A small town boy, Anubhav Dubey, who was preparing for IAS, quit the UPSC dream to build a multi-crore business. And today, his life has become an inspiring story for all.
Anubhav came to Delhi from a small town of Madya Pradesh, dreaming of cracking the UPSC and becoming an IAS officer but ended up with yet another success story linked to Chai (tea).
Dubey’s parents wanted him to become an IAS officer. Therefore, after completing his studies he came to Delhi to study for the UPSC exams. He stayed there until one day he got a call from his future co-founder Anand Nayak. Both of them were good friends since school days and when Anand proposed to open a business together, Anubhav opted for it.
They started on an extremely low budget, soon to realise that they had no money. Adjacent to a hostel in Indore they established their first outlet with borrowed items from friends and second-hand furniture. With no money to print a banner, they picked up a worthless piece of wood and wrote the name of the brand “Chai Sutta Bar” by hand.
In the early days of the business, the two friends had to go through a lot of struggles and criticism. Anubhav was mocked for leaving his IAS dream to sell tea. Gradually the name became popular and the shop started overflowing with customers. Soon after that local news picked up their success story which only brought them support and confidence from friends and family.
Today the brand has 165 outlets and around 18 lakh customers across the country. Anubhav and Anand started their business with a modest capital of Rs 3 lakh, but currently hold a turnover of more than Rs 100 crore. This growth in Chai Sutta Bar provides jobs to more than 100 people, currently working in his team. It also creates business opportunities for 250 potter families who make earthen cups or kulhads for their outlets.
The success story of Anubhav and Anand proves that a new business can be started without a lot of investment. It also proves that consistency and dedication are more important after one shows courage to take the risk.