IDLI HUT - A Start-Up Visit

‘We just couldn't stop ourselves from starting this restaurant’ says Ram, one of the founders of IDLI HUT, when asked about his decision to go for a start-up. IDLI Hut is a startup restaurant founded by Ram and Rajat back in 2010. They started their business with a ‘Tri-Cycle’ selling delicious and hygienic south Indian dishes in a place called ‘Chappan’ in Indore (famous for Food items, especially north Indian CHAT). They slowly grew their business by shifting from ‘Tri-Cycle’ to a proper location ideal for restaurants in Indore city. Now, after three years since their startup, they are located in four places in Indore, one in Pune and one in Mumbai. They are also constantly expanding their business by adding more franchise in and around Indore. The startup has reached revenue of Ten Million INR within three years which is a great progress for a startup.

The main motto of the startup is to provide Hygienic and Delicious south Indian food to satisfy the customers craving for mouth-watering South Indian Cuisine. They offer a plethora of dishes, which includes 25 varieties of soft Idlis, 19 varieties of crispy Dosas, many varieties of Uttapams and also other items like Pav-Bhaji, many varieties of Cold-Coffee, soft drinks and Ice-creams. The have a properly framed training material to train the chefs in all their branches and provide their own raw materials like masalas and other ingredients for the menu, ensuring the same quality and taste in all their branches. They also have regular training for their chefs to maintain the quality of their service.

Q: What is the main motive or driving force about the startup? Why did you choose this startup?

A: We both had plans during college for doing something different other than the monotonous job which the companies provide. Many people including me have wondered why only Mumbai has restaurants providing delicious south Indian food and not Indore. We wanted to bring authentic South Indian Cuisine here in Indore. So we came up with the idea for this startup. When we planned for this startup, we were already working. Ram was a professor and I (Rajat) was working in HDFC. But both of us weren’t happy with the job and we had to startup something different which they dreamed for. But we had lot of problems, problem for initial capital and many more. So we planned to do both job and the startup together. So me and Ram hired a ‘Tri-cycle’ and two chefs and one more worker and started making and selling Idlis in the ‘Tri-cycle’ after the working hours, from 6PM to 10 PM. This way we had job security and also lived our dream. When the business started to heat up, it was more demanding and we had to choose between either of the two. So I and Ram took the toughest and riskiest step in our life. We chose to leave the job and follow our dream. Initially we didn’t have much support from our parents. But we had to do it. We had interest in no other work other than this startup. So we continued with the ‘Tri-Cycle’. After few months we collected some capital to start a proper restaurant in Indore city area. Initially the business was slow, as people weren’t aware. We never lost hope in our business; we started including new recipes every month. Slowly our customer base grew, and we started taking orders for parties and other college events. Now we are successfully running four centers in Indore. Proper planning of training modules ensured the quality in all the centers.

Q: What are your present expansion plans?

A: We are planning to expand our business also to towns around Indore. We are not particularly interested in opening our business in big cities as the capital required is more and also there is heavy competition. We are presently concentrating on small towns around Indore, but will surely come to other cities once we earn a good brand name and when the business is stabilized.

Q: What will be your advice to students who are interested in startup?

A: I would say ‘Just go for it’. There is never a better time, than doing it right now. We will never know how the situation will be in future. Just follow your dreams now, or you will be following others later. The difference between the two sides is just a small step, but this small step makes huge difference.

A Team of three SESC (Student Entrepreneurship Support Cell) members visited IDLI HUT on Nov 16, 2013 in one of their main branches in Indore. The interview lasted for an hour and was very inspiring to students planning for a startup right after their college. For more details about the interview please hear the Audio recording sent along with this report.

SESC NEC Team

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