] ‘The philosophy of any business is solving a problem. You don’t give a cause, you give comfort.’

Majid Shahzad is the owner of Cyber Foods. It is an Online Food Order & Delivery Service linking you to restaurants available and providing food right at your doorstep.

Founder of Fiji’s first food delivery services enjoys the thrill of innovation. Majid Shahzad pioneered food delivery services in the country with his company Cyber Foods.

Cyber Foods was born from a project of his business Cyberage, which he started in 2016 focussing on software development.

Originally from Pakistan, love brought him to the Fijian shores in 2009.

He is married with two children. Mr Shahzad has always held an interest in the cyber world and information technology.

He holds a degree in Business Administration and also a diploma in Information Technology and Computing.

Can you tell us your business journey so far?

In 2016, I started my business venture called Cyberage.

It was a software development company where we introduced POS System with FRCS VMS System.

Then in 2018 I launched Cyber Food as a project.

When I initially started Cyber Foods, my idea was not taken too well.

I had seen food delivery services back in Pakistan and other countries, and realised Fiji was lacking it.

I am all about innovation, so I was passionate to pioneer Fiji’s food delivery services.

At that time, no restaurant was doing online food delivery.

I suppose the idea came when my son very innocently asked for cheese pizza.

With no delivery service available then, I thought, ‘why not start a food delivery business?’

To get restaurants on board with our idea was initially difficult.

I would have to wait in long queues to speak with restaurant owners, and many times, I was disregarded.

Only three restaurants joined us in 2018 when we launched.

From September to December, Cyber Foods had only completed four orders.

However, we persevered.

We had good reception from our customers.

After running advertisements with the media and holding promotions, our orders picked up from January 2019.

Eventually, over the months, our orders increased.

Restaurants also came on board to be part of our online portal as their sales increased due to the food delivery services we offered.

How do you manage the demands of your professional and personal life?

I would give the credit to my wife.

She is also a working professional, but she manages to strike a balance between work and personal life.

She also helps me with my business, and keeps me grounded.

What are some of the challenges faced by the industry?

COVID-19 has obviously been a challenge but our orders had increased nonetheless. Movements being restricted between containment zones, however, were a challenge, especially when our business requires commuting.

Fortunately, we have had restaurants come on board with us which has helped us stay viable even during COVID-19 pandemic.

What is the most rewarding thing about your job?

When I first started, I underwent a lot of difficulties - sitting in the long queue of restaurants to be able to forge a partnership.

However, one thing kept me going.

I kept thinking to myself that one day, my idea Cyber Foods will be known in the pages of history as the first online delivery service in the country.

We are not a restaurant who offers delivery services, we simple give the comfort of choosing from their own home the meals they want to have.

What’s more? Restaurants don’t need to be on our website for us to provide deliveries from them.

We keep flexible for our customers.

That in itself is very rewarding. Being a Fiji national, to give something back to my country, to offer a service which is needed especially at such unprecedented times is rewarding.

What is your philosophy business as a whole?

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The philosophy of any business is solving a problem.

You don’t give a cause, you give comfort.

To illustrate, customers have two options, especially during times where movement is restricted; to either sit home and think of eating their favourite meal, or have it delivered nice and hot to their doorstep with Cyber Foods?

So see, we give solutions to problems.

How do you think you are as a leader?

I believe the best people to answer this would be the people I work with.

However, I strongly believe that we all are equal.

And as executives, we should be humble and grounded.

I work shoulder to shoulder with my employees.

At Cyberage and Cyber Foods, we respect one another.

In Fiji, I have noticed not a lot of people live a luxurious life.

So the least we could do is give them a good environment to work in.

I also believe in gender equality and we need to give everyone a platform, regardless of their gender, to unleash their potential.

Sharing of knowledge is also very important.

I always tell my staff, whatever I learn, I will come back and share.

Team makes the business.

Do you plan to expand your business once everything returns to the new normal?

We are looking forward to having a successful food and grocery delivery business and then venturing out to having more restaurants with Cyber Foods and grocery business.

However, we don’t have a capital fund.

We do not have investments, so whatever resources we do have, we are rotating it within our business.

But we have seen interests internationally and locally around for our services, and we are hopeful we would successfully establish our grocery delivery business in the near future.