•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

‘A strong passion for any object will ensure success, for the desire of the end will point out the means.’ Veronica Tjong, one of the owners of the popular Pancious pancake house, posted this William Hazlitt quotation on Facebook as one of her favorites. And when you see the passion and hard work that this energetic 26-year-old entrepreneur puts into her business, it’s no wonder that in the space of two years Indonesia’s first pancake house has grown from one outlet in Permata Hijau to five restaurants.

What’s so special about your pancakes?

Our pancakes are made with fresh imported ingredients using the proper method. It’s very important to mix the dough right when it comes to pancakes. We serve them fresh, made to order, from the kitchen.

Do you come up with the recipes yourself?

Yeah, all the recipes were thought up by the four of us. I love to bake! But after it became a business I realized you need more than just passion, you also need discipline and a sense of responsibility. You also need to take care of your employees.

What would you recommend for a first-timer at Pancious?

Well, our best-sellers are the blueberry cheese pancake and fresh fruit iced tea cocktail, so I’d recommend those.

Tell me how Pancious came into being.

The idea came in 2006 and the first Pancious restaurant opened in Permata Hijau in March 2007. We wanted to open a Western-style restaurant and we saw that there was no place in Indonesia that specialized in pancakes. You had to go to hotels or buy packets of pancake mix at the grocery store, so the four of us decided to open one.

Who’s ‘the four of us’?

My sister [Fransisca], my brother [Fredy], my cousin [Siska Tan] and myself. Siska and I were in banking and my sister was working for Caltex. When we opened Pancious we all resigned from our jobs. Fredy came later after graduating from culinary school and he handles the menu.

What’s it like starting a business without any experience as an entrepreneur?

To tell you the truth, Pancious is the first food and beverage business in our big family. It’s both challenging and surprising.

Surprising as in good that it’s become so successful, right?

Surprising as in complicated. We faced a lot of unexpected things. Customers only see what’s happening out front. But at the back of the house, there were a lot of things that I had to take care of.

Like what?

Problems with employees. Indonesian employees are somewhat peculiar. Once, eight out of 10 employees didn’t show up for work at our restaurant in Pacific Place on a Monday. We called them all, but no one picked up. I realized that was because we paid them double to work over the weekend so they didn’t need money and so they just didn’t come to work. We ended up sending over employees from other outlets. And another time, when we first opened in Permata Hijau, my employees were coming in early, not to work, but to take a swim in our swimming pool and have a party in our kitchen. They even used our cleaning cloths as towels!

How do you solve such issues?

I used to think that I could listen to their problems and we could work things out. But I realize now that it doesn’t work like that here. Here, being a dictator works better. There’s no need to explain yourself to them. You just say yes or no.

How many employees do you take care of now?

We have a total of 300 employees at the five outlets.

At the first opening of Pancious, did you help to greet and serve your customers?

I’m there whenever necessary. In the beginning, I was always on the floor to supervise my employees, I had a different role every day. But my favorite role is cashier [smiles].

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like to go out to eat, watch movies and go out of town every few months. Sometimes I go rafting, horseback riding in Puncak or head to Bali.

Describe Jakarta in five words.

Congested, exciting, hot, friendly and unpredictable.

What do you mean by unpredictable?

I was in Melbourne for seven years and the city was very slow-paced, stable and business was very predictable. In Jakarta, however, you cannot predict what’s going to happen in one or two years. For instance, the number of new pancake restaurants that popped up just one or two years after Pancious opened was unbelievable.



Veronica Tjong was talkingto Angelyn Liem.