It’s safe to say that Elvira Israilova is a successful business lady. She’s been engaged in business for 20 years now and currently owns a grocery shop and a tea-house in Kemin town.

The grocery shop offers a wide range of products, which is really appreciated by Elvira’s long-time customers. Elvira is very proud of having established a relationship of trust with her customers. She believes that this is pivotal in building a successful commercial business.

Elvira opened her tea-house in the spring of 2018. She named it “Nazik” after her younger sister, who is a chef at the café. The tea-house is located in Kemin, on the way to the pearl of Kyrgyzstan—Issyk-Kul Lake. The café specializes in the national food. It’s signature dish is the scrumptious kattama (a fried layered bread) with the milk tea brewed in samovar (a heated metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water).

Elvira is not afraid of challenges. To her, the most complicated thing in her business is to bring together strong team members that really love what they do. Competition is challenging too, but it encourages her to be better.

“My success is basically my customers. They visit my tea-house once and then come back with their families to indulge in our signature dish. It makes me really happy and motivates me.”

Elvira has utilized the loan funds provided by Kompanion Bank to build the tea-house and equip it with good-quality furniture.

She has many plans for the next five years.

“The most immediate plan is to have a nice rest. I think I deserved it. I want to visit Prague. Then, refreshed, I’ll take on a new business project—open a new café in Bishkek!”