Born from the love of home-cooked food, Makan Thing is a home-based food service that caters home-cook cuisines for small gatherings with family and friends. Makan Thing is founded and operated by Amiza Nur who also uses the platform to share her passion for cooking and experimenting with new flavors.
How did Makan Thing first come about?
The idea for Makan Thing came to me when I was desperately looking for reasons to quit my full-time job. Previously, I was working as a Store Manager at a plant shop in Subang Jaya. Given that I have always been cooking and creating flavors at home whenever I had friends over or when I am alone, I decided to take that leap of faith and quit my job to pursue my passion in cooking. I also like the idea of how people can connect over good food. Of course, it was terrifying at that point in time as I did not have a safety net or a back-up plan and I contemplated it for months before making that decision.
What was the biggest shift you’ve seen in the brand since it started?
I first started Makan Thing during Ramadan in 2019. Back then, I only had 3 to 4 orders per month. Things only started to pick during the Christmas period in December when I introduced a new dish called, ‘Roast Chicken Fat’. Since then, more orders came in and I am able to cater to more people now. In terms of workflow, I am a lot more disciplined and organized in handling the orders. I have also learned how to better manage my time so I can take in more orders.
What is one lesson you have gleaned from managing your brand thus far?
It would be taking things one step at a time. When I first started Makan Thing, I had a lot of ideas and visions as to what I wanted the brand to be. As I was pretty impatient, I wanted to do all these ideas and visions I had in my head but I realized that might not happen due to the limited resources. I also did not have much savings when I first started out so I reevaluated what I wanted to get out of Makan Thing. I decided that I had much to learn about the food industry and made my own rules in deciding what is the best way forward for me and Makan Thing.
How do you source the ingredients you need to make your dishes?
I will get most of the stuff I need from the local supermarket. I buy fresh ingredients for the week and I will prepare them according to the orders I have received for that week. Since I really want to keep that ‘home-cook’ feeling in my products, I do my best to prepare my menus in small batches so that it is fresh.
Given that I have always been cooking and creating flavors at home whenever I had friends over or when I am alone, I decided to take that leap of faith and quit my job to pursue my passion in cooking. I also like the idea of how people can connect over good food.
What is the best part about managing your brand?
Being my own boss! I enjoy the fact that I do not have a fixed schedule and I get to decide when I want to take a break. This flexibility allows me to make sure that I am always happy in doing the things that I love. Occasionally, I do hire part timers or pay my friends to help me out when there are too many orders. Some extra hands always come in handy when I am running a one woman show.
What do you hope to achieve with your brand?
I hope to partner up with someone who shares a similar passion for cooking so that we can develop new ideas and menus for Makan Thing. I also dream of opening up my own restaurant where I can have my own place to try out different things and share that with the people who visit my restaurant.