0:01

Every business wants good customer reviews.

0:03

every customer wants a good

0:05

experience. So what happens when

0:07

both sides click? or in some

0:09

cases, This

0:13

is behind. Know. Me:

0:39

I'm Emily Wash Kovac Yelp

0:41

Small Business Expert. Behind

0:44

the Review features conversations with business

0:46

owners and customers who wrote one

0:48

of their Yelp reviews. In our

0:50

discussions, we talk about lessons they've

0:52

learned that can be used by

0:54

other businesses. To improve their own

0:56

reviews. Or their bottom line. This

0:59

week I'm catching up with

1:01

Matthew Wong, owner. Of Tea and

1:04

Milk, a bubble tea spot in

1:06

New York that opened its first

1:08

location in a ten by ten

1:10

foot space at the Long Island

1:12

Flea Market back in Twenty thirty.

1:15

Since our first conversation in

1:17

Twenty Twenty One, T and

1:19

Milk has expanded to three

1:21

locations, tripled the space of

1:23

their A Story A location

1:25

and now has catering options

1:28

for weddings or events. In

1:30

addition to all that map you

1:33

as work to build to and

1:35

milk into a real brand, not

1:37

just a few storefronts. Like

1:39

almost all expansion and growth, it

1:41

wasn't without it's growing. Pains.

1:44

We. Expect it to out or

1:47

location and Bay Ridge Brooklyn. And.

1:50

And was quite a tough one I

1:52

want to itself or with a little

1:55

bit more on the learning curve. Especially

1:57

since we have the.out the full

2:00

and that's. What you and I

2:02

were talking about briefly last time

2:04

was just this whole learning experience.

2:06

Even though you've done the concept,

2:08

it's way different. When. You're starting

2:11

from scratch versus those. Other

2:13

spots that you moved into, you adapted

2:15

them to what you need add right?

2:17

Be a story itself was

2:20

Fool Electrodes. Chelsea Market for

2:22

Electrodes no gas, Nothing like

2:24

that and I we saw

2:26

the opportunity for growth during

2:28

that time and the only

2:30

way to grow is to

2:32

have. A Central as cousin.

2:35

To. Create new

2:37

recipes to basically.

2:40

Called. The ingredients because or agree as

2:42

a cook for us. So we

2:44

have because ingredients. I had a time and

2:46

deliver it. And I was the

2:49

only way to grow so we

2:51

can grow our brand to him

2:53

like smaller locations or or it

2:55

medium size locations just because it'll

2:57

help the process of even in

2:59

or near future maybe franchising or

3:01

something that dallas a big strategic

3:03

decision for you. And you

3:05

knew it wasn't. Gonna be easy. I mean you

3:07

knew it was gonna be. On. A

3:10

headache. but you have encountered some

3:12

things that popped up along the

3:14

way as it always does right

3:16

when. Yeah, remodeling something Remind me

3:18

though the. Estimated length.

3:20

Did it double O L a

3:23

crippled actually which for both our

3:25

or space in Astoria. But.

3:27

We caught. A third of

3:29

it's become the centralized cousin. Two.

3:32

Thirds of it as go at our

3:34

color space and and seating we have

3:36

about may be oh well at an

3:38

adult the other retarded but we have

3:40

about twenty five to thirty seats in

3:42

Bay Ridge. I. Wow!

3:44

Answers for people to hang out

3:46

and does to drink bobo and

3:48

fault. It's all rushing back to the

3:51

our first interview about how your friends

3:53

the you guys and sit around day

3:55

on so you have that desire I

3:57

remember for it to be that hyperspace

3:59

bad. Like a lot of

4:01

seem to me as act as you

4:03

have seen people in the other locations

4:05

like hang around and actually have that

4:07

community in your space. Absolutely. I think

4:09

and Astoria before hold it we had

4:12

an open air, we only have ten

4:14

seats and there's usually groups of friends

4:16

who wanna come in and sit down

4:18

and we didn't have enough seats seats

4:20

for them to sit down and talk

4:23

or for muscle groups. but. It's

4:25

gonna like a full circle. Go back

4:27

in full circle as in the beginning.

4:29

When we first started the business we

4:32

were sitting together as a couple friends

4:34

and talking about what we can do

4:36

to create our brand to to soccer

4:39

bar daily struggles and are neither five

4:41

and then now we're creating a space

4:43

where everyone now can do that and

4:46

be rich. We are a brand of

4:48

specializes in. I. Will T that

4:50

are made were real a great as

4:52

with integrity, quality ingredients. We.

4:55

Don't utilize any powders except

4:58

for masha and cocoa powder.

5:00

We don't use any that

5:02

are artificial such as your

5:04

popping bobo dad has to

5:06

soothe are made with artificial

5:09

juices fruit juices. We basically

5:11

now grew into a brand

5:13

that umbrellas a be Enemies

5:15

Hours concepts. as well as i

5:17

forget about the family not and. Sadness, You are

5:20

in the transition right now when you

5:22

were enjoying yourself. He said were a

5:24

business and then he said were brand

5:26

because your brand Bryant. But that's been

5:28

an evolution for you from that first

5:30

goal which was to have this pretty

5:32

mortar store with these amazing ingredients and

5:34

to teach to the lot. Real Balboa.

5:36

Is to now wanting to be

5:39

known as a brand and a

5:41

company that has things under its

5:43

And Brower taught me about that

5:45

shift because I think a lot

5:47

of entrepreneurs dream of that. That's

5:49

endgame. But. To get their it's quite a

5:51

bit a work can you talk about that transition

5:54

and kind of. Why?

5:56

You moved from. Were.

