Biang. Biang.
That’s probably the sound the team at Biang Biang Noodle Bar will hear when they close shop for the last time.
The Malaysian noodles brand, known for the eponymous “biang biang noodles” (a wide Chinese noodle dish that’s usually hand-pulled or torn), has called it a day. The business announced March 12, 2025, that it would be shutting down their last outlet in REXKL by the end of this month.
Lots have changed since we featured the business just last August. At the time, the business had seemed poised for growth, with plans to cater to a more Muslim-friendly market via pork-free kiosks.
But unbeknownst to us, stormy weather was already brewing underneath the surface.
Speaking to Vulcan Post, the last remaining founder Kha Weng shared just what went wrong.
The cost of inexperience
If the reason for Biang Biang Noodle Bar’s closure had to be summarised in one word, it would be “inexperience.”
But even though Biang Biang Noodle Bar was the team’s first venture, they actually had experience with running a franchised outlet before. In fact, that was what inspired the team to further delve into F&B.
“It was so easy to operate, and easy to monetise also,” Kha Weng said.
Unfortunately, things are “totally different” when it comes to operating your own brand.
One of the biggest mistakes was not coming up with an SOP (standard operating procedure). About a year into the business, they finally confronted the negative management account. That’s when they began talking to industry peers while working things out with their accountant.
Kha Weng also believed that the founding team had been too hands-on in the beginning. That’s right, too hands-on, rather than off.
“We were always in the outlets, like, all the founders,” he recalled. “It’s good to have founders in the outlet, but you need to have someone outside of the zone also.”
Sometimes, when you’re too involved in the nitty gritty details, you might end up missing the forest for the trees. Since everyone was too focused on the small picture, they couldn’t properly steer the ship for the longer journey ahead.
It didn’t help that the other founders left along the way, too, which brought on its own set of emotional challenges. Eventually, it was just Kha Weng trying to salvage everything, still believing that there was potential in the brand.
One last hurrah
Their last bet, it turned out, had been to focus on the halal crowd.
Sales had been stagnant, and they had no idea how to turn a profit. So they took a chance on the Muslim-friendly market.
The concept worked at their REXKL kiosk, so they turned their SS2 outlet into a pork-free eatery as well. Sadly, this didn’t work for the location. In fact, it might’ve jeopardised the customer base that they had grown there.
“The conversion was wrong,” he said about the pivot.
All this while, Kha Weng chugged on, trying to make things work. But when he realised they had burned all of their cash flow, he knew it was time to stop.
As he put it, “It’s time to give up.”
An inkling of hope
Looking back, he believes they should’ve hired professional help to fine-tune the noodles as soon as possible.
It took them one and a half years to fine-tune the noodles through trial and error, but they had no real experience with flour. And while they were fixing the noodles, they didn’t prioritise marketing.
“It took us too long to figure things out, and to learn, and to fix all of the mistakes,” Kha Weng shared. “That’s why I conclude [the closure] with inexperience.”
But now that he has the experience, what’s next? For Kha Weng, he hasn’t completely given up on the F&B industry yet.
He shared to Vulcan Post that he’s still talking to some interested parties to possibly come up with future plans. After all, it wasn’t that Biang Biang Noodle Bar’s products had been bad. It was simply the operational side that couldn’t give the concept its best shot.
“I hope we can come back,” Kha Weng expressed.
For now, Biang Biang Noodle Bar will continue serving customers at REXKL until March 31, biang biang-ing for the last time.
- Learn more about Biang Biang Noodle Bar here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about F&B businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Biang Biang Noodle Bar
