New year confetti are being cleaned up along with several
nameless small businesses who couldn’t afford to continue any longer. Deep rooted
anxiety of tomorrow has crept up and business owners are pulling their sleeves
up for the steep hill. Amongst all this clutter stands a noble business man “Uncle
Bread” from Singapore.
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| Pics courtesy : Strait Times, Singapore |
Every day for the last 55 years, Mr Foo (known fondly as
Uncle Bread) sold fresh breads to residents of Serangoon gardens and
Seletar Hills Estate. The 78-year-old would go around tooting his Toyota
Van’s horn to inform his customers, the bread has arrived. He would be
surrendering his van keys for scrapping and would be retiring this Wednesday 11
Jan 2017. "Uncle, take care, I will miss you,"
said a teary Filipino helper, who lives in Seletar Hills Estate, who has
been buying bread from him for 12 years.
This simple man with humble business is the talk of the town
today and for all the right reasons. Mr Foo had always greeted his customers
and been regular in selling bread. He even obliged to take detour to sell to
customer who was moved away from Serangoon gardens to Braddell. Mr Foo thinks it was the customer's way of
making sure he had business. Some even made special requests for a
particular kind of bread and Mr Foo went out of his way to get it. Several customers
had accounts with him, which is recorded in a notebook and would only pay him
at the end of the month. And then there
were some niche details and agreements with his customers who had unique ways
of informing him whether they needed bread for a day or not.
Uncle bread had made deeper connections with his customers,
with his consistency, service and attention to details. Personal touches like
greeting and attending to unique needs can go a long way in making sure the
business continues even at changing times. He is a perfect example as how a
small business could make an impact in customers lives, small yet in
significant manner. When asked about what
he wanted to do next by Strait Times he replied “My daughter has been asking me to retire, and says she will give me an
allowance. I want to read the Chinese evening paper properly and enjoy a slow
walk in the park.” Which I think
is a perfect exit strategy ;)
Srivatsan Aravamudan
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Pre-Sales, Communications and Digital Marketing Manager
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