This month’s professional spotlight features Robel Yemane and Bofta Hidrit, partners and co-owners of Minted Lounge and eriTech Consultancy. Read more to learn about Robel and Bofta’s inspiration and path to entrepreneurship.

Could you each briefly explain some of the responsibilities that come with owning a restaurant/lounge?     

There are a multitude of responsibilities as we are both the owners and managers of the business. It involves balancing many different groups and processes in a seamless operation. This includes negotiating with suppliers, customer service, staff scheduling, training and development, inventory tracking, bookkeeping, etc. We have a very hands on approach and so we work across all areas of the business.

What was your vision prior to realizing this dream?  

Due to the success of our technology consulting firm, eriTech Consultancy, which we co-founded in mid-2017 and is currently providing services to multiple FTSE 100 firms. We envisaged to invest our profits into rental properties to build our early retirement fund. However, shortly before purchasing our second property we consciously decided to start a new venture that would be able to get a better return on investment and increase our cash flow, and then Minted Lounge was born.

How did you come up with the idea for the business?

We were looking into at starting a business that is scalable, hands on, and one that we know we can easily differentiate ourselves on from the conventional competitor. So we thought about starting a Shisha Lounge; however due to the indoor smoking ban, it was a must that we find a premises that had an outdoor space, which is difficult to source in London. However, through our extensive online research we found a restaurant with manageable outdoor space for sale in a busy and upcoming area within London. We loved the restaurant’s pre-existing Italian flair, it’s one of a kind amazing rotating pizza oven, and the pizzas that it created. So we thought hey, where else can you grab a really good pizza and shisha and decided to run with the restaurant/shisha concept.

Minted Lounge has been successful as a restaurant/lounge and we are already looking into expanding into new locations. We are the type of entrepreneurs who take financial risk with the aim to make a profit, rather than restaurateurs or lounge owners. Simply put, we wanted to be our own bosses with more autonomy in how we manage our business.

How did you get the background and skills necessary to run this type of business?

Our background and skills complement each other’s, my strengths cancel out Robel’s weaknesses, and vice versa. I have experience in sales, marketing and customer service, whereas Robel has background in technology and finance. So I guess we work well together because we have strengths in different professional fields.

Despite our previous background and experience, a number of skills we learned by simply diving into the job and being passionately hands on. For example, before owning the restaurant I did not know how to make cocktails, froth the milk for coffees, nor did I know how to cook intricate Italian dishes, such as the Carbonara, Risotto or my favorite, Spaghetti with mixed Seafood, but to gain that autonomy for my business and reduce my reliance on staff, I picked up the pitcher, the muddler, and the pan and the rest is history.

Favorite things on your menu?

We both love the sourdough pizzas and the various combinations we can make with the abundant of toppings we offer. But when it comes to actual favorites, mine is the Spaghetti with Mixed Seafood, and Robel’s is the Chicken Milanese. In terms of drinks ‘Tia’s special’ –one of the many items named after our customers– is both our favorites.

To what do you attribute your success in starting a business?

Besides the constant grind, our openness to continuous learning and commitment to succeed we would attribute our success to the people around us;

• Our team, whose commitment to the brand results in our current 5 star rating on Tripadvisor, Google and other social channels.
• Our friends and family, who not only do a shift when we are short staffed or want time for ourselves but also continue to give us the motivation and inspiration to keep us going, some also literally got their hands dirty by helping us digging and disposing over 12 tons of dirt, concrete and rubble when we first started rebuilding the garden.
• Each other, although it is sometimes hard to work with your partner. We know our weaknesses and our strengths, and we give each other the space to enjoy excelling in our strengths and to humbly improve on our weaknesses.

We would also like to think that we are inspired by our persevering parents, as they have come so far from so little, we should be able to do so much more with all they have given us.

What were some challenges?

