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https://cityofgood.sg/articles/it-s...of-ya-kun-talks-about-being-a-purposeful-sme/
Hear the name “Ya Kun” and you’re most likely to think of the heritage brand’s kaya toasts and kopi.
But doing good is also a huge part of its DNA, according to Jesher Loi, who represents the third generation of the family business.
“I used to hear stories of how my grandfather [Ya Kun founder, Loi Ah Koon] would give free meals to customers who had no money,” he recounts. “That spirit of helping one another was prevalent and strong back then.”
That spirit has passed down the generations to his parents, whom Jesher describes as “very generous”. While in junior college, Jesher recalls how his father pledged a day’s takings from Ya Kun’s flagship outlet to the National Kidney Foundation. “I have pictures of myself in my school uniform at NKF, dropping in money to kickstart the campaign. That was my first encounter of how to use the business to do good.”
An alumnus of the Company of Good Fellowship, Jesher is finding new ways for Ya Kun to be a purposeful business. These include utilising its outlets as collection points for donations-in-kind, and turning the Ya Kun app into a platform for good. Customers can ‘donate’ their loyalty points to World Vision International, or use it to treat others – including frontline workers, during the height of Covid-19 – to a cup of coffee.
The app allows users to send people gift vouchers in micro denominations of $1.80 because Jesher believes that smaller-value gifts decentralise giving into the hands of many. “That’s exciting to me because we are moving society in a different direction and changing culture.”
In our chat, the director of branding & market development repeatedly debunks the myth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) being able to do less than bigger firms.
“SMEs understand the need for community and the concept of mutual assistance – I need you, you need me. It is counterproductive for them to be stingy,” he muses.
How do you understand giving?
I believe giving is a mindset or a culture. If we understand it this way, we don’t have to wait till December to give. In Ya Kun, we don’t often use the word ‘give’ but we may say we ‘support’ a colleague in need. So the means of giving, our view of giving, is infused into our everyday work environment. It is not a single event.
What issues do you face when driving Ya Kun’s do-good efforts?
Everybody is super stretched. When I attended the Company of Good Fellowship, I heard how the bigger companies could spend a day cleaning beaches. I can’t do that because I’d have to close the stores, someone has to cover shifts, or today’s work will be pushed to tomorrow. This is the struggle of SMEs, how to give people the space [to do good] because the work never stops. Another challenge is, due to limited resources, choosing who we work with is very important.
How do you get around these challenges?
Know your strengths and weave giving into your day job. So for Ya Kun, our strength is in the number of outlets we have. For ‘The Shoebox Project’ initiative two years ago, we invited people to drop off Christmas presents at our outlets and delivered them to children in need. By using our strengths – our locations, our brand, our network – giving can become an extension of our work. Our employees don’t have to drop whatever they are doing to accomplish it.
Hear the name “Ya Kun” and you’re most likely to think of the heritage brand’s kaya toasts and kopi.
But doing good is also a huge part of its DNA, according to Jesher Loi, who represents the third generation of the family business.
“I used to hear stories of how my grandfather [Ya Kun founder, Loi Ah Koon] would give free meals to customers who had no money,” he recounts. “That spirit of helping one another was prevalent and strong back then.”
That spirit has passed down the generations to his parents, whom Jesher describes as “very generous”. While in junior college, Jesher recalls how his father pledged a day’s takings from Ya Kun’s flagship outlet to the National Kidney Foundation. “I have pictures of myself in my school uniform at NKF, dropping in money to kickstart the campaign. That was my first encounter of how to use the business to do good.”
An alumnus of the Company of Good Fellowship, Jesher is finding new ways for Ya Kun to be a purposeful business. These include utilising its outlets as collection points for donations-in-kind, and turning the Ya Kun app into a platform for good. Customers can ‘donate’ their loyalty points to World Vision International, or use it to treat others – including frontline workers, during the height of Covid-19 – to a cup of coffee.
The app allows users to send people gift vouchers in micro denominations of $1.80 because Jesher believes that smaller-value gifts decentralise giving into the hands of many. “That’s exciting to me because we are moving society in a different direction and changing culture.”
In our chat, the director of branding & market development repeatedly debunks the myth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) being able to do less than bigger firms.
“SMEs understand the need for community and the concept of mutual assistance – I need you, you need me. It is counterproductive for them to be stingy,” he muses.
How do you understand giving?
I believe giving is a mindset or a culture. If we understand it this way, we don’t have to wait till December to give. In Ya Kun, we don’t often use the word ‘give’ but we may say we ‘support’ a colleague in need. So the means of giving, our view of giving, is infused into our everyday work environment. It is not a single event.
What issues do you face when driving Ya Kun’s do-good efforts?
Everybody is super stretched. When I attended the Company of Good Fellowship, I heard how the bigger companies could spend a day cleaning beaches. I can’t do that because I’d have to close the stores, someone has to cover shifts, or today’s work will be pushed to tomorrow. This is the struggle of SMEs, how to give people the space [to do good] because the work never stops. Another challenge is, due to limited resources, choosing who we work with is very important.
How do you get around these challenges?
Know your strengths and weave giving into your day job. So for Ya Kun, our strength is in the number of outlets we have. For ‘The Shoebox Project’ initiative two years ago, we invited people to drop off Christmas presents at our outlets and delivered them to children in need. By using our strengths – our locations, our brand, our network – giving can become an extension of our work. Our employees don’t have to drop whatever they are doing to accomplish it.
