Franchising Business And Its Real Estate Advantages

/0 Comments/in /by

Have you ever seen old store images of famous brands like Starbucks, Mc Donalds, Subway and Jumboking? If your answer is yes, then you know where we are heading, given the heading of our blog. If not. Then it is our responsibility to inform you that- It was not that great of a start.
Hard to believe? The feeling is mutual, but it is the truth. Real Estate, these two words have far more importance in any business than you can fathom.
Looking at the growth of all these Franchising businesses, it is evident that all these could have been possible because of a strategic Real Estate Plan.
Establishing outlets in places where people can easily find you need more work than you think. There is more than the eyes can meet. The most difficult situation arises when you want to acquire all the vital locations for your business, but hurdles seem to have attached themselves to a never-ending story.
Yes, the struggle is real. But do you know what’s more real than that?
A Franchising business that doesn’t let you get affected by all these hindrances.
Sensing wide eyes on the screen. Yes, you read it right. A Franchising business. It’s ruling the food industry with the philosophy – “Unity is Strength”.
“Let us tell you how!
1. The Access To A Property Bank
Imagine you are planning to start a business. What will be your first step in getting hold of a place?
Connecting to a broker or finding something online, right? Endless calls, and endless negotiations, leaves you right where you started. Jumping to conclusions and later regretting going for the first property you saw because you were too agitated hunting for a perfect location.
This never happens in a Franchising Business.
In a Franchising business, the franchisee has the privilege of a core team that takes all the burden.
Right from creating a property bank and identifying the apt neighbourhoods to hunting for an ideal location, they do it all.
The core team, with their expertise, identifies 5-10 areas in the city where the business is likely to do well. Known as the sub-zones, these areas in the city have restaurants that are already thriving which indicates that the market is vibrant.
With time and experience, the core team begins to identify a larger bank of convertible locations. Luck plays no role here. It is solely on a well-thought strategic science that filters out most of the uncertainties from the process.
Working with a property bank leaves you with multiple viable options. It makes negotiations better for rent as well as gives you a great head start for your Franchise business.
2. A Safety Net For Landlords
Surprising as it may seem, not all property owners want to hand over their property to a brand outlet on rent, even if it means a better income. Strange, right?
Welcome to the strange world of business!
There are several reasons for this. But the franchisor’s core team never takes no for an answer. They mentor and counsel the property owners, explaining the various benefits they could receive if they leased out their shop/location to a stable brand.
The franchisor plays the role of a matchmaker, pairing the right landowner with a diligent franchisee. The efforts put in by the core team create a win-win situation for all. The franchisee gets a high-performing location, identified and vetted by the team, as a better deal than the market while being legally secure. On the other hand, the property owner gets a constant and steady income through rent. By putting faith in the franchisor’s integrity, the landlord is assured of a guaranteed sum of money each month, plus a safety deposit.
The franchisee, without any struggle, gets the property he or she always had an eye for.
3. Better Rentals
How often do you negotiate in your daily life? Once or twice while buying vegetables?
Many people believe negotiation is a petty thing to do. Remember, things that seem petty sometimes are actually an art honed with experience. One such thing is- The Rent Negotiation.
When you choose to team up with a franchisor, you have the advantage of having an expert team negotiating on your behalf. Rent negotiations have to be fair to the property owner as well as to the franchisee. If you negotiate too hard and get a bargain deal, it may be short-lived. Other brands will make better rent offers to the property owner who will eventually be tempted to opt out of your contract in favour of the higher bidder, after the first year of lock-in. On the other hand, if you have negotiated poorly, the business will not make as much money, and you will feel that you are working only to pay the landlord his rent and the franchisor, his franchisee fee.
Rents are variable. However, in a brand franchise, the parent company takes the lead in pre-negotiating basic rents and safety deposits. An ethical brand will ensure fairness for all making sure that the franchisee gets the property at the best possible rate. It is more challenging for an entrepreneur to venture to scout for locations on their own, and have to crack the deal by themselves.
That’s out of the picture for you because the franchisor’s core team takes the burden for you.
4. The Courage To Say No
Ever been in a situation, where the word no is stuck in your throat yet while responding the only word that you can utter is yes?
Well, that’s what the brokers do.
When you choose to opt for a broker to help you find a perfect location for your business, they only look for profit. Cracking a deal is what they do best. They may not understand your requirements in detail. Brokers tend to show properties that are available in the market; they don’t necessarily create property banks. All they want to do is to close the deals quickly. In this process, one tends to lose the best deal for their business.

