Q. What does food mean to you? Is it only a word or a feeling?
A. Food is fuel for the body. It’s necessary and inescapable component of Life. Food is history, identity, sovereignty, culture, belonging, resistance, health, nourishment, love. And so much more. Food is Zero Miles to me and it’s close to my heart. When I think about my experience with food, my thoughts immediately go to Zero Miles – Grill & Cafe. Food is a glue that bring family and friends together and keeps us together. In Kashmir much of our activities and celebrations revolve around the food. Bourdain said it best in Japan: “I learnt something…. that it is ok to blow your money on meals, because at the end of the day it’s not just the food. It’s all of the things, all of the people and all the experiences that comes with it.”
Q. How did you get your start? What were the struggles and challenges you faced in this job?
A. Starting Zero Miles – Grill & Cafe was a dream and passion. It is no surprise that opening up a restaurant with no knowledge of food business comes with a fair share of responsibilities that require you to be on the feet. It took us seven months of constant designing, overlooking and perfecting every little detail before we inaugurated Zero Miles – Grill & Cafe on 16th Aug 2018. Developing and executing a solid business strategy for the restaurant is extremely important in order to make the business successful. In Kashmir tapping the right employee is a difficult task while training them as per your restaurant guideline is a more significant challenge. While starting up a restaurant, you also need to create a human resource structure from scratch. Finances were a biggest struggle to start the project since you need money to do everything from securing the location, to purchasing the equipment and supplies needed to do the business. The restaurant business looks very exciting. But there are multiple aspects that need to be taken care of it to get the right business mix. It’s a fickle business. Restaurants come and go. Tastes change. Good staff are hard to find and soon become complacent. You as the owner have to be a cook, an accountant, a human resources expert, a purchasing manager, a cleaner, a food safety expert, a marketer – a jack of all trades. The hours are long and the profits small. Restaurants run on passion. In short If you are building a startup – Keep a microscope in one hand and a telescope in the other. In the early days be involved in everything.
Q. What does hospitality mean to you?
A. When it Comes to Hospitality and Warm Welcome, No One Can Match up to Kashmiris. That’s what one of my friend from Mumbai said to me on her visit to Kashmir in 2015. I believe hospitality is in the blood of Kashmiris. As a restaurant owner my first and foremost job is ensuring that my guests are satisfied. Hospitality is the relationship between a host and a guest, hospitality is an important concept that dictates the philosophy upon which countless businesses operate. Hospitality for me is babysitting a kid while his/her parents are having a meal at my restaurant. Hospitality means caring and providing services to the guest. The success of any restaurant is reliant on positive customer relationships. The bottom line is that if a restaurant fails to create a positive relationship with a guest, that guest may share his or her experience, thereby discouraging other people from visiting that restaurant.
Q. As a restaurant owner, how important is to have an actual experience in every aspect of business?
A. Starting a restaurant is not just about food. In Fact, it makes up only about 20% of the restaurant success equation. Ofcourse the food needs to be phenomenal but restaurants are businesses first and food is just a product you are selling and hence customer service, management and promotional skills are vital. Here are some areas you will need to be familiar with:
- Accounting
- * HR and Inventory Management
- Organization Management
- * Marketing
- Vendor or Supplier Relations
- * Customer Service
- Equipment Maintenance
- * Cooking Experience
Q. What moment sticks out for you as your most embarrassing experience regarding your work?
A. I think it was last summers in July my steward was carrying a tray of mocktails and when one of the glass tipped right over and down the back of the male customer at the table. Luckily he had a good sense of humour as he thanked the steward for the great back rub he got while he wiped the mocktail off his back and apologized profusely.
Q. How do you feel when someone orders only the cheapest item in the menu?
A. I don’t want my seats to be empty. Thats bad for the business. I value each and every guest equally be it a low spending customer or highly spending customer. Even a simple tea can benefit a restaurant in many ways. I am grateful and happy they choose my business to spend their hard earned money at. I treat everyone as a member of the family (no matter what they order) and make sure they know how special they are. People come back. They tell other people about the great experience they had at our restaurant. They bring their friends and family. They spend more and choose our restaurant over all the other restaurants they could go to.
Q. What things do costumers do that you find annoying?
A. You’ve got to deal with angry customers, obnoxious children, lunch crowds, and other hazards. The worst is the guests sticking the chewing gums to the bottom of the tables and few writing on top of the them.
Q. Who do consider a competition for you and how will you persuade your costumers to end up choosing your place?
A. Most of the owners of restaurants running in my vicinity are my real good friends, So none of them is a competition. We all are running our own race and I am one of the person who love others to succeed. We share a good bond and help each other in any crucial times. I have been there for their openings and other occasions. Its always good to encourage people to do good and best in their respective businesses. No harsh feelings for anyone.
Q. What is the most challenging part of budgeting for you?
A. There are fixed costs that stay pretty much the same from month to month like rent, employee wages and utilities but there are variable costs that will change constantly like supplies and repairs. That’s where budgeting becomes challenging. Food Costing is very hard to maintain but its very important as it has a direct effect on the profitability of the restaurant.
Q. If the entrepreneurs around you had necessarily follow one of your advices what would it be?
A. Entrepreneurs are the new rockstars. Entrepreneurship is a well trodden path and like in any field, professional or otherwise, mistakes can be avoided and advancements made quicker with a little guidance from those who have been there. To be successful, an entrepreneur must be resilient. Chris Ganje, CEO of Cardiff-based AMPLYFI, says that “successful entrepreneurs only pivot if they really have to, or if it’s utterly commercially compelling to do so. Others use pivots to justify themselves being distracted from their missions and inevitably fail”. Starting a business can be exhilarating, rewarding and fun, but can be exhausting, relentless and stressful in equal measure. Just like any endeavour, taking advice from those who have already made mistakes and achieved their own successes despite setbacks is a sure fire way to minimise the risks of lessons being learnt the hard way.
Q. Where do you see yourself in the next five years?ten?
A. In 10 years, I hope to have more responsibilities and be a part of helping Zero Miles – Grill & Cafe reach its maximum potential. I want to have learnt all I can about food industry and be a thought leader who inspires others.”
(The interview was conducted by Sobia Khatoon at Zeromiles Sopore)
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