If anyone ever told you starting a restaurant was about loving food, you got fooled. Starting a restaurant has got nothing to do with your passion for eating. It’s about your passion for feeding – your own stomach, if you really want the truth. Most times you end up hungry and wistfully recall the times you were just a food aficionado and not a burnt out restaurateur.
Sometimes though, when you feed the food you love to eat, others will too and they’ll be eating out of your hand.
When Vicky and Arya rented their place, they thought they were done. Turns out, they had only just begun.
It fell into their laps. Prime property in downtown Bombay. Believe it or not, rent is more affordable in South Bombay than in the most bustling, hip and happening suburb since the latter’s about to become the new commercial epicentre of the city – arguably, it already is.
Except, rent anywhere in Bombay isn’t reasonable. It’s one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world.
[freemium]“The prices in Bandra (the snazzy suburb) are just off the wall!” Arya once exploded. “Wait a minute Arya, do we even want to open our first away from the town centre? The commute is a nightmare. For supplies, for employees, management…heck! I’m not even sure that’s the customer base we’re catering to. Most young people – the more intrepid of the lot – the experimenters, live or work downtown. Let’s see if we can please their palate first.”
So here’s rent that they could make themselves afford. About ₹ 300 a sq. foot. A place people could conveniently frequent. The kind of crowd they wanted to attract. The kind they hoped would appreciate a so far alien, genuinely Turkish spread. “They would, they would…”, Vicky assured. 1500 sq. feet in all, of which 600 goes to the kitchen and the balance to seating.
When the idea was fresh and brewing and Arya wasn’t sure if the cuisine should in fact be utterly authentic, Vicky reasoned with her, “There are two types of opportunities: you can either cater to an existing need, or you can create a new need. Both are viable opportunities, but you must have the guts to see them through. Opportunity is often found in unattractive places, where people choose not to look. Opportunities are often the opposite of the status quo. The fact that nobody else is doing it is often the biggest sign that you should. Unless you move forward and test an opportunity, how will you ever know?”
Arya saw the prospect and the risk. But this was their shot. And she knew they had to take it. A never seen or attempted before style of food and feeding and feasting. You can’t not do it. The world needs you to. The city, in particular. Bombay’s the ‘Blue Ocean’. A place with latent demand, but little or no competition.
So, after actively hunting for 2 years, they’d finally found where to plant their Turkish Kiss. But this little oasis on the outside was actually a desolate horror on the inside. They’d need a lawyer and an architect and a civil engineer and a more flexible landlord if they were to get anything rolling. Meanwhile, the chefs would work out of a spare kitchen to come up with every treat on the table. Overheads were going through the roof. God alone knew how estimated operating costs would change.
According to a cutesy Rent Control Act, every landlord is “bound to keep the premises in good and tenantable repair.” It’s only true on paper. When the siblings got it, nothing was in place. No water, no precautionary measures in case of a fire, no safety measures, no hygiene either. They’d have to rebuild, refurbish, renovate from scratch. And sign a leave and license agreement exempting the lord of the land from any responsibility to repair or restore. So, the sacrificial siblings caved and hopefully, this ravenous food market won’t swallow them.
Thankfully there are no limitations on serving vegetarian or non-vegetarian fare. Yes, those restrictions exist. It entirely depends on the cultural or religious or moral leanings of your landlord if you will ever be permitted to cook or bring certain foods into the place.
The dilemma’s always: To Indianize or not to Indianize? Should we go Glocal? (That’s the marriage of Global and Local). One view, if your opportunity category is new to India, is to first reinvent it. Many global opportunities can mint gold in India – apparently, only if you carefully adapt them to local tastes. When Arya brings it up again, Vicky’s adamant,
“No no no Arya! We have a competitive advantage here. And we’ll kill it if we succumb, if we localize. This has never been done before. There’s no substitute. The opportunity’s large. People will come to a Turkish restaurant because it promises to be authentic. We’re making people eat like the Turks truly do. Similar concepts have become unicorns around the world!”
“But India’s not the rest of the world, Vicky!” Arya shot back.
“Exactly! That’s why the world’s coming to India. And she’ll embrace the outsider, like she always has. Trust her!”
It’s a hard place to be in. And they’re going to have to stand rock so
[/freemium]
DISCLAIMER: The content on this website is merely an opinion and not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, organisation, company or individual. Nothing contained herein shall to any extent substitute for the independent investigations and sound judgment of the reader. While we have made every attempt to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the content contained herein, no warranty or guarantee, express or implied, is given with respect to the same. The SHOUT! Network is neither liable nor responsible to any person or entity for any errors or omissions, or for any offense caused from such content.
In addition to the above, thoughts and opinions change from time to time… we consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. This website is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of the various topics running around our brains, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not be the same, or even similar, to those we may hold today.
Feel free to challenge us, disagree with us, or tell us we’re completely nuts in the comments section of each piece. The SHOUT! Network reserves the right to delete any comment for any reason whatsoever (abusive, profane, rude, or anonymous comments) – but do SHOUT! with us, if you will.
DISCLAIMER: The content in this blog post is for general informational and educational purposes only. Nothing contained herein is intended to be a substitute for professional financial, business, investment and/or tax advice (as the case may be). The SHOUT! Network encourages readers to get advice from professional advisors and to make independent investigations before acting on content contained herein. Whilst we endeavour to ensure the accuracy, applicability and completeness of the content on the website; we do not warrant or guarantee, whether express or implied, the success of any action you take in reliance on our content or recommendation. The SHOUT! Network does not accept any liability arising directly or indirectly from any use of the content.
