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How a Soviet Refugee Built a $12M Restaurant Empire
Orhan Veli’s story sounds like a movie.
At age 6, he watched the Soviet Union collapse overnight: chaos, violence, and uncertainty took over.
His family fled with nothing.
Within months, his father built a small business…until the mafia burned it down and demanded payment.
They eventually escaped to the United States with just $25,000.
From there:
Fast forward 20 years…
Orhan now owns 12 restaurant locations generating over $12M in revenue.
But it didn’t come easy:
In this episode, we break down:
This is one of the craziest operator stories we’ve ever recorded.
Get in Touch
Interested in buying a franchise? https://www.empirespod.com/buy-a-franchise
Are you a multi-unit owner considering selling your business? https://www.fdcapitalgroup.com/
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://empirespod.substack.com/
Follow Orhan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orhan-veli-24116315/
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 From the Soviet Collapse to Chaos
06:00 Building a Business in the Wild West of Capitalism
12:00 Escaping to America with $25K
18:00 Starting Over: Roofing, Pizza Delivery, and Survival
24:00 Learning to Hustle: First Jobs & College Years
30:00 Turning Down Wall Street for Entrepreneurship
36:00 Buying the First Restaurant (All-In with Family Money)
42:00 Early Struggles: Long Hours, Debt, and Doubt
48:00 Scaling to Multiple Locations + Near Collapse in 2008
54:00 The Saladworks Bet & Aggressive Expansion Strategy
60:00 Building an 11-Unit Empire + What Comes Next
View all episodes
By Patrick Buckley
5
1111 ratings
Orhan Veli’s story sounds like a movie.
At age 6, he watched the Soviet Union collapse overnight: chaos, violence, and uncertainty took over.
His family fled with nothing.
Within months, his father built a small business…until the mafia burned it down and demanded payment.
They eventually escaped to the United States with just $25,000.
From there:
Fast forward 20 years…
Orhan now owns 12 restaurant locations generating over $12M in revenue.
But it didn’t come easy:
In this episode, we break down:
This is one of the craziest operator stories we’ve ever recorded.
Get in Touch
Interested in buying a franchise? https://www.empirespod.com/buy-a-franchise
Are you a multi-unit owner considering selling your business? https://www.fdcapitalgroup.com/
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://empirespod.substack.com/
Follow Orhan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orhan-veli-24116315/
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 From the Soviet Collapse to Chaos
06:00 Building a Business in the Wild West of Capitalism
12:00 Escaping to America with $25K
18:00 Starting Over: Roofing, Pizza Delivery, and Survival
24:00 Learning to Hustle: First Jobs & College Years
30:00 Turning Down Wall Street for Entrepreneurship
36:00 Buying the First Restaurant (All-In with Family Money)
42:00 Early Struggles: Long Hours, Debt, and Doubt
48:00 Scaling to Multiple Locations + Near Collapse in 2008
54:00 The Saladworks Bet & Aggressive Expansion Strategy
60:00 Building an 11-Unit Empire + What Comes Next
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