Blackanese owner Vusi Kunene comes rushing into the restaurant and apologises for being late “I’m so sorry, I’ve been busy teaching a sushi class,” he says.
The company has received a lot of media coverage lately with features on Top Billing as well the Hansa Dreamers advert and Kunene admits that this has been good for business.
“We’ve been getting calls from all over Joburg and people are interested in the brand,” the busy entrepreneur says as he places his ever ringing phone on silent and gives us his full attention.
His is a classic rag to riches story, starting from being a car-guard at events to being the owner of a growing business.
“I loved working at events and I used to do odd jobs such as waitering and guarding cars,” he says.
But when it was whilst working as a waiter, he developed a passion for food.
“I loved working with food and serving people and I wanted to learn more about the business side of things.”
“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mind,” he adds.
After a few years working in Joburg, Kunene moved to Cape town where he worked for a number of fine dining restaurants for over six years and it was at one of these establishments where he learned about sushi making.
“I was impressed by the culture and tradition behind sushi”, he says.
However the inquisitive Kunene was not satisfied with only learning about the food industry, he wanted to be one of the business owners.
“I got the idea of opening a sushi restaurant but it was met with a lot of negativity with people telling me that it wouldn’t work because “where have you ever seen a black sushi chef?”
“But I didn’t let it discourage me”.
Following the 6 year stay in Cape Town Kunene then made his way back Johannesburg and that is when things started happening.
Through his work at different events, Kunene then met Sandile and Themba who were working for a sushi bar and the knowledge and skills that Vusi needed to make his restaurant dream come true.
“I told them about the idea and they understood but they were afraid of leaving their stable jobs for something that was not guaranteed.”
“I started getting stalls at food markets and asked the guys to come help me out for a few hours and that’s where they saw that the business idea had great potential and decided to join me.”
Though many believe that prior to opening Blackanese, Kunene had acquired and mastered the skill of sushi making, this is not so.
“I started the business without even knowing how to make a California roll, he says.
“I brought in guys who had been making sushi for years and had the knowledge I needed and combined that with my business skills and experience.”
“I always give an example of the one of the greatest football coaches in the world, Jose Mourinho. He has never played football but he studied it and look at him now”, he says.
Kunene has now learned how to make sushi and even offers sushi making classes for students.
Along with business knowledge and experience, Kunene stresses the importance of knowing the business you want to go into and how to present it to potential investors.
“You need ask yourself, as an entrepreneur is your idea worth funding?”
“You also need to know what funders are looking for and come up with fresh ideas.”
“We began as a mobile sushi bar, catering at events and food markets around Joburg and it was at the Market on Main food market that we met Jonathan Liebmann, the developer of Maboneng Precinct who then offered me space to open the restaurant.”
“I agreed to it because I felt that Maboneng Precinct was the perfect place for our business”.
“I thought this is where we belong, the lifestyle complimented Blackanese because it's very young and trendy”
“I don’t think we would have been as successful if we have started in an area like Sandton,” he adds.
Kunene now hopes to introduce more black people to sushi and possibly grow the business through a couple of chain stores in the future.
“I’m not a big fan of franchises but I dream of maybe owning a couple of chain stores because I believe that it will still keep the authenticity of the brand.”
“I see it growing all over the country if not the continent,” he concludes.
Check out http://theblackanese.co.za/
Over the next few weeks we will be profiling many young entrepreneurs who have proven that hard work does pay off.
Blackanese: Kunene goes from car-guard to sushi restaurant owner
Blackanese owner Vusi Kunene comes rushing into the restaurant and apologises for being late “I’m so sorry, I’ve been busy teaching a sushi class,” he says.
The company has received a lot of media coverage lately with features on Top Billing as well the Hansa Dreamers advert and Kunene admits that this has been good for business.
“We’ve been getting calls from all over Joburg and people are interested in the brand,” the busy entrepreneur says as he places his ever ringing phone on silent and gives us his full attention.
His is a classic rag to riches story, starting from being a car-guard at events to being the owner of a growing business.
“I loved working at events and I used to do odd jobs such as waitering and guarding cars,” he says.
But when it was whilst working as a waiter, he developed a passion for food.
“I loved working with food and serving people and I wanted to learn more about the business side of things.”
“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mind,” he adds.
After a few years working in Joburg, Kunene moved to Cape town where he worked for a number of fine dining restaurants for over six years and it was at one of these establishments where he learned about sushi making.
“I was impressed by the culture and tradition behind sushi”, he says.
However the inquisitive Kunene was not satisfied with only learning about the food industry, he wanted to be one of the business owners.
“I got the idea of opening a sushi restaurant but it was met with a lot of negativity with people telling me that it wouldn’t work because “where have you ever seen a black sushi chef?”
“But I didn’t let it discourage me”.
Following the 6 year stay in Cape Town Kunene then made his way back Johannesburg and that is when things started happening.
Through his work at different events, Kunene then met Sandile and Themba who were working for a sushi bar and the knowledge and skills that Vusi needed to make his restaurant dream come true.
“I told them about the idea and they understood but they were afraid of leaving their stable jobs for something that was not guaranteed.”
“I started getting stalls at food markets and asked the guys to come help me out for a few hours and that’s where they saw that the business idea had great potential and decided to join me.”
Though many believe that prior to opening Blackanese, Kunene had acquired and mastered the skill of sushi making, this is not so.
“I started the business without even knowing how to make a California roll, he says.
“I brought in guys who had been making sushi for years and had the knowledge I needed and combined that with my business skills and experience.”
“I always give an example of the one of the greatest football coaches in the world, Jose Mourinho. He has never played football but he studied it and look at him now”, he says.
Kunene has now learned how to make sushi and even offers sushi making classes for students.
Along with business knowledge and experience, Kunene stresses the importance of knowing the business you want to go into and how to present it to potential investors.
“You need ask yourself, as an entrepreneur is your idea worth funding?”
“You also need to know what funders are looking for and come up with fresh ideas.”
“We began as a mobile sushi bar, catering at events and food markets around Joburg and it was at the Market on Main food market that we met Jonathan Liebmann, the developer of Maboneng Precinct who then offered me space to open the restaurant.”
“I agreed to it because I felt that Maboneng Precinct was the perfect place for our business”.
“I thought this is where we belong, the lifestyle complimented Blackanese because it's very young and trendy”
“I don’t think we would have been as successful if we have started in an area like Sandton,” he adds.
Kunene now hopes to introduce more black people to sushi and possibly grow the business through a couple of chain stores in the future.
“I’m not a big fan of franchises but I dream of maybe owning a couple of chain stores because I believe that it will still keep the authenticity of the brand.”
“I see it growing all over the country if not the continent,” he concludes.
Check out http://theblackanese.co.za/
Read the success story of Caprivi Lounge
Read the success story of Eish Hade
Over the next few weeks we will be profiling many young entrepreneurs who have proven that hard work does pay off.
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