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Mohammed Eijaz moved to England from Bangladesh when he was only three years old. Now, 30 years later, he is the proud owner of a 46-seater Indian restaurant in Stratford upon Avon.

He says the restaurant, called Flavours, is luxurious with a warm ambience, friendly atmosphere and an excellent selection of wines.

But what of a restaurant’s raison d’etre – the food itself?

“The restaurant is all about the styles of cooking,” says Mohammed.

“We wanted to make it that little bit different. We specialise in authentic Indian cuisine and we called it Flavours because there was no other name that was really suitable.”

Mohammed had the culinary pedigree to run his own restaurant, having spent much of his time since the age of 15 working in the restaurant trade. These experiences also gave him the motivation, as he explains.

“I worked a lot for and with my family. I have had a few partnerships with close relatives but I feel I wasn’t getting what I wanted from them. I felt a little cheated that I never got any appreciation and all the credit was awarded to other people.”

"Had to be right"

In September 2005 Mohammed decided it was time to stand on his own two feet. He began his search for a business.

Mohammed has been a man on a mission. From day one he knew exactly the kind of business he wanted to run – it was just a case of finding the right location without exceeding his tight budget.

“It had to be the right business.

“I knew what I wanted to do: create a restaurant serving Thai, Indian and Chinese cuisine. My options were limited, though, because I had such a small investment available.”

“This business came to me by chance – and I grabbed the opportunity with both hands.”

Given his restrictive budget, it was always going to be difficult for Mohammed to find a business that was both thriving and in a good location. But fortunately, while you can’t move a building you can renovate it, overhaul the décor, hire new staff and change the menus.

“Once I had been to view it I knew it was perfect. It was in a well-established town.

“The previous business trading on these premises had been going downhill. The restaurant was trash and the inside hadn’t been touched for about 25 years. But I saw the potential.”

The previous owner wanted a quick sale – he had just had enough and wanted out of the industry. This was perfect for Mohammed, who needed to get the price as low as possible.

“I knew from my research that the average value of somewhere like this was about £100k,” says Mohammed, who ended up paying only £60k.

"Perfect for me"

“I also knew that because of the state of the restaurant it was going to be a lot of work. However, I believe that as long as I put the effort in I can sell it for twice what I paid for it.

“It was just too good an opportunity to pass up. We paid a great price for the business – some would say we got it cheap.

“It is small, but it is perfect for me.”

When it comes to buying a business, says Mohammed, patience is a virtue.

“It was worth waiting for. Making a decision like this should never be rushed. It took me a year to find the right place, but I wasn’t going to rush in and buy the first place I saw. I was waiting for the right balance of factors to appear.

“Because I have been involved in buying and running businesses before [with his family] I had a little knowledge of the process.

“I still did my research, especially about the area. I looked up a lot of statistics – what kind of people live in the town, etc.”

Sometimes, you just cannot put a price on experience. Luckily for Mohammed, he had a friend in the trade who also runs a restaurant in Stratford.

“He definitely gave me the best advice. If he wasn’t running a successful restaurant, there was no way I was going to start running my own, similar outlet in the same town.”

Hassle

One thing you can never plan for is trouble with the neighbours. Although the restaurant is in a commercial area, Mohammed had a minor run-in with one of the local residents, shortly after beginning renovation work on the restaurant.

“The guy was putting in complaints when we were trying to redecorate. He kept on moaning. He would stand outside stop the builders. He kept complaining to the council – we had all the departments come and visit us.”

Local councils have to take all complaints seriously, and completing all the relevant paperwork is essential in this kind of situation.

“There are small things that we left out which later on can cause you hassle,” warms Mohammed.

Luckily, however, this didn’t have any ramifications for Mohammed.

Raising finance for his venture was also problematic. Because Mohammed had always worked with his family, raising finance in his name only proved to be difficult.

“A lot of lenders turned me down. In the event, I got a loan through my bank by chance.”

Although Mohammed is pleased with his business and things are going well, he didn’t quite get what he wanted; his needs haven’t quite been satisfied.

“If I had a second chance I would opt for a bigger place.”

“I want to create this atmosphere but this place is not big enough. It is a cute little restaurant but there is not the space to cook Thai, Indian and Chinese food here.

“I want all the waitresses in traditional dress. I want the restaurant to be a fusion of these countries and their cuisine. But unfortunately we just don’t have the space to do it yet.”

“What we have is good and although it is just an Indian restaurant - for the budget and everything it is fantastic. I just can’t realise my full dreams here and I want to impress more.”

Looking to the future, Mohammed reveals that there are already plans in place to try and extend the restaurant and double its capacity.

He’s also on the lookout for a second business.

“I am going to expand. I will keep this restaurant open but within the next two years I want to open a second, bigger place where I really want to create what I have always wanted.”

Meanwhile, Mohammed’s immediate concern is raising the profile of his existing business.

“I am struggling because the reputation of this place before I took over was bad. I need to get people through the doors and change their opinions.

“I do have one or two things up my sleeve,” he adds, intriguingly.

Mohammed is clearly a man enjoying making his own plans, finding his own way.

“It is better when you don’t have your family involved. You do your own hard work. When you are doing something and when you achieve something you feel good – no one else gets the credit for it.”