Urban Kichadi promises a delectable experience that redefines the essence of Indian cuisine. Let us find out how Preet Kadia – Founder of Urban Khichdi. embarked on this tantalizing journey of flavors and innovation.
Preet Kadia – A ferocious listener, keen observer and smart mover, is what makes him a formidable entrepreneur. Trained at the Oberoi Centre for Learning & Development; he went on to work with international brands in hotel industry such as IHG & Mariott before moving on to start up his brand ‘Urban Khichdi’. His love for food is evident from his silhouette and his panache for fusion food from his cooking, which he does oh so often. He believes in minimalism as it leads to efficiency. Almost every day he would end up wearing a black t-shirt with blue denim, which is a staple in his wardrobe, this tradition is a petite instance of his time management. He precisely knows how to cater to the masses as well as the classes, and can preserve just the right balance by bringing about the best of both worlds. He has the memory like that of an elephant which makes a stunning permutation with his attention to detail. Reticent and introvert but wouldn’t stop articulating with delight if the tête-à-tête is regarding business, dogs, Sherlock, adventure or movies (horror). Affable with one and all, yet has a particularly small circle of confidants.
His philanthropy is not limited to human beings; he’d always carry a pack of biscuits, just in case he finds someone in need of it. Fancies a cold dark brew of coffee and sips his tea at room temperature. He secretly fantasizes of wandering off into the valley of Ladakh to count the stars and probably never return.
1. How did you enter the franchise business?
Franchise models help us be one step closer to our customers. Every new franchisee comes in with their set of social circle that ensures very potent “word of mouth” marketing. The number of people that can communicate directly to us and help us better of how we serve them increases.
2. Where and how did the idea of your concept come from?
During the time that I spent in hostel, I was surrounded with peers from all over the country. All of us had to work hard and at the end of the day we needed a wholesome meal that was quick and easy yet satiated our taste buds. We started with trying khichdis from various parts of the country and that’s where the idea of ‘Urban Khichdi’ edged into my head.
3. What inspired the brand name?
Khichdi is a dish that is synonymous to ‘food for the ill’, ‘boring’, etc. In order to break those norms, and make the dish sound appealing to customers, irrespective of their demographics, we decided to name our brand ‘Urban Khichdi’. Our humble attempt to urbanise the ‘boring’ Khichdi.
4. What is the story behind the brand’s logo?
Khichdi is a one-pot meal, and is essentially made in a cooker in every household. The cooker is just as synonymous to Khichdi as ghee, thus, the iconic whistling cooker in the logo. Again, simple, easy to remember and conveys just the right message.
5. What makes your brand different from your competitors?
At Urban Khichdi, we believe in feeding our customers what we ourselves would eat without any worries. The ingredients we use are top in quality and that helps us enhance the taste and deliver a wholesome meal. We ensure to use as much fresh products as we can. We also maintain the consistency of the taste as well as the quality of the food we serve at any and all of our outlets with impeccable service.
6. What are the essential qualities that you look for in a franchisee?
Entering franchise for fun is not recommended and rather we as a brand look for some qualities in all our franchise owners. Which somehow goes like this Business understanding, Being positively competitive, free from myopic vision and should have patience to let business grow gradually.
7. How long does it take, on average, for your franchisee to realize their investment?
A little tricky though that depends on various factors as well and the ever changing business conditions. We usually portray ROI within 18 to 24 months timeframe it may be lesser even if the unit is able to garner fair amount of business in a short span.
8. What was the major challenge you faced in your career and how did you overcome it?
The major challenge I faced in my career was the set back of Covid-19. Believing in my goal and focusing on reducing the costs to minimum and increasing the revenue helped the brand sail out of the storm.
8.1 What is your best achievement?
Khichdi is the most ancient delicacy of India and when we dared to launch Urban Khichdi, we were recognised by the Government of India’s Startup Initiative. Additionally, we raised our first round of funding during the most unprecedented times in the history – when the world was fighting against Covid-19. We were blessed to have achieved this when the world was almost at a standstill.
9. How does your business day start?
Scrolling through the guest feedback daily morning gets me started as this is how I know where we are headed to. Then I pick up all our unit sales report to get a hold of the spreading business roots .I usually keep exploring something new every day and that search starts early in the morning with me experimenting on my breakfast table.
10. What was your best moment throughout your franchise career?
Every time a dish is served at any of our outlets and is enjoyed by our customers is the best moment for me. The satisfaction I get when our dishes satiate the taste buds of thousands of people is matchless.
11. Where do you see your brand in the next 5 years?
During the course of our five year operations and surviving Covid-19 we always believe the show must go on. With this in mind we as a brand are confident of multiplying our units across over India and abroad. We wish to have outlets in multiple countries in the next 5 years.
12. Any tips you want to impart to our readers who want to be in the franchise industry?
As I would say don’t be a dreamer, be a doer if you ever want to be in this business. Taking up franchise of a brand does not guarantee one any fixed returns, rather it is distribution of work where the brand takes care of the technical aspect of the business and the franchisee takes care of the sales. Be passionate, keep generating ideas, talk to competitive people, innovate and keep changing at the right time, maintain cordial business relations with your guests. Be realistic, be accepting.
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