This story is part of WTOP’s Small Business September series, sponsored by EagleBank.
When Mohammad Sultani, a refugee from Afghanistan, first relocated with his family to Maryland in 2013, he struggled to find halal meat and other culturally significant ingredients.
Halal meat is prepared in accordance with Islamic dietary laws, and Sultani wanted to ensure that his family had access to food that aligned with their beliefs and traditions.
“When I came here, I started from zero,” Sultani said. “I knew nothing about this country.”
Initially, Sultani had to drive about 70 miles each way to and from Virginia in order to get the type of halal meat that he was looking for.
But he didn’t want to do that forever.
Passionate and determined, Sultani decided to embark on a journey that would ultimately lead to him opening his own small business: Bamyan Halal Meat in Columbia, Maryland.
“We bring products from all over the world,” Sultani said. “The main purpose of this business is that we have a butchery that serves fresh meat, and it’s all halal meat.”
It took years of planning and hard work. To save the money he needed to launch the business, Sultani took on a job driving a tractor trailer, logging long hours on the road and traveling all around the country.
“I really put a lot of hard work into that,” said Sultani. “My biggest challenge was not getting sleep. … Sometimes, I had to open my eyes to see the road, and I was physically exhausted.”
Sultani did the trucking job for six years until he had enough savings in his bank account to open Bamyan Halal Meat.
Now, he and his family are truly living the American dream, and he couldn’t be happier.
“When we opened this business in the very beginning, all the Afghans were very excited,” Sultani said. “It’s a feeling that I can’t explain — I never had this feeling — I feel like I’ve been paid for every single night that I didn’t sleep.”
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