THEY may be barely out of their teens, but these girls are already running their own bar.

Meet Singapore Management University (SMU) undergraduates and entrepreneurs, Ms Shermeen Tan, Ms Shalini Arul, and Ms Nabilah Said, all 21.

The bar, Frujch, is the first bar at a local university. (See report below.) It is located in SMU's School of Information Systems at its Stamford Road campus.

It held its official opening on Tuesday - although it has been in operation since last September.

Earlier, the bar served only drinks, but it is now serving food as well.

The licence to serve alcohol was granted in September last year.

Getting it off the ground wasn't easy.

First, the third-year students had to beat seven other groups and survive a stringent three-round selection process by the university, which took place from last March to June.

This involved writing up a proposal and two presentations. The four groups of finalists were grilled by the school authorities on their business plans.

What drove the buddies - who have known each other since secondary school - was the need to create a cosy space for their peers.

Ms Tan, a business student, said: 'The city campus seemed quite corporate at first when we moved in.

'There wasn't any place for students to just hang out.

'What we wanted to create was a place for our friends to chill.'

Their task seemed enormous: They had to transform a bare recreational room with only pool tables and some sofas into a full-fledged bar.

As Ms Tan put it: 'We started from scratch. It was really difficult because we didn't even know how to go about doing things, like where to get stainless steel equipment and so forth.'

Bit by bit, they found their feet.

From looking up the Yellow Pages for suppliers, painting the walls, applying for a licence to serve alcohol and even flying to Bangkok to source for decor, the girls did it all.

Ms Said, an accountancy student, said: 'While we weren't really taken advantage of, some companies took a long time before getting back to us with quotes, maybe because we are young. But from that, we learnt how to be firm.'

They roped in Ms Tan's sister, Ms Sharyn Tan, 25, who quit her job as an assistant manager in an F&B outlet to lend her expertise. Currently, she earns just half of her previous salary, although she declined to reveal the figure.

In just 2 1/2 months last year, the once-stark space was transformed into a riot of colours with cosy corners and an area for a band to perform. Different student bands perform there.

The name Frujch - which sounds like fruit juice when said quickly - stemmed from the group's initial concept to build a juice bar.

This later evolved into a bar which now serves sandwiches, bagels, salads, wines, beer and house pours.

The three along with another partner - a business student who later pulled out due to studies - invested about $15,000 to $20,000, for their initial start-up. About 30 to 40 per cent of that came from their parents, and the rest from the girls' savings.

They are now returning a share of the capital to their partner who left.

JUGGLING STUDIES, BUSINESS,

Juggling both studies and bar duties proved tricky, with the girls spending an average of eight hours working, in addition to attending three hours of classes each day.

The bar, open only to SMU students, opens from 10am to 10pm on weekdays. It closes at midnight on Fridays.

But the normal hours can stretch even later when there are special events.

Ms Arul, a business student, said: 'We were tired all the time because we hardly slept.'

But she said her grades have not been affected.

Another issue they face is trying to manage costs. They are yet to break even.

Despite this, they have hired four part-timers who started work on Tuesday. They are paid $4.50 per hour.

Also, they get a free meal for every four hours they work.

Ms Tan said they have about 60 to 80 customers a day on an average.

She revealed: 'We earn less than $500 each day, but we hope that by introducing food to the menu on Tuesday, this will pick up.'

They have to pay the university a monthly rental fee, which is 'heavily subsidised'. They declined to reveal the amount.

But these budding entrepreuners are prepared to slog it out for their 'baby'.

Ms Arul said: 'Honestly, we're not sure if our bar will even make money, that might seem strange seeing that two of us are studying business.

'We just wanted it to be a place for students. As long as we can break even that would be good.'

Students seem to agree.

Louis Lin, 23, a third-year business student said: 'It's cosy and homely and it's become a gathering place for all students.'

Ms Arul feels being good friends with the partners has worked in their favour.

She said: 'We aren't just friends, we are each other's family in school. We know where we want Frujch to be headed, so we will work towards that.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Jan 12, 2007.