Meet the Singaporean - Tony Ang

In 2020, Tony Ang and his young family made a bold decision to move into a 5-room resale flat in Jurong West despite uncertainties over his job in the hospitality sector. “Our firstborn who was 2 years old then, was growing up fast, and my wife and I knew we’d need our own flat sooner,” he says.

In order to better negotiate with the house owner, Tony and his wife did months of substantial research and house hunting so that they could have a good grasp of the market. They eventually paid about $400,000 and did not have to fork out any extra cash over the valuation for the flat. Tony shares, “Though I had concerns over finances at the time, I was grateful that we could move into our flat with minimum outlay of cash.”

(Photo by Maven Potter)

Tony also chose to purchase the flat because it was a stone’s throw from his parents’ place. “It’s important for us to have our home near our parents so they can help to look after the kids whenever we are busy. Otherwise, it would be difficult for us to juggle the kids, house and work at the same time.”  As a HDB buyer living near his parents, Tony was eligible to tap on the Proximity Housing Grant. He also received the CPF Housing Grant as a first-time home buyer. “All these housing schemes and grants have helped my family own a flat in a more affordable manner,” he adds.

A Safe Space to Explore

After the move into his newly-purchased flat, Tony also found himself at a crossroads of wanting a career pivot. His inspiration came when he received a box of freshly-baked egg tarts lovingly crafted by his mother, who wanted to surprise him and his wife.

Tony’s mother had been refining her baking skills through SkillsFuture courses. With her egg tarts perfected, she baked and gave these delectable treats to her family and friends as a gesture to convey her care and affection for them. The highly-raved reviews and growing requests for his mother’s egg tarts sparked an epiphany in Tony that she had a winning recipe.

(Photo by Maven Potter)

Despite claiming to be “not much of a baker”, Tony quickly learnt the ropes from his mother. In a short span of about two months between April and June 2020, he experimented with baking egg tarts of different flavours such as orh nee (yam paste), brown sugar with tapioca pearls , and even savoury ones like chicken ham. All of his genius ideas were born out of the humble kitchen of his new home.

“Moving out from my parents’ place to our new home gave us the room and mental space to experiment with baking,” Tony reflects. “With expenses for the house being defrayed through different grants, it also gave me the confidence to have a go at entrepreneurship, knowing that my financial safety net was not compromised.”

From Kitchen Experiments to Entrepreneurial Dreams

As their family expanded with the birth of his younger daughter about a year after moving into the flat, so did Tony’s egg tart business. Having built up his customer base, Tony was ready to commercialise his egg tarts business. He rented a store-front in Havelock area before moving to Lavender, and their reputation for scrumptious egg tarts grew.

(Photo by Maven Potter)

The expansion of the business also brought about challenges. From purchasing commercial ovens that could bake about 120 egg tarts every round to churn out bulk orders, to digitalising their business processes with the use of an integrated Point-of-Sales system to manage sales and inventory, their overheads grew exponentially. Thanks to the Enterprise Singapore’s Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG), which aims to help businesses enhance their processes with technology, he managed to pull through.

“As a small business, we have no deep pockets for our start-up capital, so every support counts. I’m glad that despite a challenging climate in 2020, I could actually fulfil my dream of creating something I can call my own,” says Tony, who is now 33.

As the business grew, Tony’s wife decided to join him full-time to expand their venture. The business has evolved from a primarily business-to-consumer (B2C) model to a business-to-business (B2B) operation, supplying corporate clients with delectable egg tarts and other sweet treats such as viennoiseries and strawberry mille-feuille.

Business That Grows with the Family

Even though gone are the days when Tony would churn out batches after batches of egg tarts from his home oven, those memories would stay with his children, particularly his elder son who had the front row seat to see his parents build the business from scratch. Tony’s son and daughter are now five and two years old respectively.

(Photo by Maven Potter)

“My children see us working, baking and experimenting in the home kitchen. They are growing up in an environment where hard work and passion go hand in hand. Sometimes, our eldest even helps out with small tasks like weighing the ingredients we need,” Tony says with a smile.

He elaborates, “Our home isn't just a space to churn out business ideas. For me, it is also where I get to enjoy the things I love, such as aquascaping. For our little family, this is a special place where we create memories.”