BANZA December 2015 Issue | Page 33

the main requisite is the One thing he likes most about the catering business is its randomness. Everyday emerges with its own unique challenges. One is challenged to make something out of nothing, which makes each and every detail more interesting. love for people; the customers. Inability to fraternize well with them enormously paralyses the business. To expand his domain, he and his partner opened a restaurant in Trou Aux Biches in 2012. It, unfortunately, closed shop this year, owing to low sales. He attributes this to a poor location which had low customer volumes. On top of that, they did not invest substantially in marketing, as they only relied on word of mouth advertising. Consequently, they lost colossally as the business went under. As it may obviously be demoralising, his entrepreneurship spirit, however, gained might. Having managed to defy the odds, he is now established and sailing in still waters. However, that does not mean that there are no instances when his ship is unsettled by turbulent waves. His principal challenge is finding and assembling a strong team of passionate people. According to him, culinary skills are just a threshold, the main requisite is the love for people; the customers. Inability to fraternize well with them enormously paralyses the business. Going into the future, Roy does not harbour any farfetched fantasy. He is utterly content with what he has now. His face lights up when he says this. “The summit of my journey is the love that the African Leadership University commune is showering me with. I am honoured. It is something I have never dreamt of. The entire experience is priceless.’’ As a silver bullet piece of advice for existing and upcoming entrepreneurs, he seriously says, “The main ingredient in the success recipe is honesty. In the quest to make profits from your enterprises, do not do that at the expense of your customers. Also, share your success with them. This is crucial.’’ ‘’Furthermore, cooking is wholly about the use of all human senses. I believe that this can be transcribed into all our endeavours. ‘’ ‘’Above all, follow your passion.’’ After uttering this wise narration, he quickly rises and rushes to the kitchen to make another culinary tour de force.