When you buy a franchise, the franchisor’s core team knows how to say no to the broker in case they feel cornered. It results in getting you what’s best for you.

Take a moment. All this information could be too much for you at a go. So, take your time to process it while going through the link below.
<<<<<<>>>>>>
Yes, it is Jumboking. India’s Largest Homegrown QSR Burger Chain that offers the same assistance as mentioned in the blog.
It is surreal, but it is true. Go check it out now.

How Franchising Businesses Emerged!

/0 Comments/in /by

Business- the term doesn’t seem to have an expiry date. It has been since the beginning of decades one cannot pinpoint. It’s just there. The exchange of goods for goods and the exchange of goods for capital turn everything in life into a business. Some businesses succumb to keep up with the trend whilst some businesses boom with time. Now, let’s shift the focus from all types of businesses to Restaurant Businesses. Will you believe if someone tells you that it does come with an expiration date? If your answer is Yes, congratulation on being one step ahead of the rest. But if you still think that the answer is No, please do not stop here. Let’s just go back to 2020 – The year of doom brought on by the pandemic. Many restaurant businesses had fallen because they couldn’t take the hit. The dreams of young entrepreneurs got shattered. The ones who stood strong were the ones who preached the quote – “Unity is Strength”, the franchising businesses. Most entrepreneurs start a business with full enthusiasm. They get into the cycle of back & forth work and exhaust themselves in a small span of time. It leads to the business crumbling into pieces. Now, it must feel like a discouragement but remember, this blog isn’t about averting young entrepreneurs or like-minded people like you who want to start a restaurant business. It is the opposite. This blog is to channel the business interest in the right direction and make it bene?cial for you in every possible way. Let’s show you how. The franchising businesses survived the hit of the pandemic, which everyone witnessed. Now, let’s see how they emerged over the years. 1. The System In a franchise business, everything has a system. Right from setting the menu, checking the quality of the products, distributing it, keeping track of the sales and helping the franchisees with every other detail, the ingrained system streamlines everything. It leaves no space for the owner to exhaust their energy and helps them focus on things that can help them scale up their business. 2. Products & Their Quality The best thing about a franchise business is that the products never change their course of taste. Irrespective of the numbers they are produced, the quality always remains intact. The franchisee never has to stress about the shortage of product in their store as the franchisor always make sure that everything is in place, EVERYTHING. 3. The Backend Work As everything runs smoothly in a franchising business without any hiccups, the franchisee can be stress-free about the backend work which usually isn’t the case for an individual restaurant owner. There is no need for the franchise owner to run and drain themselves in the minuscule things that always get taken care of by the franchisor and the well-established system. 4. The Focus In the franchising business, the franchisor facilitates everything leaving space for the franchisee to focus more on the consumers which only brings more scope for the franchisee to multiply their business and get 10X growth. Well, if you think that all these were made up, let’s clear your doubt with just one brand’s name- Jumboking. A well-established brand in the franchising industry that has emerged exponentially over the years. If you are an entrepreneur interested in starting a business that only knows how to benet, your hint is in the below link.

Apply Now. https://www.jumboking.co.in/apply-for-franchise

Winner’s Mindset In A Franchising Business

/0 Comments/in /by

What makes a winner- a winner? Is it just the one who reaches the finish line first? Or is it the attitude, perseverance, and idealistic efforts to do something great and aim for success?

Well, you must be contemplating what this is all about. Keep reading and you’ll get to know.

When one opens a business, it is obvious they either want to do something better for society or they are out there to gain profit as much as they can.

Have you noticed that irrespective of the difference in motives, many businesses fail? They succumb to unsuccessful initiatives that lack the zeal the business needs.

Now, when it comes to business or a franchising business, what should you do to keep the business up and going? How can you have a Winner’s Mindset?

