Spotlight | Jinhee Yi, Happy Too

1 May

A local entrepreneur taking on the big guys.

Published on 1 May 2019
Photography by Morgan Smith

Jinhee Yi is comfortable pushing the boundaries. A successful entrepreneur, his current business is HappyToo, a local delivery service that brings restaurant food straight to your door. And he has just launched the HappyToo app on Android and iOS! Download it now to prepare for your next busy/lazy night in.

We caught up with Jinhee on one of his client visits to learn about his move from Korea, and what he hopes for our local entrepreneurs.

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First things first: why Toowoomba?

Warwick was the first place I lived in Australia. After few months, we decided to move up to Toowoomba. I was born and raised in the busiest cities in Korea (Daegu and Seoul). Due to those busy environment, I personally like quiet, less traffic and the friendly city vibe here in Toowoomba.

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what is happytoo?

HappyToo’s mission statement is to make customers happy too using our service.

To do this, we collect great food in town on our customers’ behalf and deliver to their place. Food is always great element to make people happy!

HappyToo is competing with other delivery companies, but we do things a bit differently. We’re aiming to help local businesses grow by increasing their sales. We also offer a greater variety of options because local businesses support us – we work on together. We regularly train our delivery crew on how to deal with food and customer service. They are the person who meet our customer; therefore, great customer service by delivery buddies is one of our key points.

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What have you learned about running a business in Toowoomba?

I’ve learned a lot of things.

The Toowoomba market is not big like other metropolitan cities; this, ironically, is good opportunity for me. How? Because I can try anything I like with quick trial and error! I believe that entrepreneurs create new markets rather than complaining about market size.

I do find it a challenge to always need to prove everything in order to move forward. I find that there is not a huge appetite for uncertainty or risk here.

What does an average day look like for you?

Early morning – I’m kind of a morning person. I like to get up early, do some exercise and start working!

Morning & Afternoon – my main role is to meet business clients (shop owners), so I spend this time going out and meeting them. If they need any support, I assist them.

Lunch & Dinner Delivery – I’ll do some deliveries at lunch time, and also guide our other delivery buddies to complete their tasks without any issues.

Weekend Delivery – Weekends are our busiest time. From 5pm, I do almost everything – customer care, organising orders, keep customers updated, sending information to buddies etc.

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What do you wish for in toowoomba?

I’d personally like Toowoomba be more active for this younger generation. I’m not talking about clubbing! We need easy-to-use spaces for performances, affordable food stalls and markets, and more variety of events for young people. Walton Stores is one of the good examples of this. They have been making it fun place for young people with live music and great food.

In terms of entrepreneurialism, I really hope Toowoomba’s young people try to do something new, which changes or improves our community. But in order for them to try, we need more support programs.

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