Project-Kulaidelicacy

Seizing a market opportunity during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, I spearheaded the complete systematization of a home-based F&B workshop. Through a four-year rolling plan and iterative development, the project evolved from a disordered 2-person operation into a scaled delivery brand with a peak team of nearly 20 employees and monthly sales of 2 million pesos. Facing a market collapse due to a sudden policy shift, I successfully restructured the business into a sustainable, 2-person operational model before orchestrating my exit. This was not just a commercial venture, but an in-depth trial in building systems, managing crises, and achieving profitability within a complex partnership and a dynamic market.

Project Background:

In 2021, the pandemic created a massive demand for food delivery in the Philippines. A clear market gap existed for authentic Malaysian cuisine catering to the local Malaysian community. The project originated from my partner's informal home-based cake workshop, and we identified the opportunity to upgrade it into a professional delivery brand.

My Role & Responsibilities:

• As the project lead and systems architect, I held end-to-end responsibility for transforming an informal operation into a structured business entity. My duties spanned the entire project lifecycle:

• System Architecture & Process Design: Architecting and implementing all systems from scratch—including order processing, customer service, procurement, inventory, finance, and logistics—to evolve a 2-person workshop model into a standardized workflow capable of supporting a 20-person team.

• Operations Management: Overseeing menu R&D, establishing kitchen SOPs, managing the supply chain, and leading team development (recruitment, training, and management).

• Crisis Management: Independently handling all major crises, including supply chain disruptions, critical team member departures, labor disputes, and a market collapse triggered by policy changes.

The Core Challenge:

The project faced three primary challenges:

• Scarcity of Technical Skills & Talent: Due to pandemic restrictions, skilled Malaysian cuisine chefs were unavailable. I had to serve as the core technical expert and take on the responsibility of training local staff from the ground up.

• Undefined Operational Model: The food delivery ecosystem in the Philippines differed significantly from that in Malaysia. All operational processes, system selections, and customer behaviors had to be discovered and validated from scratch.

• Unstable Supply Chain: Sourcing key raw materials for authentic Malaysian food was difficult locally, requiring the development and maintenance of reliable import channels.

My Approach:

I adopted a Phased Rolling Plan, continuously iterating the operational model based on market feedback and internal conditions:

• Phase 1 (Jun 2021 - Mar 2022): Foundation & Market Validation

  • Product Strategy: Launched with a "Daily Special" menu to rapidly test new dishes, gauge market response, and attract an initial customer base.

  • Initial Systematization: Progressively upgraded the order-taking process from manual (Telegram) to a website-based system; established separate customer service channels, procurement SOPs, and foundational financial tracking.

• Phase 2 (Apr 2022 - Apr 2024): Scaling & System Deepening

  • Operational Upgrade: Relocated to a larger kitchen and structured the team into functional departments (Kitchen, Packing & Dispatch), introducing a more professional restaurant operational system.

  • Organizational Development: As the team grew to nearly 20, I established a formal organizational structure (Admin, Kitchen 1/2, Packing Dept.) and refined the compensation and membership systems.

  • Marketing & Channel Expansion: Officially launched the ordering website integrated with a POS system, achieving a semi-automated workflow. We also expanded our market reach by successfully launching on major third-party platforms like GrabFood.

• Phase 3 (May 2024 - May 2025): Crisis Response & Strategic Contraction

  • Risk Response: In response to a major crisis caused by an external policy shift that wiped out our core customer base, I immediately initiated a strategic downsizing plan.

  • Cost Control: Trimmed the team size, adjusted operating hours, implemented a zero-inventory policy to strictly manage stock, and streamlined the menu to reduce operational complexity.

• Phase 4 (May 2025 - Jun 2025): Restructuring & Exit

  • Model Redesign: Relocated the business back to a smaller workshop and optimized SOPs to enable a self-sustaining operation run by just two employees.

  • Project Handover: After ensuring the stability of the new model, I formally exited the project, handing over a low-maintenance operation to the partner.

