Samuel Yik, Founder & Managing Director, Dian Xiao Er Group | The CEO Magazine

When Samuel Yik first spotted an industrial oven during an audit at a five-star hotel, he didn’t see just another piece of commercial kitchen equipment. The now Founder and Managing Director saw a new future for himself.

After five years as an auditor and another three as an accountant, Yik had grown increasingly unfulfilled with life behind a desk.

“A nine-to-five desk job, staring at the computer, was not suitable for me,” he tells The CEO Magazine. “Plus, I knew that working in a traditional job would never lead to financial freedom.”

But after seeing the universal oven producing consistently roasted meat with the touch of a button and without a highly specialized chef, Yik realized owning a restaurant was no longer an impossible dream but a viable business opportunity.

A foodie at heart with a penchant for roast duck, he decided to take the leap. And the gamble paid off. Since it was founded 24 years ago, Yik’s Chinese restaurant Dian Xiao Er, famous for its herbal roast duck, has become an award-winning sensation, with 19 stores across Singapore.

Against the odds

Singapore’s food and beverage industry is not for the faint hearted. Rents are unforgiving, labor is scarce and margins tend to be thin – even in good years. And that’s before taking into account all of the economic shocks, health scares and global pandemics that have brought the sector to its knees.

Yik admits success did not arrive easily. In fact, he recalls the business being hit by an extraordinary sequence of setbacks.

---

---

Advertisement

First came the SARS epidemic and then came the transformation of Chinatown’s streets – a lengthy year-and-a-half pedestrian redevelopment project, which cut off vehicle access to his restaurant entirely.

“I was really broke soon after starting the business,” he says.

Decades later, the COVID-19 pandemic proved the ultimate test. As many restaurants struggled to remain open, Yik managed to double Dian Xiao Er’s revenue, thanks in part to earlier years spent investing in technology, operational efficiency and disciplined decision-making.

The feat later earned him recognition as EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Food and Beverage in 2024.

People before profit

Ask Yik what he believes carried the business through each crisis, and his answer isn’t technology or pure grit and tenacity; it’s people.

“To maintain quality and operating efficiency, you need loyal staff. If you’re constantly training new people only to have them leave, every new hire has to go through the same learning curve,” he points out.

“To me, everything comes down to having a strong, united team. I’m fortunate to have that today. Many of my team members have been with me for more than 20 years.”

Yik is clear that his role is not in the kitchen, but in shaping culture.

“I can’t cook, and I don’’t pretend to be a chef. My job is to build the right culture,” he explains. “That’s what I focus on every day – creating a philosophy of service and instilling the right values in my people.”

At the heart of that philosophy is a simple belief that a business is only as strong as the people behind it. Every company has its own strategy, he explains, where some compete on service and others on price or products.

---

---

Advertisement

But for Yik, success ultimately comes down to a handful of words.

“A company’s strength comes from happy people,” he confirms. “When my team is happy, they enjoy serving customers. When they feel supported and have a sense of wellbeing, they naturally perform at their best.”

That belief underpins a range of HR initiatives at Dian Xiao Er, including interest-free loans to help eligible employees purchase homes, assistance with securing Singapore permanent residency for foreign staff, additional hospitalization insurance beyond mandatory requirements and ongoing recognition programs designed to support both financial security and personal wellbeing.

“A great leader is someone who can win their followers’ hearts, not just through financial or material avenues, but through wellbeing and fulfillment as well,” he says.

Trust paid on time

The same logic filters down through the company to supplier relationships like those with Mua Hin Poultry Farm and The Soy Company as well. While many businesses maximize extended payment terms to improve cash flow, Yik deliberately takes the opposite approach.

“We always make full payment on time,” he says. “We want to be our suppliers’ premier customer.”

In return, he asks for full-quality goods with no shortcuts and a single delivery point through the Group’s central kitchen rather than multiple drop-offs. It is a simple strategy, he concedes, but one that depends on having the cash flow to sustain it.

Yik reveals that his ambitions stretch well beyond Singapore these days. Following previous expansion into Shanghai and a franchise in Phnom Penh, his long-term vision remains clear – to expand globally.

His leadership motto, borrowed in part from Virgin’s Richard Branson, sums up how important his team is in getting there.

“Train them so well they can leave, but treat them so well they won’t want to,” Yik says.

For him, that means investing in staff development while ensuring the workplace gives people no reason to walk away.

It’s a formula that’s already carried Dian Xiao Er through two decades of crises. And while other employers may not see the same merit in such an approach, Yik believes it’s critical.

“The real competition isn’t between companies – it’s between the quality of their people,” he concludes.