Founded by two young and ambitious Bahrainis, Mahi Mahi is a new and unique seafood specialty restaurant that intertwines superb hospitality and friendliness with comfortable homey style décor. You can treat your taste buds to grilled Mahi Mahi, their signature dish – prepared from marinated Mahi Mahi fish with imported and local seasonings, and grilled to perfection. The restaurant doesn’t limit itself to seafood but also serves chicken, beef, and vegetarian dishes. In this interview, the restaurant partners Hussain Haji and Bader AlKooheji take us back to the initial idea behind Mahi Mahi, how they started and their plans for growth.
What got you into the restaurant business?
Hussain: Firstly, my passion for food. I actually enjoy cooking, and I thought “how can I make use of such a passion and channel it to the world?” It was obvious! Let me get into the restaurant business!
Bader: It was Hussain who got me into this. To me, it’s not purely about passion but rather a business opportunity with great return potential.
Is this your first business? If not, can you give us an idea of your past experience?
Hussain: No, this isn’t my first business. I actually own a company called Hanker & Nourish Foods and Beverages, which provides consultancy and setup assistance to restaurants. We even have a division that brings in a franchise of a specific product (food for retail) and sells them to the local market. I am proud to say that with a little bit of perseverance, we were comfortably successful, but then the passion for making a dish from scratch kept trying to push out, hence Mahi Mahi!. For Bader, it’s the first business.
How long did it take you to establish Mahi Mahi and what hurdles did you face?
It took us six to seven months to completely launch Mahi Mahi. Hurdles were obviously part of the journey. It’s either an issue with the application process with a specific organization, lack of funding at some point, or pushing a contractor to a meet the deadline. At the end, it all came to be great!
How did you fund the project, and are you on track in terms of managing your expenditure?
We acquired bank financing to fund the project. When it came to equipment and marketing expenses, we utilized Tamkeen’s marketing and technical funds. So far, we are on track in terms of managing our finances.
How did you go about marketing the restaurant?
For restaurants, word of mouth marketing comes on top of the list. We made sure to deliver an excellent experience to our new customers so they can go and talk about us. We also use social media activities to promote our restaurant and engage with our customers. Instagram in specific has proven to be very effective and popular in Bahrain, and we are capitalizing on that. Our full-fledged official marketing campaign is yet to start!
As you know, competition in the restaurant business is usually very tense, what differentiates Mahi Mahi?
We offer a specific fish called Mahi Mahi. This fish isn’t offered in any other restaurant in the Middle East (to our knowledge). Mahi Mahi is delicious and extremely healthy. A simple steak is only 93 calories of pure lean protein. We have an amazing chef who helped in creating a unique menu. Our food is not fast food! It is healthy, delicious and filling.
Where do you see ‘Mahi Mahi’ in 5 years?
Our five-year plan is to become an internationally renowned brand. We are striving to franchise it to the GCC, the Middle East, and the world, and we are confident we will achieve this goal.
Can you tell us about your bold move of becoming an Entrepreneur? How are you mitigating the risks that come with entrepreneurship?
Just living is risky! Driving, flying or even walking down the street could be risky! We planned our actions carefully and most importantly maintained positivity at all times. There is a definition of entrepreneurship which we truly believe in: “It is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t”.
How about the difference in lifestyle between an Entrepreneur and an Employee?
It’s very different! The best thing about being an entrepreneur is having full control of your destiny. The tough part is that you get no break! An entrepreneur gives up many things in his life for a while to be able to succeed and have a bright future. An employee, on the other hand, has fixed timings, little control and very limited space and freedom to do the things he/she loves.
Would you go back and get a job?
Only if I had to, and so far it doesn’t look like I need to.
What would you say to people who want to take their first step, but are reluctant and don’t know how to go about it?
Calculate your risks properly, have faith in yourself and your capabilities, maintain positivity and then just go for it!