I fell out of a lawyer school to start a snack brand. Here is my advice.

This essay is based on a chat with Chris Hwang, a 33-year-old accomplice GoldSingapore snack brand. It is edited for length and clarity.

I'm Chris Hwang, the Golden Duck cover. At 23, I fell out of a lawyer school to start a snack brand that is now sold in more than 3,000 stores around the world a decade later.

The golden duck is a gourmet snack brand that shapes Asian flavors like salted egg yolk. Our vision has always been Ben & Jerry for snacks.

We started the little one. In 2015, we brought only one product – salted egg yolk chips.

At first our volume was so limited that we made products in the home kitchen. As a result, we could only make about 50 packs a day.

As it started to become more popular in Singapore, we increased business.

Adding workers, maintaining quality and controlling processes as we increased were the most difficult parts of our trip.

We also have many storms of weather conditions. The pandemic was a very bad time for the company and all our tourist income evaporated overnight. We had to reduce our workforce from 200 to 120 and tell our friends that we were on board that we could no longer work together.

Based on the experience of running a 10 -year gold duck, here are five tips that I would give to everyone who would think about creating a new brand.

1. Start and test cheap

If you think about it and you are not yet, just start.

You don't have to give up your work. You can do something on weekends, but start building a road card.

Nothing stops you from testing it right now. You don't have to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars things, especially in the AI ​​era.

So, if you have a dream, just start.

You may fail at first. This is actually my fifth startup, but the failures gave me a fire to leave it inside and work crazy.

And when you start, test with as little capital as possible.

I have seen people start companies for $ 5,000 and a rake of several million dollars. I have seen people start to break up and some have increased tremendously.

I think people don't do it enough. You don't have to spend a lot of money to test a business idea.

2. Know your client

Really check out your client.

Fall in love with them, give them a name, know where they stay overnight, have a whole idea of ​​how they spend their budget and what things they care

With this method, we found success in Singapore, Hong Kong and some other markets. To scaling it around the world, we need to identify this customer so we can talk to them.

Our target customer is 30 years old. He doesn't have to drive a car, but some of them do it. He lives for 15 minutes from downtown Singapore.

He loves his food. He is very active in social media, be it Instagram or Tiktok, and he loves to share the best pieces of his food trips. He has big dreams.

You must be specific about who your customers are to effectively market them.

3. Updates for your client, not for your own

You need to upgrade what your consumer wants, not what you want.

I love snacks. Often I am my client, but not always. Do I have the same taste buds as the Italians? Or the French? I don't do it.

And I have to recognize it. So, when I go to these markets and try these products and see what their best sellers are, I know what I'm going to.

Then it's my challenge, can I make my product better for you, not better for me?

4. Today, authenticity is king

People around the world create authentic experiences.

We all know what delicious sour cream and onion, and we all know what the grill tastes. But why not be sour cream and Sriracha, one of our latest spices in the canister row we started in 2024?

Now everyone knows what is truffle taste, but why not be a truffle wagyu? Again, this is one of the flavors we started.

And I see a trend that people are not only looking for interesting one -off experience. They are looking for interesting new staples.

So, I think there is a very strong case that touches not only asian flavors, but also all of Maitsi from around the world. There is a huge opportunity.

5. Failure small, fix quickly

I know that many entrepreneurs have shared tips on small failure, so I'm not beating that drum anymore. I think everyone knows what that means.

However, improving after failure is crucial. So you failed small and what? Do you just sit there and say, “It didn't work?” Not

Entrepreneurship is related to evolution. Most companies will not find their niche until good one to two years.

This means you have to it. OK – may – maybe your customer does not like it. They may -they like a little more salt. May -that they don't like chips. May -that they want a pack of potato wings instead of chips.

If you do not improve after all these small failures, you just call it too early.

Because entrepreneurship is like life. It all consists of developing, changing and growing.