SINGAPORE – When Mr Aston Soon opened Astons Specialties in a corner coffee shop in East Coast Road in 2005, he did so with some urgency.

His wife was six months pregnant with their first child. Then 33, Mr Soon had worked at a dog breeding farm and helped a friend set up a cafe. None of these jobs moved him.

But Mr Soon, who stopped schooling after Secondary 5, had worked at two American chains – steak and salad brand Ponderosa and roast chicken brand Kenny Rogers – from age 17 to 32.

With $40,000 from his own savings and loans from friends, he opened Astons Specialties. Its good-quality steaks, at down-to-earth prices starting at under $10 with sides, resonated with customers. Before the year-long lease was up, he had to look for a bigger space. He found it two doors down. Queues started forming as word spread.

Then the malls started calling. He started opening and opening. Now, as the brand marks its 20th anniversary, the 53-year-old has 37 restaurants.

While Astons is very much associated with well-priced, good-quality steaks, the group also runs Japanese and Chinese restaurants. There is even a shop in Joo Chiat called East Treasure Speciality Prawn Noodle.

Mr Soon also has a five-storey, 50,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Senoko that makes ready-to-eat meals, and can manufacture sauces and other products, and a catering arm called Jaz Catering.

It all grew from one coffee-shop stall. Others have tried to do the same. Why did he succeed? He says: “I threw myself in totally.”

Independent streak

By his own admission, Mr Soon did not see the point of going to school. He was happier working odd jobs. He started at age seven, helping his mother peddle huat kueh and other steamed cakes near Old Airport Road Market.

He was the second of five children, and lived with his family in Guillemard Road. His father ran a construction firm and later became a taxi driver, and his mother was a homemaker.

“Working let me meet a lot of people, learn a lot of things,” he says. “I enjoyed this freedom to decide what I wanted to do.”

His odd job stints included working in a coffee factory, serving kopi, working in a duck rice stall and selling Christmas cards door-to-door. “By Secondary 5, I stopped buying textbooks,” the Chung Cheng High School (Branch) student says. “My school bag had my pager and work uniform. Very often, I attended classes in the morning and would sneak out during recess to go to work.&rdquo...