We have seen some of the Indian entrepreneurs like Ritesh Agarwal (OYO Rooms), Kunal Shah (Freecharge – NMIMS drop out), Abhishek Gupta (Frankly.me – IIT Delhi drop out), and a few others who dropped out from their college and turned out to be highly successful entrepreneurs in the startup ecosystem. One thing that’s common in all of them is – “taking risks despite being aware of the outcome”.
We have a similar story today.
Meet Praful Billore, founder of MBA Chaiwala (Mr. Billore A’bad Chai Wala). Technically, he is not a college dropout but his story resonates with the fact that he took that risk to become an entrepreneur.
Speaking to Life Beyond Numbers, Praful has shared his inspiring story of how he turned his life post-failing to pursue an MBA in top B-School to running the Chai business of his own in the heart of Ahmedabad.
One Big Idea: Inspired by McDonald’s
Born in Madhya Pradesh, Indore, Dhar, Praful comes from a decent family and has always been a curious student with the mindset of a businessman. His father is a businessman too, while his brother works in real estate, and his mother is a homemaker. Praful has pursued commerce after his 10th class, followed by graduation in B.Com.
Whilst his B.Com days, Praful has this urge and was very studious back then to get into one of the top B-schools in India. Similar to most of the students who plan to either go abroad to pursue an M.S or study an MBA, majorly in India, because that’s what the need of the hour in today’s world – Praful did the same. From his graduation days, he started preparing for CAT and GMAT and he was very determined to achieve his goal.
Unfortunately, even after spending two toilsome years of preparation, Praful couldn’t make it through. A fiasco like this has hit him very hard, which left him depressed for a certain period thinking “what should be the next step?”. Later, Praful dropped the idea of an MBA and started working in McDonald’s for the sake of fun.
And that’s when the idea of becoming an entrepreneur struck Praful’s mind. While self-brainstorming what product to sell, chai was the first thing that came into his mind. Because chai was the only survival for Praful during his CAT preparations back then.
“Being an Indian, no one can deny the significance of Chai in everyday’s life. That’s how I thought of Chai and started the business”, added Praful.
MBA Chaiwala & Entrepreneurship
Becoming an entrepreneur is not an easy task. Praful was frustrated back then post his failure to not able to crack CAT/GMAT. Since he was not able to do an MBA, he gave a thought to be an entrepreneur. And that’s how chai came into the picture. Being depressed about not being able to fulfill his B-school dream, Praful started traveling to various cities across India and finally ended up in Ahmedabad. And that’s when everything changed for Praful.
His career took a U-turn and Ahmedabad gave him what he deserved to run the Chaiwala show. When asked about why he chose Ahmedabad to run his business, he quoted, “Ahmedabad was an accidental visit. I went to other cities as well and ended up here. I loved the place, the food, culture, and the people here”.
Initially, he started with Rs. 8000, which again he got from his father by lying about pursuing an international course.
Entrepreneurship is a tough road to traverse, especially soon after you graduate. And it was nothing different for Praful too. We asked him about the same. He swiftly gave a reply – “To be an entrepreneur, you have to be very abnormal and extraordinary in your efforts and time management. Plus, the hard work you need to put in. A 9 to 5 job is not bad if you are happy with what you are doing, your earnings, and the lifestyle you live – that’s enough.”
He further added, “Inspiration has nothing to do with it. Well, everybody cannot be an entrepreneur. I wanted to do something for society. I wanted to give something in return. And I always wanted to do something on my own. I wanted to use my whole potential and what range and scale of parameters I can achieve where I can go for. To put it in a statement, I never wanted to be a normal guy.”
COVID-19, Challenges, Selling Strategy
Inevitably, when you are an entrepreneur who’s running a one man’s show, there would be hassles and stumbling blocks in your way. The recent shambles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is one big challenge for the downfall of several businesses worldwide, especially for the newcomers in the startup zone. By the same token, Praful has faced a few difficulties with his Chai business too.
One of which is, certain plans of expanding through franchises have been put to hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking for which, he said, “We are doing good now and the pandemic has taught us that we should be prepared for bad days. Well, everyone is on the same page with the COVID-19 situation. So, I don’t think that it has much impacted, but somehow it has on the financial part.”
During the nascent stages of his entrepreneurship, he faced a slew of trolls for starting a chai business on the roadside. No surprise, when a graduate with good grades and great communication skills does something like this, the outcome would be no less than an abrupt withdrawal in the eyes of society.
“Well begun is half done” is what I believe. Apart from this, getting laughs and jokes on MBA Chaiwala’s name from friends, families, and near & dear ones was very difficult to digest. But I have overcome that fear and fearless now” he said.
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Moving forward, the problems didn’t end there for this young entrepreneur. In the early days of his Chai business, nobody showed up at the stall. So he used his courage and gifted skill set by going to the people all by himself and used to introduce himself by saying – “Hi, my name is Praful and I started my Chai Ka Business today only. Would you like to taste my tea?”. He further added, “If a customer doesn’t come to you, you have to go to them. And that’s how beginning days of business should be.”
Achievements, Looking Ahead
Amid tough days, there were happy moments for himself and his business as well. Praful has shared one anecdote which he considers as the first happy moment and self-achievement – giving free Chai to singles on valentine’s day.
Praful has already done 200+ events on entrepreneurship, women empowerment, LinkedIn program, Chai entrepreneurship program, Mehfil Kavita, and lots of sponsorship events at chai katela. But he claims that free chai for singles on Valentine’s day was the memorable one, which went viral internationally in 2018-19, respectively.
Currently, at MBA Chai Wala, they have a range from INR 15 to INR 50 and have almost 50+ types of chai. Down the line, they have plans of expanding their business across India and globally through a franchise model. “I do events, weddings, I’m a corporate speaker, angel investor. I’m doing a hell of a lot of things with chai. That’s what I do believe that till my last breath I’ll be selling chai” concludes Praful.