In order to open Twirl Pasta, Low gave up his S$10,000 (US$7,650) a month salary from his previous job and invested about S$30,000 to set up his stall. He currently runs Twirl Pasta with his wife, an ex-accountant who also recently left her job and helps him during her free time.
Low clarified that his wife didn’t leave accountancy to help him in his hawker biz; she just happened to resign around the same time he did.
“She wanted a change of environment, so she left. She had nothing to do, so I asked her to come and help me,” he explained.
Though he’s confident that he’ll recoup his investment ”soon”, the newbie hawker said he’s well aware that he won’t make nearly as much as he did in his previous career. He said: “I will not earn what I used to earn, especially when you factor in CPF contributions and medical leave. As a hawker, there’s no medical leave benefit. If you’re sick, that’s one day of earnings gone.”
Based on his current profits (minus the investment costs he has yet to recover), Low estimates that he makes around 50 per cent less than his previous job a month.
Giving the current high cost of living in Singapore, is the dad-of-two worried about earning enough to support his kids?
“I’m not concerned, I have enough savings to last me for at least half a year. Of course, we’ll have to see if this business is viable. But based on the first two months, it has been very promising. There are a lot of return customers, they’re all very happy with the food, and the business is pretty stable and good,” he said.
As he’s part of the hawker development programme, his rent at the hawker centre is subsidised, and Low gets a 50 per cent rebate on his monthly rent for the first nine months.
Since leaving the comfort of an air-conditioned office, James admitted that being a hawker is a lot more tiring. He said: “Physically it’s very tough. Injuries and burns are common, and we’ve only been open for slightly over two months, so we are still getting used to the flow.”
However, he told us that it’s all worth it. “I’m 50 this year, and I have been working for more than 27 years for people. Yes, I have had some successes in my career, but I’m looking for a new challenge. It’s time for a change. I don’t want to work under somebody anymore; I want to have my own business and work for myself,” he shared.
James reasoned that opening a hawker stall is a good mid-life career switch, especially since he is nearing retirement age. “When I was in engineering, I was once retrenched many years ago. So it’s something that people in my industry go through. When you hit your 40s and 50s, you start to think, ‘What if I get retrenched?’. So instead of waiting for that, I’m being more proactive in seeking my second career, so to speak,” he explained.