Top view restaurant is a popular diner in kigali city prefered by many due to mouthwatering cultural dishes served to clients.
At the entrance the warm welcome you get from a joyfull face of Madam Murekatete Marry, the proprietor of the restaurant commonly refered to as ‘Marry’s Joint’.
Igihe.com talked to an enterprising Murekatete Marry (pictured above) willing to share her experience as a business woman.
Murekatete is not a graduate of Hotel management However,she has practical experience of more than 25years in the restaurant business and believes that any amount of money can start a business as long as the initiator has vision, works hard, with self-confidence and trust in God, as she explains.
“I was a house wife before my husband died, but his absence taught me how to stand up as a mother and struggle for my children’s future since their father passed away”.
She says her first job in a restaurant was in Kampala in 1985. she worked for a short time and established her own restaurant with only 3,000 Ugandan shillings, by only preparing black tea(combination of water and tea leaves).
However, just after one month, she had managed to cook milk tea, katogo(local ugandan dish of banana,meat,gnut soup and veges), and afforded to employ one Waitress.
Murekatete adds that besides the basic qualities identified above, respect for customers, trustworthiness and determination are among crucial pillars for success in business ventures in particular and in daily life.
“I like my job and give it a big value and that is why I am where am,” she cheerfully stresses.
Some people open restaurants but within few months the business collapses because of poor management. Murekatete urges those people to always be there in time and give value to both employees and clients because they are partners without whose cooperation, the business collapses sooner than later.
“Like anywhere else, respect in business is very important because firing workers every after week does not make sense; they are human beings too who can make mistakes and be corrected instead of being fired,” She observes.
“ I came with four employees from Uganda but up to now am still working with them, not because they are my relatives but because I respect them and they do the same to me and our most regular customers trust and respect them too,” She accounts.
Doctors always advice people to eat local food like vegetables, sweet potatoes, cassava and so many others because they aren’t oily. thus protection aganist health infections resultant from oily foods.Top View Restaurant abides by doctors’ line because the restaurant only prepares cultural foods as main dishes.
Ms. Murekate believes that challenges cannot make one close the business but teach proprietors what to do next, as she gives her own practical example.
“In 1995 the place got burnt where the only thing I remained with was a Toyota pick-up which I had just bought, one chair, and a source pan, but that did not mean that I had to lose hope because after three months of renovation I started again.”
She says through her experience she learnt that respecting people and winning people’s trust helped her in strengthening her business which had gone down because of fire. She acquired a loan and paid later.
“I remember a man who gave me 8 tables with no discount just because his shop was opposite my restaurant, the same applies to the people in markets where I used to get all I want and paid later,” She jovially reveals.
Murekatete concludes by saying that satisfaction with what you have and whatever little you achieve is the main key to success in life and urges people to stop being idle by quoting the bible: “God said that He will bless whatever we have in our hands” and I believe any job is a blessing from God.
Some of the customers who had come for the breakfast appreciated the hard working spirit of murekatete because of what she prepares for them good hearted and care towards the customers.
Steven said 1994 after genocide when Marry opened the restaurant he has never went to any other restaurants.
“I always eat from Top View Restaurant because she does not fry her food and I am planning to stop eating from here only when I get married,” Explains Steven.
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