As part of our endeavour to bring to our community some of the compelling startup stories from the ecosystem, this week we interviewed Dheeraj Gupta – Founder & MD at Jumbo King Foods Pvt. Ltd. Let’s read how he started Jombo King, his journey and the way forward!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Dheeraj:
Tell us a little more about the startup and how you started it, please;
I started building JumboKing in August 2001, with an aim to create a world-class Indian QSR (quick-service restaurant) brand. Global QSRs had built their story around a single product and sharp focus. Over time, we too built volumes on a single product- starting with the basic Indian burger (Vada Pav) and innovating into a wide range of vegetarian burgers, such as nachos, schezwan and tandoori paneer, a big crunch.
As the brand originated in Mumbai, we tailored our offerings to the city’s busy on-the-go eaters.
Over time, college students and young working professionals became our patrons and propelled us to 115+ outlets in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Indore & Lucknow. We have delivery tie-ups with Swiggy and Zomato to service out-of-store orders.
How do you find the industry/niche that you’re in and what are your plans to compete in the market?
We are in the QSR (quick-service restaurants) industry. We have added the burgers category about 3 years ago. While McDonald’s and Burger King are competing in the sit-down segment, we at Jumboking are focused on the takeaway segment for burgers.
We believe that as the market grows the sit-down and the takeaway segment will grow separately at a rapid pace, meeting the consumer requirement for a quick snack/meal based on how much time he has.
Talk us through your sales/revenue numbers and your expansion plans?
We are currently at 120 stores. We have grown at a pace of 60% year on year for the past 3 years.
We will close this year at 150 stores. All our stores are in Mumbai and Pune.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person/business?
What has worked for us in the recent past is –
1 – Adding burgers to our menu
2 – Investing time and money in training the team
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
The challenges have been more around preparing for growth in terms of
1 – Team competence
2 – Systems competence
3 – Supply chain preparation for larger volumes
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
I feel what is most important is having a very strong ‘WHY’. You should be doing what you are doing for a reason beyond making money.
We are doing what we are doing because we want an Indian born brand to becoming the largest QSR player in the country. Wealth creation will be a by-product of this resolve.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
As I said, everyone should have a clear WHY. That motivation is what will keep you going when things are not working the way you would have liked.
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.