Let’s take you through it pointwise.

1. Keep a positive attitude
When you are running a franchising business, there may be times when you’ll face challenges, the ones which may bind you to quit the business industry and jump off the industrial ship. The only thing that will help you to overcome this is a positive attitude. The one that will help you shun the negative feeling is the optimistic and realistic approach to your franchising business which you initially started with a purpose.

2. Scale up your business
A franchising business can never grow if you don’t have the intention to. With each step or decision that you take for your franchising business, you need to think about how you can scale it up. The thought itself will work wonders and will guide you through the way.

3. Don’t settle for one. Multiply your business!
The initial phase of the franchising business is like childhood. Everything seems right. Business seems easy and the hurdles that you face with the business seem to be taken care of by the franchisor who has a standard operating process. Things go as smooth as they can. But one gets fixated on the comfort zone. That is when you should think about what else you can provide to your franchising business. This is the moment when you can start focusing on multiplying your ongoing franchising business from the profits that you’ve earned. The perk of owning a franchise business is that the more you multiply the higher profits you can acquire.

4. Don’t put a stop-gap on your profit and losses. Keep setting new targets!
Who doesn’t love profit and hates losses, right? The hope that you have before investing in a franchise is immense. You have a mindset that you will do great with the business and you give it your all. The moment you see a shake or a slight fall in the business, you get all tense and worked up. Yes, it is natural to get concerned about falls but that doesn’t mean that your franchising business is doomed. There is a solution to every problem. The one for this is the optimistic approach of setting new targets. The one mantra that you should follow in a franchising business is ‘ Do not put a stop-gap on your profit and losses.’

One of the renowned businesses, the Jumboking franchise follows the same mantra. The heights it has reached are known by all.

If you are ready to follow in their footsteps regarding how to run a successful business then you should know that they are looking for someone like you.

Click on the link below to enquire about Jumboking’s franchising business and get on board with them today.

Apply for franchise

3 Vital roles brand plays in the restaurant franchises

/0 Comments/in /by

Have you ever thought about how a business becomes a brand? You are right at guessing that it is not a day’s work. If you didn’t think about it, let us tell you that it is not a day’s work.

A business becomes a brand when it starts establishing itself in the “Why Zone” in people’s life. What’s Why Zone? Let us explain in short. There are three zones in a business life cycle:

1.The What Zone

Here, a business only talks about its products and how great they are. It’s a product-centric zone where a business only focuses on promoting what they offer.

Yes, It’s a common thing to do when you start a business, and it is evident that you want to promote your products/services. But if you only focus on keeping your business in this zone, the chances are higher that your business’ growth may slow down or even come to a halt.

2. The How Zone

It is a differentiator zone. As soon as your business enters this, it answers the question of how your business is different from your competitors.

3. The Why Zone

This is where a business becomes a brand. It is the core belief of the business. It’s “why” the business exists. When you give people the reason why your business exists, or you generate that need in them why they need your products/services, that’s when you become a brand.

All the zones are important for the growth of a business, but the orders are crucial as most businesses start from the What zone, whereas they should begin with the Why zone.

Now, as we have established how a business becomes a brand, let’s get back to our blog topic-

The 3 vital roles brand plays in a restaurant business.

A brand has a definitive way of managing everything that makes it easy for a new franchisee to set up the business.

Here’s how:

1. Scouting Real Estate

A brand helps franchisees scout the real estate for a new business set-up. A brand understands that Real Estate is the single most important decision that needs to be made. As a brand, they have ample amount of experience in the field, and they are already associated with multiple property companies which gives them an upper hand in knowing what will work and what won’t.

2. Well-Established Standard Operating Procedures

With a brand a franchisee gets an entire Standard Operating Process. From setting up the store, training the employees, following the necessary guidelines to maintain hygiene at the store, dealing with all the legal formalities, and applying best practices to provide the best customer services to ethics. Everything is taken care of by the brand.

3. Brand Building

The foremost important role of a brand in a franchise is brand building. It is the most expensive exercise any business needs to undertake as you are competing with the other established brands. When you buy a franchise, your customers are already aware of what your brand sells and the quality aspects of your brand, and they know that they can only get the best out of your store. With brand, all its brand values get transferred to you as you enrol.

