Amran Abd Hamid, director and founder of Dapur Penyet grew up with the longing of achieving success in his life. Despite the setbacks of his first business attempt, Amran never gave up. Filled with determination and perseverance, he established Dapur Penyet to promote Indonesian cuisine. In a recent interview, the enterprising Amran talks about his business venture and the latest dishes he has for 2019.
Amran Abd Hamid hailed from the “Pearl of the Orient” but grew up in the idyllic countryside near Kulim. This self-proclaimed “kampung boy” had always wanted to make a big success of his life. After completing a degree in Corporate Administration, he worked towards being qualified as a member of the professional body for company secretarial practices and he succeeded at the age of 25. However, Amran never lost sight of what he really wanted in life. He then started his own company as a contractor in the water treatment industry. Unfortunately, that didn’t go well for Amran. “I was simply too young and inexperienced to run my own business,” he confesses.
It was over dinner with a friend in Singapore that the idea of Dapur Penyet cropped up. In 2010, Amran and his partner started their first Dapur Penyet outlet in the Maju Junction Mall in Kuala Lumpur and the brand now expanded into Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and Myanmar. Currently, there are some 150 outlets. Amran says, “I want food from the ASEAN region to get more recognition and to be presented in the quick service restaurant format.” He has definitely succeeded into making that happen with Dapur Penyet.
When one thinks of Indonesian cuisine, one of the most iconic dishes that come to one’s mind has to be the richly spiced and perfectly roasted “Ayam Penyet”. Dapur Penyet serves a delicious version of this dish which does not require its customers to wait for long before getting to indulge in this delicacy. A new addition will be added to the menu for 2019, and that is the “Ayam Gaprek”. Also known as “Ayam Gunting”, this Indonesian dish is prepared using a rather interesting cooking method known as ‘post-marinade’. Instead of having the sauce before the frying process, the “sambal” sauce is poured onto the crispy delicacy, coating every piece with its fantastic flavours.
Dapur Penyet has certainly come a long way and with the popularity and success it has achieved, it comes as no surprise when Dapur Penyet won the award for Emerging Franchise in 2017. “For me to be acknowledged as one of the best SMEs in Malaysia is one of the greatest milestones in my life,” says Amran proudly. He also mentions that it is his desire to have the company listed and further expand to other markets in the world.
Successful business expansion endeavours would require a great team that has the synergy and culture to move ahead with the leader. “I focus on business strategies and on building rapport between me and my employees,” says Amran. “Employees need to be very clear about the objectives of the company and I, too, need to know them well. I make it a point to meet with my staff on a regular basis.”
Amran leads a team of rather young employees and he looks forward to bringing out the full potential in them. “Young people are very savvy with social media but they need guidance and motivation that are a tad different than others,” says Amran. He believes that the youths need to learn the mechanism of a business from ground zero so that their understanding of it will be comprehensive. He also believes that young people would need to be disciplined and have integrity to be able to achieve the greater things in life.
