This Small-town girl from Muzaffarnagar started her business during Covid and now their monthly income is Rs 10 lakh. Our recent conversation with the Founder & CEO of Bengali Love Cafe was amazing and would like to share the details to motivate others. Their VISION IS TO SEE INDIA AS THE START-UP CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.
Sakshi said she is on a mission to promote Women’s empowerment and Entrepreneurship in every part of India.
Highlights
Sakshi Guha did not let her job loss become a disappointment for her. She made use of the opportunity and with the support of her mother, opened her startup to earn lakhs in a month. Also promoted a Hunger-free India moment.
The loss of a job leads to discouragement and despondency. The pandemic took away the livelihood of many people and left them cursing their fate. On the other hand, rather than being disappointed with losing her job, Sakshi Guha set up a ladder to success for herself. She started on her journey as a businesswoman and did not stop until she achieved her desired milestones.
Sakshi shares that she has helped more than 150 women become independent. She made these women realize their potential and gave them employment during their difficult times. She also helped them to build their startup by offering them a low-cost franchise of Bengali Love Cafe by utilizing government schemes to help them build their startup journey.
Not all stories have a fairy tale beginning, but they can certainly have a magical ending. Bengali Love Cafe is a catering company based out in the city of Gurgaon. Here are a few words with Sakshi Guha:
My story is nowhere near the end but is one of resilience, faith, hope, and courage. I lost my job due to COVID-19 and did not know how to support my family, precisely when the idea of ‘Bengali Love Cafe struck. Not only did I build a new identity for myself, but I also gave my mother, Mrs. Deepa Guha, dignity. Who would have thought that a simple Bengali girl growing up in Muzaffarnagar would transform half of the capital’s eating habits, Says Sakshi Guha.
I was born on 01/09/1987 In Muzaffarnagar, UP. My family consists of 8 members. I was the youngest among my siblings. I have 4 elder sisters. Since childhood, we knew that we had to work hard and do something for our family. As source of earning was only my father, who was a factory worker. So my income was less and had lots of responsibility. After completing my MA in physiology from DAV College Muzaffarnagar, I came to Delhi for a job search. I have worked in different industry domains, my last organization was MNC in Gurgaon.
When I came to Delhi for a job search I had to face lots of difficulties as food and living in Delhi were expensive and tough to survive. Being a Bengali girl and foodie also wanted to get different food varieties at reasonable prices which was a big concern. Also while working I met many other people facing the same problem and waiting for a a solution. The idea of Bengali Love Cafe came to my mind. Since my mother is a home cook, she started cooking at a very young age and had a dream to have her own outlet someday. But at that time it was not possible due to a lack of knowledge, money, and support.
Hailing from Delhi-NCR, we saw people losing the essence of home and struggling to survive in an exotic environment. It does not take an epiphany to realize that the main reason for this is the food they eat. To solve this problem, we have come up with a medium to provide food like home taste at affordable cost. Our main aim is to strive for the day when every student and employee in India will be able to have their proper meal for 3 times.
Customer loyalty is expected from only healthy and delicious food. Our business model is running without any paid advertisement just by word of mouth.
Our customer base mainly consists of college students, office employees, and senior citizens. That is why we try to incorporate different cuisines into our menu to ensure variety.
Our focus is not only on providing healthy and tasty food but also at affordable prices so that our food becomes pocket-friendly.
Trying to give “home-style food” to “ghar ka khana”: No food is good when it doesn’t have a homely touch. Hence, we strive to provide traditional Bengali food home style to all our customers.
Our sales are done through six channels – B2B, B2C, Monthly subscription, Catering or party orders, Groceries whole sales and profit retailing, and Homestay with meal plan subscription & offering food franchises across India at low cost.
As A Food Startup, My Goal Lies In A Hunger-Free India”
We believe that satisfying hunger is not an issue of charity. It’s a matter of justice. It is our true attempt to liberate ourselves as a community. We launched a “Feed India- a one-time meal” campaign under the Bengali Love Cafe Foundation. We are glad to share we have been able to help more than 1,80,000 people across India so far.
Although this is just the beginning, people from different cities are joining our campaign. According to recent research, around 194 million people in India today do not have enough food to eat, which is the largest number in the world.
According to the Global Hunger Index 2020, India falls in the ‘severe’ hunger category with a rank of 94 out of 107 countries.
These statistics do not take into account the effects of Covid-19. The resultant migration, unemployment, and loss of earning members of households have pushed millions of Indians into extreme poverty and hunger.