So, now you know the perks of a brand, and you know how beneficial it would be for you if you start franchising with a brand instead of starting an individual business.

Oh! now, that you are already reading this, just know that a well-known brand, Jumboking is already into the franchising business and is looking for an enthusiast like you to be their franchisee.

Click on the link below to enquire about Jumboking’s franchising business and get on board with them today.

Apply for franchise

Cloud Kitchen Vs Traditional Outlet

/0 Comments/in /by

Everything has changed since the pandemic. The conventional ways are now considered mundane. People are trying different things to see what works. Two years of seclusion made us more dynamic than we ever were.

Yes, the change around us is inevitable. And we can’t unsee the transformation. But what we can do is merge conventional things with modernisation. Now, you must be wondering how all these points are relevant to the above topic. Let us tell you how.

Everyone must be aware of the on-trend business of opening a cloud kitchen. When the pandemic hit, India saw a rise in traditional outlets transforming into cloud kitchens.

But like everything, the cloud kitchen comes with its advantages and disadvantages.

So, let’s compare the cloud kitchen with a traditional outlet.

1. Space Utilisation
In a traditional outlet, you use the space to its full potential. A 250 sq. ft. outlet gets optimised for both the kitchen and counter. But in a cloud kitchen, the same space 250 sq. ft. outlet gets only used as a kitchen. It doesn’t have a counter/ any arrangement which makes a cloud kitchen lose its chance to utilise the space to its full potential.

2. Exposure
Well-established stores have appropriate space branding. It highlights their business and gives them more exposure offline. They have counters that allow people to spend more time. People clicking pictures and sharing them online gives the store more online presence. In a cloud kitchen, as the space gets utilised only for cooking, people don’t get the chance to know about the restaurant. They can’t create memories in a place that doesn’t have an arrangement for them. Because of this, cloud kitchen doesn’t have much of an online presence.

3. Visibility
When you have a cloud kitchen, you can promote it online as much as you can. You can also come up with offers to keep your customers unchanged. But it won’t last long. You can’t create a customer base with prolonged offers. You may have an online visibility, but offline visibility matters. But when you run a traditional store, you can create both online and offline visibility. There is more space for one to explore. Offline branding will allure more customers to your store, resulting in a solid customer base. Traditional stores are strategically placed because of which it gets high visibility and footfalls. A restaurant is not just about good food. It is more about customer experience, and traditional stores provide that.

4. Specialisation
Cloud kitchen has a wide range of products without any specialised menu. They are more focused on selling their products which might confuse people when they try to choose among the products.

However, a traditional kitchen offers a limited range of products, and they have specialised products. It becomes uncomplicated for the customers to choose and love the products, just like Jumboking, the largest homegrown burger business does.

So, if you are stuck in the cycle of what business you should choose, or if you have already opened a cloud kitchen and want to make a shift, your opportunity is just at the end of this blog.

Click on the link below to enquire about Jumboking’s franchising business and get on board with us today.

Apply for franchise

Why are franchising businesses strategy driven

/0 Comments/in /by

6 reasons why franchising businesses are strategy-driven

Let’s begin with a question. In today’s world, what’s on trend in terms of career? Looking at the number of growing businesses, it feels like career choices are more inclined towards opening a business. In the mainstream world, everybody wants to start their own business. Entrepreneurship is at its peak, but what are the unaddressed problems one faces while starting a new business?

Of course, struggling with sales is one of the problems which goes unaddressed. People try to look for answers. But they get intertwined with too many solutions resulting in a nightmare for the person who is already struggling.

Now, what could serve as a rational solution? The answer is in our blog topic. Yes, you’ve guessed it right. The “solution” is to join a strategy-driven franchising brand.

