Like any great food detective, snooping around leads to great new finds. After dining at Yank Sing, a high end dim sum restaurant in Rincon Center, I discovered yet another frozen yogurt. Similar to Pinkberry, the minimalist decor is refreshing. Readers who have not eaten frozen yogurt, read Lets Play Copycat: How to Build A Pinkberry.

Food. In the past few months, I have tried various frozen yogurt places around the Bay Area and the main key is to taste a full bodied texture, and Yo Cup delivers this. The service is also amazingly friendly. I was welcomed with samples. Wayne, the owner of Yogurtouille (frozen yogurt self serve) also delivers a great creamy texture. While Tuttimelon, owned by Roy, has a more icey taste.

Consultant hat.
I got a chance to met the President of YoCup, young and ambituous Meinoh Kim. With his black cap to the side, he shared with me the thrill and fear involved in owning a business. Formerly a mortgage lender, Meinoh has an obvious entrepreneurial spirit-in this case a swagger. We also touch upon burn rate.

Burn rate = how long can you operation survive with the money you have

Meinoh also expressed concern about the frozen yogurt craze creating so many competition around town. Competition benefits consumers with increased food quality and a price war.
My guess. Frozen yogurt is a craze and many will try to capture this market. Those who differentiate themselves will stay in this competitive game. Eventually, new products such as serving a sandwich or salad on the menu may come into play to increase the total bill.

As I have open stated, serving quality food is a must. But great food only accounts for about 20% of a restaurants success.

Other parts that lead to success
* service (great service generate word of mouth advertising)
* maintaining food cost (make sure you keep a healthy margin)
* technology (maintaining website and gathering data)
* finance (managing cost, creating a performa: anticipated forecast numbers)
* insurance (workers compensation,business insurance)
* purchasing (sealing deals with vendors)

Yesterday, my friend Cindy asked what I do on a daily basis. I told her I play all the hats she sees at her corporate job.

YoCup
101 Spear St
Ste A10
(between Howard St & Mission St)
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 777-1545
www.yocupyogurt.com