Hiring for a new business

Creating a team was initially our biggest challenge when we first started. As we had a fix date to roll out operations, it became a little tricky when we only had me, Aiman and our Barista.

Starting up this cafe has taught me a lot of things, especially about people. I can tell you one thing, never ever judge someone before you give them a chance (of course you have to take a calculated risk for this!) - the team I've created today consist of individuals who are passionate and determine, fun-loving and cheerful people, but (for some) it's the last traits you'd ever find out about them!

Initially we were frustrated that every time we put out a hiring ad we get no replies. After some time, we figured out the problem though - we are CORPORATE people. Our audience are not our target market, our followers weren't the ones we want to attract. Our YCM network at that time was of little value in the F&B industry.

We went the extra mile to post our ad on different portals, fellow cafe owners passed on CVs to us and marketing was on level 5! Slowly, we had resumes and CVs coming in. Oh well, we could definitely do with this few individuals we have for now or so we thought. First day of soft launch was madness! But it was good kinda madness and bless my little small team, they did very very well :)))

Continuous marketing has proven to be the cheapest yet most effective method of creating awareness, if done the right way.

...and just like that, we had strings of CVs coming in from individuals interested to work at Double A! Alhamdulillah, there are even people with great background and experiences :))

Today, Double A is a strong fun team of 7 and growing! And these individuals are so so passionate about learning that I feel so proud just looking at them serve customers with big smiles and practicing when there are no orders. So very hardworking and driven, bless them all!

I really feel so blessed with God's initial test and solution all in a span of one week. Truly very grateful, Alhamdulillah! I'm beyond happy that I miss my team right after we close our shop everyday. It's going to be a tough time for me to go back to work soon.