back again and again. Oh, great. So sometimes you have repeat customers that same night. Mm-hmm. You know, and then they really like it. They enjoy it. Right. You know. And then some people, they don't know what it is and they're hesitant. They're like, wow. Gotta go back for more of that. Yeah. And then you come back. So, you know, I feel really, you know, like happy in a way that, you know, it's actually doing well, you know. Oh, definitely. Yeah. Oh, that's a huge success when you get someone coming back. It's a good feeling, you know, when you're doing something and it's actually working, you know. Yes. Yeah. And they're willing to stand in line again. Yeah. The lines are crazy sometimes. They can be. Yeah. So I went on my Facebook page. Mm-hmm. You see, when we did the south building, maybe I think that was like a year and a half ago, the line went all the way out towards the corridor. Oh. So my dad was just laughing when he took the pictures. He went on the top. So it made him giggle, made him happy, yeah. Oh, that's fantastic. Yeah. And so, what about competition for you? Who do you see as your competitor? Right now, I'm the only one doing it. Mm-hmm. Before there was somebody and I didn't mind. Yeah. I like competition. You know, it gives variety, yeah? Yes. You know, and it gives you that you want to like see what they're doing compared to what you're doing, how successful it is. Well, you know, what are they doing better than you, you know, how can you improve? So it's always good. Competition to me is good. It's not something I'm afraid of or shy away from. And so, what about your business makes you unique then? I guess right now, I would say I've taken that bow, the traditional style Chinese bow and incorporate fusion, anything Asian, Chinese, Italian. So sometimes before, eat the streets used to do, oh, I used to do eat the streets. So they would do themes. Oh, okay. Like if a Mexican night or whatever country and you have to do like, you know, like they did a German one, you know, when they had the German. Like Oktoberfest or something. Correct. When they had it at Bishop Museum. So I did what I did. I did like, I can snitch. Oh. But in a bow. And then I also did like, I did the sausage. Oh, right? Yeah. I did that one too. So there's a lot of pictures up on the internet. You can see it on my Yelp or you can see it on my Facebook or my, Instagram. Instagram, correct. Oh, okay. So it's very, it's unique in that you can tailor it. Yeah, you can. A lot of many different types. I mean, basically it's, like I said, it's pretty much like a bun. And you just got to think like you can add anything into it, you know. And then most of the time it comes out. Right. I mean, try an arrow, but most of the time it comes out. Right. Yeah. Do you offer any vegetarian or vegan type options? Well, I did one, one time, two times actually. I did one for Eat The Streets and I did one for a wedding event. They wanted some kind of vegan. So I did like a fried tofu. Yeah. With like an Asian slaw with a sweet and sour kind of sauce. Yeah. Oh, fantastic. Sweet chili sauce. Yeah. It was pretty cool. That's what I was going to ask you next if you do only your pop up or if you are available for catering. Yeah, I'm available for catering. Even tomorrow I have one. Oh, okay. Yeah. It's a drop off though. Right. Right. So because of all the experience I had, I don't only do just bao. So even the catering menu, you would see a lot of like Pacific Rim food or. Oh, okay. Yeah. It just, you know, the range is pretty good. My range is pretty good. So it's just not just, oh, I just want to eat bao, you know, I can make. Right. Whatever you put in the bao, you can also serve as food or something else. Yeah. Exactly. Just, I can do a bunch of stuff. It's pretty cool how I learned and received it. Oh, that's fantastic with all your training there. Yeah. It's fun. You know, 20 years later. Yeah. I know. Well, you've put a lot of time and effort into it. Yeah. Definitely. Definitely. Okay. Well, we're going to take a break now and we will be back with some pictures to show you what you can find at Bowtown. Hi, I'm Rusty Komori, host of Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. My show is based on my book, also titled Beyond the Lines, and it's about creating a superior culture of excellence, leadership, and finding greatness. I interview guests who are successful in business, sports, and life, which is sure to inspire you in finding your greatness. Join me every Monday as we go Beyond the Lines at 11 a.m. Aloha. Aloha. My name is Mark Shklav. I am the host of Think Tech Hawaii's Law Across the Sea. Law Across the Sea is on Think Tech Hawaii every other Monday at 11 a.m. Please join me where my guests talk about law topics and ideas and music and Hawaii Ana all across the sea from Hawaii and back again. Aloha. Welcome back to Think Tech and Adventures in Small Business. Today I have Adrienne Tam from Bowtown, and we're going to actually see some pictures from Bowtown. Okay, so Adrienne, tell us what this is. This is our version of a Korean-style fried chicken. Ooh. So what I did, I marinated prior to chicken and ginger, soy sauce, sugar, and garlic. That sounds great. How long do you marinate it? Good day or two, depending. Fantastic. So that's also the Korean-style fried chicken, but I added more stuff. It's updated now. So what you see there is also mint. It's a cabbage slaw as well, and there's also basil in there on top of that chicken. And then there's also a Korean-style sauce I use. Oh, is it spicy? Yeah, it's actually tangy, sweet and tangy. A little kick, but not too much because, you know, I don't want... Not everybody likes spicy. Yeah, correct. But it's really sweet. Once you eat it with everything, you can't even tell the kick is there. Oh, okay. Yeah. And do you offer spicy things on the side or any condiments on the side? So what