Big Dot Chicken to close after failing to 'achieve bigger purpose', offers recipe for $888

Big Dot Chicken, known for its crispy fried chicken reminiscent of KFC in the 1980s, announced on Feb 17 that it would be closing down.

Founders Ken Koh, 41, Jenny Lee, 46, and Hamidah Aidillah, 40, wanted to create a business that provided employment for underserved individuals such as single mothers.

Staff would be given an opportunity to eventually run their own stall under Big Dot Chicken, with no franchise fees or royalties, as long as they worked at the original outlet for six months.

They would also be given free training and ingredients.

But just 10 months in, the founders decided to shut down the business.

According to 8days, Mr Koh shared that they had structured the business to be a social enterprise, but had workers who came and went without starting their own stall.

"Maybe six months is too long. Or maybe they don't really want to run their own stall. We suspect it could be the pressure of being your own stall owner compared with working for someone."

Despite generating $500 to $1,000 per day, the founders felt that there was no point in continuing if they couldn't achieve their bigger purpose, and expanding wasn't feasible either.

"Each Singaporean can open a maximum of two stalls, so let's say I use my name, I have to be there every day, but I can't as I have my existing business to run. And Jenny can't handle two stalls at the same time."

The founders are all entrepreneurs: Mr Koh runs a corporate training company and comes from a local multi-generational F&B family business, Ms Adillah owns a research analytics firm, and Ms Lee is a private chef under her own business Nanyang Chef.

The founders, who invested a "five-figure sum" to launch Big Dot Chicken, are now offering to sell their recipes and business know-how to aspiring hawkers for a one-time fee of $888.

Mr Koh shared that they had turned down "more generous offers" from larger F&B companies, as it would defeat the purpose of their business.

"Although it will not be based on underserved communities, I think people who want to be hawkers are generally not very affluent," he added.

They hope that this will still create an impact, just in a different way.

The stall closes for good "some time in April", or earlier if supplies run out.

"I feel sad about the closure, but also proud that we've actually survived for a year," said Mr Koh.

"We built something out of nothing. We're not government-funded, we're self-funded.

"I feel that we've tried our best, I have no regrets."