Dear friends, i have a shop in sector b-17 (10 x 22 ft) in b-block main markaz. I am planing to start a small food related business in 3 months time from now. Purpose of this is to have a second source of income (small in the beginning) other than job. I request respected forum members for their suggestions. My plan is to initially start at a small scale (tandoor, 2-3 food dishes & tea) and see how it goes based on feedback response of the area.
I request not to make this into a comparison / fight between b-17 vs some other society vs dust vs dealer mafia etc etc :-) thank you
Good luck Haseeb sb...
I hope u hv the ground information...
At small scale, I think it will be successful if you own the shop by yourself, as u will not be worried about the rent.
Regards
It is a good idea. You can get in there before others. B Block is reasonably well populated and it will give people something to eat within the neighbourhood.
But what income level customers are you targeting? Will it be for families or a worker's cafe type truck hotal? Will you be allowed to have outside seating arrangement?
Please do a full feasibility first. And most importantly, please make sure that you have more than one good cook. Otherwise you may find yourself being blackmailed.
Dear Khan sb,
Thank you for your response. I visited B-17 during the last AGM in December. What i saw was mostly empty B-block markaz. Some populated shops in the commercial area near Gate-1 and few in A-block (from Gate-2). I am still not sure how much is this a good idea to start at this stage as the target customers are maybe 100 houses/families, property dealers and labour, rest Allah Knows best.
Dear Pardesi Bahi, i agree with your suggestions. My idea is what you have mentioned in your post , i.e to start at a small scale (Cafe type, truck hotel type with Kark chai :-), mostly take away with sitting for 8 people at most, small investment to begin with), start with only 2-3 dishes (clean, healthy and delicious) which everyone likes and all can afford from labor to rich.
Then depending upon the response increase/modify the menu etc etc
Out here in Qatar, where i live, there is a brand called 'Chapaati wa Karak'. It serves only Puratha and mixed Tea. It is a hit in Doha and London.
You can call your joint, 'Chaye Puratha' :)
BOL
looks to be decent idea. You can expand once population increases.Building material shop can also be a good idea citing construction activity, thee will be always need of construction material
Make sure there are no other chappar hotels around to give competition esp. Tandoors. Target customers will be labor workers at most unless you go for some differentiation like giving expensive quality food items with some desi or pendu setup otherwise families within B-17 are least likely to come.
And these type of setups need time and consideration. If you are going to rely on others to do most of the work then chances are bleak in terms of success. Rather go for something that does not need specialist skills and something which you can do and manage and where competition is almost none because the population in B-17 is not much to target.
Dear Arshad Sb, Is B-17 area ready for expensive quality food restaurant. I mean it would be nice to have one but i don't think there is enough population yet to sustain profitability for such a setup (in my opinion).
Easiest thing to do is open fruit chart, dai balha & Chai. Not much expertise required. I would welcome other opinions also.