Overcoming Obstacles:

• Core Internal Resistance: The Complex Partnership

  • The project's greatest challenge stemmed from the complex partnership. My partner lacked systematic business experience and was often guided by emotion in decision-making. This led to irrational resistance against the very systematization and standardization efforts (e.g., establishing clear departmental roles, enforcing SOPs) designed for growth. It was a continuous, secondary challenge alongside business-building to communicate, persuade, and use hard data to justify rational decisions.

• Operational & Systemization Challenges

  • Technical & Training Deficit: As the sole holder of the core culinary expertise, I not only developed and refined the menu but, more critically, created a replicable training system that successfully upskilled inexperienced local staff into core, independent kitchen personnel.

  • System Adoption: Rolling out new systems faced multi-faceted resistance. For customers, I lowered the barrier to entry by optimizing the UI/UX to mimic mainstream delivery apps. For the team and partner, I gradually built trust in new processes by demonstrating tangible results like improved efficiency and reduced errors.

  • Supply Chain Instability: I mitigated the highly unstable procurement of key raw materials by developing multiple backup supplier channels and establishing a dynamic inventory alert system, ensuring production continuity.

• Market & External Pressures

  • Intense Market Competition: As lockdown measures eased in 2022, the market became saturated with competitors, including several copycats. We retained customer loyalty through superior product consistency and a systematized membership program, ultimately outlasting most competitors after a policy change (gambling ban) reshaped the market.

  • Crisis & Compliance: When faced with a sudden employee labor complaint, I led a full overhaul of the compensation system. By engaging legal counsel, we realigned the pay structure with local regulations. While this caused short-term staff turnover, it fundamentally shielded the project from significant legal and financial risks.

Lessons Learned: This project was a real-world trial by fire, forcing personal growth in a structurally imbalanced environment. It provided several core lessons:

• Governance Over Execution: The most critical project risk stemmed from a governance structure that was ambiguous and reliant on emotion. I learned that without a clear framework, even the strongest execution cannot fix structural flaws and will lead to burnout from role misalignment (being an executor without final authority).

• Compliance as a Cornerstone: The "Jhon incident" was a painful but pivotal lesson. It taught me that legal compliance is the foundation of all internal systems, not an afterthought. Any "internal innovation" that ignores local regulations is fragile and indefensible in a dispute, meaning the project is flawed from a fundamental rule-based perspective.

• The High Cost of Intuition-Led Development: Lacking formal project management guidance, most processes were built through intuition and trial-and-error. While this honed my adaptability, it came at a high cost in time and resources. This experience clearly showed me the immense value of a mature methodology (like PMP) in reducing uncertainty and improving efficiency.

• The Double-Edged Sword of Rolling Plans: The project's use of a rolling plan was key to its flexibility in a volatile market. However, I learned that this flexibility becomes a liability without a stable governance core. Without a clear decision-maker, each "roll" of the plan can become a power struggle rather than a data-driven iteration, increasing chaos instead of managing it. Agile methods require a stable governance structure to be effective.

• The Importance of a Strategic Exit: In a crisis, intense effort can sometimes be an attempt to use execution to patch a broken system. This experience taught me that operational success cannot mask governance failure. Recognizing the signals of a structurally failed project and making a timely exit is a more critical strategic decision than "persevering to the end."

1. PMP-Informed Project Rebuilding

Abstract: Reflecting on the initial phases, a crucial insight emerges: insisting on a formal Project Charter from the outset would have been paramount. This foundational document would have compelled early, albeit difficult, conversations about critical elements such as roles, responsibilities, and ultimate decision-making authority. Such proactive engagement could have exposed inherent structural flaws, preventing significant investment of time and effort into a potentially misaligned trajectory.

1. • Link to Article: From Profit to Resilience: Rebuilding the KulaiDelicacy Project with the PM 

2. Leading Through Dual Change

Abstract: The KulaiDelicacy journey was marked by a dual challenge: transitioning from "rule by person" to "rule by system" internally, coupled with adapting to drastic external shocks like sudden policy changes. This narrative highlights how a small F&B team navigated resistance to standardization, embraced data-driven decisions, and strategically managed both internal friction and external market disruptions, ultimately leading to a "successful retreat" while preserving core assets.

2. • Link to Article:  From Resistance to Resilience: Navigating Organizational Change