A bubble tea franchisee is taking an existing Chatime location in Maple, Ontario, to all-new levels
By Suzanne Bowness
Victor Kwan always knew he wanted to own a bubble tea store. After all, he recalls many happy hours spent as a customer in bubble tea shops, hanging out with friends, playing cards, and feeling like a part of a community.
So, when the Chatime franchise in Maple, Ontario, a neighbourhood in Vaughan, north of Toronto, came up for resale in April 2023, he was ready to buy in. “I always wanted to own a store, this was on sale, and I took the opportunity to buy it,” says Kwan, adding that he also valued the brand. “Chatime is a top name that comes to mind, and the franchise is well organized.”
A business consultant who has previous restaurant experience, Kwan says that both facets are important to have as a franchisee in the Chatime system, with the latter perhaps the most valuable, given the importance of knowing how to interact with customers. When he contacted the franchise, Kwan says he tried to show his enthusiasm for the business, and to build a business case for how he would run the store during the vetting process.
Getting started
Since his location was pre-existing, Kwan wasn’t starting from scratch, although he did go through the same training as any franchisee, which included learning the franchise’s business processes, payment systems, ordering, scheduling, and products. And, of course, how to make bubble tea. Lots of it.
“You go through that process, get the in-store training, then we went to the head office in [nearby] Markham to learn to make the drinks in a low-stress environment. They bring all the staff in there to practice, and you learn to make different bubble teas,” he says. The training process takes a couple of weeks, full time.
For better or worse, Kwan’s first day in business was no less busy than if he had opened a brand-new store; in fact, it was probably busier, because the franchise had an existing customer base. “It was hectic,” admits Kwan. “It’s a little bit like starting a new job: you have to learn how to do everything. At the same time, the customers expect the level of service they [experienced] before.” Kwan says he was fortunate that the past owners allowed him to train in the shop, and he also got a break in the weather—last April began cold but later had a hot spell that produced a boom in business. Still, that first month, he and his team were all hands on deck with the store operations: opening, closing, training, doing inventory, and ordering.
In the months since, Kwan has been figuring out the rhythm of his store. The hours are 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday, remaining open on Fridays and Saturdays to 11:00 p.m., and at this point his schedule involves stopping at the shop for two to three hours about three times a week to handle staff development and inventory operations. He manages the rest of the administration, including payroll and scheduling, mostly from his home office so that he can spend his time at the store coaching staff.
Building a strong team
Staffing has been the biggest moving piece of his business, as the previous owners, who were working in the store, moved on with the change in ownership. With only four or five staff at the start, Kwan ramped up hiring to the point where he now has about 14 employees, all part-time. “My staff are great! It’s a fun time when I go into work and discuss the business,” he says.
As an owner, Kwan spends a lot of his time in staff development and training his team and working to improve the store. He tackles problems methodically and works with his team on solutions. For example, when he took over his location, the shop’s Google review rating was 3.6/5.
“We took the opportunity [to improve] and started creating mini projects,” recalls Kwan about how he and the team slowly worked on the challenge. One feedback point in the reviews was that the store was a bit messy, so they developed a cleaning process and schedule to ensure it was always clean. Another was the impression that staff seemed unfriendly because they were unable to recommend drinks to customers, so Kwan put a stronger focus on training to help servers know the difference between drinks and how to make recommendations when customers described their tastes.
Today, the restaurant is up to 4.5/5, a huge improvement. A sampling of top reviews now includes “Stellar service, quality, and location” and “I’d recommend ordering pickup online as the place was packed.” Not only is the love pouring in online, but they consistently get compliments in person. “Customers will often say, ‘You guys are my favourite Chatime, your staff are so friendly,’” says Kwan proudly. His store also recently won a best customer experience award from the franchise.
These sentiments also add to the sense of community that Kwan is working to establish long term. He notes that his store isn’t in a mall, but is close to a supermarket, so people have to make a special trip. This is another motivation to continue to focus on the customer experience. “Our current marketing strategy has been to promote ‘bubble tea dates,’” explains Kwan. “They range from romantic to non-romantic dates and highlight that bubble tea is a great social activity.”
Overcoming obstacles
As for the challenges of the business, one is the cost of operating—from ingredients to labour to leasing—especially in this economic climate. Another is the fact that bubble tea is a crowded space these days, meaning that staff have choice in where to work, and customers have choice in where to buy their bubble tea, says Kwan. He tries to never take either group for granted and notes that this knowledge is part of the reason he chose franchising—and it’s also why he works so hard on customer service.
“I would say that Chatime is an ecosystem already, with their marketing, point-of-sale systems and tech integrations, scheduling system, and training, so you don’t have to develop all that before going into business,” he says. For Kwan, one of the joys of franchising is just being part of that ecosystem. “I enjoy the business aspect of running the store, as I get to practice my leadership and managerial skills. It’s both humbling and rewarding, as there is much to learn and implement.”
In terms of advice, Kwan advises patience and resilience as two top personal qualities that owners should possess. “In business, there’s always something to fix, always paperwork and sales, always a worry if you don’t have enough staff. You have to enjoy being accountable and responsible for all that. You have to enjoy the ups and downs.”
So, what’s next for Kwan? He says that his current goal is to increase profitability, create systems and reminders that will keep his staff operating at a high level, and grow his community—all while drinking cup after cup of his favourite bubble tea (currently matcha roasted milk tea) to remind him of his early days when he started this journey as a customer.
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