Let’s look into the perks of this strategy-driven franchise.
1. It’s a win-win vision for both the franchisor and franchisee
2. The franchise produces in volume resulting in smooth supply and maintaining consistency
3. They have trained and standard operating systems
4. They have huge advertising and marketing budgets
5. Sharp operations and decision-making processes give all the desired outputs
6. They never limit themselves and have expansion plans and a long-term vision

All these perks might have triggered your curiosity, hasn’t it? So, let’s dig deeper and see how the franchising business is strategy-driven in detail and why you should opt for a franchise.

1.The Win-Win Vision

We have already established that joining a franchise is a win-win situation for both the franchisor and the franchisee. But how? Let’s tell you that. When you join a franchise, you just need to put your heart into the business and invest your time and money in managing the store, and the rest gets taken care of by the franchisor. This way, you get a well-established business to run, and the franchisor gets the opportunity to expand its business.

2.Enormous Sales and Profit

The franchising business is built on a strong foundation with an enormous customer base built over time. And with the massive customer base, the demand remains high; constantly. And to fulfil the demands, they always produce in huge volumes resulting in resulting smooth supply and maintaining product consistency.

3.Astounding Trained and Standard Operating Systems

But sales are the result of franchising business. And to get the results, the epitome of such a business lies in its trained and standard operating systems. A business can only function to its full potential if it has a standard system. And a business that offers franchise opportunities is known for its astounding standard systems that help them to run its business smoothly.

Now, have you ever thought? How could a franchise business get a hold of such a large customer base? How did they manage to start their franchise? Yes, setting the system and following it to enhance the quality of the product is one part. But the other crucial part lies in brand promotion.

4.Huge Advertising and Marketing Budgets

There is a common phrase, “Visibility, the Key to Success in Retail”, and that is what advertisement is for. A franchise business has a large advertising and marketing budget that allows them to reach out to a more extensive audience. The larger the audience, the higher the chances of an enormous customer base.

5.Strong Operations and Decision-Making Processes

With the enormous customer base comes all the vital decisions. And for that, a franchise business has sharp decision-making processes and operations that don’t hinder the workflow.

6.Expansion Plans and Long-Term Vision

The franchising business has a very long-term vision and expansion plans. The vision doesn’t change, but the goals get adapted to the inevitable generation’s needs. The expansion plans of a franchising company give all the rising entrepreneurs a boost in their careers and serve the franchising business on a platter for them to savour.

So, if you are struggling with your business or you are just getting started with business ideas, grab on to the franchising opportunities.

You never know! The franchise opportunity might just be in the next line below this. And you can also be a part of such franchises.

Simply click below to enquire about Jumboking’s franchising business.

Apply for franchise

Our success is backed by on-ground research: Dheeraj Gupta, Jumboking

/0 Comments/in /by

A 20-year-old Indian burger brand that spent the first fifteen years of its life branding the most favourite snack of Mumbaikars – the Vada Pav, is now one of the largest homegrown brands of vegetarian burgers in India. Taking inspiration from the likes of McDonald’s and Burger King, the brand has curated space of its own in the city of Mumbai and has now expanded to Pune, Lucknow, and Delhi. In today’s edition of ‘e4m Pride of India Brands’ series, Jumboking founder Dheeraj Gupta shares all about the brand journey and how a strong research backing keeps the brand relevant for its patrons in a highly competitive space.

Speaking about how the brand came into existence, Gupta shares, “It was way back in 2001 that we wanted to start an Indian QSR brand that could use the modern technologies and systems to give Indians hygienic and tasty options. When we looked around Mumbai, we realised that Vada Pav was the most popular snack with people eating 20 lakh units a day but it was completely unbranded. We thought that if even 10% of these 20 lakh users care about hygiene, we can create a strong brand. And that’s how Jumboking was born.”

Jumboking’s first-year turnover touched Rs 40 lakh and its profits went into setting up the second store in the same neighbourhood- Rani Sati Marg, Malad (E) in June 2002. The third store then followed in the more upmarket suburb of Andheri (West). The fourth store in Kandivali East was a franchise store. It entered into a partnership with Pepsi in 2004, which led to good word of mouth. The brand then expanded in Gujarat and Bengaluru.

However, it was in 2016 that Gupta and his teams realised that working in the Vada Pav space alone was bringing its own set of challenges, especially at the pricing points. “People were spending hundreds of rupees on a burger, while Rs 20 looked like a lot to them to spend on a Vada Pav,” he quips.