We stepped up to launch a cloud kitchen. “We registered the business on Zomato and started accepting orders on the online platform from 15 January 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic had only just begun, and many people started working from home. It brought opportunities, and more customers signed up for our services,”
I remember the time when my savings started drying up. So I requested my mother to use her cooking skills to help the family. It became difficult to keep using our savings, and around October 2019, I prepared a few leaflets and convinced my mother to prepare food orders. I was confident in my mother’s culinary skills and knew the business would float. We distributed leaflets offering homemade Bengali food in our locality.
We have determined our target audience, understand the market demand, and managed, and done industry analysis.
I started my business with just the help of my 67-year-old mother and roped in more women who needed a livelihood during such unprecedented times. I import all their raw material directly from Kolkata. The best part is that my suppliers in Kolkata are also women.
I started with the idea of serving a corporate meal plan monthly to support the family financially. This resulted in a beautiful cafe which caters to more than 200 people daily and earns us a revenue of two lakh Indian Rupees a month. After that, I also partnered with Swiggy, Magic Pin, India Mart, and Dunzo to ensure my product reaches more people.
I also supply cooking raw materials like; spices used explicitly in Bengali cuisine to people who need them. I have another vertical, Groceries on Wheels, which was set up in May 2020 and has been performing exponentially. All these raw materials are imported from Kolkata and are of the highest quality.
We offered jobs to about 50 women from the neighborhood. Like my mother, these were housewives who had nothing to do with business. But with some help, they can earn more money now.
Sakshi Guha’s 13 Mantras for Business Success –
1. Always Do it your own way-
Learn from others but follow your own path. Every journey is unique – be agile and flexible but maintain your determination to succeed. For sustainable high growth, find a coach or mentor and use them to help you drive the business forward.
2. Don’t stagnate innovate very important.
Keep your ear “close to the ground” – use competitor and market data to keep your business competitive. Be creative and differentiate your offer from the competition – seek innovative ways of doing business.
3. We should Know our market and our customers as we always say customer is king.
Know your market, its segmentation, and your position in it! Constantly ensure you know your customers’ wants and needs. Use market research to understand your customers’ buying habits. Promote the benefits of your offer not just the features.
4. Focus on Building a strong brand-
The brand is everything! – Strong brands stimulate desire. Build a compelling and valuable brand and work tirelessly to promote it and maintain its values.
5. Always Focus on quality, service & value – NOT the lowest price-
Don’t concentrate on price. The customers you really want are the ones who focus on quality, service, and long-term value – make sure your brand value supports your proposition.
6. On more important mantras always remember the Employ the best people pay them well and work them hard-
Employ fewer people, make them multi-skilled, and pay them well – they will be better motivated, more focused, and less likely to leave you. Encourage teamwork. Establish small project teams to achieve key business aims and reward success.
7. Always Be lean and mean-
Maximise income and minimize costs. Relentlessly seek out wasteful activities in all its forms. Embrace a culture of continuous improvement and involve everyone in its deployment.
8. Always Be flexible and adaptable-
Usually, the winners are those most able to react quickly to change and adapt in a market-responsive way. Often they will turn a crisis into a new opportunity.
9. Don’t forget to Build cash reserves-
Cash is king – invest carefully and build reserves. Avoid debt finance except where this will constrain growth. Cash will act as a buffer – this will help your cash flow and more importantly, your emotional well-being.
10. Create a culture of lifelong learning and education-
Invest in the development of your staff – encourage skills development and a lifelong learning culture. Skilled and motivated people make fewer mistakes, produce better quality, and are more productive. Promote enterprise and participation.
11. Always do Plan, plan, plan-
“If it takes a man 4 hours to chop down a tree, he should spend the first 3 hours sharpening the axe”. Create practical plans with defined actions – monitor and update. Use the “Deming Cycle” – PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT. Communicate your plans.
12. Do Lead from the front-
Show your leadership – be visible, active, and supportive, express a clear vision, show confidence and determination – develop buy-in to your plans for the business.
13. The last one FINALLY
Always remember the 2 C’s – without these, you don’t have a business! – Customers & Cash.
I am assuring you either you follow these mantras or follow us as a mentor and guaranteed success.
As an Entrepreneur whatever you do, be different and should solve a bigger problem. If you’re Idea is different and you have the skills to solve a bigger problem, you will stand out for sure.
Our company Bengali Love Cafe Group valuation is 4cr.
