Lahore is turning into an entire burger hub. Almost every other day, the city surprises us with new entries in the market. Some become fan favorites while others fail instantly. It is not easy to survive in a saturated market like the ones of the food industry.
A brand that has been slowly but surely moving up the pecking order for the burger-crazy families of Lahore is none other than OMNOM BURGERS & GRILL; a brand that has been in town for some time and made a name for itself with delicious beef burgers and state of the art chicken sandwiches with a large and unique variety of delicious fries.
To get some sneak peak of this famous burger joint, our team at Orange Ink sat down with one of the owners, Mr. Hassan Arshed to ask a few questions.
Tell us about your remarkable journey? How did you get your start? How and why did you open OMNOM?
I wouldn’t really term my journey as remarkable, not as yet. This startup was launched back in 2014 and we started lean due to minimum resources. When we got through our milestones, we were on a roll to go beyond.
I personally was a digital marketing expert at the time. While working from multiple cities globally, I was into a lot of travel during which I used to eat and experience different cuisine. Not because I loved food, but I was a food critique writer back in the day. So naturally I being a ‘foodie’ myself, I got into professional baking and established a startup brand called “Cheesy Matters” where I used to bake desserts, cookies, cupcakes, brownies and what not and delivered orders all over Pakistan. OMNOM actually originated in the mid of 2014 when I was working to expand the commercial operations for my baking brand. One of my friend was involved and we here stand with this beautiful place, serving delicious gourmet burgers and sandwiches at OMNOM – BURGERS & GRILL.
Why did you pursue a career in the food industry?
I have been a part of food industry throughout my life, from being a food/travel blogger, a food critique, and making applications and systems for restaurants and cafes, I always wanted to do something that would stand out. I am always open to take challenges and one of the reasons I am here is to come over one and that is “It’s not easy”. A lot of hard work goes into becoming successful in this industry.
What is the philosophy behind OMNOM?
OMNOM is basically an expression of how we generally eat food. The tagline can also be referred to the Cookie Monster from “Sesame Street” saying …Omnomnomnom.
What is the USP of OMNOM? What makes you stand out in this competitive food industry?
Today, if we see there are new burger joints and stalls coming in every week that tries to penetrate in the market with price. I believe that our range of delicious 100% Original Gourmet Beef Burgers is what makes us stand out. We make everything in-house from margination to patties, sauces and buns too. The ingredients we use are fresh, sourced daily and prepared in our production every day. This is how we guarantee fresh and high quality food in a reasonable price so that our young and old, everyone can enjoy same good quality always.
What does your restaurant do to keep your menu new and exciting?
All of our recipes are unique and been here after rigorous research and testing. We keep on trying different things and try to innovate as much as we can. I feel like calling myself a food scientist but experimentation is something that keeps us ahead of everyone. In our menu, you’ll find unique items and flavors, not a copy-pasting version of other brands. On a weekly basis, we try and test around 10-12 different recipes, flavors from burgers to sauces and I believe our experimentation is key and that is exactly how we keep our menu updated and different.
We all know service is the key. How do you motivate your staff to keep a constant service ethic?
Service is something we always focus on, here at OMNOM. I believe we are good at motivating our staff. We focus on financial terms as well as keeping them in the loop while running some campaign so they don’t always feel left out. Here at OMNOM, our staff is our family.
What kind of marketing and advertising initiatives gave worked for you?
Our primary type of marketing is digital. We rely heavily on Facebook and Instagram. Other than that, we also have a digital portfolio with digital distribution on our website and partners. We also encompass local branding aspect concerning other forms of media like print, radio along with direct marketing mediums.
What are some of the challenges of being a restaurant owner?
Challenges are not limited to any specifics. I at times say, we jumped into a bucket of impossibilities where we have to make the possible. We own OMNOM in a partnership and share all the goods and worse together, which is extremely supportive.
From supply chain management, maintaining good quality service, handling staff and at times dealing with the government authorities are an aspect of running a business that every restaurant owner face in Pakistan and our story is not much different with some exceptions. We have implemented systems to each area such as Quality systems for vendors, supply chain, procurement, warehousing & storage among sales and purchase management for example.
As a restaurant owner, how important is it to have actual experience in every aspect of the business, as you have?
Like I said earlier, I have been a part of startup ventures and businesses for few years so I can safely say I am good with the operations whereas my partners are doing their best in finance and quality management of the business. Experience is very important in handling a business especially as sensitive as handling a restaurant. Being efficient in management and logistics is the key to a successful business and to achieve that having experience in every aspect is crucial.
Do you believe there is some sort of pattern to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
I consider myself a serial entrepreneur with primary experience in digital mediums and ecommerce and having extensive operational and strategic knowledge over the last few years, with my experience I tell you that there is no set secret formula. The only thing one needs is great consistency and immense focus on your work.
“Even if one fails, one should never give up. Dealing with failure only makes you grow and that too as an entrepreneur”
Is there anything else you can tell us about yourself or the profession that would be interesting or helpful to others aspiring to enter and succeed in the restaurant business?
If you want to be in the restaurant business, the biggest and most important thing is being original with both the concept of the restaurant and the entire menu that goes with it. Copying something that has already been done is a big mistake, if you cannot update it with your touch. Innovate even if you had an inspiration, that’s a good thing but bring in your flavor to it.
Secondly, depending on people who are at times not in so much control can be very risky because once we lose those who we rely on, it gives up on you and leaves the restaurant business a good shake. So all in all, get good control on things that you are doing.
What should one expect next from OMNOM?
We are looking to expand now. I won’t like to exaggerate much at this point in time but we are looking forward to have partnerships since franchising is open. We have enjoyed a good feedback and always improved on what our fans has to say, we hope to be the Best for food lovers J
