PETALING JAYA: Unlike most commuters, a traffic crawl along access roads leading to major highways in the Klang Valley is something Akmal Che Razak looks forward to.

After all, this is when Akmal and his five business partners rake in the most profits as they sell their sandwiches to ravenous motorists inching forward slowly in their cars.

And business, Akmal says, has been booming, with his team selling up to 700 packets per day and earning between RM1,500 and RM1,600 on a daily basis.

This, Akmal said was a huge increase from the 50 to 100 packets they were initially hawking off when they began their venture, Eleven Kitchen, some three months ago with only RM3,000 in seed money.

Not bad for someone like Amal, who admitted to being unsure of what to do with his life after obtaining his diploma.

“My father advised us to venture into business and told us about a man in Bangkok who became successful by selling sandwiches and who now runs his own factory,” he told FMT, when speaking of the inspiration behind his business.

Although Akmal is not thinking about opening his own factory, he does intend to operate his own cafe some day, along with his partners who are also close friends he met at Sekolah Menengah Seksyen 11, Shah Alam – hence the name of their venture.

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Akmal and his team are finally enjoying the taste of sweet success but only because these strapping young men are willing to put in the hard work.

They start at 6pm every evening – except weekends and public holidays – and work until 10pm, preparing their wide selection of sandwiches, for which they are now famous for. They get an early night’s sleep and are up at the crack of dawn the next day, to pack the bread in time to hit the streets by 7am.

Success however has not been without a few hiccups.

Once, they were dragged to a police station after ignoring multiple warnings from the men in blue about doing business along the country’s major highways.

They were also summoned to court at one point, although it did not discourage them from going out to earn their daily bread.

“We are still not sure what we did wrong, but we will obey the law, despite us having regular customers.”

Although Eleven Kitchen no longer peddles its sandwiches along the Federal Highway and NKVE, you can still find them on regular roads, with their sandwich trays slung around their necks.

The feedback, Akmal said, has been amazing, with some customers, especially the regulars, keeping a lookout for them on a daily basis.

“Even those who don’t buy our sandwiches, give us a thumbs up.”