I worked in Thailand for many years before I decided to come home to Budapest because of the strong bond I have with my family and relatives. I wanted to have my old dream come true, to open a restaurant in my home city, a Thai food bar, utilizing the time I spent in Thailand and the knowledge I gained there. Our restaurant, GreenThai, was opened in the city center of Budapest in February 2013.
In the beginning, we used Hungarian staff and chefs. In the first year, there was no problem finding the right workforce, we had many respondents replying our advertisements. Among the candidates we received, we were able to choose the right quality professionals. But after two years when our chefs left, we were surprised at the low number of new advertisers, and in terms of knowledge and attitudes, the situation was much worse than we expected. After that, we were basically forced to hire employees and the situation has, unfortunately, got even worse over the years. In 2017, we were forced into a negative spiral by increasing wages, virtually no candidates for our jobs. In our restaurant, the work was largely done by our family. We need to reduce the time of the restaurant’s opening hours so that we could manage all the tasks and this has decreased our profits and number of visitors. We had to experience the sorry truth many businesses face that a company should always develop and aim to improve because otherwise, it will be unprofitable. Unfortunately, without employees, however, a business can only decline.
We made a serious and bold decision! In 2017, we brought in workers from Thailand and that changed everything. Currently, with stable opening hours, the profit of our restaurant is growing steadily and we do not have to do all the work within the family. On top of our expectations, Thai workers can do much more than we thought. We see our business and our future bright again.