5:58

A Barbershop to wear a break

6:00

and that encompasses these different businesses.

6:03

Yeah, absolutely. So the reason

6:05

why we exclaimed that or

6:07

even say that were a

6:09

brand versus a sharp as

6:11

because partially as the trust

6:13

from the customers of when

6:15

you're a sob do you

6:17

have to his customers come

6:19

into your shop and they

6:22

put their trust into your

6:24

drinks, your offerings. But as

6:26

a brand. Everyone who

6:28

cares about your brand as know

6:30

who you are ready when they

6:32

hear about Sue The. Use.

6:35

Couple words to describe you. And.

6:37

One of which is. Our

6:40

brand as trustworthy, A

6:42

brand that is fun and

6:44

something like that. We want

6:47

to be affiliated. Work is.

6:50

The. I'm and thirty part

6:52

of it. So. D

6:54

Reason why our brand is

6:56

a little different from other

6:58

companies or brands as because

7:00

of we have been into

7:02

sandwiches and we also work

7:04

with other brands lake City

7:06

Takes which sadly is now

7:08

closed but it's because we

7:10

also we all have that

7:12

same quality of using high

7:14

quality ingredients. Willing. To

7:16

sandwiches are made with high quality

7:19

ingredients. Well they're not made. Was

7:21

regret. Entire does the ends of

7:23

the legislative. For example the Bbq

7:25

pork is not me. What the

7:27

ends of the cork. As

7:30

made will have a premium ground

7:32

pork. So. I think as

7:34

a brand vs they shop a brand.

7:36

Basically. Umbrellas or the quality

7:39

of was the sought are

7:41

supposed to. Adhere To.

7:44

There's. This element of consistency which you

7:46

guys have been focused on that from

7:48

the starts, but I think that's also

7:51

really associated with a brand, right? It's

7:53

gonna be the same way. the high

7:55

quality ingredients all the time. I know

7:58

when we did our first interview. You

8:00

talked about what a challenge it is

8:02

for you to source all those ingredients,

8:05

but it's still. The North Star and you're

8:07

never going to deviate. From that, can you

8:09

just tell a little bit about that

8:11

again? For maybe people who haven't listened

8:14

to our first episode yet, why is

8:16

consistency so important to you and what

8:18

have been some of those challenges? But

8:20

in the long run, pay offs of

8:23

sourcing high quality ingredients really going the

8:25

extra mile to stand by your mission

8:27

and. Not really cut corners when it

8:29

comes to sourcing your product. So

8:32

the reason why from the

8:34

beginning we've always sourced or

8:36

products from it's sources wrote

8:39

basically I was for long

8:41

to China for jasmine tea

8:43

we also have go to

8:45

Japan for module. Everything

8:48

basically Earth was. Will.

8:50

Get regain their from several sources and

8:52

not necessarily from. Both. Parties

8:54

are the company that will help you

8:56

source by at the same time but

8:58

know who their sourcing from. And

9:01

the reason why we do that is because

9:03

we want to know where everything is comical.

9:06

We. Want to know everything that goes into

9:08

the drink? Or be? Want to know

9:10

that a certain Felix ah sorry like

9:12

long as he was was jasmine tea.

9:14

Rest of the black few we use

9:17

i'm they're all coming from the right

9:19

regions, the right places. And. We.

9:22

Believe in that type of

9:24

integrity from our associates farmers

9:26

who are the ones who

9:29

joined the army dogs to

9:31

leave. Or we want to make

9:33

sure that we're all on the same cause of essence

9:35

of quality. This is

9:37

the reason why we don't deviate

9:40

from our routes into other sources.

9:42

And the beginning we had a

9:44

lot of people who doubted us,

9:46

who were asked, telling us that

9:48

at a fifty five from the

9:50

first episode, we talked about house

9:53

or and suppliers or wholesalers. words

9:55

of touting the fact that using

9:57

natural ingredients using real ingredients would

9:59

cut. into cost, it will cut

10:01

into your, I guess, your revenue stream and

10:04

your profit, but, and

10:06

you will never make it. But

10:09

on the host, I guess we're here. Let's

10:12

just say we still use taro, a

10:14

real taro for a taro milk tea since the very

10:17

beginning, about what, like 10

10:19

years now? It's almost a decade. Yeah.

10:21

And we haven't deviated from that same recipe

10:24

since, and it's been working really well. I'm

10:26

very glad to say. That's basically

10:28

part of the reason why we don't want

10:30

to deviate from it. It's like things that

10:32

we believe in are working. We're

10:34

going to just build and improve

10:37

on that versus deviating and becoming

10:39

a lesser brand. Partially

10:41

as the trust. We've

10:44

built the trust since 10 years ago. We're

10:46

not going to try and lose the trust of

10:49

our customers now because prices

10:51

went up. Granted, don't get me

10:53

wrong. The cost of goods

10:55

have gone up so high

10:58

that it is cutting

11:00

into our profits. But at the same time,

11:02

we're going to continue

11:04

on doing what we're doing

11:06

because we believe in the

11:08

quality of ingredients that the

11:10

brand is supposed to hold.

11:14

Yeah. And I knew from the

11:16

first time I interviewed you that you

11:18

are such a like business minded person.

