“I’m the guy who quit Google to sell Samosas,” reads the Facebook bio of Munaf Kapadia. But what it doesn’t tell you that his samosas are a major hit among five star hotels of Mumbai, people from Bollywood, and scores of foodies who want to try out something different.
It was hard for people to understand why would an MBA holder quit a perfect, cushy job with Google and dive into something which was not even a thing. But today, Munaf is one among the 30 under 30 achievers on the Forbes List, has been covered by tonnes of media houses, including BBC, and is the favourite choice of every high-class function in the maximum city.
In the tech giant Google, the salary package of freshers is also in crores, can anyone leave the job to sell samosas? Such are Munaf Kapadia, a resident of Worli, Mumbai, who quit the job of a company like Google for his idea of selling samosas. He is now the CEO (Chief Eating Officer) of his own company, The Bohri Kitchen. Whose annual turnover exceeded 50 lakh rupees just one year after leaving Google’s job. Let’s know the success story of Munaf.
Munaf says, My mother (Nafisa) is very fond of watching TV. He loves watching food shows and I was already familiar with the taste of my mother’s hands. I thought, why not take tips from my mother and open a food chain. Got the idea of Bohri Kitchen from here. The kitchen started in December 2014.
But this Passion to Pay check story hasn’t been all smooth sailing. In fact, there was a point when Munaf says the running of the business was taking its toll on his finances and morale. By December 2016, he was struggling with hiring the right staff, with payments, the logistics of running a food business, and he had nearly burned through his entre savings. It had reached a point where he had decided to re-enter the corporate world. That’s when he got a call from Forbes telling him that he was on the cover of their 30 Under 30 issue. Despite him telling them that the business was not doing as well as he thought it should, they said he had made the cover because they believed he was on the verge of success. That was a much-needed boost of confidence. By January 2017, The Bohri Kitchen had broken even. Initially self-funded, Munaf has also found investors for the business and got Rs 1.5 crore in prize money as the winner of reality TV show Grilled.
Today, he handles all the marketing and promotion for The Bohri Kitchen, while his mother handles the entire dining experience. And in less than four years, Munaf, his parents Nafisa and Turab, and three siblings have built a formidable brand. In addition to the food they serve at home, they have started TBK Express, which delivers the same food you would get in their home across Mumbai. The more exclusive Travelling TBK brings the whole home dining experience to the diners’ home or any venue of their choice. Their website says it’s the complete experience with ‘Nafisa Aunty’s homemade magic coupled with the same hospitality and the same host with the funny moustache’. The family keeps a check on quality by ordering food from the delivery services at least once a week.
