Interview With Entrepreneur

Interview with Hasan Rama, owner of a local Greek food restaurant in Gainesville.

Me: Mr. Rama, how did you come with the idea of a Greek restaurant, when you are not even Greek yourself?

Rama: I won the Green Card lottery in 2002. I was mayor of a small town in southern Albania at the time so I decided I would wait until my term was over (one year) before I would travel to U.S. whereas the rest of my family moved as soon as the paper work was done because I wanted my kids to transfer to American schools as soon as possible. Once I arrived in U.S., in Saint Augustine Florida, I realized Greek and Italian branded restaurants where much liked by the locals. Several other Albanian families had opened such restaurants, and after finding a failing business I decided to buy it for a very low price. That’s how it all started.

Me: Did you have in this industry before?

Rama: No, not at all. This is our first experience with working at the restaurant.

Me: How difficult was that? Explain to me the learning the process.

We signed a cook with a professional cook for 6 months. We agreed that during this time he would help us learn the tricks of Greek cuisine. At the end of  these six months we were ready to take over.

Me: Why did you move from Saint Augustine to Gainesville?

Rama: Our two sons got admitted at UF, and we got a great offer to sell our restaurant. We thought it was worth while making this move.

Me: What are your plans for the future?

Rama: We do want to expand but right now we are very absorbed by this restaurant and we are not cable at diverging resources and time to that. Once our sons graduate we believe we will open at two other locations in Gainesville.