11:21

You're like, oh, I love your

11:23

food and these real ingredients from

11:25

these places that are often

11:27

imitated with fake ingredients. That is

11:30

so important to you. But

11:32

you're also a number sky. You're not just

11:34

going to get the best ingredient. And then

11:36

like you said, it cuts into your profits

11:38

when prices go up, but you're very aware

11:40

of what it costs you to make a

11:42

drink and what someone pays for it. But

11:45

in food, I mean in restaurants,

11:48

even even people who sell

11:50

alcohol, those margins are just horribly

11:52

thin. When we're talking

11:54

about Boba T, I mean, it's ridiculous. Can

11:57

you just give some advice on why you have

11:59

to. look at the numbers, I'll be honest

12:01

Matthew, a lot of business owners don't look

12:03

at their P&L at all. Like they don't

12:05

pay attention to any of the numbers. And

12:07

I think it's because they're afraid of what

12:09

the margins finally are, or

12:12

maybe they don't even know how to look at it all and

12:14

make sense of things. But you've

12:16

had to do it and you've done it really

12:18

effectively. Can you just talk about how you navigate

12:20

that process? So my background

12:23

is in accounting because of the 9-5 that

12:25

I used to do. I used to do

12:27

accounting for a law firm. And

12:29

we look at the P&L balance

12:32

sheet all the time and there's

12:34

always a partner who always complains

12:37

about the amount of profit that

12:39

the firm is getting compared to

12:41

what he thinks other firms

12:43

are getting. And I totally understand

12:45

that from his point of view now, back then

12:47

I was just like, this guy keeps complaining for

12:50

some reason, but now it's like,

12:52

Hey, like I can see why people

12:54

are worried about the bottom line. And

12:57

it's one of those basic things that

12:59

each entrepreneur and each business owner should

13:01

definitely learn to read. It's

13:03

like one of the five basic things that you have

13:06

to know in order to have

13:08

a successful business. If not,

13:10

it'll pull you back from expanding or

13:12

pull you back from the business itself.

13:14

Reading the P&L and balance sheet, things

13:16

of all that nature is very

13:19

stressful and it's very scary to

13:21

read. And in the beginning,

13:23

I definitely didn't want to read it. I definitely

13:25

gave it to one of my partners to read

13:27

and everyone was just negative on it, right? And

13:29

I totally get it. In the beginning, we were

13:31

not profiting well. We were not profiting at all.

13:35

We were always at a loss and we

13:37

were just like stressed about it. But a

13:40

big portion of it was to

13:42

keep going and keep going and

13:44

build that brand. There's always that

13:46

fine line of continuing on

13:48

building a brand or closing

13:50

things down, right? We kept pushing to

13:52

build that brand because we saw that

13:55

the P&L wasn't looking good, the balance

13:57

sheet wasn't looking good. At

14:00

the same time, we also thought about the

14:02

ramp up period. There's always that ramp up

14:04

period, the education to the customers that are

14:07

around the area. So if

14:09

certain parts of your business isn't doing well,

14:11

and then you're reading your P&L, and

14:14

it's scaring you, it's very likely

14:16

because you're not doing something that

14:18

you need to do, such

14:20

as marketing, such as education to

14:22

the customers, such as training

14:24

the staff, things like that. All

14:27

these things that cut into

14:29

the P&L, cut into your balance

14:31

sheet, cut into every single financial

14:33

payment that you're supposed to read.

14:37

You just need to have that

14:39

process, your SOPs, set

14:41

operating procedures to be there in order

14:44

to push forward. There's no other

14:46

way around it. And

14:48

I mean, you and your friends, your

14:51

business partners, I should say... Well,

14:54

I was going to say, I remember that

14:56

being a big part of the original story.

14:59

It's not easy to go into business with

15:01

anyone, let alone with your friends, but you

15:03

all have really leaned on

15:05

each other's best traits in the

15:08

process. And I think

15:10

a lot of entrepreneurs say it's

15:12

lonely in entrepreneurship because I'm at

15:14

the top, but you have this

15:16

built-in network of other entrepreneurs. Can

15:19

you maybe just talk about the

15:22

benefit and value of throwing your ideas

15:24

off your other business partners and also

15:26

maybe any challenges that you navigate or

15:28

advice for people who are

15:30

looking to really trust someone

15:33

else in talking about that kind

15:35

of thing for their business? So

15:38

in the beginning, it was me and two other

15:40

friends of mine who are now

15:44

not with the company anymore. Back then, we

15:46

did bounce off ideas of each other. And

15:48

there's always going to be the times where

15:51

you're going to argue about something, not even

15:53

argue, like just have a conversation about something

15:55

that gets heated. There's always going

15:58

to be that time where like... people

16:00

don't agree and

16:03

everyone feels like, oh, the other

16:06

entrepreneurs, other friends, partners

16:08

are coming up against one other entrepreneur or

16:11

things like that. But in the end of

16:13

the day, you just have to understand, you

16:16

have to be very open to

16:18

it, to these conversations. Right

16:20

now it's me, myself and

16:22

Mike, who are the sole owners of

16:24

T and Milk. And then

16:26

there's Jennifer, who is our general manager,

16:29

who manages all three locations.

16:32

We have a WhatsApp chat.

16:35

We talk about every single

16:37

little thing that goes wrong

16:39

or things that we believe needs to be changed

16:42

and ideas, things like that, to make sure

16:44

that we actually are on the same page.

16:47

I speak to a lot of other entrepreneurs.

16:49

One person I really speak to is Eddie

16:52

from Mousebound. And

16:55

we talk about ideas. We talk about

16:57

collaborations. We talk about all these things

16:59

that are going wrong in

17:01

our businesses and how to fix

17:03

it. We give each other suggestions.

17:06

You just have to find the right person to

17:08

talk to. Whereas if I

17:11

talk to someone else, they could just brush

17:13

you off or whatnot. The type of people

17:16

who want to be in your ecosystem will

17:18

always be there. The type of people

17:20

who don't care to

17:22

be, you'll know. You can

17:24

definitely tell. Absolutely.

