For those with a paltry sense of humour, stay away from Frolick. You might not appreciate their slew of tongue-in-cheek, provocative slogans which accompany their tasty frozen yogurt offerings. A walk into one of their sleek, contemporary outlets, your eyes are treated with colourful visual delights, courtesy of bright badges stuck on the white walls with taglines like “We stay hard longer” and “Spankingly good”. Customers would also quickly observe that each and every one of the five Frolick branches are manned by young, perky girls no older than 20 years. Sounds dodgy? Not really, considering that Frolick's primary target audience is students between 15 to 24 years old. And the older crowd love Frolick's frozen yogurt as a healthier alternative to ice-cream and other desserts.

        Frolick began as a hole-in-a-wall operation in 2008, with a humble 100-sq-ft kiosk at popular restaurant and bar enclave Holland Village. Today, the brand boasts five thriving outlets all over Singapore. Established by a quartet of young entrepreneurs who are close friends, Mr James Ong, 29; Mr Ken Hsu Chen Kang, 28; Mr Leslie Ang, 30 and Mr Lee Yingxin, 28, Frolick had a startup capital of $100,000. The money was invested into brand conceptualisation and Frolick worked with local award-winning agency, Asylum to create the formidable brand that the company today represents.

        The quartet knew each other in school at Hwa Chong Junior College and remained close friends even after separating ways in university. Over many cups of coffee and brainstorming sessions, they discussed a spectrum of business ideas ranging from selling bubble tea to operating discotheques. They finally settled on frozen yogurt after Mr Hsu returned to Singapore from the States. He saw how the frozen yogurt demand was going strong there and it did not take much to convince his friends that they could successfully replicate the concept in Singapore.

        When it came to creating the right recipe for the rich, creamy yogurt that Frolick is popular for today, Mr Ong explained that it was a purely trial and error process and took them eight months to perfect the formula. The dessert making sessions took place at one of their mother's kitchens, determined to finalise the recipe. They roped in friends to get honest feedback and essentially devoured cups of yogurt on a daily basis. Their 99% non-fat and preservative-free desserts prove to be a great hit with consumers.

        Success at their first outlet was highly encouraging and they were able to expand to two other branches just within a year - a growth rate that many F&B brands are not able to reach. In fact, they were planning to open four more outlets within 2008, but due to lack of viable locations, they had to put off those plans.

        Today Frolick sees a barrage of competition from new brands which recently hit Singapore's shores, like Berrylite Frozen Yogurt, OiO Frozen Yogurt and Yoguru. But Mr Ong is unfazed by the competition, confident that their yogurt can withstand the heat from these new kids on the block.

How did the idea behind Frolick begin?
James Ong: The idea to start a frozen yogurt brand came about mainly because my partners and I always wanted to start a business; we all grew up on yami yogurt (the irony), and frozen yogurt was a proven concept overseas (in both Korea and the US). As for the brand “frolick”, I guess it had always been in our minds that whatever we started, the brand had to represent our characters.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in the startup phase of the business?
James Ong: I would say it was the allocation of work. When you start up a business, you can’t afford to have clear segmentation of roles and responsibilities, because your only available manpower resources are very often just your partners and yourselves.

Frolick now has five outlets after starting up just two years ago. Many local F&B brands do not see such growth in a short period. How did the brand expand so quickly?
James Ong: I would have to attribute this to strategy and a bit of luck. When we first started, it had always been our intention to adopt an aggressive strategy to get our product to as many places in as short a period as possible. We had a little luck in getting a good first outlet, which definitely helped pursuing this strategy that much easier.

Frolick has a distinctive brand that relates well with the youths. How was the brand identity created?
James Ong: The credit would have to go to our incredibly talented designers from Asylum. They were able to put to paper a brand that was representative of the characters of my partners and me. The fact that frolick resonates well with youths probably means that my partners and I might not have gotten past our adolescence (laughs).

Boldness sometimes comes with brickbats. Have you received any negative feedback about the edginess that Frolick represents?
James Ong: Definitely. We still get criticisms that the messages on our buttons are inappropriate and unsuitable for families.

What were your initial expectations when opening the first Frolick outlet?
James Ong: To be honest, we were hoping to just survive. We were very green at running a business and anything good happening was a bonus to us.

We now see many frozen yogurt chains opening up. What is your take on the growing competition?
James Ong: I think in a food haven like Singapore, Frolick’s competition goes past new yogurt joints. Unlike in countries overseas where different food concepts can be miles apart, Frolick is essentially competing with other dessert concepts for throat space.

What is the business outlook for the Frolick brand within the next 5 years?
James Ong: Considering the face that global warming is unlikely to take a backseat anytime soon, I would say we’re a “Buy”.

What is your advice to entrepreneurs reading this article?
James Ong: My advice is that it’s always better to start a business with close friends. The key word being “close”. This way, you will not have false expectations of each other in terms of abilities and commitment. Also, being close friends make it that much easier to resolve conflicts, and we all know conflicts are bound to happen!