Eating out in Nairobi is becoming a norm. Daily, millions of Nairobians throng eateries to fill their stomach while those at home are ordering in. Salman Elias, 26 and Munir Hussein, 27 operate The Shack Enterprise, a locally owned fast food and coffee shop located at Magharibi Place, Nairobi West. It provides a combination of unique gourmet burgers complemented with a set of sauces, freshly brewed coffee from around the world, and home-made cakes. Salman and Munir spoke to Hustle on what it takes to start and operate a food outlet.
What’s your overall business objective?
Our very immediate goal is to get our customers to come back and bring with them more family and friends. With our passion for delivering the best services, we intend on becoming the go-to joint.
Yes, it has been one crazy ride, from when we started to where we are now, filled with experiences that helped us grow, and learn, and become. And it has been every bit worth it.
This idea, how did it come about?
The initial idea for starting up a restaurant came up in July 2016, but due to financial constraints, we couldn’t start then. Later that year after many discussions, we decided to approach different individuals for funds in exchange for a share in the profits in the company.
In March 2017, we began groundwork, where we came up with a proposal of The Shack and raised the initial capital of Sh 1 million.
It took us a while to get our bearing in this field. On November 15, 2017, we opened The Shack for operations.
Why did you choose to settle on this particular idea?
We wanted to provide to customers exactly what we would expect from a fast food joint. Our expectation is quality food, pocket-friendly prices, and speedy but quality service. All that was a task we could live up to and efficiently achieve and we hope to continually live up to our customers’ expectations.
Did you have previous experiences in managing restaurants?
This is a first for us. We really haven’t had any previous experiences in this field. However, with a lot of research on the Internet on how to successfully run a restaurant, help from family and friends, and of course with a lot of prayers, we laid out the foundation for our upcoming enterprise concretely. We then topped it off with treasured advice from renowned restaurant owners, and business management advisors.
What do you think is the future of restaurants?
We believe that restaurants themselves shape the future. With Nairobi rapidly becoming a metropolitan city, the eating out culture is just as fast becoming a growing norm.
Be it grabbing a quick meal during work hours, or having a relaxed meal at a fancy restaurant, more and more people every day, are opting to eat out. Moreover, the idea of restaurants seems to be unfolding very graciously in our beautiful city and very soon we might just see Nairobi bursting with creativity in the food sector.
How do the social, economic, environmental, technological, legal and political environments impact the restaurant business?
Socially, we take into consideration customer demographics, their cultural limitations and lifestyle attitude among others. Here in Nairobi, the vast majority of the population is outgoing, and this works in our favour, as most of our customers come in groups, order food and have a good time together.
As far as the economic factor goes, what impacts us most is the economic growth of the population, their living standards, and employment rate. The better that is for them, the better it is for us.
Technology has had an entirely positive impact on the introduction of our venture ever since it has attributed to most of our advertising, especially social media which has been an invaluable tool in putting across our name, far and wide.
Concerning environmental factors, we strive on enhancing hygienic waste management, as well as using eco-friendly products to help alleviate the toll environmental pollution has been taking on us.
Politically, what affects us most are the political stability and tax guidelines. For instance, we had a slight dip in our sales during the election period owing to the unrest and unsafe environment that had people homebound for the most part.
As for legal factors, we honour the consumer protection laws, as well as the health and safety laws among others.
The restaurant market is very competitive, how do you survive?
Indeed, it truly is competitive. However, we strive to put across our best, which is brought out by our very enthusiastic customers who absolutely love the juicy patties that come with the burgers. It really is a different experience altogether.
We also have our staff who admirably back it up with their friendly service and highly commendable zeal.
Our unique concept of gourmet food on the go, nicely wrapped in user-friendly packing with home-made special sauces at incredibly affordable prices takes the cake.
What are your value propositions?
Our primary goal is to serve our customers with the best quality of food, which is why we use fresh supplies for all our products, that is bought on a daily basis, without fail.
Furthermore, our food is reasonably priced, making our delicious meals solid deals!
The concept of fast food on the go is what makes us lucrative, given how busy this city gets. A quick succulent burger saves on time, the hassle of cooking, and well, kill those hunger pangs too.
Can you describe your customers?
Our customer is anyone hungry enough to enjoy a tasty burger, or a plate of delectable chicken wings. We have university students coming in, working-class population, entire families, and couples among others.
What is your management style?
We employ a persuasive style, with an open door policy, where we involve our staff in decision making. They can come to us for help or advice anytime whenever they are having issues, work or personal related.
What are the biggest issues for running this business?
Competition makes the top of the list in our criteria. There are quite a few joints right here in Nairobi that sells gourmet food, as well as other kinds of fast food. Also, because we are new in the market, The Shack is still not known to many.
