As part of our endeavour to identify and share some of the unique and compelling stories from the ecosystem, we invited yet another seasoned entrepreneur and business leader Ketan Kalra – Founder and Managing Director at Super Donuts, for an interview with us to understand more about his exciting entrepreneurial journey so far.
Let’s read more about his interesting journey, way forward and his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs through our exclusive conversation!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Ketan:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I have done my graduation from Panjab University, Chandigarh with Honors in Economics. Then pursued a course in Food and Technology from London, UK. Followed by an MBA in International Marketing from Symbiosis, Pune.
Super Donuts is a Chandigarh based brand, which was started in 2012. I always knew I eventually wanted to be an entrepreneur. While I was doing this course, I was simultaneously setting up my own business. I spent a lot of time figuring out where I was going to get my raw material from and how I wanted my idea to stand out.
Even sourcing from Europe required quite a lot of research from my end. I managed to do so successfully, which led to the beginning of Super Donuts.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a corporate career?
I chose entrepreneurship because I always wanted to make an impact. I have always been intrigued by entrepreneurship and read success stories of all the successful entrepreneurs. You see – It’s fascinating how you build something from the scratch to build an empire around it and not everyone can do it. It takes a lot of courage, planning, perseverance, hard work, teamwork, combined with good strategy & execution skills. Hailing from a business family, I bought a chance from my father, who agreed to fund the company on the condition that I would come back to the family business if the odds go against me. But I was determined to do something different.
During college, I chose food and technology intentionally because I was very passionate about following world food trends. Hence came out with the concept Super Donuts which serves s 40 different kinds of Donuts which were innovated by me.
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey;
It is said that wrong paths often take one to the right destination. Something similar happened to me. At 20, I was pursuing rally driving when I met with an accident. This compelled me to change careers and I went to the UK to do a course in food and technology. During this time, in 2011, street vendors offering doughnuts caught my eye.
I applied for a master franchisee in Chandigarh for the Dunkin Donuts brand but received a rejection two days later. They were unsure about handing over the brand to someone inexperienced considering my age. It is then that it occurred to me to start a doughnut brand of my own. I flew back to the UK to complete my research about Doughnuts and even visited Belgium which helped me gain a deeper understanding of the industry and the sources needed for my raw materials.
The initial years were fun but very hard also. I had to learn and do everything from scratch. Organising the business, streamlining its operations, getting the taxes in place, and hiring and maintaining the staff, I had to ruffle my feathers to get everything right.”
What is your Business Mantra: Money or Emotions?
Emotional discipline and work ethics lead to monetary success.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
I believe success and stress go hand in hand. Yes, there are times when things turn topsy turvy. You have no idea how to sort the chaos, which leads to sleepless nights, low appetite and what not. This is the moment when you have to recall the reasons that motivated you to start and the endings that you have dreamt.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Widening your horizons and being open to working hard for every task you assign for yourself. Once you have created a life you don’t need a vacation from, I believe you have comforted all the discomforts and started reaching your dreams. If it is important enough, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.
What has worked well for you so far?
The never say no to work attitude. You assign me a task and I will come up with the best of me to do it. If I succeed then, that’s what we needed, if not, the scope of learning and improving has no boundaries to it.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
You can never ever make everyone happy and satisfied. Don’t let negative feedback put you down. If you find it constructive, imply. If not, then the comments of anonymity shouldn’t stop you. You are not here to impress the world but to explore your own potentials, find an expansion of yourself in varied areas. Rise and shine!
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.
