| Izah Azahari |
YOUTHS in the country are finding their niche and discovering their talents while diving into the world of business to look for sources of income as well as self-employment and Md Firdaus bin Zulkipli, founder of Take5, is no exception.
Inspired by the outbreak of cafes opening up nationwide, the idea for Take5, explained Md Firdaus, came to him during his time in university when he realised that he will be working for the rest of his life for the next 40 to 50 years.
Seeing many examples from family and friends who have nothing to look forward to with their daily routine of waking up and going to work, Md Firdaus decided to start something that he can look forward to, and what better way to express his love for food and cooking than to start a food business.
An avid viewer of the Asian Food Channel, Md Firdaus told the Bulletin that his dishes were inspired by those abroad from the UK, Australia and the US.
“It really hit me in January, as I am planning to get married and I need the money. I’m hopeful that this will be one of the ways to obtain it,” said Md Firdaus.
“The idea came from one of my favourite places in London – Chicken Cottage, where they serve these really good chicken barbeque wings.”
Md Firdaus bin Zulkipli, founder of Take5, during an interview with the Bulletin
Employees and staff members of Take5 in a group photo. – PHOTOS: DEAN KASSIM
Md Firdaus went on to explain that when he came back to Brunei, he started craving for the chicken wings. So he decided to experiment and make it during Hari Raya which became an instant hit which led to the idea of starting a small business.
During his one-year gap after taking his degree and before pursuing his Masters, Md Firdaus started his home-based business selling chicken wings with the help of two cousins through social media.
“I met this professor from Singapore during my Masters, and he had asked me what I wanted to do after graduation. I replied that I wanted to join the army because of the pension,” said Md Firdaus.
“To which he answered – you can get money anywhere, but if you don’t do something you love for the rest of your life, you will regret it. So that’s when it hit me.”
After graduating in August, Md Firdaus began planning for the opening of a physical shop in January and had finally officially opened it on May 1 this year.
He stated that after a while of being home-based, it felt like it was time to open up a physical shop, which was a challenge during the first two months, but the reception from the public encouraged them to push forward with their new breed of food and drinks.
“I hope that if the youths want to do some-thing, they should start a business that can help others too. Like myself, I help people eat and they’re satisfied with the food and drinks,” explained the founder of Take5.
“It’s quite interesting to see so many Bruneians starting up a lot of businesses, whether big or small.”
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