17:27

It's not really like...

17:30

Yeah, I think it's just one of those things that

17:33

you just have to have trustworthy

17:35

people in your team. And

17:38

I very luckily have the right people

17:40

in my team. We're going to take

17:42

a quick break. Be right

17:44

back. Hi, I'm Robert

17:46

Tuchman and I host Entrepreneurs'

17:48

How Success Happens podcast. Each

17:51

show I get to interview a successful

17:53

entrepreneur. Many have built some

17:56

of the biggest brands in the world

17:58

like Lululemon, Warby, Parker, Cronin

18:00

Dry Bar. But here's the

18:02

part I love because after

18:04

doing hundreds. Of episodes

18:06

I've noticed. regardless of one success

18:09

we were really get to hear

18:11

about all of the towns is

18:13

the face in over came to

18:15

get their they all had to

18:18

pick themselves up off the mat

18:20

at one time or another. I

18:22

love hearing their stories and how

18:24

these people we find incredibly successful

18:26

today. Are really just like you

18:29

and me. The. All face difficulties

18:31

but they all kept going

18:33

and got through them. On.

18:36

How success happens. We dive deep

18:38

to find out how they overcame

18:40

these issues. And what was

18:42

it that drove each of them to

18:44

keep going in? Never Quit! Because let

18:46

me tell you the all face difficult

18:49

times. It's a great podcast if you

18:51

wanna learn from the best. While.

18:53

Inspiring yourself. Okay,

18:57

let's talk about expansion that was the original

18:59

and but as for us talking the guy

19:01

and it feels like that that long ago

19:03

that you run the show. but. God.

19:05

The amount of says you've done since

19:07

then is insane. Talk to

19:09

me about the third location expansion and

19:12

give some of that coloring context around

19:14

this operational chef. It's not just we

19:16

opened a brick and mortar and this

19:18

whole shift of how you run all

19:21

three of them now. So we

19:23

opened our their location med Bay

19:25

Ridge, Brooklyn and to why? great

19:27

opening with them to lie but.

19:30

We've. Had to space than early

19:32

January or so. And we

19:34

didn't know. Anything.

19:38

But a lot of space with gas kits

19:40

and would have heard on his they were

19:43

news was. And. We.

19:45

Basically what and blind? And.

19:47

I was a big wanting for of that. There

19:50

were times where I wanna go into town ottawa

19:52

do this anymore. Things like that, I can do

19:54

this I just kept. I had a lot of

19:56

doubt the myself during the whole build up period.

19:58

There were things that. We're supposed to

20:01

cause x amount of money. And

20:03

a cost maybe three? x.

20:06

Two. Eggs for eggs and numbers of I'm

20:08

just like, where are we doing all this.

20:11

Money. To pay for this? What about

20:13

our operating money? How about what the other

20:15

location power bicycle the paid. I fly the

20:17

these vendors and I don't our vendors vs

20:20

people who are supplying us things like that

20:22

rain so much. Work. And

20:24

fold different from. Opening.

20:27

Love a sock that is basically

20:29

just oil or trick and again.

20:31

This is one thing that we've

20:33

needed to do to expand. and

20:35

it's because we needed a little.

20:37

I've gotten. To. Expand our number

20:39

one thing was worth of subtlety. And.

20:41

As such a thing was to

20:44

just basically make it easier for

20:46

the other locations so that bill

20:48

have to stress out about coding

20:50

terror, cutting money, power the tarot

20:52

per week or whatnot, they can

20:54

focus on making the drink and

20:56

itself. As for a d

20:58

other parts of the bay isn't

21:01

Another reason was because we want

21:03

to expand our offerings which was

21:05

the been a bead sandwiches. This

21:08

was a big offering don't we

21:10

use a have in Astoria And

21:12

the very beginning. My twenty. Six.

21:15

Twenty two kids. one's a pain. Maybe there was

21:17

a high demand for it by we couldn't keep

21:19

up with demand. So we have

21:21

to cut it for about. Five.

21:24

Years That was hard because. News.

21:26

Source of mean it was generating money. But.

21:29

At the same time he had occurred because

21:31

you can give up demand and honestly, And

21:34

the beginning we were getting the by any

21:36

means they're which is from a friend who

21:38

was working out of the kitchen. Was

21:41

obviously brothers although the always where you

21:44

know regularly but that evidence they are

21:46

now. honestly I don't really mind telling

21:48

specialist that part to only because now

21:50

the very beginning to think this was

21:53

years ago everyone has gone through something

21:55

in the beginning that day. May.