I've also learned is sometimes people like to put sriracha. So I'll put a little sriracha out for them to do themselves. Oh, okay. Yeah. And then some people like more mayonnaise. But mayonnaise we take care of, but the sriracha, whatever other stuff, we leave out there for them to do themselves. Oh, all right. Yeah. Spicy, spicy. Yeah. But then there's something like, oh, can I get more sauce? I was like, well, the sauce is the same. Right. It's not going to kick it up if you put the sauce in. Yeah. So certain things, you know, you adapt and you learn, like, what the customer's like. Mm-hmm. So a good thing about also, I use square besides just cash. Right. So it keeps track of everything and what's sold, what's most sold that day. Mm-hmm. Also if there's any sort of complaints or, like, you know, they would say some kind of comment. Right. You know your customers to fix it, you know. Oh, for sure. Yeah. So talking about a square and it'll follow what your best sellers are. So which one is your best seller? The chicken. Mm-hmm. That's the funniest. That was actually the second because before I thought it was the tam-tam. Oh, okay. Yeah, so. And then when you went back in love. Now, everybody's like, oh, I want that chicken and everyone gets it. So I think it's because I tweaked it maybe three times and I finally perfected, like, what everything goes with it. Yeah, so it's kind of like everybody enjoys down and more. Oh, excellent. Yeah. Oh, great. Yeah. Okay, let's see one, another picture we have here. Oh, cute. So is this your family? Yeah, it's my son and my dad. Oh, and they help, did they help at every event? Well, my son is in the mainland now. Mm-hmm. But my dad is here, so he helps out a lot. Oh, fantastic. The background you see there, I think that is the, the fisherman's wharf. Oh, right. Yeah. Right. Across from near Ward. Yeah. Oh, okay. But they don't have any events. Okay, and then this one is at a, is actually at an old folks home. Oh, okay. In the parking lot. I think it's all in Hawaii Kai. Oh, right. But a lady that my sister, my sister's classmate was the one doing, you know, those little small craft fairs and stuff like that. Right. So yeah, we did that and then this gentleman had a pit bull and you can see it says Memphis the Pit. Oh, yes. Yeah. So he had a pit bull walking around and then he has to take pictures. Oh, cute. So this is how our setup for outside is when we do one tent. Oh, all right. So you have to condense everything into one. But I learned that even though it might take more work for two tents, it's easier to separate everything. Oh, okay. It makes it run just like a kitchen. You have your ordering station and then you have your plate up. Right. Right. Oh, fantastic. Yeah. And so tell me a little bit about any kind of assistance you received maybe in starting your business or if you worked with did you get any kind of funding or... So there was no funding, no assistance. Everything I just learned on the whim through trial and error as well. Right. I think one of the... not hardest, but there was an obstacle when I actually went to apply for my business name. You know, when you first walk in there, you know, I guess, you know... When you were registering your business? So I kind of had to like ask them if you can help me, you know. Right. Right. Normally they don't... I don't know. It can be challenging sometimes. Yeah. I mean, if you catch them on the... I guess the wrong time in the day. Right. Right. But, you know, they were nice enough after I explained myself and they helped me out. Once they hear what you're doing and direct you. I think that's the hardest. That's the most... as in like a pick up. Just getting it started. But then once I got it started and then I learned everything else, just kind of just research. Oh, great. Or trial and error again, you know. Sure. Yeah. The true entrepreneurial way. Yeah, I wish it was that. Yeah, I know it is. Too kind. It definitely is. Okay, so we like to call that bootstrapping. Yeah, bootstrapping. So you did that all yourself. You funded yourself too? Funded myself too. Oh, fantastic. Yeah. So when I first started, I was spending a lot of money. Of course. Because I have a red tent, as you could see in the picture before. And it has my logo on it. Oh, okay. Yeah. So it goes all around. It has my handles for my Facebook and my Twitter and my Instagram. Right. So it's surrounded. I made it red and black and white because I just like those colors. Sure. Yeah. Sure. And then... So I spent a good money on that. Yes. And my folks are like, oh, you shouldn't be spending money like that. But I was like, when you first started, you got to push the money out. You get it back later, you know. Right. So I think within maybe seven or eight months, we got all the money that I spent. Mm-hmm. We made it back. We got it all back, yeah. Oh, congratulations. Yeah. So it was a... It was scary at some time when you're like, oh man, we're not busy, but then for some reason we'll get super busy. Well, you must have a good product. Yeah. Yes, for sure. And so, what kind of insights do you have for somebody who's wanting to start their own business in maybe some tips for making them? I think the first step is really figuring out your concept. Mm-hmm. And then if someone else is already doing it, figuring out how to do it better than they're doing it, because if you're going to do something similar or something the same, you got to figure out how to do it better. Because then, you know, if they already have it out, so they're already first. Right. But I would say just do it. Don't think about it too much. Just do it. And then everything will fall into play. Right. You know. How to differentiate yourself, though, from the competition. Yeah. And it's good, you know, it's good to learn, because before I didn't know how to keep track of where my money was going, how it was