Ahsan Irshad: The Guy Who Cooks

One Sentence Summary:

A Pakistani entrepreneur who has blended his many passions to excel in life, Ahsan Irshad, known as
‘The Guy Who Cooks’, is a Pakistani success story who worked hard in his journey to excel at his love
for cooking.

Class: BUSN 230

Instructor: Ma’am Sarah

Assignment By:

Noor Fatima (261-941283)

Ahsan Irshad: The Guy Who Cooks

Contents
Introduction:................................................................................................................................................3
Background:................................................................................................................................................3
About the Owner:........................................................................................................................................3
About The Business.....................................................................................................................................4
Investment for the business:........................................................................................................................4
Challenges Faced:........................................................................................................................................5
Lack of Capital/Cash Flow:.....................................................................................................................5
Breaking the Taboo:................................................................................................................................5
Risk Factor:.............................................................................................................................................5
My Opinion:................................................................................................................................................6
Future of The Guy Who Cooks:..................................................................................................................7
Ahsan Irshad: The Guy Who Cooks

Introduction:
Many a times we come across stories which are inspiring and worth talking about. Most success
tales stem from a great amount of sweat, tears, hard work and perseverance. It is tough to start
from scratch and climb your way up the ladder no matter what your vision may be. And while it
probably was no easy feat for YouTuber Ahsan Irshad – an Islamabad-based aspiring chef – he
is now on the way to turning his dreams into reality.

Background:
Ahsan Arshad, 26-year-old computer science graduate from COMSATS started pursuing his
passion for cooking over the last two years. He worked in IT for a year before giving it up for a
much more exciting career in food.
I felt that there was no passion in my job," said Arshad. "When a person does not have his
heart in something, he doesn't have the necessary drive for it. My passion lay in food and
adventure cooking."

About the Owner:

Arshad quit his job in 2019 as a software expert dealing in information security and graphic
designing to pursue his passion for cooking fulltime. Irshad enjoys experimenting with different
recipes and he is currently developing recipes for his café. The cook has also combined his love
for trekking and food and is seen cooking outdoors in many of his posts. He loves to experiment
with different recipes and is currently developing different recipes for his café.
Ahsan Irshad: The Guy Who Cooks

About The Business

In a series of tweets, food enthusiast Ahsan Irshad who describes himself as “a computer science
guy who loves to cook” shared how his vision of starting an eatery is about to come to life.
Talking about the humble infrastructure of his food stall, from where he started selling his food,
he wrote: “There was no shop, just one tarpaulin on top, table and grill.” The post was
accompanied by a picture of Irshad standing at his food stall serving dishes in Styrofoam
containers.

Irshad shared that there is a big difference between cooking on gas and on the wood, the taste
also varies when cooked in the wild on wood. His social media posts are full of his burgers that
he has made.

Investment for the business:

While explaining how he arranged the finances and cut down the expenses to a minimum,
Arshad said he had savings which he used to establish the café and borrowed money from his
friends and father.
“I built it with my own hands. More than 50% of labour is mine. We made wooden stalls,
plastered walls, cut wooden beams for the ceiling.”
My investment in the café would not be more than seven to eight lacs rupees, he said.
Ahsan Irshad: The Guy Who Cooks

Challenges Faced:
Starting a business is a significant achievement for many entrepreneurs, but maintaining one is
the larger challenge. There are many common challenges every business face, whether they are
large or small.
Lack of Capital/Cash Flow:
Ahsan Irshad at the start of his journey did not have the money required to set up a large
business. “To set up a cafe in Islamabad, you need Rs 10 to 15 lakhs (Rs1-1.5 million) at least,”
he explained.
“However, I decided that if I was throwing myself into the fire, I should start somewhere small. I
felt that I needed to learn all the tricks of the trade at the very beginning since I had no prior
knowledge of the food business” he explained.

Breaking the Taboo:

One of the challenges that faced by Arshad while setting up his own stall was that the career he
wanted to pursue was looked down on. He really wanted to get into it and break this taboo.
Leaving your career to start up a small food stall is not easy, especially in the society we live.
Arshad didn’t pay much attention to what people will think about him, he was determined to
achieve his goals.

Risk Factor:
Another challenge that he faced early on was a demotivating fear that kept him from succeeding
with his stall.
"When you start off in a business like this, having no prior experience, you become exhausted by
the end of the day and have little success to show for it. You wonder many times whether you
did the right thing by taking the leap," he said. His one-man operation bore the brunt of the
Ahsan Irshad: The Guy Who Cooks

coronavirus lockdown as well, when businesses were shuttered, and restaurants were ordered to
remain closed until the pandemic slowed down.
To tackle this problem Arshad established rock solid accountability, key employees must have an
objective and quantifiable goals. Proper implementation of your business plan defines the
milestone you set to reach. He then had a strategic plan that complies with his vision, goals, and
comprehensive market analysis.

My Opinion:
The ingredient to success is "honest intentions" and “hard work”. There will never be a "full stop
in your path" if you keep going, entrepreneurs should never fall victim to negative thinking.
"If you think positive, you will always achieve something that is positive."
For all the budding entrepreneurs and restauranteurs out there, there’s a simple piece of advice:
modernise yourselves. All the restauranteurs out there who want a career in the culinary field,
should make sure to keep up with the times. Social media is big nowadays and is immensely
helpful in spreading the word about your venture or restaurant. One should make sure you do not
lose out on it.
Secondly, potential entrepreneurs or those who want to try their hand at a start-up should not lose
hope and believe in themselves. You must not lose heart in whatever you try your hand at.
Ahsan Irshad: The Guy Who Cooks

Future of The Guy Who Cooks:

Speaking about his future, Arshad said that he wanted to take his local brand and turn into an
international one in the next 10 years or so.
"I want to take my name, my brand's name and identity, to the international stage so that people
can know that a product [of excellent standard] can also originate from Pakistan," he said.
Arshad intends to help other businesses as well who are facing the struggles he faced while
starting out as a budding entrepreneur.
"I will invite a friend of mine, who is a baker, to sell his products at my cafe," he said. "I will
also ask another friend who is in the photography business to hang his photos at my cafe. This is
how I intend to help other people starting out," Ahsan added.
"Work hard and help others. Lift yourself and lift others who are struggling as well."