The B-school of vada pav

Seven entrepreneurship lessons from a man who made a fortune off a modest street snack, and survived competition to tell his story in a book

Pic/Sneha Kharabe; Illustration/Uday Mohite

On A rainy evening in 1996, while in his chauffeur-driven car, investment banker Venkatesh Iyer came across a moving scene on P D'Mello Road in Wadala, one that changed his life. A hungry child was fighting with a dog for a piece of chapati. "For the next few days, the scene replayed in my head. I realised that if I were to start a business, it should be something that creates education, employment and entrepreneurship for those at the bottom of the pyramid," says the 50-year-old, who quit his 15-year practice in corporate finance and entered the F&B scene by launching Goli Vada Pav in Kalyan in 2003.

Venkatesh Iyer

Today, the chain has over 300 stores in 100 Indian cities. With this, Iyer changed the way India sees the street find, whipped up by automated machines and served by uniformed staffers, employing local youth from franchise towns. In the recently published book, My Journey With Vadapav (Bestsellers 18), Iyer delves into his experiences — from the concept creation to the business model and marketing jugaad. Here, he shares entrepreneurship lessons for young mid-day readers.

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