At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring to our community some of the finest stories from the entrepreneurship world. As part of this endeavour, we invited a passionate entrepreneur – Yash Arora for an exclusive interview with us. He is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Mentor and Go-getter. Yash is the Founder and CEO at Creme-Borne. Let’s learn more about his inspiring journey, his background and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Yash :
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
The journey has been fantastic and successful so far. I did my schooling from Guru Harkrishan Public School and further did my graduation in Bachelor of business administration from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha university along with many short term courses in Marketing and Management.
Brought up in a family from a business background, I have been learning business practices from my father. Being a foodie myself, I am always keen on trying out new concepts and love to cook as well. I stumbled upon the idea of using charcoal in the flavours as it is known for many health benefits. It has been in vogue in the beauty product and cosmetics industry.
Many people around the globe use it in food as well. I am sure, people must have heard of black burgers and pizzas, which were quite a thing in 2016. So we carried the idea forward with Crème-Borne and that is where `black ice cream` came into existence.”
I was 21 years old when I opened my first store in the heart of Delhi which is Connaught place on 25 Dec 2017, At Crème-Borne, we started with ice creams but today we serve a wide range of American desserts. The idea behind our desserts fascinated many including our customers. We are one of the few places in India that serves Spanish churros.
We collaborated with many brands like blue tokai, Bira91, kingfisher and many more. It brings immense joy to us as we rank in “ top 20 places to visit in Delhi” and get featured in many well known 50+ magazines and pages like “so delhi, LBB, dfordelhi, HTcity, Hindustan times and many more.
Now we have 11 running stores in pan India and 8 stores are under construction and we are serving 15000+ customers every month in pan India.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
I chose entrepreneurship because I always wanted to make an impact. The motivation to start a business was a strong vision and a business plan. Moreover, I like the freedom of knowing that my success and failure rests solely on my intelligence, ability and persistence.
My tenacity and unyielding desire to succeed ensure my success and nothing else matter when you have that freedom. The passion takes control and you can literally mould your own destiny.”
Initially, we were just a team of 6 persons including me but now we are a family of more than 70+ employees pan India. For a successful business, it is very important that it is visible to its target audience and marketed well amongst them. The product should appeal to many and the customer should be attracted to it.
‘Creme-Borne’ 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?
Firstly thanks for the appreciation. The word “Crème-Borne” is a combination of two words – the first is Crème which means cream, and the second is Borne which means carried through.
So the amalgamation of two means that the customer would be carried through the best in class taste when they experience our ice creams and desserts.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
As the business is born during COVID, each measure is taken to ensure that the model aligns with the challenges of the pandemic.
~ Our business model consists of a lean team which is not at all resource-heavy and has minimal overheads.
~ In corporate terms, Every work is handled remotely, where we don’t have any physical meetings with the team.
~ We support our franchisees with rent reduction, staff expenses reduction and do overnight deliveries in most of our locations till 4 am to achieve break-even targets.
~ We have launched a QR menu code for contactless takeaway in all our stores and take all covid safety measures and moreover, all our staff are vaccinated.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
I believe It’s always up to us. On our journey of growth, and success, we all encounter difficulties. The road to success is full of lessons from failure, making mistakes, and facing challenges. You cannot succeed if you don’t experience failure. It’s how you deal with failures that determines how successful you can be.
For me, challenges have been amazing learning experiences. They have forced me to grow and change. We are truly shaped by our experiences and circumstances. At Crème-Borne, consistently maintaining product quality and service is challenging but extremely important.
These are the backbones and stepping stones for any F&B business. Nowadays, customers look for an entire package, from food to service to spending quality time at an outlet. In the end, we should always aim to deliver them the same.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
In my life, my work is my biggest source of motivation. I faced a lot of ups and downs in my business but self-learning helped me a lot to grow and understand things. My family and my close ones have supported me throughout the journey and I’m still learning every day.
My goal is to make Crème-Borne as a one-stop innovative dessert craving solution for every person.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
Well, there are a few:
1) Always take calculative risk
2) Always be resourceful
3) Always be ready for the worst and good
4) Never stop dreaming about what you want to achieve.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
I will say it straight that there are many factors but if you really have to have the key elements then to me these are the ones:
> Accept failure and learn.
> Responsibility for your own actions.
> Standing up for yourself.
> Resourcefulness
> Curiosity to Learn more.
> Politeness and calmness
> Taking massive action (execution) with consistency and belief.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Well, my most valuable career advice for young professionals is to be an example to fellow believers and unbelievers in your work.
For me, growth mindset was the key and still is. To grow as a young professionals, we need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. Be open to new ideas and challenge yourself. Have a vision and know your goal.
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.
