At BrilliantRead Media, our aim is to bring to our community some of the finest stories from the leadership world. As part of this endeavour, we invited a passionate entrepreneur – Akshar Haritwal for an exclusive interview with us. Akshar is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Author, and Lawyer. He is the Co-Founder of Founder of Herbs on Pizza. Let’s learn more about his exciting journey, his background and his advice for our growing community.
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Akshar:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I have completed my schooling and bachelor in Law from Jaipur and then went to the United Kingdom for masters in Law.
While I was in London, I was working in the hospitality sector to understand the working and execution. I always had a keen mind for starting my own venture.
In May 2020 during the lockdown, me and my mother started exploring new business ideas and we came up with the idea of starting a cloud kitchen thereafter Healthy Food Village Private Limited was born.
Prior to starting Healthy Food Village, I was working in a Legal Company in Hyderabad for more than one and a half years and after that came back to Jaipur and worked with a reputed Advocate for about two and a half years at Rajasthan High Court, District & Session Court and other tribunals.”
To add to my skill and knowledge, I have completed Cloud Kitchen System Marathon Course from The Art of Business wherein I have learned in detail, the systems used and applied in order to operate a cloud kitchen and have also done a Social Media Marketing Course from Indian Institute of Digital Education (IIDE) as smaller businesses and Startups need more digital presence in order to gain more visibility and growth.
What made you switch your career after you have studied masters in Law from the United Kingdom?
Some people around me expressed their reservations towards my career choice. To be honest, studying law was an experience of a lifetime especially in the United Kingdom. It completely changed my personality, from being an introvert to travelling alone in foreign countries, speaking in front of people from different nationalities and making friends with them.
I have worked for more than 4 years in the legal field and during this period I have understood how to handle human resources and challenging situations. However, my passion to pursue my own dream took over my legal career. Switching careers wasn’t an easy decision, but then eventually I realized one should always choose what makes them happy.”
I grew up in an atmosphere where my father is a doctor who operates his own Hospital and my mother operates her own Hotel and School. This was also one of the key factors that made me switch from law to become an entrepreneur and it was the best decision I have taken.
‘Herbs on Pizza’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving?
Healthy Food Village Private Limited is the name of my company, we are a cloud kitchen working on the One Kitchen Multiple brands model which means for every type of food we will be having a different brand.
Through Healthy Food Village, our aim is to serve our customers with healthy food made with top-notch quality ingredients. As of now, we are operating three brands namely Herbs on Pizza, Taco Tilla and Biryani Manor with four more brands in the pipeline.
Both me and my mother are on a mission to serve healthy food to the people, our aim is to use healthier ingredients so that our customers can eat their favourite meal guilt-free.”
Herbs on Pizza is the first brand we came up with. Me and my mother, we love pizza but the only thing that was stopping us was Refined Wheat flour (Maida) which is the main ingredient of the base. We started experimenting on substituting refined wheat flour (Maida) with whole wheat, eventually, after a while, we successfully replaced Maida with 100% whole wheat.
This successful experiment was then implemented in Herbs on Pizza. Now we are serving our pizzas with 3 base options namely 100% Whole Wheat, Multigrain and Gluten-Free.”
Taco Tilla is our Mexican food brand where we will be serving Tacos, Quesadillas and other Mexican items. Tacos were started as “sides” in Herbs on Pizza and they became customer favourites in an instant. Because of the huge demand for tacos, we decided to launch more Mexican items like Quesadilla and Tortilla wraps and introduced a separate brand ‘Taco Tilla’. Needless to say, we use 100% whole wheat in making taco shells and tortillas for quesadillas and wraps.
Biryani Manor is our vegetarian biryani brand where the biryani will be made with top quality rice and other ingredients. As of now we have Paneer Makhani Biryani and Falafel Biryani in our menu and will be introducing three new types of biryanis soon.
What is your future business strategy and how will your business impact society/how can your business add value to society?
Since the beginning, we were very passionate about growing our project and making the “healthy” brand available to as many people as possible. We, therefore, have a clear business plan that we are pursuing.
The immediate goal is to open up three new kitchens in Jaipur by the end of this year. The motivation behind this is to develop a franchise model so that maximum people can benefit from it. Our team is also extremely involved in serving society and helping people in these unprecedented times.
