We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Romain Kapadia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Romain below.

Alright, Romain thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

COVID was by far the most challenging period we’ve faced in our business. Exacerbating this was the fact that we had taken a large loan to buy out our investors just a few months prior, and with mandatory shutdowns, there was no cash flow to cover these payments, let alone run our business. In the beginning few months, it truly felt like the world was ending.

This experience taught us the importance of being present when navigating turbulent times. We had no idea what the future held, but by focusing on solving problems each day with the information at hand, we were able to make it through a very difficult period.

Romain, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We’re the owners of a luxury events business comprised of high-end venues, a rooftop bar, and a catering company. As opposed to hotel ballrooms, which are designed for functionality, we design our locations for experiences. With the rise of social media, everyone is looking for unique activations, and by being focused on maximizing the guest experience vs. maximizing hotel room sales, we’re delivering a more memorable product that stands out amongst our competition.

Our venues take inspiration from our international travels and the neighborhoods that they’re located in. We utilize one-of-a-kind handmade detailing (mosaics, crown-molded ceilings, etc.) and custom pieces to ensure we’re delivering a truly unique creation. The results are newly constructed venues that look like they were built hundreds of years ago in Europe.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

As I’ve gotten older and more experienced in business, I’ve become a big follower of stoicism, a philosophy that emphasizes maintaining control of your thoughts despite what’s happening in the outside world. Business is chaotic, and it’s very easy to get sucked into the daily up-and-down emotional roller coaster.

I often remind myself of a well-known maxim: “Things are never as good or bad as they seem.”. By remaining stoic and not impulsive, I’m able to maintain composure to give myself the time to truly assess a situation as it unfolds over time.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

We raised money from outside investors to start our business. We were lucky in that we had a great group of partners that were very understanding as we navigated the challenges of starting this business from scratch, including construction delays and a co-founder dispute, amongst others.

With so much media attention paid to high-growth start-ups, many people have the misconception that you have to raise a lot of money to start a business. Taking on investors is a double-edged sword in that once you receive the funds, you’re essentially an employee working for them. While in some businesses, outside capital may be required to get an idea off the ground, in many businesses, you’re better off bootstrapping your way to profitability. The one piece of advice I can offer is if you do take on investors, have a plan for how you can maintain or regain control of your business.

Thankfully for us, we were able to successfully pay off our investors through a bank loan, which unbeknownst to us at the time ended up being 3 months before COVID…a whole different story lol.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.astorianevents.com, www.letesseraeevents.com, www.jacksonandcompany.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astorianevents/, https://www.instagram.com/letesserae/, https://www.instagram.com/jacksonandcompanycatering/, https://www.instagram.com/aperitivohouston/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/astorianevents, https://www.facebook.com/letesserae, https://www.facebook.com/JacksonAndCompanyCatering,