Almost thirty years on both sides of the franchise table
I'm Ahmed Salem, an entrepreneur from Utrecht. Not an advisor who got it from a book, but an operator who has done it himself: as a franchisee, as a concept builder and as the one who opened the door at six in the morning.
Why I do this
The market is full of good entrepreneurs. They can cook, they can sell, they have energy for three. But they don't know the rules: the zoning plan (bestemmingsplan), the permits, the collective agreement, the small print of a franchise contract. And that is what breaks them, year after year.
I paid for those lessons myself, in almost thirty years of hospitality in two countries. You don't have to pay that bill again. That is the whole idea behind this firm.
I work in two languages: I am fluent in business Dutch and business Arabic. You can simply deal with me in your own language, including when it comes to contracts and numbers.
From first pizza to his own formulas
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Late nineties
Starting on the shop floor
It began almost thirty years ago, simply in the shop. Making dough, serving customers, closing up and opening again the next morning. That is where you learn what a hospitality business really is: not a concept on paper, but a thousand small things a day that have to be right.
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2000 to 2009
New York Pizza, multi-unit franchisee
Nine years as a franchisee with five locations, in Amsterdam, Diemen and Utrecht. Opened locations, trained teams, guided renovations and learned how a formula works when you have to deliver on it every day. And also: what a franchise contract says when things go against you.
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2009 to 2017
Domino's Pizza Belgium
Eight years of running businesses in another country, with seven locations: two in West Flanders and five in Antwerp. Different laws, different customers and a different labour market: nothing teaches you what rules do to a business like crossing a border and starting over.
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2017 to 2020
Papa John's
After seventeen years as a franchisee I moved to the building side: together with the master franchisee I helped set up Papa John's in the Netherlands. I had a hand in everything, from operations in the stores to driving wholesale orders out to the shops myself. That is how you get to know a formula from every angle. Then the pandemic shut the whole sector down for two years. In 2022 I started again, this time with a concept of my own.
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From 2022
Food Mood Amsterdam and Halal Station
In September 2022 I founded Food Mood Amsterdam B.V.; the company trades under the name Halal Station. As Chief Taste Officer I'm now building a concept of my own, instead of running someone else's formula. Under Food Mood we also run the full catering of two vocational colleges of ROC Midden Nederland in Utrecht (ROCMN Business & Administration and ROCMN Welzijn), until recently spent three years at the VU university in Amsterdam, and work as a subcontractor for large caterers such as Compass Group. Everything I learned as a franchisee now goes in on the other side of the table.
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Now
Zino's Den Haag
At Zino's Den Haag, an Italian schiacciata concept by Ronda Food Concepts B.V., I am a 50% shareholder and run operations and hospitality: from renovation to opening day and the day-to-day operation, alongside my other work. I do this in partnership with Immensus Group, which operates 21 Domino's stores and several restaurant formulas, including Zino's, and is also the trusted administration partner of more than 90 young entrepreneurs. See the Zino's journey in pictures.
The mistakes I made myself
- I signed contracts I only really understood when it was too late to negotiate. That is why I now let nobody sign until every clause has been explained.
- I underestimated staff costs and learned that gross salary is not yet the full labour cost. I now do that calculation for every client, before the opening instead of after.
- I held on too long to parts that weren't working, because I was attached to them myself. An outsider could have told me in one afternoon. I am now that outsider for others.
- I learned that a good location with a bad lease is a bad location. Since then I read every lease as if I were signing it myself.
Thirty years of experience is above all thirty years of seeing, making and fixing mistakes. That is exactly why this advice works.
Work with someone who has done it himself
Half an hour of getting acquainted costs nothing and always gives you something.
Book a free introduction Or call directly: 06 36030270