21:58

or may not have been approved But at

22:00

the same time, it's like, hey, it worked, and it

22:03

kept working until it didn't work. So

22:05

now, which is why we had to

22:07

open up the Bay Ridge location, as

22:09

we centralized the kitchen, and

22:11

to deliver from that kitchen to

22:13

our other locations, which has the

22:15

bubble tea ingredients, which is all

22:17

made in-house. And at

22:20

the same time, the Vietnamese sandwich

22:22

ingredients, barbecue pork, lemongrass, chicken, the

22:25

co-cut, things like that. We just have

22:27

to keep it in-house, or

22:29

else how are we

22:31

going to expand these offerings, or

22:33

these brands within the umbrella of

22:35

our brand, tea and milk? That's

22:38

the reason why Bay Ridge was born, it

22:40

was to create that centralized

22:43

kitchen, along with the seating

22:46

for what we wanted from

22:50

the very beginning. And now, is

22:52

that location the only place that you can get

22:55

sandwiches, and then just bubble tea at the other

22:57

ones, or you're doing your sandwiches everywhere? We're

22:59

doing our sandwiches in a story at Bay Ridge at

23:01

the moment. It's funny, because before this meeting, we

23:04

were just talking to Joanne from Pearl River

23:06

Mart, which is the president of

23:08

Pearl River Mart, and Pearl River Mart Foods,

23:11

which is where we're at. We're inside Chelsea

23:13

Market, inside Pearl River Mart Foods. We

23:15

just had a conversation, and basically a meeting about bringing

23:18

the sandwiches to another

23:21

location, which is right next door to

23:23

the tea and milk location in Chelsea Market,

23:26

and just basically having the Vietnamese sandwiches

23:28

there, starting in April. Amazing,

23:31

that's so cool, good

23:33

for you. Yeah, it's something that we

23:35

wanted to do. We

23:38

wanted to do this like a while

23:40

back, but then it's just since the

23:42

opening, and the whole, from July

23:44

till now, there was just a lot of stress, because

23:47

Bay Ridge was such a, how

23:50

do I say this in a way where

23:52

it's not too crazy? Bay Ridge was hard

23:54

during the times from when it went open

23:56

to even till now. It's still just as

23:58

hard, but... The

24:00

increase of blood traffic has helped a

24:02

lot, so the stress of that has

24:04

diminished a little bit. But

24:07

during that time, we were just finalizing how

24:09

the kitchen should be working, how we

24:12

deliver, who delivers, what days our

24:14

cooks will come in to basically

24:17

get things ready for delivery on

24:19

the next day. Just

24:21

all these procedures and protocols that we have to put

24:23

in place that we've never put in place before. It

24:26

took us four months to do it. On

24:29

top of that, there was a lot of other financial

24:31

stress too, which is part of the reason why I

24:33

took a little longer than we expected it

24:36

to. I'm curious

24:39

how you personally navigate

24:41

all that procedural stuff. I've

24:44

been coaching a handful of entrepreneurs

24:46

the past year, like through Yelp, we're

24:48

doing these little programs. One

24:51

of the biggest things that I try to

24:53

teach them that I think helps is to

24:55

break the stuff down to smaller tasks. Let's

25:00

get the chef's schedule together. That

25:03

is such a behemoth of a thing that

25:05

you don't ever want to do it, but

25:07

what if we do one step that's a

25:09

part of getting the general

25:11

schedule together? Is that how

25:13

you do it? How do you push

25:16

yourself through these really big projects that

25:18

require a lot of small steps and

25:21

systems? You're building a lot of systems,

25:23

which takes time because you have to

25:25

think of how you want it, try

25:27

it, and then adjust as you see

25:29

how it goes. The way I do it

25:31

would be to schedule

25:33

these things into my daily routine,

25:35

things like that. You just

25:37

have to put them into your calendar. If you

25:39

don't, you're going to forget. I'm very forgetful, so if I

25:41

don't put them in my calendar, I'm going to forget. I

25:44

think that goes for a lot of people. The

25:49

second thing is, breaking it down

25:51

into smaller pieces helps a lot, like

25:53

you said. What I do

25:55

sometimes is that I break them down into

25:57

pieces where you were Like,

25:59

it's. Where. You

26:02

basically have to think about the pretty

26:04

reasonable cause wasn't any of that employs

26:06

but elephant and think about all the

26:08

problems and all the situations are is

26:11

that can arise before he would bring

26:13

don't replace. Those things

26:15

have have to be done. I'll

26:17

give you a map or delivery.

26:20

We. Do delivery is on Wednesdays and

26:22

Saturdays and from there we have

26:24

to figure out okay the cook

26:26

schedule. when do they come in

26:28

obviously before when the internet has

26:30

to be the day before. but

26:32

then be teams who need the

26:34

foods and the ingredients to make

26:36

the sandwiches and make a bubble

26:38

tea. When do they need

26:40

to tell the team the cook and

26:43

to have to be the day before

26:45

cox to win. And and

26:47

as be the day before when someone will deliver

26:49

the next day because that's when odds of dun

26:51

dun your did you run into the promo What?

26:53

it really good trick. Whatever.

26:56

The car had a flat

26:58

tire. what have you purchase

27:00

be. A car that

27:02

just basically is so old and

27:04

he there is problem on a

27:06

week and engine problems things I

27:08

target audience is just gonna pretend

27:10

other they're all his father, all

27:12

their and you just have to.

27:15

Have a protocols in place

27:17

to basically. What? The

27:19

next stop. What happened that that happened? Who

27:21

doesn't? Who does that? Who. Goes

27:23

in and cook for the goes in and

27:25

to the delivery of the cocker said. Who

27:28

is going to come in and

27:30

just sorta all the items? That

27:32

is because of their as as

27:35

it's all these three Determining the

27:37

problem. That aren't there yet.

27:40

And. Basically going

27:42

from there are that's how.

27:44

My mind works. By. Then obviously be

27:47

we all wish and hope I don't know

27:49

that happens because basically a are we to what

27:51

has happened but when it does you need to

27:53

have that does protocols in place and beautiful

27:55

to be. A matador. First.

27:58

i wanna talk about feedback.

