Q) What has been a highlight / milestone achievement of your entrepreneurial journey?
As someone who has been called a serial entrepreneur, I’ve had more than my fair share of experience from the shop floor level, starting new enterprises, turning around and re-vamping operations. During that time, I’ve learned a thing or two about some critical factors you absolutely need to know before jumping into the proverbial entrepreneurial waters.
Even though my family has been in the food business for generations, I was not privileged to be treated with kid gloves and had to find my own niche by working my way upwards.
When I look back at the pages of my life, I remember being a dreamer with a vision to make dreams into reality. And this has happened with CHINA DOLL, the first and only fine dining restaurant in the city serving Hunan cuisine. The idea was powerful enough to attract the finest chef from the Changsha region in South China to bring the wonders of the regions exclusive cuisine to the table at CHINA DOLL.
You can employ men and hire hands to work for you, but you will have to win their hearts to have them work with you.
One of the highlights in my journey has been to take the success of Brand Moti Mahal from New Delhi to other major cities across India and internationally to Kathmandu, New York, Dubai and London, one can only foresee a bigger boom in the years to come.
Just to give an example, the opening month of Moti Mahal Deluxe in New York saw the cash register ringing in over $ 50,000.
CHINA DOLL, a standalone restaurant which did a whopping turnover in just a few months of opening, proving once again that growth comes with quality and perseverance.
Leadership is an action, not a word. I have achieved in my own little way to build the organization in a climate of honesty, hard work and excellence. It is important to build a social conscience and benchmark yourself with the best in the business.
In my entrepreneurial journey I have realized not to be cynical as it takes away enthusiasm. It is important to move from apathy to action. To finish first, you have to finish the race and cross the line.
At the end of the day, performance leads to recognition. Recognition brings Respect. Respect enhances Power. These factors have been the highlight of my entrepreneurial journey.
Q) From your experience, what according to you are the qualities required to be successful as an entrepreneur?
I’ve often wondered what differentiates successful entrepreneurs from their peers. Are there certain qualities they share? I think so. But I also think it’s important to acknowledge that timing, luck and simply being in the right place at the right time play a part in success.
Being an entrepreneur you must have an unwavering passion, the way I have a passion for food. If you find something you love enough to want to share it with others, that love will fuel and give you purpose.
I believe that one of the greatest secrets of the most successful entrepreneurs is the ability to learn from others. Always be open minded and ask for advice. It is important to be flexible and absorb the best practices around them the way a sponge absorbs water.
Also it is important for an entrepreneur to like a challenge. High-achieving entrepreneurs know the benefits of staying in the same industry for a while are immense. When you spend years in the same industry, you learn its history. Knowing what’s been done before can help you identify how it can and should move forward. In the meantime, you’ll build a network of relationships to support you in future endeavors, especially when times are lean. Those relationships are invaluable.
Successful entrepreneurs are always thinking ahead. They have a forward looking approach and have a road-map in mind with a set of destinations or goals, but if you don’t know where you want to go, chances are, you won’t get anywhere.
Having one big restaurant doing well is great. But the successful entrepreneur I believe, will not rest on his laurels. Instead, I am constantly asking myself “What’s next?” One understands that being a successful entrepreneur is a lifestyle choice, not a destination.
One of the secrets for success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.
I believe that once you embrace these qualities, you will become a better and more successful entrepreneur.
Q) What are the struggles and situations that a first generation entrepreneur should be ready to face? And, how would you suggest dealing with such troubles?
The opening lines of the famous poem ‘Invictus’ has always remained embedded in my mind- it reads–‘I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.’
These lines have inspired me to face all odds they may come my way.
First generation entrepreneurs are typically more risk-taking and they put a lot of trust on their gut, hence they have a higher chance to succeed or fail equally. The next generation entrepreneurs on the contrary, can be highly risk averse in comparison to their peers and might go more by research and processes, relying less on their gut, as they can be more brand-conscious and can even fear failure.
Being a first generation entrepreneur is like a double-edged sword and it can be both challenging, yet rewarding. The coming generation would see entrepreneurship as process-oriented which requires attention in coordination and management. As a first generation you have the chance of setting a legacy, build a brand and have the startup mentality in your blood.
