Brothers Purchase Restaurant Equipment + Supplies Business
NNN Foodservice Solutions of Pinellas County
When brothers, Ashraf Ibrahim and Sameh Ebrahim, became aware that a restaurant kitchen equipment business, NNN Foodservice Solutions, was up for sale, they jumped at the opportunity. Having owned their own restaurant for more than eight years, the duo knew all too well how the restaurant business worked but now they were searching for more. This time they would work on the other side of the business, designing and selling kitchen equipment and supplies to restaurant owners. All they needed was to obtain the right loan to purchase the business.
Once the brothers decided to move forward with their dreams of owning a business such as NNN Foodservice Solutions, they reached out for help. “First I used to work with Anthony. Anthony works for Florida Business Development [Corporation], and Anthony advised me to contact the SBDC to help me with the business plan, so I contacted Brad,” Ashraf said.
Once referred to the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at University of South Florida, the brothers were paired with business consultant Brad Mix for help with their business plan and projections to obtain an SBA loan.
With the knowledge and guidance of Mix, the brothers say they were able to obtain the loan and purchase the business successfully. “Brad walked me through those things, which is the business plan for the business; the projections. Those two things helped me to qualify for the loan that I needed for the business,” Ashraf said.
Although the brothers have only been operating the business for approximately three months, they anticipate a lot of growth in the future as they continue following the business plan that was set forth with the help of Mix. “It’s only been three months, less than three months actually, and the business plan that we had working together is that we plan to expand the business in different ways,” Ashraf said.
With calculated projections, the brothers expect nothing but growth and success in the future. “If we follow the business plan that he helped us with, that’s going to help a lot to grow,” Sameh said.
As they continue learning more about the business and how to manage it, the siblings reflected on their progress so far. “The biggest success so far is buying the business. It was kind of a dream for me and my brother,” Ashraf said.
Ashraf and Sameh are looking forward to the future and using the Florida SBDC at USF as they continue to grow. “In the last three months it’s been a process of learning for me and him,” Ashraf said. “There is a lot of things that we never faced from the other side of the business. So now we’re learning, we attend a lot of meetings, a lot of trainings. We will continue use Florida SBDC [at] USF services in the future as we continue following the business plan. Also, in marketing. Help us improve our website.”
When asked what advice the brothers would give to other small business owners, Ashraf responded, “I highly recommend Brad as a consultant for any small business owners to grow their businesses. I highly recommend Florida SBDC at USF.”
