Hakeem Paul: The 18-year-old behind ‘Pour L’amour’

Feb 07, 2021 News

>>Young Entrepreneur On The Move<<<

By Sueann Wickham

The young entrepreneur, Hakeem Paul.

Kaieteur News – Today, as we take a sneak peek into the life of yet another young entrepreneur, our spotlight descents on ‘Pour L’amour.’ Pour L’amour is a local fast food and catering business, pioneered by Hakeem Paul, an 18-year-old entrepreneur with an undying love for cooking. His treats have been stimulating the taste buds of many locals and his business has gained lots of attention since its establishment.
During his exclusive interview with Kaieteur News, he expressed that “Pour L’amour“ is a French phrase which means “for love” or “for the love.” When he embarked on the journey to start his business, he was looking for a name that would portray the love he has for cooking and food in itself. “I felt like Pour L’amour did that, it also added a unique touch that I’d like to have for my business,” Paul shared. Paul attended the Brickdam Secondary School and, after graduating, he worked at the Guyana Marriott Hotel as a chef. He later pursued his studies in the culinary field at the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute, where he studied Culinary Arts and spent roughly a year there. He unofficially kick started Pour L’amour around the latter part of April last year after persons messaged him requesting that he cater for their small functions. But as time went by, his friends and family members encouraged him to expand and operate on a full-time basis. By late October, Paul felt like he was well set to operate on a full-time basis and poured all of his efforts into Pour L’amour. Besides his love for cooking and food, the COVID-19 pandemic also served as an inspiration for Paul. “After the Coronavirus first hit Guyana, I was looking for a means of income and, because of the virus, not many persons were hiring, more specifically in the field I was interested to work in,” he recounted.

Some of his tasty treats

According to Paul, he had explored his options and after consulting with friends and family, having a business of his own seemed as though it would be the best option. Paul took advantage of consumers’ need for good food, whilst making a profit. His long-term goal is to have a chain of restaurants linked to the name Pour L’amour and which will meet the needs of all persons with various diet specifications to a high standard. CHALLENGES Having food delivered to customers is one challenge Paul had to face in the inception, and even though he has not fully overcome that, he stated that he has been exploring many avenues. He uses various delivery services to have food delivered to his consumers but due to the pandemic at hand, there is a high demand for delivery riders everywhere, and the delivery services themselves have a hard time executing the deliveries. “Another issue was balancing the work-load and being able to take all of my customers’ orders due to it being myself doing all the cooking. However, my time management and work management has improved and there is still room for improvements in both areas which I’m continually working on,” he asserted. Meanwhile, unlike many other persons whose businesses have been battered economically, due to the pandemic, Paul noted that it brought him lots of positivity. He believes that had it not been for COVID-19 he might not have started his business and might have been merely working for someone else. MARKETING Marketing was perhaps the easy part of it all, since a side effect of the COVID-related restrictions served as a plus for his business. You see, with a number of persons being forced to stay home longer hours, many became bored and often took to social media to find something worthy of piquing their interest. Indeed, many foodies, myself included, stumbled across Paul’s business. And according to him, “I see young entrepreneurs as the next batch of great influencers in society that can bring new ideas to the table and aid in the development of our great country.” In fact, he is convinced that local consumers play the biggest role in helping the growth of small businesses with their support. He is also suggesting that small businesses refrain from exploiting consumers because this may discourage them from receiving support in the future. According to Paul, his support base has been outstanding from the onset. “From friends, strangers and family members that shared my page on social media and even ordered meals from me, the support was great and well appreciated,” Paul added. “From a tender age,” Paul said, “I loved cooking and spending time in the kitchen and I’m glad to this day I’m still following my dream.” For persons who would like to make contact with his business, they can find it on Facebook and Instagram @pourlamour.