28:00

You know that's a big part of how

28:04

you've navigated your business. You hypothesize

28:07

about what the customers might want

28:09

and use your own experience but

28:11

you've really always been listening to

28:13

what customers say. Can you talk

28:16

about how you

28:18

navigate that, how you maybe gather

28:21

or ask for feedback? Just talk to

28:23

me about feedback as a part of this

28:25

process and I think

28:27

research is probably a follow-up to that. I

28:29

do want to talk about how you went

28:32

to literally dig further into matcha and figure out

28:34

what you were going to do there because even

28:37

as you're telling me all these stressful crazy things

28:39

you had to be there blah blah blah you

28:41

still took time to fly across the ocean and

28:43

dig into something

28:45

that's going to help you in the long run

28:47

and I know that's because you're committed to feedback

28:49

and research. So just talk me through that and

28:51

how that's a part of your business. A big

28:54

part of the reason why I went to Japan

28:56

is because we went to UG

28:58

and then Kyoto and that's basically

29:01

the most popular place for matcha

29:04

and we basically traveled to

29:06

different fields and different

29:08

brands of matcha and learned

29:12

about different types of matcha, the

29:14

way the shade at each sea leaf they

29:16

have to have a certain amount of time

29:18

in the shade to make it. It was

29:20

explained to us in a

29:22

way where basically is that like different

29:25

type of matcha they have different ways

29:27

of getting it done processing

29:29

it and one of which

29:31

was to put this black tarp on top

29:34

and it's to block the sun from heading

29:36

the tealies which is camela seneses. Tea

29:39

just comes from the same plant

29:41

right camela seneses. There's every

29:43

single tea and the matcha

29:46

one is just leaf itself grounded

29:48

up versus other

29:51

teas that are cooked

29:54

baked, steamed into what it

29:56

is and then that's when you brew it. That's

29:58

when you brew the tea. Masha, you're

30:00

drinking the pea leaf itself. We

30:02

went to different farms, different

30:05

locations in UG, and

30:08

there isn't a lot of tourists

30:10

there. We had to find different

30:12

guides who actually knew these farms

30:14

to bring us there. A

30:17

lot of tourists now, they go to UG,

30:19

but then they go to the basic area.

30:22

What we did was we went over there,

30:24

and we went to the farms,

30:27

the manufacturing. So we

30:29

learned a little bit more than

30:31

what the average tourists would probably

30:33

learn. Not to say that's a

30:35

bad thing, right? Everyone should enjoy the time. I

30:37

enjoy my time there, too, as a tourist. And

30:40

the biggest part of it

30:42

is that we learned that back then

30:44

they used to grind out matcha

30:47

by stone, and

30:50

that took a long time. Some places still do

30:52

it, and the reason

30:54

is because it's ceremonial grade, and

30:58

that is the reason why certain matcha cost

31:00

so much money. It's very different

31:02

when I was there. It was very design. It

31:04

gave me a learning experience that I didn't think

31:07

I was going to get,

31:09

but it helped me

31:11

learn a little bit more about Japanese culture

31:14

and the making of matcha versus just

31:16

drinking it. So that I

31:18

want to bring and

31:20

educate and bring back to the

31:22

States to educate. I also did

31:25

a tea ceremony as

31:27

well, and every single

31:29

little part of making the

31:31

matcha tea in

31:34

itself is to be celebrated, whether it be

31:36

pouring hot water from

31:38

the hot water canister to the

31:41

cup or the little bowl where

31:43

the matcha is being whisked. Every

31:45

single part of that is

31:48

ceremony. It's to celebrate,

31:50

it's to bring together. It's

31:52

very interesting. It's

31:55

very together. If

31:57

you feel very together with the. The

32:00

water in it and it's so that's

32:02

something that we learned in Japan and

32:04

or with an amazing experience. I

32:07

think you are talking in and

32:09

credible. That's about doing the research

32:11

and it actually led me to

32:13

a different question which is about

32:15

feedback. That was what I originally

32:17

was thinking. By it, you led

32:19

me into it in a different

32:21

way, which is something we talked

32:23

about in the first episode because

32:25

you serve some thane that maybe

32:27

a lot of people are trying

32:29

for the first time, or because

32:31

it is supposed to be made

32:33

a certain way with certain ingredients,

32:35

but people just don't like. Is

32:37

that even though it could be accurate

32:39

the way it's supposed to be, you

32:42

deal with a little more of that

32:44

because you sell food items and beverages

32:46

that people aren't always fully familiar with.

32:49

in. Can you just talked about how

32:51

you navigate that like sometimes would they

32:53

don't like is how it's supposed to

32:56

be. So how do you mix education

32:58

about what your surveying? Wis. Can.

33:01

Adjust navigating some of that feedback

33:03

that so subjective and they don't

33:05

understand how it's most. Said taste

33:07

wasn't are things in the very

33:09

beginning we were using was a

33:11

seem like the bots a scenario

33:13

right we were using March in

33:15

the very beginning of us are

33:18

Pm milk and are the story

33:20

of storefront where we're using said

33:22

even close thermally a great about

33:24

so. In. The very beginning and

33:26

people than a legit. People.

33:28

Were not to.

33:31

Open. To it. And the reason is

33:34

because he had that scroll. Okay, so

33:36

it. It wasn't. Familiar.

33:39

And A was something that would

33:42

difference. so from there we weren't

33:44

that people pay vary from point

33:46

A to point B and even

33:48

some aging as well. So what

33:51

we did was we had to

33:53

transition out of that grade of

33:55

Marsha. Into. Something different. To

33:58

cut him. then

34:00

re-educate everyone to understand

34:04

what the difference is. In the beginning,

34:06

we had to give maybe two

34:09

types of matcha. One was a lower

34:11

grade, not to say it's worse, but

34:13

it's not top tier

34:15

on the matcha scale. So

34:18

we had to use that to

34:20

re-educate and educate them and basically

34:22

have them understand what the taste difference

34:25

is. And from

34:27

there, people started

34:29

to learn more about the

34:31

premium grades of matcha, tasted

34:34

it and liked it. But you're

34:37

going to get the people who are not

34:39

going to like that premium

34:42

taste of matcha. And

34:44

don't get me wrong, I totally understand. And

34:47

I sympathize with that as

34:49

well because, hey, you know,

34:51

what you're used to isn't what you paid for.