That’s when the brand rebranded itself to ‘The Indian Burger’ and changed its positioning from the most hygienic Vada Pav seller to the most value-for-money burgers. The brand, since then, is running with 8 SKUs (the variations keep on happening but the menu is always limited to eight flavours), including the Indian burger – a new way to see Vada Pav.

We are growing our brand as the most value-for-money and on-the-go snacking option for Indians who want to quickly grab a bite, maybe because they are running late for a meeting or are in transit,” Gupta highlights as he speaks about the current brand proposition.

Gupta attributes the success of the brand to three factors majorly: a solid supply chain, smart marketing, and a lot of research.

He notes, “We maintain our supply chain very closely. We have only eight SKUs on the menu and whenever a new flavour is introduced we take back the least popular variant. That’s how we ensure that our supply chain is economical and maintains high quality. We also do a lot of background research, wherein we spend a lot of time collecting data, both online and offline, not just from our customers but also from those who are eating at other burger places or restaurants. That gives us a nice insight into what more needs to be done and how we can improve.”

Delhi is a market of at least a 100 stores: Jumboking

/0 Comments/in /by

In November 2021, Jumboking, India’s favourite brand of vegetarian burgers, opened its doors to serve the bustling metropolis of Delhi, at the Kashmere Gate Metro station. As of April 2022, eight more stores are under construction in the vast network of metro stations in the Delhi-NCR region. city. Delhi will now be dotted by the iconic ‘JK-BITE’, a short form logo introduced by the company in 2017, recognisable from a mile away. The signage is akin to the golden arches developed by McDonalds in 1968, as a way to instantly build familiarity with its patrons.

“Delhi is blessed with a high density of young population and a vibrant food culture, just like Mumbai” shares Dheeraj Gupta, Founder and MD, Jumboking Foods. “For us, it is a market of upwards of 100 stores. In both cities, we serve the ‘On The Go’ population with conveniently located stores across metros, trains, bus stations and airports.

One of the most vocal advocates of franchising in the country, Gupta has played a key role in the large-scale acceptance of franchising as a framework for business in the QSR industry. Gupta believes and advocates that franchising is a business model which magnifies the principle of ‘together we achieve more’. The key lies in being selective about on-boarding operator-franchisees, being uncompromising about the real estate and then being relentless about delivering a world class experience to today’s consumers who are spoilt for choice. To put it simply, franchising is a ‘win-win-win’ business model where the first win is for the consumers, the 2nd win is for the entrepreneur franchisees and the 3rd win is for the entire manufacturing, distribution eco-system set up by the parent company.

Gupta incepted Jumboking back in August 2001. Today, as one of India’s largest homegrown QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) brands, Jumboking has an aspirational, youth-centric focus that celebrates individuality, enterprise and achievement. The entire product range- lip smacking flavors of premium vegetarian burgers such as Spicy Mexican, Nachos, Hara Bhara Kabab, Mac & Cheese, Crispy Veg, Big Crunch and Corn Palak, along with fries (cheese and peri peri), thick shakes, coke and softy is available in Delhi as well.

The brand amplifies its reach through its delivery partnerships with Swiggy and Zomato, which are particularly important during mega- events like IPL. The other reason for ordering in, is that India’s corporates are still balancing WFH and physical attendance. “The win-win equation between digital platforms and QSRs is yet to be explored fully in India. The demand for delivery is driven by a ‘consumer need’- that of convenience. Hence, it is based on ‘pull’ not push. Ordering online has picked up tremendously in markets like Mumbai and Pune and my sense is that Delhiites will demand this convenience too,” adds Gupta.

As a brand, we understand the inherent strength of Bharat better

/0 Comments/in /by

The first edition of Pride of India Brands: The Best of Bharat Conference & Awards witnessed a panel of successful entrepreneurs who shared their valuable insights on ‘Secrets of Building Successful Brands for Bharat’.

