Kayahan-Curtis Gunes is the co-founder of Evil Eye Cafe located in Fairy Meadow and Wollongong. Evil Eye Cafe is a Mediterranean-inspired cafe serving the Illawarra region since 2020.
For more details, visit their website here.
Here we sit down with Kayahan, to know a bit more about his journey as an entrepreneur.
Q. Tell us a little more about your journey as an entrepreneur – how did you get started? What inspired you?
Kayahan: I was a police officer for two years and always dreamed of owning my own business. My father and I created Evil Eye Cafe opening the first store during Covid 19 in 2020. I decided to leave the police force and open the second shop in hopes and dreams of it becoming a franchise.
Q. What’s one thing in your routine that you do consistently that has made a huge difference in your personal or business life?
Kayahan: Having the consistency whether it be in the gym or with work life to keep going and to perfect the process has been a major factor in success.
Q. Who are your mentors and inspiration? and what knowledge or insight did they give to you that was valuable?
Kayahan: My father has always been business minded so following in his footsteps and with his guidance, it has allowed me to flourish within my own venture.
Q. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Kayahan: My most satisfying moment would be opening the business and having an enormous amount of success during the first year of operating.
Q. How do you market your business, and which tactics have been most successful?
Kayahan: A lot of the marketing is done on Instagram through the business accounts @evileyecafe and @evileyebeachcafe, as well as my personal account @kayahan.4. In recent times marketing on TikTok @kayahan.4 has helped enormously with marketing.
Q. What have been your biggest failures or challenges?
Kayahan: During the tough times of Covid 19 we had to opt for delivery applications such as Uber Eats and Menulog to uphold sales.
Q. How did this failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
Kayahan: This has helped us during times when people could not leave their houses and since then it is still a big part of our operation.
Q. If someone was to create a TV show about you, what would it be about and what would it be called?
Kayahan: Father like son. The bond between my father and I are in taking the risks we have to create this business.
To keep up to date with Kayahan and his journey, connect with him on Instagram and TikTok.