TiE Houston, HCC Host Presentations on Starting a Food Business

From left: Purav Patel - Bagel Dots, Masroor Fatany - The Halal Guys, Ana Rojas Bastidas - TiE Houston Executive Director, Gary Yan - Alings Hakka, and Ravi Brahmbatt - TiE Houston Board Member/ HCC Faculty.

From left: Purav Patel – Bagel Dots, Masroor Fatany – The Halal Guys, Ana Rojas Bastidas – TiE Houston Executive Director, Gary Yan – Alings Hakka, and Ravi Brahmbatt – TiE Houston Board Member/ HCC Faculty.

HOUSTON: TiE Houston, in partnership with Houston Community College, was proud to host a presentation on “How to Launch a Successful Food Business”. Three local Houston entrepreneurs were invited to share their insights and advice with the audience of over 40 participants.

Masroor Fatany (The Halal Guys), Gary Yan (Aling’s Hakka), and Purav Patel (Bagel Dots) shared the many roads they took to build their food business. Ravi Brahmbatt, TiE Houston Board Member and HCC Director of Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship, who shared his own experience as a deli business owner, moderated the panel.

The diverse panel was able to speak about franchising, building a brand, and inventing their own niche market. The audience was a mixed group of students from HCC and UH, along with local Houstonians looking into starting their own venture.

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Questions from the audience ranged from advice on how to find the right distributor to how deal with marketing though social media. All of the panelists agreed that although they each took different paths, it was their passion and dedication to quality that has led to their success.

Purav reminded everyone that although their product now sits on the shelf of H-E-B, they once made their Bagel Dots in their own kitchen and delivered it all by themselves.

Maroor shared stories of the six attempts he made to start The Halal Guys franchise in Houston before getting a yes at seven.

Finally, Gary shares the importance of learning lessons, even in the most unlikely places, like when he worked at McDonald’s, that have shaped his work ethic long before becoming a successful restaurant owner that he still draws upon.

One participant said “The food industry is so mysterious but something I am very interested in getting involved with that it was worth the drive all the way from The Woodlands to come and learn more.”

TiE is a global organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship. TiE Houston is an active chapter hosting a variety of events throughout the year covering a variety of topics that impact the entrepreneurial community. TiE Houston and HCC are working on an MOU to support and further collaboration and more events focused on a wide variety of industries and programs.

For more information and for upcoming events, please visit www.houston.tie.org.