How I started a grocery chain with $8 million in annual revenue

Gek Teng Pang founded Surrey Hills Grocer in 2021.

Pang Yuding’s success was hard-won.

The 35-year-old serial entrepreneur weathered five failed business attempts before finally coming to fruition building a multi-million dollar grocery chain in Singapore.

Today, she is the proud Founder and CEO of surry hills grocery storean Australian-style grocery store and cafe brand with five branches in Singapore.

Her company did about $8 million in sales last year, according to an unaudited company statement shared by CNBC Make It.

Growing up in Singapore, Pang never thought he would become an entrepreneur.

I think most people are pretty surprised at what my life is like now. I have always been the forgotten child in the crowd.

Peng Yuding

Founder and CEO of Surry Hills Grocers

Her mother, a housewife, and her father, an engineer, encouraged her to pursue the traditional path to success: go to college and find a stable job.

That’s what she did—and she wasn’t happy about it.

“I didn’t really understand the whole concept of education, so I basically went to school to meet the needs of society and that’s it,” Pang told CNBC Make It.

“My attitude about school was – this is what I need to do, so I’m going to get it done. This is what my parents want me to do.”

quit banking job

In 2008, Pang moved to Australia and attended university there.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in management and marketing from Newcastle University, she found work as a banker, but she was unsatisfied.

“I knew this was not a job I could keep until retirement,” Pang said. “I have this thing in me, and if I don’t believe in that thing, then it’s going to be hard (for me) to accomplish this task.”

Eventually, she started randomly brainstorming ideas with friends to start a business, and by 2015, Pang decided to quit her job as a banker and start a business.

Travel the world of entrepreneurship

Between quitting her job and starting Surrey Hills Grocer, Pang started five different businesses.

The first was a travel agency where she hosted running tours. Next is a real estate rental business, a watch business called Daybook Watches, a physical grain bowl business called Surch, and a home deli delivery business.

Unfortunately, none of these business ventures were successful.

Gek Teng Pang inside her cereal bowl business, Surch.

When Pang moved back to Singapore in 2021, she had just AU$362 (US$235) to her name.

“Honestly, I never thought I would be in business again because of everything else that was going on… and I think my parents were trying to tell me to be more realistic about my life and to be more normal.”

million dollar idea

For Pang, the sixth time is the charm. Although she was tired of trying to make her business work for years, she didn’t give up.

One day in 2021, she was driving and reminiscing about her time in the Surry Hills, Australia. From there, she started thinking about bringing the Australian grocery store cafe concept to Singapore.

To be honest, no one really supports it. I never proved myself worthy of the opportunity, you know, so I definitely don’t blame them.

Peng Yuding

Founder and CEO of Surry Hills Grocers

That same year, family friend Alvin Lau decided to invest S$400,000 (US$293,800) in her business. Today he is a founding shareholder of Surrey Hills Grocer.

“He always told me that if I said the moon was yellow, he would believe the moon was yellow… That trust was a blind trust, so I really appreciated everything he did for me,” Pang said.

Pang opened its first grocery store at Surrey Hills Grocer in December 2021 and eventually opened four more locations.

She told CNBC that she is expected to earn more than US$8 million (S$11 million) in 2023, with average monthly sales this year of S$1.4 million, according to unaudited statements seen by CNBC.

Pang said that as of April, she was still producing her own line of pet products called “Furry Hills.” Additionally, she is working on developing a new Japanese ramen restaurant, Spanish restaurant and Taiwanese shabu-shabu restaurant, all set to open in the third quarter of this year.

biggest lesson

For Peng, starting his own business wasn’t easy.

“Sometimes I’m poorer than if I were working for someone else,” she said.

However, she said the achievement of starting her own business and providing employment for others cannot be replicated elsewhere.

Here are 3 important lessons she learned along the way:

Be prepared for things that are within your control. For things you cannot control: have faith.
Don’t let the fear of failure define you, instead let it inspire you.
Listen to your gut and take action when you see an opportunity.

When asked what sets her apart from other people who dream of starting a business, Pang said: “I just took a chance that no one else had done.”

She shared a story that inspired her. There are two birds perched on the branches. Someone asked, “What if I fall?” Another person responded, “But what if you don’t?”

“This story created my entire entrepreneurial journey,” she said. “I may not be the smartest, or I may not even have the money — (but) because I’m willing to do it, I find ways and means to make it happen.”