Accidental Entrepreneur
Sardar Abdul Rahim, Director BBQ Tonight, divulges his recipe of success
Here's how he sums up his 3 decades of journey to the
Land of Entrepreneurship:
1. How would you describe your business in three short
sentences?
Restaurant business is an art and also science of
satisfying the innate urges of customers with respect to
their culinary needs. Food and the environment in which
food is served touches significant aspects of human life
with respect to their (Maslow's hierarchy of) needs. A
successful restaurant organizes itself to fulfill all
levels of customer's culinary needs in the best possible
manner and also make profit in the process.
2. What ignited the spark in you to start a new business
venture or to make significant changes in an existing
business? How did the idea for your business come about?
I guess the pride in Pakistani nationalism was the prime
and single most important element that triggered off my
journey towards entrepreneurship way back in 1987. I had
a very cozy and cushy job in one of the Gulf countries
then. While working there for almost 6 years I decided
that I should be traveling by Pakistan International
Airlines, it being our national carrier. However the
mistreatment that was meted out to the Pakistani
passengers upon reaching there was shocking. Then and
there I decided not to work in that country any more. I
resigned and came back to Pakistan despite advice to the
contrary by my bosses. I came back without much savings
or any plans for future. Although it was an emotional
decision, however, it was tagged with the determination
to be able to earn as much as I was doing in that
country. The idea to set up a restaurant developed when
I and my brother bought 2 shops in the building where
Bar B Q Tonight is housed presently in Clifton Karachi.
Setting up a restaurant was suggested by one of my
cousins. So, basically, Bar B Q Tonight was not planned
it just happened. All the planning, organization and
execution followed the emotional decision to leave a
good job and venture out on my own.
For the student readers I would like to cite the
following extract on emotional motivation and EQ that is
relevant for success as an entrepreneur:
"In general, negative (p. 76) emotions motivate
avoidance behavior and a more conservative, methodical,
and analytical approach to problem solving, whereas
positive emotions motivate approach behavior and are
associated with a more holistic, creative, and flexible
style of thinking (Fazio, Eiser & Shook, 2004; Isen,
2000)."
In my case both the negative and positive emotions
played their part in my determination to be successful
in the enterprise I was going to set up.
3. How did you make your first sale?
Bar B Q Tonight was opened for customers on 10th
November 1988 at around 6 PM. The first customers were a
Jordanian young man and his Pakistani wife. By 9 Pm,
same day, all the seats were taken. We never looked back
after that with God's Grace.
4. How did you get credibility quickly?
Providing consistency and standardization in taste of
food, better service, reasonable prices and hygiene
standards in a congenial environment developed trust
amongst our customers.
5. How did you develop key partnerships?
Foundation of any business venture is strengthened when
solid partnerships with all stake holders are formed,
developed and sustained. We have done that on 4 levels:
A) Management
Bar B Q Tonight is a family owned restaurant. Although,
it was started primarily by myself and my younger
brother Sardar Abdul Qayyum, however, gradually all my
brothers got involved in this business as beneficiaries
and as such are stake holders. Apart from the Sardar
blood brothers ( Myself, Qayyum, Micky & Aziz ) our key
management players ( Tahir Ahmed and Yousuf Iqbal ) too
are like brothers and hold same level of respect, trust
and decision making capacity as us brothers. The
advantages of creating this management platform are
ease, confidentiality and reliability of communication,
trust in decision making, quick feedback and corrective
action process, ever present strong family support
system and extensive top management's physical presence.
We call our management system "Management by Wandering
Around". One of us is always there on the floor
patrolling around seating halls and the kitchen to see
to it that everything is in order and as per standards,
talking to customers and seeking their feedback,
marshalling staff to put in their best efforts in the
right way. Not easy but we have continued doing it for
the last 26 years. With God's Grace we are lucky to see
our second generation inducted in our management
platform while we are still actively involved.
B) Staff
Staff is the most valuable asset any business operation
possesses. We have always been mindful of this fact.
Besides giving importance to this aspect operationally
we have created an unusual bonding with our staff. We
treat them as an extended Bar B Q Tonight family and
this sense of belonging results in intrinsic
motivational spirit within them. Although Bar B Q
Tonight employs the highest number of staff in F&B chain
of restaurants in Pakistan yet the employee turnover is
the least.
C) Vendors
There is no way that substandard raw material can be
practically transformed into a high standard product.
That is how vendors and suppliers of raw material assume
a cardinal importance in F&B business. Buying good
quality products at the right price day in and day out
is a challenge that every restaurateur has to face all
the time. Besides price, consistency of supply, timing
of supply, right quantity being supplied, correct
invoicing and sourcing of new items have direct bearing
not only on quality of the end product but also on
operational profitability. There is lot of wisdom in the
saying that "Profits are in buying". This may not be
wholly true but certainly better purchasing places an
establishment in a more advantageous position. All this
cannot be achieved without excellent vendor
relationship.
