The greatest risk is to not take one…
The year 2013… Place: Ahmedabad, The land of Cheese and Mayo;
The malware which was residing in my brain ignited itself and I took the challenge… I knew it was a life changing decision that I was taking and that too, against all odds… But I went for it… just by my gut feeling… I was plunging into an unknown territory with absolutely no product knowledge.
You: Long time, no see, no hear.
Me: Yes, became lazy…. Justified my appellation. 😊
You: So, u finally started your own…
Me: Yes, of course with my cousin.
You: That’s great. How was the experience…
Me: Let’s talk about in detail…
Ahmedabad had undergone a transformation… the urban landscape had flourished … Bridges / Malls / Eateries / New areas… all had just popped up in the last decade (2000 -2013).
Food governed the social life of the state.
Fafda / Jalebi, Methi Gota, Dal Wada, Khaman ,Dabeli, Khakhra formed/forms the four bases/ ingredients of the DNA. Collectively known as Farsan, they are in the DNA of a typical Gujarati… Be it a morning breakfast, a brunch with a lunch or a high tea with dinner one of them was always present in the plate of an Amdavadi…
In the same period, new ingredients were ingressing in the platter… They were Cheese and Mayo…
The market was booming… Different cuisines apart from Gujarati and Punjabi were forming the part of the food DNA. Pastas and Pizzas were clearly noticeable in the molecule along with Indian Mexican.
We took this as an opportunity and started our food distribution business catering to the HORECA
( Hotels / Restaurants / Café) segment of the market…
The Lazy Entrepreneur started working…
The first few months were really hard. I was acclimatizing to the new business environment. There were lot of constraints which I had to experience. I kept a very positive attitude and was learning the tips and tricks of the trade…
Starting to Understand every aspect of the food distribution business. We focused on increasing the product portfolio and to streamline the last mile deliveries.
The right product was to be distributed at the right pricing to the right customer.
We were like an infant who had just started to walk. Though my cousin had an F&B background but food distribution was new for him also. And I was naïve…
Slowly and steadily, we started building our product portfolio so that we could offer more. The HORECA industry was growing particularly the cafeterias… Pizzas reentered with a new avatar… Neapolitan, New York and Chicago type pizzas.
Taking this market cognizance, we started building our cheese portfolio.
Up till now, most brands used process cheese as a topping. We were one of the first to introduce Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese in cubes.
In a brief period of time, we started selling everything that goes on the top of a pizza base.
- The Pizza sauce
- Olives
- Jalepenos
- Gerkins
- Oregano seasonings
- Red chilli Flakes
Also, the market become more receptive to various gourmet cheese like
- Bocconcini
- Fetta
- Burata
- Parmesan
- Blue Cheese
- Gouda
- Grana Padano
But the undisputed czar of the market was the Mayonnaise which surrogated itself with cheese.
The usage of various ready to serve sauces including Mayo (i.e. Veg Mayo) increased rapidly with the evident of QSRs. The market bloomed and many companies forayed into this.
Take aways till now…
- Take risks in life – Follow your passion and your gut feeling.
- First Learn and then earn – Probability of success approaching your doorstep is faster.
I myself made a mistake of not learning the trade beforehand.
- Understand your market and the Customer – Make sure you know whom to service and what to service.
According to my understanding, a business has broadly four major heads
- Production
- Accounts and Finance
- Marketing and Sales
- Supply chain management
It’s like the King and his four wives.
As the King i.e., the entrepreneur, one needs to spend quality time with each of them individually. But more importantly one must identify with whom to spend, when to spend and how much to spend. That’s the key for a successful marriagessss…
Last mile delivery was very important for us… Even if we had the right product and the right pricing but if it did not reach the customer on time… its useless…
It is embarrassing if a menu item goes out of stock in a restaurant. Not having the appropriate raw material was one of the main reasons… most of the time it was the delivery issue…
We made a point that our customers do not suffer and we aimed in providing the most efficient service to them.
Initially we used to self-deliver the goods in a Maruti 800 and Honda Activa…
SOPs were put in place which included orders from customers, processing them, Beat planning for delivery…
As a company we began to grow, the market started recognizing our combined efforts and as any business would face, we also started fronting new challenges…
The primary challenge was of the storage of goods, especially the frozen ones, including the cheese. We identified this and setup a cold room.
We also made mistakes, in plenty, and its normal… Initially we tried sailing in two boats, Retail and Horeca segment… But in course of time understood that they are as the two sides of the coin which
live on same grounds but cannot see eye to eye.
Take aways from them
- Never repeat the same mistake again and again – Make fresh mistakes every time and learn from them fast.
- Identify your problems at an early stage – Make sure that you envisage the problems and act on it, fast.
- Keep your customer first – Everything can wait except the Customer… Create the trust and the bond. 60% business happens through relationships.
- Don’t ride on two boats – You are not Ajay Devgn or a superman. Ride on one, setup the speed, employ a driver for the it and then go to the next…
These initial 2 / 3 years were quite challenging for me, but who knew that the bigger ones were in waiting…
The Lazy Entrepreneur was in the mood to fight with those unforeseen cheesy challenges…
Will talk about them in my next blog… In the meantime, keep challenging yourself…
Till then,
Say Cheese…. And Mayo…
Keep smiling…