From working in a chicken factory in exile to owning a business in Lithuania: everyone laughed, but we had an idea and developed it

We meet Evaldas and Roma in Jonava, their cafe that recently opened. When we visit, it’s around noon, so there is no shortage of customers at the café, although this, as we specified, is only open for two weeks so far.

Both count acquaintances from a young age. First, as they say, former neighbors, then they become best friends, and then, they don’t hide, they worked together abroad before starting their own business.

“It just came to our attention then. We work in factories, in agriculture.

We were first in England, then in Spain, Italy, Denmark. Year here, year there. The first job was at the chicken factory, we stood on the lines, packing.

The work was monotonous, hard. We have also worked on seasonal jobs. Potatoes, oranges. Usually we left, we worked seasonal jobs, then we went back to Lithuania again for a short time and we left again, Evaldas says openly and without curtains about his previous life. “We were eternal emigrants.”

That, he said, albeit intermittently, lasted about 10 years.

Rome adds that it is hard work abroad that has made men wonder if they continue to want that life.

“Tired of driving, we saw that it was possible to do business in Jonava,” he says, saying that they had returned to Jonava since their last stop in England in the spring and rented the premises just the second day that all businesses in the country had closed due to quarantine and pandemic threats – March 17.

“It just came to our attention then. There were rumors, jokes, that while others filed for bankruptcy, we opened up here, we looked wryly, but we had an idea and developed it,” Evaldas says bravely.

On the other hand, today’s men laugh at themselves by admitting that, from one side, such ambitions may have seemed strange at the time, but they add that the pandemic and quarantine were beneficial to them when starting a business.

“It was a good time to settle down and agree on an area. As we settled down, we agreed not to pay the rent,” says Romas.

Initially, his plan was to open a simple pizzeria, but then the idea turned into full Italian cuisine.

How much entrepreneurs have invested in coffee, today you do not want to reveal. When asked, at least, the implicit amount says it starts from 10,000. EUR.

“To invest here, we needed to work in England for a good two years. We still thought we needed to do something, we saved. And there were rooms here because we were reviewing the ads,” says Evaldas, but adds that they initially planned to spend much less money on investments, but it turned out that it was necessary to add almost half of what was planned.

“It was terrible taking risks and investing, and now it is terrible how things will be, but if you do nothing, you will have nothing,” since both agree and explain the lack of a plan to make the business worthwhile.

“We did not enter the business from a height of 9 meters and we looked or swam. Until now, the first days are good,” they laugh, and when asked why they opened the cafe in Jonava, they smile and say that everything is due that they are true Jonavians in their hearts.

“Here we know everything, where there is a good place, where there is a street, and in Vilnius … you need to be a Vilnius resident to know that a good place will happen for people,” Evaldas says, and Romas adds that in the capital or Kaunas would have to be established more to rent the premises.

True, since coffee is Italian food, we asked the men and who is Italian here. They immediately explain that the staff for making Italian pasta was trained by a famous chef who worked in Italy, and a girl who also worked in Italy for many years bakes pizza in a cafe.

“It just came to our attention then. Everything happens and we get mad at each other. It’s because of the colors of the walls, it’s because of the plates, it’s because of the pillows,” jokes Romas, who explains that the company currently has 10 employees. .