At BrilliantRead Media, our aim is to bring to our community some of the unique and compelling stories from the start-up ecosystem. As part of this endeavour, this weekend we invited passionate entrepreneur Ankit Jain for an exclusive interview with us. He is a Seasoned Entrepreneur, Business Leader, Food Consultant, Industry Expert and Mentor. Ankit is the Co-Founder of The London Shakes. Let’s learn more about his inspirational journey and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Ankit:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur.
If you don’t build your own dream, someone else will hire you to build theirs. – Tony Gaskin.”
What Tony has said left me speechless when I heard it first when I was still in college. The idea about venturing into the world of entrepreneurship and starting something of my own began from there.
Coming back to my journey, So I attended Christ Senior Secondary School and further pursued Bachelors in Business Administration from Maharaja Ranjeet Singh College Indore. From my young age, I have been a passionate individual who always aspired to be one of the achievers by considering deliverables that kept me going ahead in my life.
My skillset span across organizational, managerial and research-based pursual; and my experiences has culminated in me being a food consultant and industry expert involving with various brands.
All the projects I was/am associated with have been marked with successful outcomes. Being in the hyper-competitive segment of the industry, only 3 things have been my constituents – Creativity, Innovation and Affordability.
My passion and my aspiration, both have been associated with accomplishments dealing with the problem areas in such a way that projects would form a brand and the brand would reach out to like-minded entrepreneurs. My expertise and research were not much academically driven, but always taste and test-driven; consistent rounds of trial, examination and demonstration would result in the success of every brand, must not forget saying, it started from home.”
The evolution of my career started with one outlet that specializes in Maharashtrian food that did not make much sense to me, even in terms of learning and experience that was a phase to be counted. The next project that I was involved with was a North Indian cuisine-based restaurant, being part of this one was indeed very good learning when it comes to learning from the failures.
Thinking down the memory lane and realization the facets of the failures after 2 projects, I started my own company, also ventured into the production unit for this one, a little bit of taste of success I tasted when 2 outlets were started, but things turned out in a different way. This one also resulted in me being phased out because of the circumstances, I was broke emotionally, but not torn apart completely.
Keeping such failures and flaws in mind, I decided to be objectively strong and dive deeper rather than being at only the surface, and that was very much visible in the upcoming projects – brands.”
The brands I take very much confidence and delight in are Chaat Chatore, Dhaba Café, The London Shakes (one of the renowned brands that received a prestigious award – World Book Of Records – London), Lalaji Dilli Wale, Indian Pizza House, Elaichi Café, Ela Chai and The London Salon and Café; all of these brands were co-founded by me and my team.
The brands that I have established recently are – The Fritter Fry and The Country Wok. Altogether, all of these brands have been receiving a very good reception by people and that gratifies me. I aspire to develop more than these and I am more than more confident that I would be able to do so.
We are aware of all the good work you are doing in your space, what keeps you going?
Love for what I do. So, if you love what you do that itself is the greatest motivation. On top of that, hunger and thirst for success in my life. Evolution – continual process of improving myself and taste the sweet success which is achieved by all sweat and blood.
Having been involved in the Food and Beverages industry, I always feel that cater to the taste which people like and more importantly which you would admire.
What attracted you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
The impact is the buzzword that made me choose entrepreneurship. Corporate career, being in the typical setup of 9-5 and weekends off, running the rat race that everyone else is doing, and working for someone else, be it an organization or a person, almost sounded like enslaving thought that I wanted to avoid at any cost.
Entrepreneurship is nothing else but the embodiment of ideas that create an impact that lasts forever. Creativity, innovation and affordability, putting them in perspective and I see the brand creating not only the image but long-lasting impact.”
Being influenced and influencing others is the crisscross path one can take considering oneself as an entrepreneur.
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey?
As the newcomer or new entrant in the hyper-competitive industry, many challenges came by. You name the challenge and it was there, even in terms of longevity, to name a few, finances, investment, place to work, and to add on to it, almost no relevant background, and not to miss, exhaustive mental and emotional exertion.
A lot of inspiration I drew from Harpreet Singh Kukreja who I consider as my elder brother and mentor, as he motivated me and supported me to the core. Also, being under pressure in order to establish, perform and grow caused a lot of hassles in life, but love for food and hunger and thirst for success kept me encouraged.
What is your business mantra: Money or Emotions?
I tried to pave the way through not only hard work, but by overcoming my fears and acting upon the failure of the past, and this was a continual process. Success for me is a journey that one experiences over a period of time, not just a onetime thing that happens to a person overnight; also, it’s not just about money.
In my situation, I did a lot of homework in understanding the market, the products available in the market and the demand of the consumers in the market and that resulted in developing the brands that people like.
My business mantra for young entrepreneurs would be – trust your innermost passion which can be the craziest idea too and start acting upon it and doing so can bring out the best in/from you and get out of your comfort zone.
How do you handle pressure and manage stress?
This is something which cannot be avoided, everyday challenges, ongoing or new ones try to put oneself down but it’s just innermost passion some people call craziness that keep one going.
Realistically, humanly, following the path of innermost passion, thinking – doing of creating an impact and being an entrepreneur is definitely achievable, but not easy. Challenges have to be embraced and this refines the person and his/her choices.
Journeying through the tough times and nearing the banks of success gives a feeling of joy and excitement. I still think of the times when me and my team planned for our venture called The London Shakes, planning and execution took a toll on mental and emotional health, but when that brand was in the market, out and about, there was a point almost like a shipwreck and entire team pooled in with multiplied efforts and indeed there was a synergy everybody could feel, and after 4-5 months the outcome was fantastic. Awesome feeling it was when people were not only liking the concept and brand but approaching with warm hearts as well.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
Right after my school days, I was crazy and passionate about the food of different varieties and different cuisines. Either at home or friends’ places or at my hostel, came the stage of experimenting with a taste that created a fizz in my mind about getting in to complete.
I used to follow the recipes suggested by my family members and friends and tried dishes at n number of food joints and outlets and this paved the way forward. Not only this, in order to get to the core of this, I visited different states and got to taste different cuisines.
I tried my best to understand the market trends by visiting local shops, getting to know the spices being used in local/regional dishes. Then came developing the taste and recipes too.
Thus, began the journey that I liked and wanted to pursue. I had no academic background in it nor any relevant experience before or after my college days, I kept myself focused and started venturing out with my efforts. After almost 8 years I see myself completely transformed, ready to make an impact, just after I imbibed to follow what I do.
Too much talking and many words didn’t do this initially, only aim, efforts and continuous examination in the forms of tasting and testing worked wonders. I must say, age is no bar to become an entrepreneur, realizing this at a young age gives one an edge. Stay focused, follow the innermost passion crazily and definitely the taste of success one can easily get.
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.
