I am Farazi Ghani, the managing partner of Laughing Buddha, a brand new high-end authentic Thai restaurant, currently situated at the bustling heart of Dhaka, Banani.
I am 27 years old and I have no idea what I am doing.
Let me explain that a little. Since the day I decided that doing a desk job is not for me, I looked into building something for myself. I always believed in having a big vision and I like to believe I did. This big vision led me into trying millions of businesses and failing at every one of them. Slowly the thought of the vision started haunting me; it was like the Backstreet Boys poster on your wall, you love it as a kid but as you age, it haunts you every time you enter the room.
After failing the millionth time at a random business, my business partner/best friend Nayeem and I thought of trying our luck with the one thing we both love, food! Nayeem loves to cook, I love to eat, and our favorite cuisine is Thai. The thought of doing a restaurant really excited us, but since we had no experience, we approached Labib, the one person who knows more about food than food does about it self (or so he claims). He liked our idea and the pitch we gave him, which we literally made on our way to meet him. He played hard to get in the beginning (of course) but we convinced him to start as a consultant, which later transformed into an investor and then finally he completed the Trio of Laughing Buddha by becoming a working partner (probably to ensure we do not run away with his investment). We have our roles divided into looking after different aspects of the restaurant and it has worked like a charm for us. I look after the entire front of the house staff, marketing and PR of the restaurant.
When we started, we got an incredible response. We were fully booked every single day, the future looked brilliant and we were ecstatic that it all worked out. Little did we know that within 19 days of starting we would have to shut down. Covid-19 hit and then everything changed.
It felt like a knife through the heart. Finally, something was going perfectly and we had to close it for something that we could not control, predict and was beyond our imagination. Initially, we thought of shutting the restaurant for the length of the pandemic, but it would not be feasible and the brand would die because it was still an infant. Therefore, we accepted reality, quarantined our entire staff in the restaurant and started adapting to the new normal as best as we could.
"The biggest challenge and achievement of my life has been establishing a high end brand, doing home deliveries only, at one of the most competitive and saturated markets in the world, during a once in a century pandemic"
When the restaurant started, I did not get enough time to learn everything there is to learn about this industry, and then life threw me at the fiery pit of the pandemic and I am having to learn adapt and change my strategy every waking minute, mutating faster than the virus, to stay alive.
It has been quite a journey so far and I am indebted to many people. My family has been the biggest support through my journey of failures, always guiding me through every situation. My wife has been an unwavering support and a rock. My partners Nayeem and Labib, who I would walk through hell with.
I am stoked to see what happens after the pandemic is over. Preparing myself for the post pandemic world has become a top priority for me now. We are also preparing Laughing Buddha for the post pandemic world. We have a number of interesting things lined up, so keep an eye out.
I am excited for the future, but I am more excited about my retirement, as I have always wanted to do so by the age of 45. My ideal retirement would be sailing around the world in a yacht with my wife, and then moving back to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, living my best life, while my millionth restaurant is running well on its own!
PS: I love Backstreet boys.
