Unless you've been living under a rock for the last five years, you would have heard of a certain online food review publication called Sethlui.com, founded by SMU alum, the eponymous Seth Lui (BBM, 2010) himself. Amidst the myriad food blogs and publications in Singapore, Sethlui.com has had the distinct honour of not only being one of the first in the food and beverage (F&B) industry, but also one of the top, with 2.5 million page views per month. Read more about how Seth -- whose passion in the F&B industry started back in SMU -- surmounted several odds, with dogged determination, to pivot into a foodie reviewer and marketeer to be reckoned with.
Hi Seth! How was your SMU experience? Did you enjoy your time in SMU?
SMU was a great learning ground for me where I could afford to experiment with many new things without any mistakes being fatal. The small classes made it more intimate amongst students and professors, which was definitely an advantageous environment for training students to be more outspoken. Even now in the industry, I’ve heard numerous feedback on how SMU students are more able to market and present themselves better than other universities, which I credit to SMU’s fundamental pedagogy.
Unfortunately, due to my commitments to our student-run café project (SCREME) in Year 3 and 4, I wasn’t able to go on student exchange, but I did do a short (then) Overseas Community Involvement Project (OCIP) as well as go on an overseas business mission. I would definitely recommend students to take on these overseas opportunities whenever possible, which SMU provides in abundance. I also had the chance to try new fringe CCAs such as Fencing and Windsurfing despite being a complete newbie.
(Seth, extreme right, during his SCREME student-cafe days as a Year 3 student, solidifying his desire to enter the F&B industry full-time)
It can get immensely competitive at times, and that could be good or bad depending on your objectives and personal character. I’ve had haters, naysayers, backstabbers and the like, which also forces me to reflect and hone my people management skills -- these soft skills one picked up from the numerous projects in SMU are invaluable assets for any career.
I’ve seen many successful entrepreneurs come out of SMU but support back then seemed to mostly favour technology-driven companies, with pure F&B or retail segments taking a backseat. From a strategic standpoint, this made sense for SMU but it did come off a little cold and cutthroat at the end of the day. I for one wasn’t able to leverage much from SMU after graduation, but I have seen good support for fellow peers.
Overall, SMU is a great environment with ample opportunities and I enjoyed myself while I was a student there.
Please share with us about your journey in F&B, starting from your pop-up stall in SMU.
My first foray into F&B came after winning a university-wide pitch for a basement space in SMU’s SIS building back in 2008. Our team ran and operated a simple student café called SCREME with subsidized rent for 2 years which was when we really dipped our toes into this industry.
After graduation, I knew I wanted to continue in F&B and was building a proposal as well as gathering funds for my next retail project which was known as MAKESHAKE. In the meantime, I worked full-time in the restaurant industry as a server/bartender in order to get more experience despite the higher pay in another industry which my degree could have otherwise gotten.
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| (Seth, second from left, during his MAKESHAKE foray upon graduation) | (Seth during his MAKESHAKE days) |
MAKESHAKE’s team successfully obtained the SPRING ACE startup grant and together with personal funds, I managed to pool enough capital to setup our first kiosk. After a while, due to inexperience and falling sales, we eventually had to close the business after a 4-year run.
Towards the end of my MAKESHAKE venture, I dabbled in F&B marketing consultancy and eventually built my food blog SETHLUI.com originally as a method of exploring new F&B businesses, giving tips and also to market my services.
Eventually, publishing reviews and recommendations would blossom and boom instead, hence a decision was made to pursue advertising services more instead, as the opportunity matched my skillset. As the business grew, we’ve developed out of a personal blog into a full digital publication with multiple full-time photojournalists and videographers as well as an office space in Toa Payoh.
(Seth with his co-workers in his current office in Toa Payoh)
What motivated you to embark on entering the food industry or creating your own food review site?
Motivation mostly came from seeing success and building upon it. The little battles won, such as the first viral article I wrote, prompted me to replicate such an article and figure out how to monetize traffic.
I loved the fact that I could combine all my interests into one business, namely food, writing and marketing. I wasn’t particularly amazing at each individual passion, but I was good at putting it all together to create something new that works.
What were some of the challenges that you faced along the way?
There’s really too many to recount, but the major challenge would be the willingness to give up short-term comforts for long-term goals. With a degree from SMU, a typical monthly pay could be around S$3000 easily back then, but when you start a business from scratch, I would pay myself $300-$500 a month just to bootstrap and ensure the business could survive longer.
I don’t think many people can get over this physical and psychological barrier of earning so little in order to risk on future returns that are unknown. But making this first step and just trying it out despite all external factors screaming for you to quit is a significant obstacle to overcome. We’ve had disapproving parents, eyeball-rolling spouses amongst many other externalities which have seen would-be entrepreneurs just freeze or drop out.
However, this life is your own, and you shouldn’t make decisions based on what others want or expect. Only you are your own limit.
What would you say is the “secret ingredient” of your success?
To call the current business a ‘success’ is a little presumptuous because I personally don’t think we’re there yet and everyone defines ‘success’ differently. If I had to pick something to attribute to our current working business model, it has to be the willingness and grit to sacrifice short-term gains for long-term rewards. Oh, and supportive friends and family help immensely, of course!
(Seth with his myriad accomplishments and celeb pals)
What is the greatest misconception that people may have about online food blogs and publications?
I think many people still assume it’s one person writing all these articles, but in Singapore, many food ‘blogs’ have evolved into online publications with many writers. The author byline is usually missed by the reader, but it is clearly stated in the article. The founder now takes on a more business-development and curation role rather than physically writing.
Many people have also adopted a myopic view on what a 'good' publication should be about. For example, getting flamed for the author not being a chef, and thusly 'unqualified' to talk about food, or having less than perfect Queen’s English grammar in our writing. Honestly, there’s no perfect combination, and being excellent in only one trait would never be sufficient to produce and market the content that we do.
If you didn’t start Sethlui.com, what else would you have done/pursued?
I probably would have still pursued something in F&B but on a corporate scale. My university internship was in Nestle Singapore, and applying to their Management Associate program was something I seriously considered, instead of starting my own F&B business. (Editor's note: A pity for the French F&B giant, but a gain to the F&B industry!)
What advice would you give to juniors who would like to enter the F&B marketing industry today?
F&B isn’t the most lucrative industry compared to other industries such as finance; you really must have an insurmountable hunger and passion for it.
It’s also challenging to profit from F&B given how low the barriers of entry are vis-a-vis margins of return, but it isn’t impossible to break into it as long as you can find your competitive edge. Other than a retail front, there are various alternate ways to work in F&B and it’s important to gain more exposure across various experiences to find out what opportunity matches your unique skills.
For any kind of marketing role including F&B, the tying of direct sales results to marketing strategy is the single most important baseline in order to figure out whether your tactics work and how good a marketer you actually are. The most delicious restaurant in the world will never flourish if no one has heard about it.
