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Credit:Homegrown You don’t have a silver spoon in your mouth. You have a golden spoon in your palms Use it and feed yourself”― Israelmore Ayivor |
Meet forty-three-year-old Muniswamy Daniel, who had leased his house for Rs I lakh to start his first tea stall,
clocked a revenue of Rs 35 lakh last year. Not much, if you look at the
dollar-funded startups who are using technology to disrupt the Rs 33,000 crore
tea market in India. A market that is growing at a pace of 15 percent annually.
But remarkable, nonetheless.
As a taxi driver for 15 years, he was just earning 6000 rupees per month. It
was very difficult for him to maintain with this money. So by taking his brother’s
advised, he opened up a tea shop and 9-years
later, his shop 'Sharon Tea Stall' has become the talk of the town as he is
credited with making over 100 varieties which in turn has increased his income
by many folds.
He has not only cleared
his mounting debts but has opened another branch Sharon Tea stall.
Today, his tea stall,
Sharon Tea has a dedicated clientele, and in the past six months has expanded
to three branches in Bengaluru. He sells upwards of 1,000 cups in a day at his
first branch that he set up at the corner of Thippasandra Road in Indiranagar.
The second store that started a couple of months ago near BDA Indiranagar sells
over 500 cups daily, and the newly-launched branch at the ITC factory has
started to record 200 cups in a day.
The price of the each cup
has increased from Rs 2.50 to Rs 10.
In India where tea perhaps
the most powerful elixir that runs the country ,it is no surprise that the tea
retail market is largely unorganized, with more than 90% consumption through
small vendors like Daniel’s Sharon Tea. You must be thinking its pretty normal to
have 100 different flavors of tea and consistently topped in Zomato rating for
a Tea shop. But the dream to do something different and high thinking is the specialty
of Daniel. He refuses to be content with viewing his business merely as a means
of survival. Despite the many odds, including the fact that he is not even
high-school pass, Daniel wants to expand his business to other states as well.
He is always opens up to take feedback from customer. 100
varieties of Tea flavor is the outcome of this feedback.
“I used to prepare normal
tea and coffee like others. Once a diabetes person came to me and asked whether
I can prepare sugar free tea for him. From then on I started preparing sugar tree.
Slowly, people in my locality learnt that I prepare sugar free tea and the
number of customers started increasing as the number swelled I started to
experiment with more varieties. “He said.
Slowly, the demand for tea
increased and the flavors of tea increased in the menu. Each day ,his stall has
a “special tea of the day”.
Depending on the flavor, a
cup of tea is priced between Rs 10 to Rs 30.
Daily Time table:
Daniel wakes up at four
every morning. He opens the Thippasandra stall at 5.30 am and hangs around till
7.30 am to help kick start the day. He then goes to the second outlet, which
his children open at 6.30 am. He is there to sort out any hitches so that they
have a smooth day. During his time at the stalls, he takes stock of all the
concoctions needed for the special teas, and if needed mixes the herbs and masalas
to replenish the stocks.
“The third stall opens a
little late and I go there last. During the day, I am mostly on the road for
purchases though I go home for a short nap, following which I begin my evening
rounds of all the stalls again,” he shares, adding that his day ends at one in
the morning. Daniel has trained chai masters in all his outlets. Though his
brother and children are now adept at making tea that is consistent, he has
also trained a few staff.
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