We face challenges, roadblocks and diversions in all parts of the business spectrum, some are as straightforward as staying on top of your bookkeeping, whilst some are as extreme as having to buy out our ex business partner, a long-time friend, in the early stages of the venture as we had different mindsets and goals.

The common challenges that we face are hiring and keeping good team members that gel well together, managing our waste effectively, and trying to find the time for ourselves to have that life-work balance, which is currently heavily leaning towards the work side.

Plus we are at a point that we can expand both our businesses, eriTech Consultancy and Minted Lounge, but taking any business onto the next level requires full commitment, which is one thing we have not been able to do effectively.

What tips would you offer anyone looking to take a similar career path?  

First ask yourself, is it a venture that you are passionate about? If yes, be ruthlessly persistent and have razor focus. There are no guarantees on success. In order to win big you have to take calculated risks, be hands on, build a great team and prepare to work long hours.

Currently, what is your greatest professional accomplishment?   

Well I expect our greatest accomplishment to surface sometime in the future, but in this venture I would settle for the fact that we both come from the corporate world of Digital Marketing and Technology, and to be able to take over a restaurant in the brink of bankruptcy and turn it around with no previous experience in it at all, but through drive, teamwork and having a great team is very fulfilling.

What’s one piece of advice you would give someone who is looking in starting a business?  

One piece of advice that we would like to share is one that Robel’s dad shared with us and we unexpectedly experienced very quickly – “It is better to build friendships through business, rather than to build a business with friends.”

We all share business ideas with our friends, and always excitedly ask each other – would it not be great if we set up Coffee Shop x or build Prototype z? We believe that our friendship gives the potential business a foundation to strive on, so we get excited, get on the drawing board, and start making plans.

In terms of starting a business with friends, from my experience, six times out of ten, the business does not even go post the idea stage due to the different work ethics and commitments that each friend has, plus the complacency that unconsciously occurs due to the comfortable friendship zone.

Three times out of ten, the business makes it past the idea stage and is actually operational, but due to continuous disputes that could be as simple deciding on a name for the business, and other factors such as power struggle, egos and having different values, it almost always either terminates or ruins the friendship, the business or both. Adidas and Puma’s is one extreme example involving siblings.

In the rare occasion that a company that was successfully built by 2 or more friends succeeds and is operational. I believe that their values, visions and goals are aligned, they each clearly understand their roles and play it well, and have planned a mitigation for all the risks or issues that may come up, such as an exit strategy for the business or the partner for when things turn sour.

Outside of all of your hard work and efforts toward building your brand, what do you do for fun? Hobbies?

Our work takes up most of our time and so we have not been able to do as much as we would have liked. Since we both like travelling, we’ve actually made plans to travel to a few places around the world for a mini vacation in the new year. Besides the conventional hobbies; staying fit, listening to music and watching inspiring biographical films, Robel enjoys collecting rare coins and getting an adrenaline kick through extreme sports such as stunt driving, parasailing, and white water rafting. I believe skydiving is next on his list. I enjoy attending concerts and spending time with my family and friends.

What are three things you most enjoy about owning your business?

The first thing is being your own boss; there is nothing like it, although it can be demanding it is a liberating and exciting experience. You simply can decide when you want to increase your pay.

Secondly, we enjoy meeting the diversity of people that walk through the door, from our local barber to long-traveled tourists. We genuinely enjoy learning about them, having myriad conversations and with some we have actually became friends with. Even with the Minted team, most are well traveled with so many stories to tell, and collectively we speak 8 languages; English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, Tigrinya and Amharic. It is an extra selling point for our customers, they always feel like they are at home.

Finally, and most importantly, I believe this is every entrepreneur’s ultimate satisfaction, seeing your idea come to fruition and evolve over time.

Where can people learn more about your restaurant?

If you happen to be in London, do visit us our address is on the website.

Our Website: www.mintedlounge.com

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mintedlounge/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MintedLounge

Tripadvisor: Minted Lounge