Know the Difference: Business Model vs Food Category

In F&B industry one of the biggest misunderstandings is that people confuse business model with food category. Just because you want to sell ramen, fish & chips, or Thai curry doesn't mean you need to follow the most common way it’s sold. A dish is the product. A business model is the delivery system — how it's offered, priced, staffed, and structured. You need to separate the two first, before making any real decisions.

A business model is how something runs.

A product — like fish & chips, or dim sum, or laksa — is what it sells.

You can’t assume one should automatically go with the other.

You might want to serve Thai curry in a tapas-bar setting.

You might want to offer ramen through a cloud kitchen, not a cozy shop.

The product and the model are separate — and need to be chosen wisely.

We all learn by copying. But copying blindly — without decoding the system underneath — is a shortcut to failure.

When I observe a great concept, I don’t rush to adopt it.

I ask:

What impressed me?

Is it the menu structure? The pricing logic? The workflow?

Can I guess the kitchen system just by reading the menu?

How do the staff move? What’s the rhythm of the room?

Does it belong to my species — or should I just admire it from afar?

Some places impress me with craftsmanship. But I don’t have to turn admiration into imitation.

Because we’re in different ecosystems. Different conditions. Different minds.

Understanding your own business model is already hard enough.

No need to carry someone else’s on your back.

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