BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

How Singaporean Fried Chicken Chain 4FINGERS Grew Its Revenue From $2M To $30M In Only Four Years

This article is more than 6 years old.

4Fingers

What do you do when you get fired? Do you give up? No! You turn the company that fired you into a multi-million dollar business. That’ll show ‘em!

That’s exactly what Steen Puggaard, CEO of 4FINGERS Crispy Chicken did. After being fired by the previous owners for refusing to breach his fiduciary duties as a Director of the company, Puggaard returned as CEO and grew 4FINGERS from one outlet store to 21 in four short years. In doing so, he grew the company from $2M to a $30M business, from owned outlets excluding franchises.

I spoke with Puggaard to find out how he managed to achieve such an impressive turnaround and ultimately grow the business across Southeast Asia.

Joe Escobedo: What is one thing that very few people know about you?

Steen Puggaard: I am a former competitive rower and was the national champion in Singapore in 2004. I tend to be quite uncompromising in the pursuit of goals, something I learned from competitive sports.

Escobedo: How have you grown 4FINGERS’ revenue from $2M to $30M in only four years?

Puggaard: As a young, relatively new brand, we had the advantage and freedom of molding ourselves to match current trends and consumers’ demands. This is especially true in a market so saturated with established food chains. We are constantly on the lookout for ways to disrupt the status quo as opposed to blending into the wallpaper.

From an operations point, we take care of our staff while compensating them well so they’re committed and dedicated to the 4FINGERS’ brand. They’re the ones facing the customers and who better to convey what we stand for?

Escobedo: How has digital marketing and PR contributed to this success?

Puggaard: We put a lot of thought into what our brand stands for, connecting with our customers for the full brand experience from their meals to the music played in-store. For example, we created a 4FINGERS Spotify playlist that connects consumers across all the countries we’re present in. All tracks in the playlist were curated by the team. We also recently had an online game named Get cLucky. Customers received a special code with each purchase and they could go online for a chance to win a 5-star trip to Melbourne. This contest helped us boost site traffic by 30% and collect a good amount of leads for future activities.

Rather than be seen as just a chain serving fried chicken, we wanted to give our customers the experience of casual dining in a vibrant, underground setting. We’re about giving our consumers quality, tasty food that’s against the norm. Everything about us reflects this - our stores’ designs with the graffiti walls and subway signs, the grungy underground look of our website, down to our packaging. This all reflects the rebellion and disruption against the norm that we at 4FINGERS stand so firmly for.

Interior of a 4Fingers outlet

4Fingers

Escobedo: What’s your criteria for evaluating PR agencies?

Puggaard: An agency should be a partner for us rather than just a vendor. We look for partners who can get under our skin, understand our DNA and also be keen to use 4FINGERS as a canvas to create something new. The agency should be a partner who adds value rather than just execute, by proactively suggesting opportunities and looking at what’s talked about to not only ensure we stay relevant but remain a step ahead.

Escobedo: What are your global expansion plans?

Puggaard: It’s in our brand’s DNA to constantly disrupt the scene around us. In our world domination plan, we are focusing a lot more on mature western markets where people are fed up and unhappy with the old entrenched brands. We want consumers who are hungry for new and better companies, and are sick of brands getting too comfortable; brands who are losing their relevancy and competitiveness.

When identifying potential countries to launch 4FINGERS in, we make sure legal, financial and commercial criteria are in order:

  1. Legally, we prefer to do business in countries that respect the rule of law and the sanctity of contracts.
  2. Financially, we prefer countries where the currency is a multiplier, not a divider- markets with substantial spending power.
  3. Commercially, we look for consumers who are showing sign of brand fatigue; consumers who are disenfranchised from the old established brands and are seeking new brands with more relevance and better products.

Escobedo: How do you plan on using digital marketing and PR to achieve your global ambitions?

Puggaard: While the potential overseas markets like the U.S., UK and Australia, we are eyeing, are extremely competitive and cut-throat, we know we have an excellent brand to offer. If we ensure our brand matches the people’s needs and show them 4FINGERS is a brand capable of sparking a revolution, we can capture those markets. So along this journey, we will share the 4FINGERS story and connect with consumers through digital marketing and PR activations. We even have a music festival planned later this year to give back to our customers.

We also aim to use the right technology in our business. F&B is traditionally a very low-tech industry that’s slow to maximise the potential of technology. We want to be a totally technology-enabled F&B business - not just for marketing purposes - but to “uberize” the business.

We will be integrating tech in new ways for our global store openings. For example, all our training videos will be in an app format, including certifications and tests. We will also be launching our own queue-buster app with CRM capabilities that can be customized for each user. We hope to use tech and mobile tech as a way to engage and communicate with our customers, rather than just talk to them.

Escobedo: Besides 4FINGERS, what’s your favorite F&B outlet in Singapore?

Puggaard: Anywhere with good laksa!

(Got any other questions for Puggaard? Share them in the comments section!)

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website