34:54

Sometimes it's like,

34:56

hey, I don't really like this. But the thing

34:58

is that if it's feedback wise, you

35:00

have to take it and then you just have to

35:02

adjust from there. We adjust it throughout

35:05

all these years. We improved. No

35:07

matter what, every year I would say our

35:09

drinks have improved since day one,

35:12

even though the recipe is the same.

35:15

We've improved on maybe lowering the

35:17

simple syrup that goes into each

35:19

drink. We improved in maybe

35:22

cooking the boba a little longer, letting it sift

35:24

a little longer just so it has a better

35:26

texture to it. There are so many ways to

35:28

improve and because of listening

35:30

to other people's feedback. So that's

35:33

one example of the whole feedback

35:35

situation, learning basically what it's

35:37

supposed to taste versus what people are used

35:40

to. Another one would be

35:42

the taro. The taro is

35:44

such a thing because the

35:46

purple powder is the one that people are

35:48

used to. And then what we

35:50

put in is the real taro root.

35:53

And To this day, I mean, we still have people

35:55

who are like, oh, it's not purple. It tastes different.

35:57

It doesn't taste the same. Then

36:00

no one a different drink or.

36:03

Those. Told me that it is so much

36:05

better. You. Had the polar

36:07

opposite. right? Reply always in

36:09

the middle were like oh it's okay

36:11

was to pull out about the taste

36:13

amazing versus kind of hundred. And

36:15

we feel we understand so I don't we

36:17

try to drive to a more natural state

36:19

of was overseas a be. We're going to

36:21

change that race for you. We're not going

36:23

to let you leave on happy either The

36:25

for how we want to do things we

36:27

want you to be happy with the brand.

36:30

And we want you to to. Trust

36:32

the bread dough you. Already have

36:34

been a you didn't like you. Get.

36:37

Something out I do. Like.

36:40

And then you gotta trust that person. And.

36:42

An eventually maybe to try again And

36:44

then you real Gk and you keep

36:46

going with the education as a continuous.

36:49

We. All learn about when or

36:51

that we have to learn continuously.

36:54

Other. People will do how to do same thing.

36:56

We have to win consistently to and had to

36:58

educate them. Someone has as you hit on and

37:01

and with like you who was gonna do it.

37:03

We. Talk about so much good stuff.

37:06

I think my last question is just

37:08

about responsiveness and he sort of talked

37:10

about it. There's someone is in the

37:12

shop and they try something like you're

37:14

You're right, they're trying to gauge it's

37:17

like it if we need to fix

37:19

it, but you're also responsive all over

37:21

the place responding to reviews response of

37:23

unsocial to talk about why that's important

37:25

and also how you're able to prioritize

37:27

it with all the other things you

37:30

have going on. On the reviews

37:32

and they go online. games on social

37:34

media or reviews or just things that

37:36

are throughout the whole day. There's so

37:39

much more to do but at the

37:41

same time your customers reviews. Arbor.

37:43

Importance: You should be reborn. Zero, even though

37:45

sometimes you may not want to read it

37:48

because it's. About. Room

37:50

for the way that there's always

37:52

going to be your bad reviews.

37:54

Really good reviews are some average

37:56

reviews and. I think and the

37:59

other day even though. I mean, I've been

38:01

doing this for a decade now. over a

38:03

decade and the still hits me and whenever

38:05

they're the. Negative. His review oregon

38:07

to start with our review and a you

38:09

read and you just like ah man, where

38:11

are we doing wrong with? How can we

38:13

improve. And and that helps

38:15

you with improving. doesn't mean you're part

38:17

of is wrong way and could be

38:19

burwell a something went wrong during the

38:22

assembly. Proud father, There's some in other

38:24

things that you have to ten. Figure.

38:27

Out. What if it's one

38:29

or two? Movie. With out of

38:31

the so many and his license and us

38:33

and maybe as a what off to off

38:35

type of thing but if it's something that's

38:38

continuously. One. Star to start

38:40

throughout the whole month. Whatever way

38:42

reviews are like that than. Those.

38:44

Are big possibility that there's something is wrong and

38:46

you really have to take a look at it.

38:49

I mean isn't difficult one for you to see

38:51

that you should definitely it on a weekly basis

38:53

or so because of you. Took almost and you

38:55

know I may be too late. Or

38:58

they say he was I think. You.

39:00

Have to respond to the reviews. It

39:03

shows that you care as the

39:05

belittle I think you deathly how

39:07

to respond when a timely fashion

39:10

but I either just not under

39:12

fame day for you. Read it.

39:15

Cool. Down. If it's a

39:17

negative thing and it was positive thing,

39:19

cool down as well. Just. Say.

39:21

What you want to say but at the

39:23

same time just remember what is out there

39:25

just drilling know go back to what if

39:28

we sought all the time So do your

39:30

best to does if it's a negative review

39:32

to. Calm. Down.

39:35

Get. Low had a first and then go respond. At

39:37

the same time that of The Parlor. really. like

39:39

I said, the same thing goes on it but

39:42

don't get to resolve it because who knows with

39:44

an excellent going to be. There's

39:47

been so much great information for other

39:49

business owners in this conversation is something you

39:51

want to talk about that we didn't

39:53

get a chance to dig into yet.

39:55

Maybe something about the recent expansion in

39:57

Bay Ridge? A. Big

39:59

part of it. The Rich: We built a

40:01

out with so much money and right now

40:03

we're obviously either. So operating on a on

40:05

a loss because of to build out and

40:08

things like that. but I saw about investment

40:10

and that the same time. like for what

40:12

the numbers I'm the numbers person seasons. I.

