15/06/2023
15th June 2013, a beautiful Saturday morning on Oxford Street in Manchester , we flung our doors open for the very first time!A terrifying process to go through. Not for the faint hearted.
For myself, the first time at being a No.1. I had played the role of No.2 in previous roles where I always focussed on the operations themselves & that was it. This was a far, far bigger challenge. All In all, 18months in the making. A lot of time spent creating a brand, researching the market, raising the necessary capital and hunting down the right location for our first site. Not to mention craft the menu, source suppliers & recruit staff.
Looking ahead 10 years from 2013, I’d have seen us occupy 4 - 5 stores by now. The truth is there is me at the helm & me alone. Manchester has become a beast. We got Liverpool settled, then the pandemic arose & put any growth plans on the back burner, not to mention a couple of young whipper snappers of my own, I now have to contend with!
To anyone attempting/operating any kind of business, I take my hat off to you. It’s not an easy gig. This was a far bigger challenge than I could have imagined & having to make each & every decision, largely on my own as I was head of the helm of this small business. There is an awful lot of hurdles to jump to get these businesses “LIVE”!
From originally starting out as Changos Burrito Bar, before being bullied into our new name of Listo Burrito. From Manchester to Liverpool. From eat in to takeaway. From collection to delivery. From breakfast to dinner. From power outages to floods. From incredible staff (who we owe a lot to & to this day have a terrific team operating the restaurant) to those who couldn’t have given two hoots. From phenomenal customers to those who just wanted to cause problems. From Willem Defoe to Sonny Bill. From a Covid Pandemic & Ukraine to a cost of living crisis.
Myself & the team on site, strive to deliver & improve each day, to provide our loyal customers with a great product, at a great price, served at speed & with a smile!!I still work hands on in both of our sites on a daily basis, to ensure the ship sails on track. This has also been a contributing factor to only operating the two locations, but perhaps a reason we are celebrating 10 years today!
We have used the same suppliers since day one, who are all incredible & who work with us,to support us, in order to supply the best product we can, consistently. A special thanks to Lousie Mora, who has been integral from the start, now having created us twice over!
Thankyou to everyone who has been a part of this journey so far. There are literally hundreds of people that have been involved with the success of this restaurant. To our loyal customers, thankyou for your continued support, we’d be nothing without you all. To our on site team & suppliers, thankyou all for your hard work and dedication each day, in keeping this ship sailing!
Here’s to another 10 years.
Cheers
Roger
