Ozkan Seltzer, a businessman from Turkey, has taken root in Yiwu for 10 years. He speaks many languages, understands Chinese culture and is good at introducing and communicating. He has had three restaurants in Yiwu and enjoys a good reputation in foreign business area.
“Yiwu is my second hometown.” In Ozkan's view, Yiwu has provided a good trading platform for global businessmen and helps many people realize their dream of entrepreneurship.
Dare to fight: from a football player to a restaurant owner
Entering Satan restaurant on the north Chouzhou Road, you can feel the rich and mysterious Middle Eastern style. Although it is already 2 p.m., the seats are still full.
Before coming to Yiwu, Ozkan played a professional league in a European football club. An accidental injury in training forced him to finish his career ahead of schedule. Then his family suggested that he come to Yiwu to run a restaurant. Many friends who were doing business in Yiwu also invited him: “There is no good Turkey restaurant here. You can come and start one.”
With the encouragement and support from his family, Ozkan decided to come to Yiwu. “It has a large market with all kinds of commodities, attracting businessmen from all over the globe.” In 2009, when he and his wife arrived in Yiwu, they were attracted by the strong business atmosphere and did not want to leave.
A few months later, the Satan restaurant was officially opened. The restaurant provides traditional Turkey barbecue, and various kinds of desserts and Turkey featured coffee with its required ingredients imported from Turkey. Relying on the passenger flow bonus of the Yiwu market, this Turkey restaurant, which is close to the market and tastes authentic, was soon loved by many foreign businessmen.
Bring forth the new through the old: innovate food and optimize services
Some people say that if you want to keep a person, you have to satisfy his stomach first. Ozkan hopes to attract and retain more businessmen with good food. Therefore, he and his wife spend all their efforts on it.
Each day, the couple not only inspects the store, organizes management services, but also monitors the food quality in person, even the fat and thin ratio of roast meat, the stew of the soup, and so on.
“More and more guests come to the restaurant, which also puts forward higher requirements for restaurants.” Ozkan asked the chef not only to provide guests with taste enjoyment, but also to pay attention to the nutrition matching, and to constantly create new dishes according to varied tastes of customers from different countries as well. “We always try to find some shortcomings and improve them.” Every time a new dish comes out, he will taste it first, and only when he is satisfied will it show up in the menu.
“Catering industry is warm, which provides not only authentic cuisine but also best service and makes guests far away from home feel like being home,” said Ozkan.
In order to break through language barrier, he specially hired a manager who is proficient in both Chinese and English, and organized all the staff to carry out bilingual training.
With employees gradually stabilized, services improved, and dishes became increasingly rich, restaurant business was flourishing. Some friends invited Ozkan to do other businesses, but he never wavered.
Ozkan said that business is not just for making money. He can satisfy thousands of businessmen with food. He and his wife feel very happy about it.
Look forward to the future: taking the “Madrid-Yiwu Train” to expand import trade
In his 10 years of entrepreneurship in Yiwu, Ozkan and his wife fell in love with the city. “We go back to Turkey once a year, and soon I want to go back to Yiwu. This is more like our home.”
In his spare time, Ozkan will invite a group of friends to play football at the Meihu stadium. He also joined the Yiwu global businessmen’s home and worked part-time as an obligation mediator and a co management volunteer.
“A better business in the market brings better development of the restaurant.” Ozkan said he hoped to help more foreign businessmen to understand Chinese culture and adapt themselves to Yiwu life, making a contribution to Yiwu.
Six months ago, Ozkan signed into the Turkey national brand MADO ice cream agent and opened the first ice cream theme MADO restaurant in Yiwu. During the May Day vocation, his second MADO western restaurant opened in financial silk-road town. Now, the average daily flow of the two stores reaches between 500 and 1000.
Ozkan said that at present, the raw materials of ice cream are imported by sea, which usually takes about 25 days. But it can save 10 days by railway transportation, and further reduce the cost.
Next, Ozkan plans to take advantage of the “Madrid-Yiwu Train” to expand the import of raw materials, and to set up a Turkey brand ice cream factory in Yiwu, aiming to open 1000 branches in the major cities in China.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://www.linkyiwu.com/blog/ozkan-yiwu-has-fulfilled-my-dream-of-entrepreneurshi/