They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade out of it. When Sujay Sohani lost his job in 2009 after the recession in London, he approached Subodh Joshi, his classmate at Bandra's Rizvi College in 1999. Together, they made vada pavs and turned their life around, reports Bengali daily Ananda Bazar Patrika.
A year after the economic recession, the two friends kickstarted a vada-pav stall in 2010. Seven years later, they have earned an annual turnover of 5,00,000 pounds (₹ 4.39 crore, approx) by selling the perfect quick-fix snack to Londoners.
Sohani was a food and beverage manager at a five-star hotel in London. When he lost his job, a heartbroken Sohani called his friend back in Mumbai and told him that he was so broke that he didn't even have the money to buy a vada-pav.
They didn't expect that conversation would eventually turn into an idea of a vada pao chain.
When they started off, a Polish ice-cream cafe hesitatingly allowed them to set up their new business in return for a monthly rent of ₹35,000. The duo had a hard time arranging for that money every month.
They began selling their vada pav for 1 pound (₹80) and Dabeli for 1.50 pounds (₹131). Now, their sole restaurant has turned into a chain, they take orders for weddings and parties and have added over 60 varieties of Indian street food dishes to their menu.
What an inspiration!
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