Consistent profit and hard work is allowing brothers Jacob and Ammon Chung to expand Five Sushi Brothers. Five Sushi Brothers is a late-night sushi delivery restaurant in Provo, which opened in May 2016.
“This is a completely self-funded company. Everything that we do comes out of our own personal pocket,” Ammon Chung said. “We have been as cheap as possible.”
The brothers raised about $8,000 in donations to help start the restaurant. So far, they have spent about $25,000 according to Ammon.
When they started, the brothers paid $250 a month to rent a Mexican restaurant, Mi Lindo Guadalajara. They operated during the Mexican restaurant’s off-time hours.
“It turned out to be a terrible idea because of the amount of space, but it was all we could afford at the time,” Ammon said.
Since then, the brothers have moved to Landmark Catering. They pay $500 a month there. Their rent is comparatively inexpensive because the brothers’ father, Bo Song Chung Jr., is a general contractor and has agreed to renovate Landmark Catering’s building.
Low rent costs is one of the reasons why the brothers have stayed afloat. Most restaurants in Provo go out of business due to rent costs and not being able to break even, according to Jacob Chung, a junior at BYU.
The brothers also believe their success is due to college students gravitating toward the restaurant. Five Sushi Brothers is open from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Most restaurants are closed at these hours, except for fast food restaurants, explained the Chungs.
The brothers have recently recruited four interns from BYU to help with aspects of the business such as graphic design, photography and marketing. They said they hope these interns help them spread their business. On top of that, Jacob, a marketing major, works with online marketing and Ammon works with fliers and branding.
Marketing is “our biggest cost next to employees, because we know how important it is,” Ammon Chung said.
The six chefs start out at $9 hour. Peter Jensen, a senior in information technology at BYU, is a chef at Five Sushi Brothers. He said he feels the pay is fair and the environment at work is fun.
“Just because (Ammon) is my friend, I would have done it for free, just because I like him so much and it’s so fun,” Jensen said.
Jacob said he anticipates more growth for the restaurant soon. The brothers plan on remodeling a car wash as their new facility so they are the only ones using it. They also plan on opening at 7 p.m. and closing at 1 a.m. The brothers’ long-term goal is to franchise Five Sushi Brothers.
We want to open “in other college towns where people are up late at night,” Jacob said.
Ammon said the goal is to open a second franchise by January.
