In the Spotlight: Grab a Dough with Joe!

Damien Koh and Dawn Wee have been busy round the clock – from their recent wedding in September to a new outlet which opened its doors in early November – and they barely squeezed in a 3-day trip to Bali all in the middle of everything (Dawn shares sheepishly in a personal meeting that it’s been tough to make time for holidays since they started Joe & Dough). The pair has been putting in much time and effort into their cafe business and results speak for itself – 4 outlets and a bakery in 4 years, all these without any in-your-face above-the-line advertising. Purely by word-of-mouth, a Facebook page and website (they do delivery too, great for those lunch meetings and events!), Joe & Dough’s hard work has indeed paid off, and we are proud of this homegrown brand exceling in the competitive retail business.

One hands too many in the industry, how does Joe & Dough differentiate itself? Dawn shares “Before we embarked on our plans, we noticed that there was a market for specialty coffee which emphasizes on using good quality and fresh beans roasted in small batches and coffee crafted by skilled baristas. There were also only a handful of establishments which served true artisan coffee and quality gourmet sandwiches which Damien and I believed these two go hand-in-hand for a wholesome experience.” Needless to say, this paved the birth of Joe (for “coffee”) & Dough (for “sandwiches”) as the focused items on the menu. Having a business of her own has always been Dawn’s dream as a child, and she shares memories of selling stationery to her younger sister. Looks like the entrepreneural spirit was fueled back then!

Armed with intensive market research and a solid business plan, this looks easy to fire away with, right? All was not easy peasy for the couple. Being young and green in this line, many suppliers were not keen to work with them given the initial small orders. Also, since the brand was very new, one of the key challenges was to build awareness amongst both end-consumers and B2B partners alike. Dawn recalls “My learning curve was very steep and I had to learn literally everything required to start the business in a very short time, even if I liked it or not.” Now, Joe & Dough works closely with a local well-known roaster on a special blend of 100% quality Arabica beans roasted in small batches to ensure “freshness” in every cuppa. Even breads, cakes and pastries are handcrafted from their very own artisan bakery (Joe & Dough supplies to other local cafes such as Toby’s Estate and Selfish Gene, to name a few!) which eliminates preservatives and artificial flavourings from the recipes, keeping only the real good stuff with fresh, quality ingredients in every bake, coupled with traditional baking methods and the human touch, something which is often missing as many mainstream factories churn them out by machines these days.

Stemming from the heart of goodness, Damien and Dawn are also earnest in giving back to the community to help make a difference in someone’s life. Any unsold food are donated to non-profit charity, Food from the Heart, on a daily basis. At the Communi’Bake Project in July 2012, Joe & Dough team put on their kitchen gloves to put together the world’s largest cupcake mosaic heartily created with 20,000 cupcakes and 1,000 people which set a new Guinness World Record!

The duo also knew that “no man is an island” and they needed a strong team to make things happen – 2 pairs of hands are definitely not enough to build a cafe overnight. Like many other local retailers, they experienced difficulties with recruiting the right people with the right attitude. “One of our greatest satisfaction is to see our team progress with the business. Some of the junior members who started with us back then have also advanced to bigger roles in the company. In fact, our very first Store Manager is still working with us today!”, quips Dawn.

The success behind Joe & Dough lies beyond the founders’ firm belief in building a cohesive and efficient team and creating a fair workplace for their dynamic squad. Staying rooted to the brand’s philosophy is also important, as many brands and companies start to lose sight of their initial values as the business takes off. “We are very clear of what we want our business to be, and the way we make and serve our coffee and sandwiches. We want to serve good coffee by getting the basics right such as getting the coffee brewing techniques and coffee proportions right, and using the correct cup sizes,” muses this petite lady who needs her daily brew to kickstart the day. “Making our sandwiches using fresh artisan breads with no preservatives, as well as interesting and quality ingredients, and toasting the sandwiches before serving them to our customers are just some simple rules we abide with to maintain consistency throughout the outlets, anytime of the day.” It’s definitely heartening to know that Joe & Dough is regarded as a place where people can enjoy simple, honest food and coffee that are comfortingly familiar with every visit. This is what the Joe & Dough brand prides itself for: handcrafted, simple, honest quality food.

Working with someone close is something that can make or break the bonds too. This couple who have been together for a whopping 16 years (WOW!), have grown together through the tough times and especially more so, as a business partner. At the early stages of the business, these Chung Cheng High (Main) schoolmates used to argue often over differences in opinions and ideas but have since learned to split their scope of work and responsibilities. Dawn sheds some pointers “I think it’s essential to have mutual respect for each other and be able to talk about things with an open mind. We have to always watch how we talk to each other and it’s really hard for me as he is my other half for so many years. It’s also important not to let our egos get in the way with the best interest for our business. I know that we can achieve much more and grow the business faster together as a united team as opposed to working individually.
” Definitely useful tips for those in a dilemma over a husband-wife team, but we know Damien and Dawn complement each other perfectly like “Joe” and “Dough” – the ideal recipe for an everlasting relationship.