Failed MBA project succeeds in real life — The Tapri Way!

Imagine this scenario – two friends, both born in Udaipur, Rajasthan, meet in class 10^th, become thick pals and decide to pursue their B.Com from Udaipur, rounding it off with an MBA degree from Mumbai.

During their MBA days, as a part of their curriculum, they participate in a Business Plan competition, where they present the idea of a ‘Tea Stall’, and guess what?

The judges are not impressed, pick holes and summarily reject their plan. When the duo pass out and get their degrees, their routine jobs tear them apart, but in the day-to-day grind, and with the passage of time, the dream of one day running a unique ‘Tea House’ does not die down. It says alive and kicking in their hearts!

Life Has Other Plans

Two years pass. Both are now well-settled into their respective jobs. The money is good, and all basic needs are met with, but somewhere deep inside, there is a feeling of uneasy. Both feel the stirrings of the old dream – alive and kicking.

Eventually, they reconnect, and decide to take the very bold decision of quitting their cushy, conventional jobs to launch their dream boat. Thus is born ‘Tapri – The Tea House’ at Lal Kothi, Jaipur.

The Meaning of Tapri

Literally translated, the word Tapri means a “Tea Stall” – a very apt name for their kind of a business venture. Of course this was no ordinary tea-stall. It has some very unique elements to it. But we will come to that discussion later. Let’s first introduce you to the two protagonists of this story – Ankit Bohra and Sourabh Bapna, who are now the proud owners of not one, but three Tapri outlets in Jaipur.

How It Started

For the first Tapri outlet, since the seed capital had to come from their personal savings, the duo wisely decided to keep their capital input low. But what was they worked very hard to keep high was the experience and quality of the tea and other eatables brewed and served at their outlets.

The Settings and The Works

For starters, sticking to their plan of going with a low-cost model, the duo ditched the idea of fancy bone china and metal-ware in favour of glass tumblers and brass kettles, exactly the way tea is served at roadside dhabas, across the country. The eatables at Tapri are served in ‘drona’ (eco-friendly bowls) and paper plates, that are easy to dispose of and require no cleaning or washing, thereby saving on labour cost and eliminating the unnecessary use of water.

Obviously, they serve different variants of tea as their primary product and then innovated with a few newer flavours on the basis of customer feedback, while continuing with, or dropping variants that didn’t cut much ice with their discerning customers.

Besides, the other items on the menu is also highly innovative, and seeks to revive guests’ interest in traditional Rajasthani cuisine, while evoking nostalgic memories of forgotten flavours, presented in a refreshing, contemporary, fusion fashion. Each dish is tried and tested, ingredients changed or mixed, to arrive at the perfect formula that tickles guests’ taste buds.

Raising Like a Baby

“It’s easy to give birth, but to raise a baby is always a tough challenge,” they quip.

However soon enough, with its purposefully-designed worn down look, Tapri has succeeded in creating a rustic ambience while maintaining its strong emphasis on quality and efficiency. Since the duo are extra particular about maintaining optimum hygiene in the kitchen and outside it too, they insist on the staff following certain laid-down Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the kitchen and in their customer-facing operations too.

In addition, the staff is given full liberty to take on-the-spot decisions while diffusing any crisis situation, and being ever ready to accommodate guests’ incessant demands.

Rolled-Up Sleeves

Instead of hiring managerial staff to oversee operations, the duo rolled up their sleeves and shared the responsibilities. “The effort involved at the back-end is always more. But since we couldn’t afford salaries of supervisors at that stage, we decided to roll up our sleeves and do the job ourselves,” they recall.

In the process, the customer response has been so huge, that they managed to break-even in just six-to-seven months. They finally knew they had a winner at hand. They were most delighted to see serpentine queues outside their first store, throughout the day, which was a signal to launch the second, followed by a third store on Ashram Marg.

“The decision of opening Tapri Central after Tapri Pratham was a situational decision rather than a strategic one,” they recall.

A lot of buzz about the brand is created through social media.In their own words “Customers come with pre-conceived ideas about this place. Yet rarely, if ever their perception does not match the reality, and we are careful to weave in that perception also into our feedback and learn from it.” Below

Photos from each of the existing cafes in Jaipur.

What Next?

Next on the agenda?  Streamline their operations further and then expand in order to take Tapri brand outside of Rajasthan. But before that, they feel the need to put their house in order. “I believe we are still evolving and there is room for improvement before we scale it up further.

Asked what cafes they liked the most, they reply in unison, “Zolocrust (Jaipur) for its food quality and back-end processes and Taj Mahal Tea House (Mumbai) for the ambience and food.”