Sandwich school
 

SIA “Sviestmaize” (sandwich in English) co-owner Edgars Runcis did not choose the name of his company at random – his first business in 2009 was indeed the sandwich business. The idea was to sell self designed sandwiches – initially a café on Brivibas street then a kiosk on Barona street, and after that, following significant transformation, a kitchen service at NABACLAB. The first café was serious learning experience, especially when it comes to cash management and financial planning. Every next step provided Edgars with new insights about the restaurant business and eating habits of Latvians, for example, they do not like to eat a sandwich and walk down the street and the menu is considered adequate if it has chicken meat and vegetarian options.

 
A place were to sit down
 

In 2011 he opened the café Pasēdēt (Sit Down). As the owner describes in his Facebook page, this is the place to sit down, eat, drink and party on weekends. Until recently, the entrepreneur financed his operations from savings and operating cash flow except for investor financing which was raised for the launch of the initial project. However it is very difficult for small business owners to make significant investments without the help of outside financing. Bank loans for such cases most of the time are not available. This was the case with expansion plans for Pasēdēt – the bank loans were not available. Thanks to Capitalia’s POS credit – a loan facility targeted at retail businesses, Pasēdēt was able to finance the construction of the second floor. POS credit is especially convenient for businesses whose clients mostly pay with payment cards, because the repayment of the loan is automatic and Edgars does not have to follow the payment schedule. 

A leader, not a boss
 

Edgars Runcis is very passionate about his business and plans to expand within the existing location. He only gets discouraged when he is faced with bureaucracy to obtain each additional permit to continue his operations. Speaking about his future plans he does not plan to open any new locations as he wants to focus on the existing place.  Instead, he keeps working alongside with his employees at the bar and sees himself more as a leader rather than a boss. For example, he is fine with skipping some fun events once in a while when is his turn at the bar, but he is telling this with joy, as this was the approach he chose himself.