Saikou owners share advice as ‘anything can happen’ in business

The first 12 months in business were no walk in the park for a young South Canterbury couple.

Not only did Jacob Stonehouse and Ola Latu have to navigate the challenges of running their first restaurant, they also faced a devastating fire which forced them to close for several weeks, and the added challenges of Covid-19.

But their approach, and advice to others starting out, is to keep moving forward.

“Anything can happen. You just have to take it and try to move on.

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“You just have to keep moving forward and try not to dwell on the negatives,” Stonehouse said.

The couple, who were both 23 and working in hospitality when they purchased Timaru’s Saikou restaurant in November 2021, said mulled over the decision for six months to ensure they were 100% committed.

“One of the biggest things that helped us was a massive pros and cons list, and we were also looking at how the future would look like for the restaurant.

“We were really excited going into it, and we didn’t know what to expect. It was overwhelming at times and there were a lot of unknowns because of Covid.

“But working together, trusting each other and running the business together as a couple helped a lot,” Latu said.

Each had seven or eight years of experience working in the hospitality industry prior to buying their first business, and said that had helped.

“When we first went into it, we had a lot of good people around us who gave us good advice and the experience definitely helped.

“We are still learning, and we are learning off each other,” she said.

The couple’s advice to aspiring young people who want to run a hospitality business or run their own business is to “know the ins and outs” of the industry and ensure you have a good team around you.

“Before we owned the restaurant, we had good friends in the hospitality industry, and we received a lot of support from them and from our families.

“A lot of people we knew, and who supported us, started coming to Saikou, and we also got a lot of support from the local community,” she said.

When a fire, caused by a combustion of oil, grease, cleaning agents and tea towels, broke out at the restaurant in May 2022, they had to close until July.

The couple lauded their staff, who they said played a big role in keeping the restaurant going through the fire, and the pandemic.

“We have a good team, and they are almost like a family. It’s important to look after your team because they are the ones who keep the business running and taking care of everything,” he said.

“We were pretty lucky when we took over (during Covid) because the hype of Saikou continued, and we took it day by day, and we kept pushing through.”

The couple said their short-term plans for the restaurant were to keep pushing ahead.

“We want to be the best we can be,” he said.

Latu’s advice to young entrepreneurs was to “be your biggest cheerleader” and always “back yourself”.

She said when you had good service, good drinks and good food, word of mouth played a big role in business success.

The couple said the business had been running more smoothly in its second year, and they hoped to be able to take a bit of a break soon.