He was set up by a partner. A bulldozer under the supervision of officials destroyed his institution. He lost millions due to trust in the owner of the premises. And no gloom: in seven years, plans to open 1000 points with the original half-meter shawarma without mayonnaise.
Evgeny Lebedev: Pavel, what are your projects now, what are they as a whole?
Pavel Krupin: Firstly, the network of street food cafe “In Lavash”: shawarma and coffee with you. Now there are five points, two more under construction, will open in the next two months. We also have eight Pelmesh fast-food dining restaurants. And now we have launched a new project, Na Kuhne cafe - two establishments, the first opened on the Continent food court, the second on Dvinskaya. This is such a large-scale area project. There is also a sushi and pizza delivery "Sushi Yami" in Peterhof, with a good sales volume. But it's like a hobby, a project for the soul.
-How was this created? Have you always been an ideologist, the author of the concept?
-In different projects in different ways. If we take “In the kitchen” and the Pelmesh dining rooms, then they were created together with partners. One of the partners had a small dining room, was far away, somewhere on the Rybatskaya metro station. He invited me, I arrived, looked at the format, I realized that they go there because he has really tasty cuisine, high-quality. But there was no packaging, visualization, and so on. He knew that I had professional experience in this ...
- Where did the experience come from?
- I have worked in catering all my life. He started with the assistant waiter, worked as a waiter in the Ginza, a bar manager, a sommelier, manager and general manager of the restaurant. When he ran into the wall, he left altogether another story - to suppliers, in Coca-Cola. He went from the bottom, from the merchandiser, and reached the manager for key customers in St. Petersburg. I went to study, I was engaged in marketing a lot. He absorbed all this, left and opened his first restaurant. It was a conscious decision, I dreamed about it every day when I came to work. And I understood that I want the network. Because I worked on the network, watched how they build a team there, how they yell in the mornings at meetings. I was often at meetings of Teplitsky (co-owner of the Ginza Project. Note - E. L.), gaining experience quietly. And he came to the conclusion that it was the network that was needed.
- There was probably no money at that time?
- There was some money, I saved up. You can make very good money as a waiter if you work.
-Well, how much?
- Four thousand euros per month, for example.
-This is still those euros. So now you can earn a couple of thousand euros?
-You can have 200 thousand rubles for tea and salary. At Ginza, a very good waiter makes money.
- What was your record tea?
-100-150 thousand.
-Where is this so?
-This is the “Standard” restaurant in Peterhof Park. Muscovites, very rich people, oil workers and so on come there. One day, about ten people come in, men, and the audience is crowded. They say you need to sit down. Well, you already seem to determine the value of the check ... I say that you can close the VIP terrace, but it costs money. They, without even asking how much it costs: “Do it!” -We always kept such a piece for such guests, it was a waitress story. That day it was my piece, I was lucky. Next, you need to buy ten tickets for the Meteor. “Maybe you need a box of champagne with you?” - “Yes, of course, download it.” People did not see how much it all cost.
- Do administrators and managers earn less than waiters?
-Smaller. And the manager is often less. Earnings create a problem for all waiters in general: it’s very difficult to leave because you receive money every day. You can get ten thousand a day and fifteen. When I went to Coca-Cola for a salary of 25 thousand a month, I did not understand what was going on.
- In the end, did you find partners who invested in the first project?
- This is a rake, by the way. The first partner was an Armenian, a young guy. We met at a party, on vacation. I told him the idea that I want to open a la bistro with a shaverma. In St. Petersburg, we generally have a very difficult attitude towards street food, especially to the word "shaverma". This is tin. I had a crazy idea that you can do it better: with a restaurant serving, but for the price, as everywhere else. I found a place, 80 squares, with landings. There used to be a cafe. He invited him to invest, because one can not pull. Although the investments were small, one and a half million for two. -We started this story, I took the room, signed a contract. He said: well, invest your part of the money, I will invest my own when it is needed. When part of it was needed, he began: call tomorrow. Then again: call tomorrow. For three weeks I was waiting for money, I realized that there is no money. And I have already completed half, everything has been invested, the owner calls me, says that it is time to open.
-And what did you do?
-I came to the owner, opened the cards, said that such a situation had occurred. What I can’t finish building, because there is no money and I have lost a partner, but I really want to make a real story. Thank God, the owner said: I give you a month. I went to relatives, acquaintances, restaurants, where I worked. Through the relatives of his wife, a partner was found.
-That is, rake number one: when you open a project, the money must be in full on the account.
-Yes. Already signed, put in a cell in the bank, on the account. So, the new partner came, looked. Rich enough person. He said that he liked everything, only he did not want a bistro, but a restaurant. As a result, my money turned out 15% of the total investment. -We rebuilt everything, the owner allowed the parking to be done under the summer terrace, the partner says: we do not make a summer terrace, we make a big winter glass. The project has completely changed. Well, what was I to do? I had no options. I calculated that the project came out about 12-13 million.
- What was your share?
-I have a 50% share for management. The conditions are good, but while I was returning the money, we worked 70 to 30.
- What restaurant was that?
-This is the restaurant "Kinza" in Peterhof. Eight years ago they opened it. I put all my experience there, my whole soul. They made a very cool price-quality ratio. They took a good chef, inexpensive, but he burned with soul. And I started living in this restaurant. We got to the point where we stood in line, people sat in cars for an hour to get to us. Because on average, a hot dish cost 200–250 rubles, and the format was the same as for Ginza's repair, such a fashionable party with parties. Constantly some thematic stories were arranged. For Peterhof it was very important, we were the first to occupy this niche. - For the first two years, I skimmed the cream. For a year and a half, he returned the investment to the investor in full. They worked for another six months, and I decided to expand. We did not have enough places, and behind the wall was another 120 meters. I offered to invest, but the investor said that he was not interested, he has other projects now, and if I want, I can do it myself. We determined the share of its output, and then I went on my own.
-He earned, it turns out?
-He returned the investment, earned and left the project.
-And where did you get the money for expansion?
-Credit. This became the second rake. Because my ego was so elevated that I thought: I can do anything! I am 23 years old, and already in a year and a half I returned 12 million.
-Terminator at least.
Yes, I'm like a terminator. So I took this room, called the designer, said that I want a cool restaurant with a cool design. I invest almost five million there, and a crisis ensues. People are frightened off by expensive repairs, expensive sofas, a more expensive menu - I invited the chef from Italy Group. Soulful history is gone, prices have risen.
-Is the revenue dropped?
-Moreover, the expenditure side has also increased: rent, loans. Thank God, I had a second business, I was engaged in a souvenir, which brought good dividends. Then he opened ice cream at a park in Peterhof - well, some kind of connections have already appeared. And he pumped into the restaurant what he earned so that he would not die.
- Why not slam the restaurant?
- I couldn’t admit to myself that I couldn’t do it. I got to the point that over the past six months I have grown minus 2.8 million. The owner of the room called, I constantly went and apologized. As a result, I did rebranding, removed everything that was expensive, and again made a sincere story, Kinzu 2.0. There was a year before the World Cup, tourists went, I went to zero and realized that I needed to sell. Negotiations have begun. It was hard, it's my brainchild. And at the same time, three or four Pelmesh dining rooms were already being built.