The panelists comprised Kailash Katkar, MD, QuickHeal Technologies; Namrata Chotrani, CEO, Khadim; Dr Sriram Iyer, CRO, Metropolis Healthcare; Dheeraj Gupta, Founder & MD, Jumboking; and Rahul Tewari, CFO, Games24x7. The session was moderated by Jai Lala, CEO, Zenith Media.

The entrepreneurs kicked off the session with a discussion on how they look at Bharat as a market. Chotrani said, “When we look at Bharat, I think we take a step back and divide India into two segments, the first segment being those who stay in urban markets, have a higher disposable income, and shop from high streets and malls. The second segment is the people who stay in tier 2 and tier 3 markets, in the rural markets. They shop from small exclusive brand outlets, small retail counters, and multi-brand retailers. They have exposure to television and they are also demanding fashion today. We call this market Bharat, which is the future of India. That’s how we have categorised Bharat and India and that’s how we have positioned our business catering to both these markets.”

Sharing his views on the same, Gupta shared, “The Indian business environment especially the Bharat environment, requires a business model where the returns commensurate with the potential of the market. As a brand, we understand the inherent strength of Bharat better.”

Talking about how digital impacts a business and comparing offline media with digital media Gupta further said, “Digital is a reality which we have embraced openly. It opens up a whole new world where business can grow. For us in the food industry, we are very fortunate that we have Swiggy and Zomato who have come up and spent crores of money in creating this entire ecosystem around home delivery and it was an entire segment of business that we used to miss out on and now it is possible because these players are there.”

Katkar explained how tech brands tackle Bharat digitally, compared to other industries. “When it comes to tech brand, digital is the most important aspect of it and with QuickHeal, we actually started our e-commerce as well as communication through digital in year 1998. So at that time, in India, there was not a single payment getaway from any bank. So I had a tie-up with an American company and they were able to give services to Indian customers as well. Gradually ICICI Bank and others came into existence. So when it comes to e-commerce as well as the communication part, the time has started changing. Both digital and offline medium are equally important to us. I believe that at the shop level, digital has gone quite upwards,” he said.

Sharing his thoughts on the importance of e-commerce for Bharat, Tewari said, “Today, the Indian consumer is bombarded with all kinds of global games, making the country one of the hottest gaming markets. So Indians downloaded more games last year than the US and Chinese markets. To be able to penetrate that market, we had to come up with the sachet strategy. You have limited time, limited money to entertain yourself.” He further stated that what Bharat is doing today, the world will do tomorrow as the mass market in Bharat is huge. “It is young and culturally the deepest that one can see in the whole world. So their power to change the narrative for entertainment is very formidable,” he added.

5 Made-in-India burger brands giving tough competition to McDonald’s, Burger King

/0 Comments/in /by

The last decade has seen numerous domestic players in the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and QSR (quick-service restaurant) space coming up with innovative brands that are at par with the international ones.

From McDonald’s to Burger King, international brands, in the last two decades, brought a new trend of eating burgers in cafes or in a setup that eventually came to be known as quick-service restaurants (QSR). These brands have dominated the Indian fast food segment for years.

Today, neighbourhoods across India have several Indian brands making a splash in the fast-food market. Apart from burgers, India has also given birth to the domestic rival of Dunkin Donuts in the form of Mad Over Donuts.

SMBStory lists five burger brands competing with international peers.

Burger Singh

It was difficult for Kabir Jeet Singh to make ends meet when he was pursuing his MBA at the Birmingham Business School in 2007. And, what does a desi do in pardes to meet his needs? After his classes in the morning, he worked at a burger outlet on the night shift.

At the end of the evening shift, he got a free burger to feed himself. But being from the land of masalas, Kabir soon grew tired of eating the bland burgers and one day decided to give the burger an Indian spicy twist.

“I went to a nearby store and purchased some Shan masalas and tried mixing them in the patty. And to my surprise, it tasted awesome. From then onwards, I made it a habit and gradually started offering that Indo-British fusioned burger to my friends there,” says Kabir.

Soon, the owner of the burger outlet got wind of the popularity of Kabir’s fusion burger and listed it on the menu, giving Kabir an artiste fee for the recipe. The love for Indian food among the English is legendary and they could not have enough of Kabir’s burger. He soon earned the moniker ‘Burger Singh’, and the rest, as they say, is history.