We are planning to register our NGO soon, wherein the work has already begun and we are doing community service by holding food donation drives, feeding stray animals, etc. Once registered, we will be expanding our community service.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
Our Company was born in Covid, so we had to take all the necessary steps and precautions.
Our Kitchen is properly sanitized, hygienic and safe. We follow WHO-recommended Covid safety measures and our food handlers, other staff, etc. are properly trained to follow all the Covid safety instructions and guidelines provided by the government.
Our food is properly packed and our delivery executives are properly trained to ensure proper protocols are followed while handing over the food to our customers.
We have arranged for our team to get vaccinated and now 100% of my team is vaccinated.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
This is the beauty of business; we have a new challenge every day. Challenges are the ones that makes you more mature and you grow with each challenge. In my work, I face different challenges each day, it’s just that we have to be calm, think rationally and utilize the available resources efficiently.
As for what drives me, the satisfaction of serving our customers with healthy food products made with quality ingredients.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
The biggest motivation for me is the people who believe in me and support me in every phase of life. I am blessed to have the influence of many such positive people who encourage me at every step.
My mother, Vidya Haritwal, has been a constant source of support, strength and motivation throughout my life. She has taught me to stand tall in the face of any obstacle which can come my way.
Since childhood, she has inspired me to be honest and help people in everyday life.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
We make mistakes, we learn from them and we grow. Personal evolution is a choice that we have to make, it’s not inherent, it’s your approach towards life. There are certain ways that I have learned over time that have helped me in my life.
1) Eagerness to learn: Never stop learning, I have always had a willingness to read and learn new things which have greatly helped me both in my personal and professional life. One should always invest in personal development, which will give you returns more than any investment.
2) Open for change: This is the most essential part, one should be open about the possibility that change may be required in certain situations. Willingness to change in a given circumstance is essential for personal growth.
3) Be respectful: One should always have courteous and humble behaviour. This one trait will always make you stand out from others. This is something which one should inculcate in their behaviour. Be respectful and you will be respected by your team, customers, and the community.
4) Be helpful: This one thing has always helped me grow in life. I always help others, especially young entrepreneurs or anyone who wants to get into cloud kitchens. When you help others, you will also learn from the experience.
5) Be approachable: One should always be friendly and easy to talk to, which will help you in creating a robust team and will greatly help you with building trust, confidence and generation of new ideas. I have always provided my team with a comfortable atmosphere which made them feel valued and would not hesitate in bringing out any issues which might lead to a crisis later. A leader should always be approachable and build a good working relationship with their team and colleagues.
6) Charity drives: Always give back to the community. My company runs food donation drives at least twice a month, wherein we serve food to more than 100 people. Similar initiatives are also being undertaken for the welfare of animals. One must be willing to do whatever is within their capabilities be it big or small. Such philanthropist activities will not only help the community but will also aid your personal growth.
There are no preset strategies for growth but one must conduct himself in a manner where one must be open to new ideas, initiatives and must be consistent towards work.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
Success is a subjective term and it is different for each individual. People have their own goals, both personal and professional and when they achieve them, they are successful.
We all see success in a different way, for some of us success is getting all the luxury items, for some success is family and for some success is a promotion or getting a high paying job. So, my success elements may or may not work for some of their success element may or may not work for me.
Personally, I believe success is not measured in how much money an individual makes or how big is your designation but it is when you achieve inner peace and happiness.
The key to success in my personal opinion is an eagerness to learn, self-discipline, adaptability to change, being humble, a positive attitude and charity.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
The first thing I would like to say is to identify “What is success for you?”, “What is the meaning of success in your mind?”
Everyone should do what makes them happy, be it a job or a business. One should always have a clear vision about their aims and goals and should also be clear on how to achieve them. This is the thing that no person or a book can teach you.
Challenges and problems will come in your life, but that is part and parcel of life. It is up to you to face them and manage them effectively and efficiently. Having a positive outlook and calmness will also help you in certain situations.
Never stop learning, irrespective of your age. Learning new things will help you in evolving in your work, be it professional learning or a personal one. Make a habit of reading books. The most significant lesson in life is to be humble and respect every person, animal and environment around you.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
