The Director, Scotch Bonnet Restaurant, Moti Cakes, has said that a lot of businesses are folding up due to the current state of the economy, adding however that his management has leveraged on its skills and customer-centric timely delivery of services to sustain the growth trajectory of the eatery.
The restaurant business owner explained that despite the fact that it had not been easy doing business due to the economic challenges of the country, Scotch Bonnet Restaurant has been able to grow beyond expectation in just few years of its existence.
He explained: ‘’Business in Nigeria is challenging but one thing every business owner needs to realise is that you have to be innovative in everything you do, and that is what we have been doing, we are just 12months old but since we started there has been so many new development we have done.
“ When we first started, we didn’t have this creative space, we started as just a restaurant and from feedback from customers, we decided to have more value by adding these different things and we now partner with a lot of local businesses for example, there is a church that comes here on Sundays to do their service, not a lot of restaurants have that. We have more than a conference room so sometimes, two organisations can be working together at the same time so it’s becoming a networking place for people to connect.
“With this, we won’t be wrong to say Scotch Bonnet Restaurant is setting a pace for other business owners and ventures to follow in this dispensation. This has also shown how diversification has helped in making the restaurant stand out among its peers in just one year”, Cakes added.
However, he spoke also on the flip side in terms of challenges facing restaurant owners in the Lagos Island axis, especially the poor power supply
He recounted his experience thus: “It’s crazy because of electricity which is an issue for most business in Nigeria especially for one which we need to be opened for almost 20-hrs a day.
“Even on Saturdays, I could have a recording session here at 8 p.m and they could have paid to record all night so the point is we are constantly opened for almost 20-hrs a day and electricity isn’t consistent so we have to make sure there is enough fuel, that is the challenge”, the nutrition specialist added.
While advising the government on a lasting solution to the problem, he asked them to get in touch with the average Nigerians business owners and put themselves in their shoes in order to appreciate the burden they carry in their daily efforts to either eke out a living or add value to the nation’s economy.
He said: “Constant electricity can go a long way, things were even better in time past, they just need to do better’’
