Eve of Navratri Festival Today’s Entrepreneur Series presents a highly dynamic and sought-after entrepreneur from Ahmedabad who has always believed in women’s empowerment and is known for her amazing achievements in the field of food industry. increase. Yes, we are talking about her Jeni Chitral Desai. She shares her journey as an entrepreneur with her team on her Hello Mumbainews.com.
Startup name: Bojan
Founder : Jeni Chitral Desai and Hiren Prajapati
Celebrity: Food Entrepreneur
Startup headquarters: Ahmedabad
Some people have traditionally never really touched on pursuing food entrepreneurship as a career.
However, some people who are passionate about food entrepreneurship have used their culinary and pioneering skills to dominate and make considerable strides in the restaurant space.
One such food entrepreneur is Ahmedabad-based Jeni Chitral Desai.
Hello Mumbai News gave us the opportunity to catch up with this passionate food entrepreneur and share his entrepreneurial success journey for an interview. Excerpt from the interview.
Aleem Sheikh: Hi Jenni, Hello Welcome to Mumbai News. I’m glad I caught up. Please introduce yourself for the audience.
Jenni Desai: Hello Mumbai News.
My name is Jeni Chitral Desai. He is an Ahmedabad-based food entrepreneur and co-founder of food delivery service ‘Bhojan’. Thanks to her quality food and prompt service, she was able to serve over 700 customers a day.
After graduating from Commerce, I got a job at Reliance Group and HDFC Bank. Apart from this job, I also run an events company and my startup is in his 3rd year. Nevertheless, I was fortunate enough to be enshrined with trust and respect in Ahmedabad.
I ventured into this food startup with my friend Hiren Prajapati, who has a strong professional background.
aleem sheikh : Jenni, what kind of clients or customers patronize your store?
Jenni Chitral Desai: Our clients vary, but most are senior citizens, with children based overseas and living alone. Speaking of our clients, we have corporate clients and we also accept orders for wedding receptions, birthday parties, corporate events, etc. We also offer home delivery service. Touch wood serves over 700 people who enjoy mouth-watering cuisine.Apart from catering, we offer breakfast, lunch and dinner
aleem sheikh : What challenges or difficulties did you encounter in the first stages and who did you get them from?
Jenni Chitral Desai: Let’s be frank and honest at the beginning, all entrepreneurs face challenges in the early stages. However, my challenge in this food industry was completely raw to me, so I spent a lot of time determining the actual food requirements and people’s tastes at a low cost.Me and my partner Hiran tasted about 25+ dishes from different locations and later came to a conclusion. We launched our startup during the pandemic and lockdown. So marketing and building brand awareness was a big challenge, but we managed it.
My previous corporate contacts and network have been very helpful in building our brand. I refer to my husband. I had his moral support. This meant a lot to me. He was very generous and deposited money into my account every month as my salary, which I never used. I ventured out of my savings into this food business in his son’s name. My father-in-law and mother-in-law also helped me cook meals at home. During the lockdown, I used my kitchen at home to cook and started delivering food from home. We fed 150 people three times a day and fed hospitals.
Aleem Sheikh: Jenni, please shed some light on your food and service.
Jenni Chitral Desai: Well, we serve pure vegetable food and fresh food is our priority.We offer a variety of menus every day including Rajasthani, Katiyawadi and Punjabi food. The menu does not repeat. There is a cloud-his kitchen staffed by 15 people, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner each month.
aleem sheikh : How did this idea come to you when you started Bhojan, and who inspired you?
Jenni Chitral Desai: Very interesting question. Listen, when the Covid pandemic hit globally, it had such a huge impact on all industries that our event industry. One fine day in my local area, an aunt who was a terminal breast cancer victim called me for help. Due to this lockdown, tiffin services were suspended, so she was staying alone with her husband. No one can provide daily tiffin service. After seeing their situation I couldn’t stop myself and started sending tiffins from home.After 4 months I noticed that there are so many cases like this in Ahmedabad I have spoken and discussed with my family Hiren, my friend, shouldn’t we start this type of food delivery service for seniors at extra affordable prices during this pandemic? After this, our startup journey began.
aleem sheikh : Please elaborate on your future plans to expand your startup.
Jenni Chitral Desai: good question. We plan to open our own branches across India in big cities such as Mumbai, Surat, Jaipur, Indore and other parts of India.
We don’t believe in franchise patterns, but we create our own set-up in every city.
Aleem Sheikh: What is the inspirational message you want to convey to entrepreneurs?
Jenni Chitral Desai: Yes, definitely, everyone should be an entrepreneur. To be successful, you need perseverance. Don’t get upset over failure because every area of business has its ups and downs. The startup journey takes a long time. You must be very focused and sincere in your vision, without fear of failure.
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