JOURNALIST Euan Sey did not foresee his future centred around paratha wraps and traditional roadside Indian snacks until he met a chef named Kanthi when looking for a flatmate in 2013.

Three years on and the duo have 37 staff and run three trading premises – the original Curry Leaf Cafe in Ship Street in Brighton, a kitchen inside the Temple Bar in Western Road and a kiosk in the main concourse of Brighton Station.

He said: "I had no previous experience of opening or running a restaurant, but food has always been my first love and I did some food and drink journalism for a while earlier in my career.

"After Kanthi and I met and became flatmates, the idea of opening some kind of restaurant kept building until we decided to take the plunge."

They saw what they believed to be a gap in the market between the standard Indians with Bangladesh-inspired menus and the high-end, fine dining side of Indian cuisine in the UK.

With this in mind they decided to launch a cafe rather than a restaurant that served high-quality ingredients in a casual environment.

Euan said: "Nobody else was really pairing Indian food with craft beer – or not properly, at any rate – which we saw as an opportunity.

"Our café on Ship Street has a range of 30 craft beers for customers to try while they eat.

"That’s something that we’re famous for now, and shortly after we opened The Guardian named us one of the top ten places to drink in Brighton, which we’re really proud of."

To begin with, Euan had to carry on working in journalism while the cafe found its feet.

"We bit off more than we could chew with the premises we took over – the refurb was far more expensive than we thought and we were borrowing money from wherever we could to get the cafe open in time.

"We were on a huge high when we managed to open but we underestimated how much money we would lose in the first few months.

"I was running around the streets trying to lure people in with poppadoms."

The hard work paid off, the customers gradually began to flock in and it was not long before awards started to be won – including ‘Best Newcomer, South Coast’ at the 2015 Asian Curry Awards, ‘Newcomer of the Year’ in the Sussex Life Awards and a listing as a ‘Local Gem’ in the Waitrose Good Food Guide.

One of Curry Leaf Cafe’s most defining unique selling points is its rustic and informal atmosphere.

Euan said: "We serve everything from breakfast and lunch dishes to more restaurant-style starter and main courses in the evenings, plus a standalone Sunday brunch menu.

"The bar restaurant has a more pub grub style menu, and at the station kiosk we take inspiration from station stalls in India, serving paratha wraps, South Indian curries, craft beers and even vindaloo bacon rolls."

Hyderabad-born Chef Kanthi is the driving force behind the food and culinary inspiration, meaning that the entire menu is authentically Indian – even the tea and coffee.

Like every hospitality business, the Curry Leaf Cafe, pub kitchen and station kiosk experience peaks and troughs throughout the year.

He said: "The cafe is always busy during school holidays as we’re a popular venue for families, but the quieter times tend to be in January and September,

"We make sure we’re on top of cash flow for these periods, but we also host events such as supperclubs and popups to help us deal with the customer drops.

"Social media is also vital to our success – we work harder than ever on Twitter during quiet periods."

When times were tough at the beginning, Euan hails its cloud accountancy software, Xero, as one of the tools that helped them keep on an even keel financially.

"It took us a long time to fine tune our business - when we first started, we had the turnover but didn’t have the profit. Xero helped us to examine where the costs are coming from, work out the trends and fine tune the operations to turn good turnover into healthy profit."

The business uses Xero for transparency - to compare the three strands of the business and to ensure payments have been allocated correctly across the different operations; during the summer holidays the cafe sees more customers, while demand for food drops at the train station kiosk due to a fall in commuter numbers when the schools kick out.

"We look at profit and loss reports every month with the figures in front of us, but we can access the numbers whenever we like at the click of a button and even on our phones using the app. Assigning receipts and paying expenses from my smart phone is particularly helpful."

For Kanthi and Euan, this is just the beginning of an exciting time for the business.

The duo have recently launched a click-and-collect online payment app where customers can order food from the train and choose a collection time – the first used at any train station in the UK.

They also use an app called TooGoodToGo that allows customers to buy food that would otherwise be thrown away at the end of the shift for a heavily discounted price.

With three strands of the business already under their belts, the future looks bright for the Curry Leaf Cafe.

TIPS FOR ENTREPRENEURS STARTING OUT IN THE HOSPITALITY BUSINESS

THE business partners are both passionate about the restaurant and its future.

Euan Sey said: “Now we’re 37 staff strong, we’ve created numerous jobs. We served 15,000 people in the city last month as the largest independent food operator in Brighton.

“In terms of profitability, it took us a long time to fine tune our business. We had the turnover first but didn’t have the profit. Xero has helped with this, we can examine where the costs are coming from, work out the trends and fine tune the operations. This makes sure we’re not just pulling in a good turnover but also good profit.”

Here are his top three tips for entrepreneurs starting out in the hospitality business: 1. Have a clear concept. What are you trying to achieve and how does it differentiate you from others? Start working on logos early, visually differentiate yourself and be professional – don’t start off by cutting corners.

2. Be pessimistic and realistic with your numbers. Your start-up costs will be more than you think, your refurb will cost more and it will take you longer than you think to meet your costs. Think of a number and multiply it by 1.5.

3. Take social media seriously. The first month we opened, about 50 per cent of our audience was coming from Twitter. If we weren’t active, we wouldn’t have made it through. When you get home and you’re knackered, that’s the time to find people to follow on Twitter.

We also asked what other tech he uses to increase productivity?

“Google drive – everything’s on the cloud. Integrates seamlessly with iPhone. We use an iPad cloud-based EPOS system that updates with real time stock info.

“We also use Zapper, an app based payment system which saves a lot in credit card fees and an app called 2Good2Go [for people] to purchase food that would otherwise be thrown away at the end of the shift.”

“Less than half price. They come and collect just before we close the kiosk. Wi-Q does click and collect service in the kiosk.”