Ranjana Srivastava (PGPX 17-18) is the founder of Bhaat.in. Stumbling upon the business website, we can fondly read their philosophy as ‘Our brand Bhaat.in serves Indian authentic one-pot meals and few experimental one-pot meals. The most popular style of one-pot meal is made with rice and an assortment of dals, sautéed in ghee with the tempering of Indian spices. We aspire to promote one-pot meal i.e. khichdi as wholesome meal forming part of daily diet. It has been part of India’s culture and cuisine since ages. We are re-inventing satiating comfort meals that make you time efficient and allows you to bring balance.’
Born in UP (India) and brought up in boarding school, Ms. Srivastava has lived across almost 12 cities in India. Her fascination with regional food and its connection with cultures developed during these years. She has worked with India’s top general insurance companies for 10 years. She has also mentored few housewives to leverage their skill sets and become financially self-sufficient. Her special interests include travelling, cooking, consulting and understanding of Bhagvad Gita from a managerial perspective. Here, she shares her journey towards Bhaat.in and growing business in the Food & Beverage sector.
Having worked for 9 years in the corporate sector, my mind was looking for something beyond jobs and I was strongly thinking to setup my own startup. After several crazy ideas, we boiled down to selling khichdi, rather regional authentic khichdis from different states of India.
CIIE supported the idea under its IIMAvericks program. Furthermore, the vision and expertise of Prof Sunil Handa has been blessing throughout.
Khichdi is inherently healthy, but we wanted to highlight the fun and nostalgia behind this traditional delicacy. Probably and hopefully, we are doing it right for the khichdi lovers who see the preparation as wholesome and as comfort food. After several surveys and trials in Delhi, we decided to open a cloud kitchen. A cloud kitchen is primarily a restaurant kitchen that accepts incoming orders only through online ordering systems and offers no dine-in facility. They have a base kitchen that delivers food to the customers’ doorstep. Considerately, we started from my home kitchen in August 2018. The process involved learning recipes from the homemakers, creation of new recipes and finalizing the standard operating procedures (SOP). We also hired a chef who underwent the required training, as the first employee in any company is important to set the backdrop of the company’s culture. As we started, we were mostly rated 5 stars right with the initial orders.
Gradually moving ahead and learning with experiences and mistakes, we set up a commercial kitchen with low investment in Dec 2018. As the revenue crossed 1 lac/month, we upgraded the kitchen, along with adding reasonable tools and staff to support the growing business. Currently, we are generating revenue of 2 lac+ per month and are a ‘Platinum Partner’ for Swiggy with an average preparation time of 6 minutes. We also have the highest percentage of 5 stars on Zomato among the restaurants in our area of delivery. Additionally, we are in the process of scaling up and investing further by opening more kitchens in Delhi.
Our learning from the journey of one year with Bhaat.in:
1. The beginning is similar to a jumbled puzzle of 200+pieces. Just start working on the idea and slowly you will create your own way.
2. None is permanent in the system, but you will derive value from whatever each one helps you, even for a short duration.
3. Hiring interns from the colleges is helpful
4. Don’t try to publicize at once initially. Pull each chord together and step up gradually
5. ‘Jugaad’ and common sense would be most useful than high-cost stuff.
6. Everyday offers new learning. Every 2 days it feels we may have to close this due to staff or some petty issue, but a positive attitude, solution-oriented approach, and sometimes leaving things to settle is helpful.
7. The family should be extremely supportive, as startup takes a toll on you and the family time.
Taking Bhaat.in further, we want to be amongst the best Indian food restaurants, globally!
For more, please follow the links at:
https://www.zomato.com/ncr/bhaat-in-sector-110-noida
https://www.swiggy.com/restaurants/bhaat-in-sector-107-noida-noida-expressway-delhi-6753
