The restaurant opened in 2023. Achola says he started it because he loves food and wanted another source of income. “I love food, and I wanted another source of income,” he says. Owning a restaurant was also something he had thought about for a long time, and over the years the idea grew into a dream of his.
The menu is built on familiar Kenyan meals: ugali, fish, beef, rice and beans. The restaurant also sells drinks, including tea, coffee and freshly made juices, as well as snacks such as mandazi. Achola says he chose the menu because it suits the surrounding environment and is meant to feed the people who work in the area.
Getting the business started required pooling resources and taking out some loans. Achola also received financial support from friends and brought in other business partners to make the restaurant possible.
He does not run it alone. Achola has delegated duties to a team that includes supervisors, a chef, cleaners and servers. He is not always physically at the restaurant and relies on the supervisor to oversee operations while he is teaching. “Running the restaurant does not interfere with my teaching schedule,” he says.
Instead, he checks on the business every day during his school lunch break, which usually lasts one hour and twenty minutes. “It gives me enough time to go and monitor how things are running,” he says.
Managing and retaining workers is one of the biggest challenges of holding both roles, Achola says. Workers’ performance and customer service vary, and some staff report to work late, which slows down the day’s operations. Staff attendance is a particular concern. He says some female employees are sometimes persuaded by men to leave their jobs, either in search of what he described as “greener pastures” or to pursue romantic relationships, and that this affects staffing and the running of the business.
Shortages hit hardest when the restaurant is busy. If one or more employees cannot report to work on a busy day, there may not be enough staff to serve every customer. That slows the pace of work and limits the amount of business the restaurant can handle.
Achola estimates that the business spends approximately KSh 300,000 (roughly $2,300) a month. The restaurant depends heavily on nearby businesses and on students, who make up a large share of its customers. He describes it as a seasonal business, affected by national disruptions, demonstrations and school closures. Those changes affect sales, and with them the restaurant’s ability to restock ingredients.
Keeping customers depends partly on the quality of service. “Poor customer service can make customers choose other food businesses nearby,” Achola says. He identifies competition as a major issue, explaining that other food outlets in the area serve customers his restaurant does not manage to attract.
Rising ingredient prices put the business in a difficult position. Increasing menu prices, Achola says, is “a no-go zone” in the food business. When ingredient prices rise, the restaurant can make losses that cannot be recovered.
He prices each meal in three steps. He first considers the cost of production, then adds an amount for profit, and finally adds a further amount to help cover staff costs.
Keeping the business profitable brings other pressures. Achola points to inconsistent sales and to equipment breakdowns, such as problems with the cooker or the refrigerator, as among the biggest challenges.
Customer spending changes from day to day. Achola says some customers spend more after making a successful sale or earning a large amount of money, and he describes these customers as sometimes spending emotionally or irrationally. One of his clients works as a car broker and, after a big sale, sometimes comes to the restaurant and pays for other people’s meals. The restaurant makes more money on those days.
Sporting events bring more business as well. During the county league, people involved in different sports from various counties gathered in Kisumu, and Achola says the influx brought more customers and increased sales.
Running the restaurant has taught him that entrepreneurship requires taking risks. “Big risks cause for big returns, and low risks cause for low returns,” he says.
He hopes to grow the business into a much bigger restaurant and eventually establish branches in several parts of Kenya.
For anyone hoping to start a small food business in Kenya, Achola describes food as a good business venture with a ready market. “There is always a market for food,” he says. “Whether people feel like eating or not, they still need to eat.”