I believe that success in a global market place requires a fine balance of two essential capabilities—a global approach to the business and a local view of the customer.
Starting a business can present many, but not insurmountable challenges but most importantly I felt that business has to be involving, must be fun and you must love what you do. Conducting your own research, heeding the advice of experienced business owners and seeking other organizations and resources that help start your business right are key steps in addressing these challenges.
Opening a restaurant is a dream shared by many people. Independent restaurant owners get to plan, design and own their own business, all while working in an industry that they love. Unfortunately, the independent restaurant business comes with its fair share of problems and owners face many challenges.
Restaurants in the overgrowing city of Delhi and the heavily populated suburbia and face heavy competition, especially small, independent restaurants. The challenge faced by me was to market the business, the need to bring in new customers and how to develop a repeat clientele. Large, well-known restaurant chains typically have an easier time drawing in customers, and independent restaurant owners have to work hard to develop their own customer base.
We, at CHINA DOLL, are focused on a clientele that sails above the sea of mediocrity and is conscious of what is required in terms of food and service and appreciates value.
I call “Envisioning the idea” the first true task of an entrepreneur to face the challenge ahead. As an entrepreneur, you must possess the ability to see what others cannot see. While others see problems, you must see opportunities.
Therein lies the challenge.
Q) Who has been your mentor?
A philosopher once famously said, “Whoever does not have a good father should procure one.”
For entrepreneurs, the “father” is interchangeable with a “mentor” because businesses are not easy to run, particularly for the creative types with fire in the belly.
For me, Steve Jobs is like a father and a mentor — the most prominent figure in this rapid-fire move from the humble Macintosh toward tablets, phones and other small screen devices and what you have today.
His success has been so global and overwhelming that it has overshadowed the fact that Jobs had originally left Apple in disgrace. The company then almost went bankrupt and was fast becoming a relic. When Jobs re-entered to take over the company he had created and nurtured, and forged the company out of the flames of failure.
He took the elements that had won him the love and loyalty of millions, such as customer service and out of the box ideas and quickly steered the company into a position of world dominance.
I have learnt from his commitment which involves respecting employees, crafting big goals and taking the time needed to bring your goals to fruition. It is important to provide new and innovative ideas and to use failure and challenges it comes your way, use failure to engineer success.
Q) What has been the learning in life that has helped you grow as an entrepreneur?
When you are young and starting out, you are starting at zero, which means that you can’t fail. And that means we should avoid the safe choices early in our careers.
I have learnt to believe that failure is not a badge of shame; in fact it is a right of passage.
I look up-to the words of Sir Richard Branson which was embedded in my mind when I was starting out.
Branson said, “A business has to be involving, it has to be fun and it has to exercise your creative instincts.”
I learnt early in life that it is important to know your mission and make sure you get the basic structure right and know what you are going to do. I went about building strong relationships and get the right team at the top.
Many businesses fail to grow because they don’t identify team members who can no longer keep up and it is painful as it is sometimes necessary to part company with Senior Managers who cannot develop the businesses.
I ensured that a strong purpose and a sense of ethics prevailed at every level to give the company a solid foundation and the message of honesty in what we do resonates with both staff and customers. To grow as an entrepreneur, I ensured that we listen to our customers and act on what we hear. I’ve always asked our staff for their views and now I track our social media channels to see how our restaurant business and brands are doing and make a virtue of asking our customers their views and provide feedback and be connected.
These factors have led us onwards and helped us grow. Our little success wasn’t based on the fact that we were smarter or had more resources. It came from the fact that entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs taught us to think differently. And that changes everything. It means that “success” is accessible to anyone willing to change how he or she thinks. It means that success is a behavior-driven outcome. Not a predetermined one. The seeds of success are found in that sweet spot where life and career collide with passion, determination and mindset and it means that success is accessible to all of us—regardless of our goals or background—if we just realign how we think.
Join the Renaissance and reinvent the world, as you reinvent yourself and grow as an entrepreneur.