Married for more than 10 years, Pak Abu and Erma from Shah Alam sell nasi lemak from their trademark yellow truck in SS6 Kelana Jaya, right outside of KFC. Their nasi lemak is so popular that they operate every day as early as 6 am, and will be done by 10:30 am!
But here’s their humbling backgrounds before starting the business:
“Before all this, I was just a simple lorry driver in Bandar Sri Damansara, and my wife was a cook in a Malay restaurant. I made about RM900 a month, or if I was lucky, an extra RM100-200 for overtime. It was a totally different life.”
“My wife and I always wanted to run our own business, even before we got married we always talked about one day being able to be our own bosses. Especially with our kids coming at the time, it only made financial sense that we tried to dig ourselves out of this hole, we couldn’t have kept going on that way.”
“So we worked for a few years saving up, then had a thorough discussion with my wife and in-laws, and eventually decided to start selling nasi lemak out of our car!”
“And that was it, I handed in my one-month notice, and we ventured out.”
The couple started work at 3am every day and would make only RM70 max
“Of course, we didn’t start out amazing, no one really does actually. It was a challenge at the beginning, having to adjust to going to bed around 7-8 pm and waking up at 3 am to prepare the bungkus-bungkus nasi lemak. Drive all the way to Kelana Jaya in our tiny Proton Saga with toll and petrol expenses, only to make about RM70 on a good day.”
Pak Abu shares that there were also days where it got worse when the authorities would intervene on their business operation.
“We’ve tried applying for a vendor license many many times, but we were always rejected. Mainly because we were selling out of the trunk of our car.”
“So whenever the authorities swung by to screen the legitimacy of our business, there was always trouble. They would show up, inspect our business, and when we couldn’t present our license, they would confiscate one of our equipment, like a stove, or a table.”
“This happened regularly back then. And because the impound fee usually cost more than buying a new lost item, we had to buy new things whenever they got confiscated. It was a difficult time to say the least.”
This went on for about 4 years. However, they had no choice but to endure it.
This cycle kept repeating for Pak Abu and Erna, getting impounded and saman every month. The couple upgraded to a van after 4 years, and then to a “pasar malam lorry”. Despite that, they were still unable to acquire a license for vending.
“But even though we kept getting kacau, we would still operate the next day macam biasa. We had to lah, no choice.”
Eventually, Pak Abu and Erna managed to upgrade to a food truck
“So after about 8 years, we were able to afford a food truck, this yellow one where we all know today.”
“And because we were now selling from a food truck and no longer out of our car, we were finally able to acquire a license! And once we did, there were no more troubles with the authorities, which contributed to a significant cut in cost.”
“Things have been smooth sailing since.”
Unfortunately, MCO hit and had to close for 2 whole months.
“When we finally reopened, we were fortunate enough to have picked up where we left off. Covid took a lot of things away, but not the love of nasi lemak!”
“If I’m being honest, business was probably better for us during Covid than it was before. That’s because everyone spends more time at home now, hence more of tapau culture.
“Business got better due to the kindness of our customers”
“What we’ve noticed was that before the MCO, customers would usually buy their nasi lemak in small quantities, maybe one or two packets. But since Covid, we’ve had customers buy many packets of nasi lemak and give them to their friends and family. It was no longer for me, myself, and I. That helped business a lot.”
“In spite of the pandemic affecting the world, I also think that it has allowed people to be more thoughtful towards their loved ones, which leads to more thoughtful and affectionate gestures, even if it’s something as simple as buying them nasi lemak.”
“That to me feels very wholesome and is one of the many joys of this business.”
“At the end of the day, you can’t expect to thrive in your business without a few bumps in the road”
I sat there with Pak Abu and Erna, almost as if I was getting a lecture on life from my grandparents, as they made it very clear to me that if they had just given up when they had run into the problems they did starting out, there wouldn’t have been the yellow truck today.
“Right now, what we see this yellow truck means to everyone in the neighbourhood, is more than just a place to get breakfasts.”
“The same faces show up and queue at 7/8am every morning, it has almost become like our very own community here, where strangers years ago now know about each other and their families.”
“That has been our goal from the very beginning, to have the common love of nasi lemak amongst Malaysians bring more meaning than just food.”
For more stories like this, read: How This Pilot, Fashion Designer, And Engineer Started An Online Business and Why Two Students Quit Uni to Start A Business for Secondhand Clothes
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