CHENNAI: Imagine an engineer, who graduated with an MBA from IMT, Ghaziabad, with five years of work experience in the IT sector, including couple of years in Australia. So, what would you say if this person left such a booming career to start a restaurant? Crazy, right? Well, you may want to get in line, but after five years of persistence and hard work, Gaurav Jain had the last laugh. At 37, he now runs 23 branches of Mast Kalandar, along with his wife, Pallavi Jain, all over South India, including the one in Adyar. “People kept telling me I was making a big mistake — leaving a well-paid job to start something which nobody in my family had earlier ventured into,” recalls Gaurav. “But now people give examples of our success. Our close family members were supportive of our decision all these years.”Gaurav is not alone. The last few years have seen a spurt in restaurants in Chennai run by highly qualified and experienced professionals who have left their jobs to venture into the food business. Take for instance, Prem Anand Srinivasan, an MBA graduate from the Hindu Institute of Management, Haryana. A software professional with nine years experience, Prem left his job to start out on his own. After a stint as a real-estate promoter and a green-building consultant, he started Texas Fiesta last year. “I always wanted to start out on my own,” says Prem. “While I was working in the US, I used to binge on Mexican food. After a not-so-successful stint as a real-estate promoter in Chennai, I thought to indulge into my favourite Mexican food. That how’s Texas Fiesta took shape.”But for Gaurav, it was more about getting on-the-job results and interaction that pulled him to the food business. “In the IT sector, it was more about boardroom meetings, Powerpoint presentations and less of a human interaction, which we always missed,” he says. “But in this business, there is lot more customer interaction, it’s about their satisfaction, and the instant results and feedback you get once you satisfy someone’s appetite. Retail boom helped me expand the restaurant all over the South.”But for Mamatha Seshadri, owner of Coffee Central, T Nagar, it was a tragedy that gave wings to her dream of starting out on her own. After completing master’s in business and IT from University of Melbourne in 2007, Mamatha continued to work in Australia as a consultant. But the sudden death of her father brought her back to Chennai and soon, she started Coffee Central. “After my father’s death, I had to stay in Chennai for my mother. So I had to make up my mind — it was now or never. The whole dynamics of my career changed,” explains Mamatha. “As I was always interested in food business, and did a bakery course as part of my master’s degree in Melbourne, I thought to venture in this field. It took me six months to do the leg work, and finally in March 2009, I started Coffee Central.”Though the three entrepreneurs had their own reasons to break free from the ‘cubicle’ lifestyle, they are gung-ho about being restaurateurs and don’t regret giving up their respective successful corporate careers. Says Gaurav, “I would rate my experience as a restaurateur better than being a salaried person. The exposure, interaction and involvement I have running this restaurant-chain is just exceptional. Nothing can match it. Mamatha concurs and adds, “Running Coffee Central has given me recognition in the society. As you always have to be in forefront, you get noticed.”If their success stories inspire you, Gaurav has a word of caution. “The profit margin is there. It’s a lucrative business. But one error and it’s all downhill from there. It’s not a glamorous field, as it is believed so. There’s a lot of hard work that goes in running a restaurant.” So, before you decide ‘This is it,’ and put your best ‘food’ forward, do your research and leg work and prepare your blue print.
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