STAR INTERVIEW; WHY I STARTED A FAST FOOD AND BAR TOGETHER

Kola Adewale, owner of the talk of the town,
THE PLACE reveals


Sixteen years in Nigeria’s premier management consultancy KPMG didn’t prepare Kola Adewale for the first hard knocks of reality when he started running his own fast food business.
Two years down the road, Kola has made good his dream of becoming an entrepreneur. He runs a vastly successful fast-food/bar on Isaac John Street, GRA Ikeja, called The Place and the Excalibar. At last count he has a full staff of 70 people and he has recently added The Knights Lounge a VIP style electronically access controlled bar strictly for big boys. His success story is an inspiration for other startups and proof that melt down or not things can work here.
He sat down recently for a chat with Al Humphrey Onyanabo.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
My names are Kola Adewale. I was born 30th September, 1969. I attended Maryland Nursery and Primary School. And then Maryland Secondary School; if there was Maryland University that is where I would have attended. I did my university programme at Obafemi Awolowo University. I studied Agriculture Engineering. I had a first class and was best graduating student.

Work experience?
The bulk of my work experience was at Author Andersen which later became KPMG. My work there cut across quite a bit of professional services. I started as an audit staff, it was mandatory for you to become a chattered accountant, because of the audit work so I did the ICAN professional exam. In addition to that, I did quite a bit of management consulting. After six years I veered of audit/accounting to focus on business/management consulting: covering different areas, different kind of industries. Helping companies with their strategy, their finances, their accounting it was a varied mix of experience and I did that for 16 years. Two years ago I decided to resign and come and focus on my own business of running a restaurant/bar and night club.

You are the most unlikely person to be running a business like night clubbing. When did you decide this was the business for you?
It has been a long aspiration for me to be an entrepreneur coupled with the experience I had at KPMG. I felt I had all the skills to run any kind of business. I felt it is the ultimate in life to start your own brand and grow it. So it was a question of which industry is the most appropriate. I discovered that most banks don’t really touch start ups. Finance is difficult so I thought of something I can start small then grow big; when you create a formidable brand then you can expand.
Haven, looked at all the industries in Nigeria; I narrowed on bar/restaurant because I believe it is lucrative and profitable. I have seen the Mr. Biggs and Tastee’s, they started with next to nothing and have grown to where they are today. I did not need to have all the billions to start.

Did you have any reservation about running a night club?
I saw it as a business. I doubt if there is any business that does not have its reservations. There will be people issues; there will be the customer angle. Every single business will come with its won frustrations so it’s then being able to recruit the night set of people, structure and the right processes to deal with them. My being able to run it now is not because I am there all the time or I am the only person driving it. I have put things in place and I have people run the show even when I am not around.

What were the problems you had when you started?
Initially the patronage was very poor. Also, I must confess that I got it very wrong about the standard that we set. Being a novice, I thought I knew business, they had thought me all the theory in business, I did not get certain things right. One of it was compromising on the infrastructure, compromising on the finish, the interior, on the facade of the outside. So because of that patronage was weak. Competitions came on board in the area, put up something more formidable. It was a very tough time. We had to be very aggressive in our marketing and advertising so that people will patronize us with what we had on ground. Also we needed to up the standard by ploughing back the money we were making constantly and upgrading the facilities.

Which started first, the fast food or the bar?
We made an attempt to start the two together. We did not start with a fast food. We had a restaurant section and a bar section. Back then it was a table served restaurant; any thing you want, you make an order; we go to the kitchen, prepare and serve. It was about two years later that we built up a dedicated fast food section and a bar.

Why did you decide to have a bar alongside a fast-food? I have noticed it is a novel idea. Often time the daddies just want a beer while the mum and kids eat…
I felt they could complement themselves. It’s a rare practice and people warned me that they will conduct themselves. That a bar being attached to a fast-food will be stigmatizing. Particularly that the mothers and the kiddies will restrict themselves from us because of the alcohol. But what we realised is that the real cosmopolitan people, the liberal people, are more liberal in their thinking and outlook and it did not stop them. Particularly since we have a physical separation of the business though in the same premises. You can go into the fast-food, and not smell alcohol or smoke, what we have also seen is that diners also drink so it is a double plus for that group of people.

So, it has worked out well.
Oh, yes. But there will probably be some people who will not like to come in because they have their own moral standards. But for most part, I will say it has gained acceptance across board.

When are you going to start expanding the brand?
If everything goes based on projection and estimation, I will start something in another location next year.

Where?
My wish is for it to be on the island. It is one of the biggest markets and it is very competitive. But the market is there. One just needs to do something different and above board.

Recently you added the Knights lounge to your offering. Why?
It is a section dedicated for V.I.P’s. We realised we got loads and loads of customer complains from more elderly and mature crowd because of the mix up to mingle with people who are too young or not the same level of maturity as they are. Our patronage for the bar had grown. We needed more space. We realised we needed separation of crowd. We redesigned our smaller bar which wasn’t well decorated. Added access control and make it have a better taste and look for a more matured crowd.

The reception?
It’s been very, very good. It has been fantastic. We have maintained our standard. Who ever wants to belong has to pay our premium membership of N150, 000 per annum.

What benefits do they enjoy?
The real benefit is the access to the lounge with your card. In addition to that, it gives member priority into the car park. Secondly, on club nights we charge people N2, 000. But for members, that will be free.

How many guests can they come in with?
Two on busy nights and four on other days.
Which are your club days?
It’s now fast becoming virtually everyday, but the real club night is Friday which is the peak and Saturday.

How do you come not being a night club person?
It’s not a problem for me because I don’t stay. I leave averagely between 9.00pm and 11.00pm. I stay back once a month to see how things go generally to have a feel of and oversee operations.

ENDS.