ASK Boy Manok founder and creative director, Izuwan Rabaie, what makes the business stand out, and he won’t begin by talking about ayam panggang. Instead, he’ll tell you it’s the brand that matters most.
For him, building a successful business has never been just about serving good food. It is about creating a brand that people remember long after the meal is over.
A memorable brand, he believes, is not built overnight, nor is it measured, solely by the number of outlets or customers. It begins with something much simpler – curiosity.
“I knew the Boy Manok brand was on the right track when people started wanting to know more about our brand and understand the products we were creating.
“As a creative director, I have countless ideas that I want to share. The challenge is that you only have a very small window to communicate those ideas to customers.
“So when people become curious and want to learn more, it tells me that what we’re building is beginning to make an impact,” explained the 39-year-old entrepreneur.
That shift in perspective did not happen overnight.
Like many entrepreneurs, Izuwan admitted that he entered the business with plenty of ambition and idealism, believing that creating something he personally loved would naturally attract customers.
Looking back, he now sees things differently.
“I used to think all I had to do was create what I wanted, and everyone would follow. But business doesn’t work that way,” he said.
Instead, he learnt that building a successful brand requires something many entrepreneurs often overlook – listening.
“It’s important to appreciate your customers and constantly listen to what they want. That’s the most important thing,” he added.
One lesson, shared by Malaysian entrepreneur and branding advocate, Pak Din Nasty, fundamentally changed how Izuwan viewed business.
“Produk yang bagus, esok orang boleh lawan. Jenama yang bagus, tahun depan belum tentu orang boleh lawan.”
In other words, while a good product can always be copied, a strong brand is far more difficult to replace.
For him, those words became more than just business advice. They reshaped the way he approached entrepreneurship, shifting his focus from simply producing a good product to building a brand that people could connect with.
Rather than concentrating solely on perfecting the roast chicken itself, he began thinking about how Boy Manok should be remembered – from its visual identity and storytelling to the overall experience customers have whenever they visit one of its outlets.
In today’s highly competitive food and beverage industry, where new eateries seem to appear almost every week, he believes a good product alone is rarely enough to guarantee long-term success.
Recipes can be replicated. Cooking techniques can be imitated. But trust, familiarity and emotional connection take much longer to build.
That belief also explains why the family continues investing in social media, content creation and collaborations with food influencers, not simply to advertise, but to tell the story behind Boy Manok.
For Izuwan, branding begins long before customers take their first bite. It is about creating an identity that people recognise and connect with before they even taste the food.
Ultimately, however, his ambitions stretch far beyond the Boy Manok name.
He hopes the brand will become proof that Sarawak businesses are capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with established names, both nationally and internationally.
“My hope is that what we’re building through Boy Manok will inspire more food and beverage entrepreneurs in Sarawak to believe that local brands can grow, earn international recognition and compete on a much bigger stage,” he pointed out.
Success, to him, is not simply about opening more outlets or selling more chicken.
It is about changing perceptions – proving that a homegrown Sarawak brand can stand proudly alongside bigger names without losing sight of the values that built it in the first place.
If Boy Manok can inspire even one more Sarawak entrepreneur to think bigger and believe in the potential of local brands, then, to Izuwan, that may well be its greatest achievement.
