I have loved swimming for as long as I can remember. At 19, after a stint as a lifeguard and swim coach, I decided I had found my life’s mission — I hoped to reduce the number of drowning incidents among young children by teaching as many children to swim as possible.
Honestly, we would not have started Happy Fish Home if not for the contractual agreement with our investors and landlord that we had to fulfil. We would have to forfeit our security deposit and pay a penalty. After a 10-month delay, we opened on Nov 27 last year. Our other six branches, which had also been closed for more than 10 months owing to the pandemic, could resume business.
Later on, as other industries were starting to make a recovery, we were still running only at 50 per cent capacity because of safe distancing measures and a slower enrolment rate. Since the pandemic hit, we have been working to simplify our business processes and cut down expenses. We outsourced our administrative work so we could focus on customer service. We also took some lessons off the menu, such as platform diving lessons, competitive swimming lessons and lifeguard courses.