40:15

Like a good amount of times. It's

40:17

just that we want to speak about

40:19

supporting. Local. I think that's one

40:21

thing that people that way to do because

40:23

I get it right. Less is a cafe

40:26

was right. You get the blue bottle jurors,

40:28

Starbucks, your loss along things like that. By

40:30

then you're you have Whole Foods, Trader Joe's

40:32

things. A guy who are. Base.

40:35

And lumber. It's big conglomerates

40:37

and. Sometimes. They

40:39

don't really. Care. About an

40:41

A. but as much. As. One.

40:44

May say and I think that

40:47

supporting your local small businesses vs

40:49

I would say like a big

40:51

conglomerate like that is very important

40:53

because. One. Day you'll be. You'll

40:56

go to a cafe or go to a

40:58

small local hardware store and things like that

41:00

and and you don't go to them anymore.

41:02

But and evil Home Depot You go to

41:05

Starbucks. You could Blue bottle and then. Maybe.

41:07

Someone's three months or even half a year or

41:10

year down the line. You're just like, hey, I

41:12

remember going to displays and they were so nice.

41:14

Well, blah, but I kind of forgot about them.

41:16

And. You. Go back of a

41:19

feel for runtime. Or an empty space.

41:21

I. Mean. The. Fact that stuff

41:23

for the small business but also

41:26

sucks because now you're you're and

41:28

maybe you thought you'd I didn't

41:30

support of enough both. More like

41:32

everyone just forget about a small

41:34

phones versus the big conglomerates and

41:36

which is why we the was

41:38

neighborhoods. We're going to neighborhoods that

41:40

we believe who. Are starving

41:43

for a certain type of brain and

41:45

we go in there because be we

41:47

saw be rich we saw what it

41:49

was lacking and we wanna go in

41:51

there to be the. Brand.

41:53

I can offer something. Different.

41:57

We don't expect. the

42:00

support, but we would like to support, I think,

42:03

in all small businesses, they would like to support

42:05

that they put their company in or

42:08

their brand in. And if locals

42:10

don't support them, the next person, the

42:12

next company that comes in could be

42:14

just another Starbucks or another big conglomerate

42:16

that just going to really not

42:18

care about the local community. They're just there

42:21

for the money. A big part of it

42:23

is like a lot of these small businesses

42:25

all depend on local businesses. They

42:27

don't really depend on people who

42:30

are three boroughs away or the next state

42:32

away. They depend on those who

42:34

are in the community. So

42:36

I think that's a big part of

42:39

what small businesses are like. And

42:42

small brands are like they want the

42:44

locals to support them. Yeah.

42:47

And supporting is everything from

42:49

spending your money there to writing

42:51

a review to even just

42:54

sharing your experience on social. And I

42:56

think sometimes customers forget that you might

42:58

not be able to go to a

43:00

place every single week, but how can

43:03

you spread the word when you do

43:05

go? And I like your point about

43:07

being intentional. If you map out supporting

43:09

small businesses and swap that in for

43:11

other things that you might be mindlessly

43:14

doing a small business or a big

43:16

business, you can spend your

43:18

money the way you want to. But it

43:20

does take a little bit of thinking. I

43:22

want a coffee. What's the small business that

43:24

I can go support? And I think it's

43:26

so important to call that out for customers

43:28

and remind them that that's

43:31

an investment in themselves and their community

43:33

too. Just like you said, they want

43:35

those places to be around, but then

43:37

they need to be action

43:39

forward about supporting them. Absolutely.

43:41

I'd say locals need to be

43:43

active on the local places

43:46

that they like. It doesn't have to be, oh,

43:48

for one, no, spending money there every day. It

43:50

could be writing a review. It

43:52

could be just like word of mouth, telling your

43:54

friends to talk about the place that you went

43:56

to the other day and buy, oh yeah, it

43:59

was delicious. Things like that. Or this harbor is

44:01

store, the guy helped me out so much. He

44:03

was just so into it to helping out and

44:05

things like that. It's not literally

44:07

all about the money part.

44:09

Granted, right, right. A lot

44:11

of small businesses are, their margins

44:14

aren't high. So supporting

44:16

them with spending is great

44:18

if you need it or if you

44:21

want to. But the other

44:23

part of supporting is the

44:25

getting the word out there to your

44:27

friends, your family, to locals, neighbors, things

44:29

like that. That's a very

44:32

important thing. If you

44:34

want the business to stay, you

44:36

have to help support in a way. And

44:40

that concludes our episode. I hope

44:42

you enjoyed it and were able to take a thing

44:44

or two away to implement in your own life. Whether

44:47

it's a new idea that you can bring back

44:49

to your business or a fresh perspective on how

44:51

to be a positive influence as a consumer,

44:54

we share these stories to inspire

44:56

and create more meaningful connections in

44:58

your local community. This

45:25

episode featured a conversation with

45:27

Matthew Wong, one of the owners

45:29

of Tea & Milk. Special thanks

45:31

to Holly Hanchie who helped edit this episode.

45:34

To learn more about the story, head

45:37

to yelp.com/behind the review

45:40

and check out the guest details and

45:42

episode takeaways. And

45:44

don't forget to subscribe to the show

45:46

on your favorite listening platform. So

45:48

you get an alert each Thursday that we drop

45:50

a new episode. To claim

45:53

your own Yelp business page and

45:55

start engaging with consumers, visit business.yelp.com.

46:00

Our theme song is performed by

46:02

Allie Schwartz and produced by Robbie

46:04

G of Messerl Sound.