Founder & Owner
Khaled founded and operated the first loaded/gourmet fries restaurant in Latvia - a country with one of the highest potato consumption rates per capita but no existing loaded fries concept. He introduced new recipes with various toppings, reinventing how Latvians eat fries. The opening Friday went viral on social media, creating overwhelming demand that exhausted raw materials and the team. Suppliers were closed until Tuesday, forcing emergency supermarket purchases at higher cost. The exhausted team's quality dropped over the weekend, damaging the restaurant's reputation. Khaled sold the restaurant for a small profit rather than fight the uphill battle against reputation damage - a classic case of being a victim of one's own success.
Why I Joined
Entrepreneurial drive to build own vision and capitalize on first-to-market opportunity in Latvia
- •Identified market opportunity: high potato consumption in Latvia with zero loaded fries competitors
- •Developed original recipes and menu with various toppings and flavor combinations
- •Managed all restaurant operations including kitchen, front-of-house, and supplier relationships
- •Executed social media marketing campaign that achieved viral reach on opening
- •Handled crisis management when demand overwhelmed supply chain capacity
- •Built custom C++ terminal backup system for POS and inventory tracking
- •Made strategic decision to sell restaurant and exit at small profit
- ✓Launched first-to-market loaded fries concept in Latvia, introducing a new food category to the country
- ✓Achieved viral social media success that generated overwhelming customer demand on opening weekend
- ✓Exited restaurant sale at small profit despite operational challenges - did not lose money on venture
- ✓Gained deep POS and inventory system knowledge that later helped ORKA Solutions ERP clients
Technology Stack
Situation
Latvia has one of the highest potato consumption rates per capita in the world, yet no restaurant offered loaded or gourmet fries. Khaled identified this gap and saw an opportunity to reinvent how Latvians eat their favorite food.
Task
Build and launch a first-to-market loaded fries restaurant, creating a new food concept for the Latvian market.
Action
Khaled invested personal savings and family funds to open Fries Factory. He developed original recipes with various toppings. He executed social media marketing that went viral on opening Friday. When overwhelming demand depleted raw materials and exhausted the team, he managed the crisis by emergency-purchasing from supermarkets at higher cost. He also built a C++ backup system for POS and inventory. When quality suffered over the weekend and reputation took a hit, he made the strategic decision to sell rather than fight an uphill battle.
Result
The restaurant sold for a small profit - Khaled did not lose money. More importantly, the deep dive into POS and inventory systems later proved invaluable when consulting for ORKA Solutions ERP clients, giving him operational knowledge that exceeded many of the clients themselves.
Size: 4 people
Structure: Owner-operated restaurant with small team
Reported to: Self (Owner)
Direct reports: 3
Skills Gained
Skills Deepened
- 💡Infrastructure must precede viral success - scaling requires preparation
- 💡Supply chain resilience is critical - single points of failure can destroy momentum
- 💡Knowing when to exit is as important as knowing when to start
- 💡Professional POS systems teach operational details you do not know you need