How burnout broke this Singaporean cafe proprietor’s dream

All seemed candy on the surface, however the proprietor of Cafe Lilac was burning out internally

When Chanel Li misplaced her job as a cabin crew member through the COVID-19 pandemic, baking grew to become her escape. What started as a interest quickly went viral, and in 2022, she took the leap to open takeaway-only bakery Whisking Bakes, earlier than changing it right into a full-fledged dine-in Café Lilac.

The enterprise thrived—a lot in order that Chanel even baked for Korean pop icons like Tremendous Junior and IU. From the surface, every part seemed good. Which was why it got here as a shock when, simply months after we featured her and the café in Apr 2025, Chanel introduced that the café would shut when its lease ends in Could 2026.

However behind the expansion and accolades, burnout had quietly crept in. Vulcan Submit catches up with Chanel to learn how the burnout manifested through the years and the lesser-known psychological challenges that entrepreneurs face to maintain their companies alive.

Burnout turned her pleasure right into a chore

Beginning a enterprise will be exhilarating, however the identical spark that fuels it will possibly additionally devour. Café Lilac was open seven days per week, with Chanel overseeing each job, from baking to advertising. The relentless grind quickly took a toll, and he or she ultimately determined to rent extra workers to share the workload.

That selection eased the bodily calls for however shifted her duties to the components of the enterprise she loved least—funds and administration. “Truthfully, I simply don’t get pleasure from that,” she admitted. “So working the enterprise grew to become extra unfun.”

Even buyer interplay, as soon as her favorite a part of the job, started to really feel draining. With workers dealing with routine enquiries, Chanel discovered herself coping with the hardest and nastiest complaints—even on her days off.

On a visit to South Korea along with her mom, Chanel spent an hour on the Gangnam bus terminal fielding insults from an irate buyer over a cake order. “My mother needed to sit in a café and wait whereas I stood there with my baggage, speaking on the telephone,” she recalled. A partial refund resolved the state of affairs, however the sting lingered.

Encounters like this weren’t uncommon. Within the F&B trade, the day by day accumulation of sad prospects can weigh closely. But, enterprise homeowners additionally know they’ll’t merely shut their doorways when they’re exhausted. Consideration is available in waves, and income throughout busy seasons usually retains them afloat in slower months.

“When you consider a job or profession, usually folks would say to do one thing you like, proper? Flip what you like into one thing that you’ll earn you cash, and also you received’t really feel such as you’re working a day. However I wish to refute that.”

“I don’t suppose that’s actually true as a result of in some unspecified time in the future, when the factor that you simply love turns into the one supply of earnings for your self, and when it’s at a degree the place it’s additionally the supply of earnings for different folks, and you might be accountable for that, then it’s very completely different.”

A lonely weight to hold

Because the boss, Chanel had nobody to show to when issues went improper. At 23, most of her friends have been nonetheless in class or working company jobs, unable to narrate. 

“You [also] can not complain [to your staff] and say ‘oh this month we’re not doing as effectively, I’m feeling harassed, are we going to have the ability to make sufficient cash?’ as a result of you may’t trigger panic with them.” 

Even making certain the café continues its clean operations piled on stress. Housed in an outdated HDB block at Lavender, the unit’s defective wiring induced weekly energy journeys, usually mid-service. Chanel invested hundreds in repairs, however when the issue endured, the city council and her landlord stopped helping her. 

“The subsequent step is to actually like cease operations, tear out the ceiling and redo every part, which would require one more large sum,” lamented Chanel.

The mounting stress pushed her to search for new areas, however the search was disheartening. After a number of rejections and a disastrous unit viewing, she lastly reached her breaking level.

“It grew to become a degree the place the quantity of revenue I used to be incomes from the cafe was not value the quantity of stress I have to endure.”

“It’s both I take the chance and go someplace that may price much more, which implies that the stress will enhance extra on me as a result of I must then be sure I can’t slack off. I’ve to maintain working more durable to ensure that the gross sales will be capable to cowl no matter prices we have now. And in relation to that time, it feels very dreadful.”

Even with assist from her husband and long-time workers, Chanel felt responsible about closing. “It felt like I had no proper to surrender,” she confessed. In desperation, she turned to an unlikely outlet—ChatGPT. 

“I used it like a therapist,” she laughed. “It instructed me ‘I suppose you already know the reply in your coronary heart already. It’s simply that the cafe has at all times been your security internet. So do you wish to proceed with a life simply residing in security or do you wish to take the braveness to step on the market?’”

That perspective gave her readability, and with sufficient financial savings put aside, Chanel gathered the braveness to formally announce Café Lilac’s closure initially of Sept. 

Discovering the correct steadiness

Wanting again, Chanel has no regrets. She nonetheless loves baking and low, simply with out the relentless stress of working a café. 

Her priorities have shifted too. In her early 20s, safety meant chasing most income. Now, as she approaches her 30s, she appears to be like to construct a household and dwell a slower-paced life along with her husband.

For different entrepreneurs, Chanel stresses that keenness alone is just not sufficient, and there must be emotional boundaries set to stop one from being over-consumed by their ambition. “I feel our society now, we are sometimes instructed that doing extra is best than doing much less. So I feel everybody can be certain to face burnout.”

Chanel advises pondering rigorously about the right way to construction your corporation so it really works for you, not the opposite manner round. Which may imply cutting down hours, simplifying choices, or limiting peak-season commitments to make the operation extra sustainable. 

Delegating duties, even ones you dislike, can will let you concentrate on the components of the enterprise the place you actually add worth. “In case you’re at a degree that you simply’re already burnt out, however the enterprise nonetheless must proceed, then you should settle for much less in different areas to have extra for your self, like extra time and relaxation, however much less income and earnings,” mentioned Chanel

Since asserting the closure, Chanel has satirically seen orders surge and a rise in folks visiting her cafe. Greater than 20 enterprise takeover affords additionally got here in, however as a substitute of speeding, she’s taking her time. 

For as soon as, the timeline is hers to regulate, and that has helped her regain the happiness she had misplaced.

After spending her 20s constructing Whisking Bakes and Café Lilac, Chanel is prepared for the following chapter exterior of the F&B trade. And for different entrepreneurs, her story is a reminder that generally, understanding the right way to tempo your self is the easiest way to maintain what you like.

• Be taught extra about Cafe Lilac right here.
• Learn extra tales we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.

Featured Picture Credit score: Cafe Lilac