To help grow the business, Chu set LuxBite up on social media from the outset.
“Every time I create something I put it on Facebook and Twitter,” he says.
“I was very hard-working with social media and even now I make sure I post at least one thing each day. After almost three years I still do it myself. It’s the most important thing ever for a business.”
Once people started to appreciate LuxBite’s Asian-infused creations, their zany nature worked in Chu’s favour.
“A gimmick is very important for a lot of businesses. I can make say a curry laksa macaroon, but I always make sure it’s delicious and not just a gimmick. It’s about making people open to new flavours so they’ll come back for them.”
Chu’s experiences working in high-end restaurants have influenced his own decisions about his workplace culture. He believes in teaching the younger employees how to respect food and appreciate food, as well as each other.
“Anyone who wants to do work experience, I’ll say yes. If they call for a job and we’re hiring, I’ll give them a chance. We don’t need superstars; we train people the right way. Plus superstars can be hard sometimes,” he says.
“All young kids in my kitchens are fresh out of school and find it hard to get a job in the industry. It costs a lot of money to train people, but I love it, it’s like a baby, we train them from scratch. They’re like white paper. I get them to blind taste the chocolate and everything from the suppliers I’ll get them to taste.”
A humble man, Chu’s proudest of how much customers love his cakes and being able to pay his staff and bills on time each week.
“Regardless of if we’re quiet or busy, as long as each week I can pay my suppliers, my staff and my rent, I’m proud of myself. I don’t want them to worry if they’re going to get paid. I want them to see what I do and hope that they’ll do the same for their staff one day.”
Each day, Chu closes LuxBite at 7pm and has a staff meal where everyone “sits down like a family and talks”.
In his spare time Chu gives his support to other friends running small businesses.
“I go to my friend’s restaurants and I like seeing what other people do, you never know if there could be a chance for a collaboration.
“My hobby is my work though, that’s why I come here every day. I love talking and seeing our customers, I belong in the kitchen. My staff are so good though, I feel like I could leave now and just go to Japan for a week.”
Unlike many business owners, Chu doesn’t believe in seeing other businesses as the competition, instead he prefers to collaborate with them to further both their businesses.
“We’re big on brand sharing and we do lots of collaborations. We’ve collaborated with Adriano Zumbo and our friends at a local gelato shop. We believe that business through friendship is important – it’s a young, cool and funky way to do business,” he says.
“Everyone in Asia just tries to kill their competition, it’s horrible.”
LuxBite is working with Melbourne hot chocolate brand Mork to help spread awareness of the brands by sharing their audiences. This year Chu also worked with Adriano Zumbo, Cupcake Central, Tivoli Road Bakery and some Sydney businesses to raise money for cancer research.
Looking forward, Chu is content perfecting LuxBite’s offering and feels no need to open a dozen stores.
“My passion isn’t there to have four more shops, but I’ll never say no. We’ve used the extra cash from MasterChef to revamp our website and we’re making LuxBite better than ever.
“Next year we’ll be ready for our second challenge. Opening a second store becomes easy because everything is already in place. You know how to do the packaging and the people know how it will work. But if we have a second shop it will be a totally new concept with funky looking tarts done in the LuxBite way.”