D) Customers
Customer is indeed the king. A restaurateur is dependent
on customer's patronage even if all the other elements
of F&B business have been taken care of in the best
possible manner. Every potential customer is unique with
his perception, taste buds, appetite, health condition,
past experiences, financial capacity, time availability,
age and ethnic background. To profitably cater to each
customer to his liking virtually becomes impossible with
a limited menu. It's here that F&B business becomes an
art whereby a facility is developed wherein a
commonality is created whereby most of the customers are
satisfied individually within a large and varied
collective customer base. Successful restaurants are
able to create a sense of ownership amongst the
customers by empathizing with customers with respect to
their culinary needs and expectations. Again not easy
but we believe Bar B Q Tonight has generally been able
to create that sense of ownership within its customer
base.
6. How did you get funded or what creative strategies
did you use to execute on minimal cash flow?
Initially, we started with my brother's savings and seed
money from a close relative as our capital which was
enough to buy 2 shops, totaling 1200 sq ft. As business
grew we ploughed back profits towards growth and
expansion of business. Thus growth resulted in greater
profits and subsequently further opportunity for growth
was ensured in this manner. This conservative strategy
has been successful for us and as such continues even
today.
7. How did you
distinguish yourself from your competitors?
The truth is we have never considered any one as
competition. We just focus on our own business. We have
a winning combination therefore looking over our
shoulders towards others can disturb our formula for
success. One of my brothers rightly commented that "no
one can touch our success unless we spoil it ourselves
".
 An inside view of BBQ Tonight |
 BBQ Tonight, Karachi |
 BBQ Tonight Inauguration Ceremony, Kuala Lumpur |
 BBQ Tonight, UAE |
8. What was your biggest
mistake during your initial years as an entrepreneur?
Partnership with non- family members can be considered a
mistake. Kublai khan (the Chinese restaurant on Sea view
Karachi) was established by me with a partner but that
partnership didn't work. In my opinion, generally
speaking, partnerships are not meant for Pakistan.
9. How did you learn from
failure?
No more partnerships!
10. What mindsets helped make your successful?
The will to succeed is the real power behind any
success. Strength of conviction and resilience to never
give up are the fuel to enlighten the path of vision
that one has for any business opportunity. One essential
thought that fortifies one's self confidence is that "If
anyone else can do it, so can I".
11. What would you say
are the top three skills needed to be a successful
entrepreneur? Any advice you would like to give to
budding entrepreneurs?
The skills required to be a successful entrepreneur can
be described as sum total of capacities an individual
must have which leads to a successful and profitable
achievement of desired business model. Broadly speaking
these capacities are as follows:
i) Capacity to dream: In corporate terms it is called
having a Vision. It is also termed as Mission Statement,
Corporate Goals and Company Objectives. The only
difference between these terms and a successful
entrepreneur's dream is the element of passion, zest and
self confidence in achievement of that dream. Somehow
these elements are inborn and cannot be taught or
inculcated in business schools or board rooms.
Essentially that is the difference between an
entrepreneur and a high profile executive.
The only way one can find out if one has that golden
trait of dreaming a successful business model is to be
bold enough to take a plunge at the cost of losing a
secure job!
ii) Capacity to live that Dream: Knowledge, business
acumen, situational flexibility, public relations,
management skills, financial freedom and ability to
grasp an opportunity are the essential elements that
help to live an entrepreneurial dream successfully. But
more importantly one should have the will, strength of
character, boldness and capacity to work hard under any
circumstances to make that dream come true.
Entrepreneurial journey is like swimming against the
tide therefore unless one works wholeheartedly with
indomitable passion to succeed one can never achieve the
prized position of a successful entrepreneur.
iii) Capacity to sustain living your dream: Once the
entrepreneurial dream transforms into a living reality
one needs to sustain that success through even more
watchful means. This means more hard work and seeing to
it that there are no digressions in the business model
that has succeeded. Toyota had a very meaningful caption
for its spare parts that said "never change a winning
team". It is so apt in maintaining a successful model.
There are lot of pressures and temptations to change as
we live in a dynamic world but changing the basic model
can be counter-productive.
12. Describe/outline your
typical day?
Mornings: Spend time with family and reflect on whatever
is going on
Afternoons: Have business meetings or business errands
Evenings: Be at restaurant and look after matters there.
13. How has being an
entrepreneur affected your family life?
My family has been extremely supportive and have adapted
to a restaurateurs life style well. That is the reason
why my sons have willingly adopted this trade as their
profession. With God's Grace we are a happy and
contended lot.
14. What motivates you?
The fear of failure motivates me the most.
15. If you had the chance
to start your career over again, what would you do
differently?
Despite everything I believe in fate and destiny as such
do not really bother about such things. I know whatever
I have to do must have my 100%.
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