LIKE the humble soya bean, Mr Kang Puay Seng's business started small.
Mr Bean began 13 years ago, in 1995, as a stall in People's Park Hawker Centre.
There were only two items on the menu: Fresh soya milk and soya bean curd, all prepared from scratch with a grinder.
"Those days were hard. I would wake up at 6am to grind the beans. Business started at 7am until the stall closed at around 10pm," Mr Kang recalled.
The fact that he had no experience in the food-and-beverage (F&B) industry - he was a systems programmer - made the going even tougher.
But the 48-year-old managing director of the home-grown chain spotted a viable business opportunity.
As a soya bean-drink lover, he said: "I thought it would be a good idea to provide fresh soya milk 24/7. Back then, you could get it from hawker centres only in the mornings, but not during the afternoons or evenings."
So he and former Chinese High schoolmate, executive director Loh Jwee Poh, sank in $3,000 each to start the venture.
At night, they pounded the streets after work, distributing discount coupons at nearby housing estates to promote the stall.
Today, their efforts have paid off. There are 45 Mr Bean outlets spread across Singapore - at MRT stations, shopping centres, schools and hospitals.
Said the father of three: "We're offering customers more convenience through our accessible locations, so that people don't have to travel far to enjoy our products."
While many businesses have been scaling back their operations amid the financial turmoil, Mr Bean is bucking the trend. The company is adding another five kiosks by March next year.
One way of thriving in the cut-throat F&B world is to "constantly re-engineer the menu".
That means introducing three to four new products yearly and axeing less popular ones.
For instance, watermelon soya milk was launched in 2006 after an outlet supervisor suggested the combination.
Healthy sales figures and positive feedback then made it a permanent fixture.
Conversely, wheatgrass soya milk was dropped in 2004 due to weak demand after one and a half years on the menu.
Currently, Mr Bean offers about 30 items, including soya ice-cream, bean-shaped biscuits and pancakes. Brewing up new concoctions helps it attract more youngsters too.
Mr Kang said: "Customers will come if we offer a choice of good protein drinks for their enjoyment."
To help consumers weather this period of rising costs, the brand slashed the price of its soya milk from $1.30 to a promotional $1 last month.
It is also going big on social initiatives, sponsoring Operation Smile Singapore's trip to correct Cambodian children's facial deformities, like cleft palates and cleft lips, next year.
Said Mr Kang: "Our tagline, 'Life's simple pleasures', sums up what we do. It's not about owning fancy cars or big houses - it's the small things we do that make people feel good. That's how we bring out the value of our product."
