Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Daniel Homaijani. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Daniel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Quality control is a challenge almost every entrepreneur has had to focus on when growing – any advice, stories or insight around how to best ensure quality is maintained as your business scales?

Quality control is one of the most important things I focus on at UNiQ. I have spent countless hours sourcing the best quality ingredients from multiple sources. I do admit this is a challenge at times. Depending on the season and weather, we sometimes receive ingredients that are below my standards. When this happens, I reject product and obtain ingredients elsewhere, even if it reduces my profit margins. Some vegan ingredients I use at UNiQ are special order items and require expensive shipping costs and premium rates. I would rather make this sacrifice than to serve food that is below my customers’ expectations I have established here. The presentation is also as important as the taste. I intentionally seek out ingredients that are very aesthetically pleasing.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I came up with this concept to show others that vegan food prepared correctly can taste better than the non-vegan alternative. I have open many peoples’ minds to the world of vegan food. I get the most satisfaction from customers who hadn’t realized this concept is vegan and watching their perspective on vegan cuisine change before my eyes.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The restaurant industry is a constant struggle. Every day presents a new challenge. There have been times I’ve been understaffed and the orders are piling in. This creates a high level of anxiety when I’ve already established a certain level of expectation. In situations like this, I have buckled down, changed the online ordering wait time, power through the orders, and do what I have to do to make things right with the customers. There is no amount of preparation that can get you ready when things aren’t going exactly how you want them to at a restaurant. I just tell myself not to panic and do what I need to do to power through

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Before the restaurant opened, I created social media pages for UNiQ. I reached out to friends and family to follow and keep up with the progress. I then marketed on local vegan facebook groups to get everyone excited for whats to come. I found that word of mouth gets you a genuine following. I would respond to everyone who reached out and followed everyone back to create an intimate connection. My business following grew mostly from serving quality food and from word of mouth

Contact Info:

• Website: uniqburger.com
• Instagram: @UNiQburger
• Facebook: @tryUNiQ
• Yelp: yelp.com/biz/uniq-burger-scottsdale-2

Image Credits
Gabe Williams