Beyond The Plate to Culinary Excellence – CEO, The Buka Place

Sualimon Ogunsanya is a seasoned caterer and founder of THE BÚKÀ PLACE. With over a decade of experience, he’s worked with renowned establishments like Mummy’s Dish Nig. Ltd and facilitated the setup of Iya Orisirisi Bukateria.

Holding a Higher National Diploma in Business Administration and with a background in media and marketing, Sualimon aims to make The Buka Place a leading food brand in Nigeria.

1. What inspired you to venture into the food services industry, and how did your journey begin?

My inspiration is from my maternal family, my mother’s late oldest sister ventured into food business in 1960s. She was hawking food on the streets of Shomolu-Bariga, after her demise, one of her siblings (who is my mother’s immediate elder sister) took over then started the business in a big way to sustain her legacy.

Been around the business while we see it as helping our parents inspired me a lot, it is important to also mention that my mother ventured into the business and my  cousins. It becomes our way of life,  it doesn’t deprived us from doing other things we are passionate about.

So, I can say having served the family business for about 15 years, I was growing and wanted to settle down to have a family. That was when I pulled out from the family business to set up mine.

 Having worked with established outlets like Mummy’s Dish Nig. Ltd and facilitated other setups , what key lessons have you learned from these experiences?

Well… I can categorically say working with Mummy’s Dish,  which is the family business I was referring to by the way has prepared me to learn the rudiments of the food business. And, also facilitating Iya Orisirisi Bukateria in Gwagwalada opened my mind to what I never thought I could achieve with my experience, as it was the first time I was involved in setting up a befitting Buka restaurant from scratch to finish. Although,  it was meant to be partnership, but it didn’t work out for some reasons. Above all, I am glad I passed through that phase.

 How did your time in the media industry influence your approach to building and promoting your business?

 Prior to joining the media, I have always known myself to be a great communicator; from  my interpersonal skills and ability to speak and write to the best of my ability.  That being said,  the media industry has enabled me to meet a whole of people and also consolidate my residual knowledge and skill vis-avis communication which I have always adopted when I am engaging a prospects or/and existing customers that intends to patronise  in a professional manner.

You studied Business Administration, how has this helped you manage and grow your business?

To be honest, I can say Business Administration was a wrong course for me to have studied,  I should been a full time media personality. However, I guess there’s a way my path has been designed because it also enabled me to be manage business to an extent.

What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced while establishing The Buka Place, and how did you overcome them?

Establishing The Buka Place wasn’t much of a challenge to me, but the phase before it’s establishment.  Just like I did with Iya Orisirisi Bukateria in Gwagwalada-Abuja, I had ventured into yet another partnership to set up ALABULA in Surulere Lagos. Business was active for couple of months before I quit.

It was the pain from ALABULA that influenced my decision to come up with the brand name THE BUKA PLACE. It will interest you that I also came up with the name ALABULA and registered it with my money , I am that blessed with ideas to start dragging business name with anyone.

I may not be where I intend to be yet, but I am glad to have started another journey.

With over a decade of catering experience, what strategies do you use to ensure a memorable dining experience for your customers?

My number one strategy has been great communication, pre-post patronage and ultimately ensuring customers optimal satisfaction with the desired taste they look forward to in our kitchen at The Buka Place.

You have catered for many events, what’s your approach to handling the complexities of large-scale food service?

Experience over the years with selected challenges while handling events has equip me with how best to tackle event or individual customer complexities.

What are your long-term goals for The Buka Place, and how do you plan to achieve them?

My long-term goals for The Buka Place is to be one of the leading food business hub in the hospitality industry, and make it a household brand to be reckon with.

I know achieving this requires substantial funding and passion because the ideas are there, I will just say I am still very much open to partnership if that’s what it will take me to achieve it.  

I won’t let my past partnership experiences deprive me from seeing the greatness in the future as I have learnt my lessons.

What advice would you give to aspiring food entrepreneurs looking to make their mark in the industry?

The truth is, there’s limit to my own advise,  however whoever aspires to be a Food entrepreneur should come correct, be determined, be distinct with taste/service, and be very patience with the process.

The business is profitable,  but the profit isn’t guaranteed immediately after operation is activated.  Basically, they should stick to the law of process.