ET WEALTH: Entrepreneurial venture of Gaurav Jain offers simple food & savvy returns

Necessity is the mother of most entrepreneurial ventures, and it was no different for me. In 2005,while I was working for Wipro in Bangalore as a strategic marketing manager, I faced a big problem when it came to meals.

I was a north Indian and could barely make tea for myself, which meant that I had no alternative but to eat out on a regular basis.

Though the city had enough restaurants serving north Indian fare, they were either unhygienic, or expensive, or too spicy for daily consumption.

There was a glaring shortage of simple, affordable, authentic and hygienic options. This got me thinking about starting an eating joint that would plug the gap. However, the idea stayed on the backburner for few months and, in the meantime, I was sent to Sydney, Australia, for a work assignment.

This was fortuitous because on this trip I found the conviction to turn my dream into reality. During my stay in Australia, I discovered that a lot of restaurants dished out simple, home-made food as opposed to lavish or exotic fare, and their success proved that my idea, which was on similar lines, had the potential to succeed.

So, in March 2005, I quit my corporate job to start focusing on the restaurant.

It was a completely alien field for me since I had been in marketing from the time I finished my MBA from IMT Ghaziabad in 2000. I started as a business development manager at Planetasia in Bangalore and, after a couple of other jobs, landed at Wipro in 2003.

After quitting, I immersed myself in research for the next 11 months, hashing out a business model, deciding on the intricacies of running the place, the vendors to be contacted, the venue and, of course, the brand name. For this, I conducted a small opinion poll.

I had always liked the name Mast Kalandar, as it had a very north Indian and Punjabi feel to it, but I gave my friends and family a number of options and called them after a week. Interestingly, most of them seemed to remember Mast Kalandar, so that’s what we decided to go with.

Figuring out the location for the restaurant proved to be far more challenging. I was very clear that the place would have to be large and spacious, but not very upmarket or exotic, as the idea was to make people feel comfortable.

Getting such a place in the main part of the city would have proved expensive, so I rented a 3,000 sq ft space on the Banerghatta road on the outskirts of Bangalore.

It was 2006 and the place wasn’t as developed, but it worked out well for me.

What turned out to be the biggest asset and advantage for me during this crucial period was the unconditional support of my wife, Pallavi.

In fact, she quit her job at TCS as a business analyst to join me in setting up the place.

While this meant that we didn’t have a regular income to run the household, it also translated into two heads working on Mast Kalandar.

During this period we survived on our combined savings. Expectedly, it was easier said than done.

Not only were we starting a venture we had little clue about, but were putting all our savings—Rs 18 lakh—into it.

We also had to understand everything about the working of a kitchen, from the sourcing of ingredients and food storage to the menu.

The work that Pallavi put in, from fixing the menu to the daily running of the place, has probably been my biggest strength. We finally opened Mast Kalandar in February 2006.

We served a mixed cuisine, including food from Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi. Our USP was home-made food, so freshness was a vital factor. I was clear that the food had to be cooked fresh every day, and we continue to hold true to this concept.

I’ve also kept the menu strictly vegetarian. This is because a vegetarian place attracts both vegetarian and non-vegetarian eaters.

The food is transported in imported temperaturecontrolled boxes, which can keep food from spoiling for up to 10 hours.

We also try to be as authentic as possible in our sourcing of ingredients.

Today, we have 600 employees and operate out of 35 outlets in four cities, starting with the Chennai outlet in 2008, followed by Hyderabad in 2009, and Pune in 2011.

So far, all our outlets are company-owned, but we may soon get into the franchisee model. I expect a turnover of Rs 50 crore this year and am gunning for 100 outlets in the next few years.

In the initial years, we faced a tough time financially as we had to stop costly purchases and trim expenses to the minimum. I had been a corporate employee and while the feeling of working on my own project was great, it entailed many sacrifices, the main one being the lack of regular income.

It wasn’t until 2008 that I paid myself a salary. However, the quick and sweet success of Mast Kalandar has made it worthwhile.