In 2014, he opened the first outlet of Burger Singh and today its presence has grown to 55 outlets in 20 cities. The brand is also planning to tap into seven new cities with 20 outlets already in progress.

Biggies Burger

Founded by Biraja Prasad Rout in 2011 as a weekend hobby, Biggies Burger started with a small kiosk in Bengaluru’s Electronic City, near the Infosys office.

Biraja says the trend of fast-food chains interested him while he was working at HCL Limited. The lack of local brands compelled him to push this opportunity further.

Today, Biggies Burger has a presence across 71 outlets (47 functioning and 24 under-progress) in 25 cities, except in North India. The founder highlights that Biggies Burger functions as a franchisee model, sans one company-owned outlet in Bengaluru.

This year, Biggies has big plans to expand domestically and internationally. Apart from foraying into Singapore, the brand plans to open 306 outlets by 2024, with the current run-rate of five franchises a month.

The Burger Company

Neelam Singh was always a foodie by heart. It was her love for food that eventually led her to become an entrepreneur.

After working with Genpact and ICICI Lombard, she quit her job in 2017 to start her own food business. She says she wanted to target another gap in the market by opening a fast-food chain for youngsters specifically, preferably college and school students residing in Tier II and III cities.

“I grew up in Agra, and there were not many places in those times where we could hang around,” she says.

Today, fast-food chains across the country have considerably grown, and Neelam hopes to carve a niche in this very market.

To set the ball rolling, Neelam started a B2B business. “We took a small shop in the food court in one of the corporates, converted it into a kitchen, and supplied to corporates like Sapient (in Gurgaon). We offered mainly burgers and beverages.” Seeing the burgers getting a good response, Neelam felt encouraged to take this a step further to start her own fast-food business called The Burger Company. In 2018, she opened an outlet in Palam Vihar, Gurugram.

Since the pandemic, the brand has scaled up to 42 franchisees and one outlet of its own. Following her dreams, Neelam has also been able to expand to Tier II and Tier III cities like Baraut, Loni, Roorkee, Bhiwani, Rohtak, Ujjain, Aligarh, and more. The larger plan is to open 100 more franchisee outlets by the end of the next fiscal year.

Wat-a-Burger

This homegrown burger chain is born by bringing together an information technology professional and a pilot.

Farman Beig and Rajat Jaiswal founded Wat-a-Burger in 2016 to offer Indian consumers a taste of fusion burgers with their international and desi flavours.

Since opening the first outlet in Noida Sector 18, Wat-a-Burger has scaled up to more than 60 joints across 16 cities in over four years. This includes Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ghaziabad, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Gorakhpur, Faridabad, Ranchi, Jhansi, and Srinagar. Starting a business was always on Farman and Rajat’s minds.

“Rajat and I both have business acumen,” says Farman, who has an IT background. “While I was in England pursuing my MBA and Rajat was undergoing pilot training, we knew that once we were back in India, we would set up a business together.” On average the fast-food chain serves more than 80,000 customers every day. The business clocked a turnover of Rs 39 crore in FY20.

Jumboking

Dheeraj Gupta, Founder and Managing Director of Jumbo King, was inspired by John F Love’s McDonald’s: Behind the Arches, when he laid the foundation of his QSR chain with an outlet outside Malad railway station in Mumbai in August 2001.

Over the next few years, he took Jumboking to new heights. However, things went downhill in the next couple of years.

Dheeraj had raised Rs 6.5 crore venture capital from undisclosed sources in 2010, and was soon struggling with unit economics and overhead costs like rents and salaries.

“To win the QSR business in India, you need to own and understand the consumer. Foreign chains have the knowledge and understand what customers choose; that’s what Indian brands must solve at scale…we are on that journey,” Dheeraj says. The founder then took a bold bet, completely realigning the business model from company-owned stores to a franchise model. Jumboking, which was started as a vada pav brand grew to become a prominent burger brand. Today, Dheeraj and his 15-member team handle 114 franchise stores in two cities, Mumbai and Pune. They have bigger plans: 1,000 stores in the next five to seven years.