Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Hifa Maleki, Owner of El Corazón YEG, located in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
El Corazón is a Latin-inspired restaurant created to give our guests a fun, energetic, and vibrant environment, which includes delicious flavours and a variety of incredibly delicious and unforgettable cocktails. Our customers are people looking for a great place for food and drinks with friends, family, and/or colleagues. Whether coming in for a quick lunch, dinner for two, or a group of 20 guests or more looking to have a fun night out, we are a place that caters to everyone. We see a big range in our customer base with some people coming in from the surrounding neightbourhoods, while also seeing many people coming in from around the city.
Tell us about yourself
I have always had a passion for both business and hospitality. We started working on this project when the world was shut down, and we couldn't travel, so the concept was based around creating a feeling of an escape, a feeling of walking into a vacation. We wanted to create a place that makes our guests feel like they are on vacation from the moment they walk into our doors and are transported through every bite of food and every sip of a cocktail to somewhere warm and fun.
I have personally never owned a business before. After spending over 12 years working in franchising as an executive, supporting people with an entrepreneur bug in opening their own businesses, I finally felt I was ready, and it was time to do the same. I absolutely love people. I am passionate about developing the next generation of leaders. I love interacting with people and have a high sense of passion and care for wanting people to be and feel happy. People are the driving force behind what motivates me everyday.
I learned through my time in business development that people are the driving force of your capacity for success. Ensuring that your team feels happy and supported and is consistently challenged to improve while ensuring your consumers are getting the best experiences and versions of your product possible. These pillars motivate me every single day.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
As we know, the world shut down in March 2020. To create a business plan in April/May 2020, when we didn't know what the future was going to hold in an industry with so much uncertainty, and to get to our goal of opening and being so well received by the incredible Edmonton community, feels like a major accomplishment. I will say that our biggest accomplishment is that we truly feel blessed to have so many amazing leaders and team members. They are the driving force of our success in the business.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Having people truly emotionally connect to your purpose. I always say that in business, you have three pillars when it comes to your people helping you drive your success:
• As an owner, you are accountable for ensuring that you have an airtight and clear training program. You have to be accountable first.
• You have to hire people to have the capacity to learn, retain and execute what you're standards are for your business (respective to their role)
• CARE - hiring people that you can train to understand your standards is not enough. They have to care about doing it to the level that will help differentiate the business positively.
The toughest thing is making sure you are always finding the right people for your business. People that share your values and will care to deliver to the level that's needed. When they do, your customer will feel it. When they don't, they feel it and tell others.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Ensure you have a strong written out business plan that outlines who you are, what you are selling, who you are selling to, and how you are going to sell to them, and include a clear financial plan.
- Begin the hiring process early. Ensure you are looking for the right people that align with your brand standards and are set up for success to execute it, as not everyone can do every job.
- Make sure you give it everything you have. If you are going to start, run and grow a business, your DNA has to be all over it. You have to stand behind it and not be afraid to stand in front of it too. If you are pushing and pulling in the same direction, you will go further.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://elcorazonyeg.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hifabulous/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hifa-maleki-8013591a/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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