spent, if I was in the negative after, you know. Right. So it was good, you know. I'm not an accountant, but I learned how to be accounting for my, you know, my business, you know. Right. And so did you do, like, an online class, or how did you? No, an online class, just, so whatever I buy, I look at the receipts and I write down what it is, write down where I got it from. And then for that gig, I would put down, label it, and then at the end, I'll put profit and loss. How much money I made, how much I spent, and go from there. You're creating your own infrastructure. Yeah, so the only thing that was hard was when I first started, I only did one gig a month. Right. So obviously you're always going to be in the loss because you're doing one gig a month. And sometimes you have leftover, you don't sell. So what I notice is if you do it every week, week to week, you actually, whatever you might not make, on the next event, you make. So it's like, you know, you constantly, if you're doing it every week, you're making money. Okay. That's what I noticed. So consistency and being able to provide your product. Correct, yeah. Okay. And then were there any specific surprises that you had and that come to mind in the last three years as you started your business? That I'm still in business. You know. Yeah. So the next step for me is either brick and mortar or food truck. So what I found hard with a food truck, I did buy one. Oh. It was a gigantic one. Oh my gosh. I had it for about five months. I was working on it, working on it. And then I just came to realize like, wow, like, it's a lot of money. I'm pumping into it because it was so big too. And I mean, I bought a cheese and then I bought a big too. And I mean, I bought it cheap, but it was backdated. Oh. So that's, you know, it was backdated a while and whoever had it before didn't take care of it. So I had to fix a lot of stuff. But good thing is I sold it to a guy in Maui. You can see the truck in Maui. Oh, great. Yeah. So he did his own thing to it. I got rid of it and I'm going to go for something smaller instead of, because it was huge. Right. But the good thing is my house where I can park it, took the whole thing in without blocking the road, nothing. Oh, that was convenient. The parking, just parked it at the house. Oh, good for you. Good for you. It was good shade for the other car. So we're talking about food trucks. So where do you see yourself maybe in the next five years then, or your business in the next five years? I see myself, I guess, in the food truck for now. Like I said, I was looking at a brick and mortar. I haven't found one yet. Right. Looking for something affordable. Yeah. And something where, wherever it's in town or wherever it's in the place where I want to be, it's just not feasible at the moment. Right. So I'm just saving money as I go and see how I can do it. So, funding would be good. Mm-hmm. But I just figure I'd do it on my own. Yeah. Be more rewarding. Right. So we might see you in a food truck then next. Yeah, for sure. Okay, terrific. And then, let's see, why don't you tell us where we can find you, where we can find Bowtown? So I have two events coming up. I have one event this Saturday. Mm-hmm. Which is the salt building. Okay. I mean, you can't miss it. Right. Cock-a-co? Yeah, cock-a-co. They're going to take up the whole block, like an L-shape. Right. So you're going to see maybe 40 other vendors. Mm-hmm. And they also have not food vendors. They have retail vendors as well. Oh, okay. So it's like a giant thing they do. Right. Is that a night market or a street grind? Yeah, it's Honolulu Night Market. Oh, Honolulu Night Market. Yeah. I have an event at the Capilina Homes. Oh. I think it's the old Iroquois. Okay. I have a beach that's going to be held by Eater Street. Oh, all righty. So I'll be doing it on that side. Fantastic. So two weekends in a row. Yeah. And then this Friday I have a regular... but next time when I have a beach one, I also have a wedding gig to go to. So I'm trying to find people to spit off. Oh, okay. Two in one day. Yeah. I think it's cool too because they wanted... even though it was a wedding, they wanted street type of food, street food. Right. Just nothing... just casual. So it was cool. There's maybe three more other guys that I know. So it'll be fun to do events again. Oh, neat. Yeah. Oh, that's exciting. Yeah. That's great. And I want to thank Adrian for signing up for Shop Small Hawaii today. Thank you. Just remind everybody for all of our small businesses out there to sign up for Shop Small Hawaii. It's a campaign to help support small businesses year-round. And it's also to help promote small businesses via our Instagram and Facebook. And so you just go to Shop Small Hawaii. You register. Super easy to do. And then also starting in August... August or September, I believe it is, the American Express site will start opening for Small Business Saturday recognition, which is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Nice. And companies or small businesses can go on and choose to be a neighborhood champion, which is having one business sign up, 10 other businesses around them to support an event for Small Business Saturday. Nice. So that's an exciting thing. And we are also doing a contest, an online contest that we'll talk more about at another time. Nice. Definitely. Thank Adrian for being here today and talking about Bowtown. Yeah. Thank you for having me. Oh, sure. Thank you so much. And get your free stickers. Yes. Yeah. Well, that was one last thing I wanted to ask you real quick. So do you run your own social media then too? Yeah. I run everything myself. Fantastic. Not a ghost. Yeah. Yeah. That takes a lot of time. Yeah. A lot of time and effort to stay on top of that. So good work. Yeah, I try. Definitely. And we will see you another partner. We'll see you next week on Adventures in Small Business.