Entrepreneur Name : Karan Tanna

Business Name:  Broaster Chicken

The franchise business model is popular across the world and it has a proven success record, both in helping small businesses get started as Franchisee’s and in helping expand brands quickly for Franchise owners. The model has great advantages in reducing the startup risk for entrepreneurs by associating with a known brand and in helping a brand expand quickly with less investment for the franchise owner.

Today we talk to an entrepreneur who has taken this route by starting a company calledYellow Tie Hospitality and his latest brand to hit the streets – the original American brand – Broaster Chicken.

Working in the hospitality sector and using the Franchise model has propelled Karan Tannato the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2017.

An automobile engineer from Sardar Patel University in Anand, Gujarat, Karana has worked with General Motors India at its Halol plant in Gujarat, and McKinsey & Company in Mumbai and Delhi. Karan started his own multi-brand automobile service and repair chain, Car Pluss, in Ahmedabad, in 2012.

Despite few jobs and private ventures, it was the restaurant business that always fascinated Karan, his penchant towards food can be attributed to childhood memories of his parents running a restaurant for in the family’s hometown of Veraval in Gujarat. After 4 years of work experience with multinational companies, Karan chose to follow his dream and decided to embark into the Food & Beverages sector.

His love for food led him to open a Bistro in Ahmedabad with a seating capacity of 150 people. Subsequently, he opened a bakery & commissary called Flourbox from where he supplied to various establishments like airports, 5 start hospitals & other institutions.

In mid-2014, Karan spotted an opportunity in a growing but unorganized local brand called Kutchi King. He developed a strategic understanding with its promoters and decided to turn around its business model and make it more scalable. Doing so, he assured consistency and standardization of the company and developed comprehensive standard operating processes for the outlets. Gradually, Karan became instrumental in expanding the brand to Maharashtra & Rajasthan and took a successful exit after taking the brand to over 200 outlets.

With humble experience and undying passion for this business, Karan founded Yellow Tie Hospitality Management LLP in January 2016 and hoped to harness his experience and understanding of Indian F&B franchise market & planned to upgrade this industry’s prominence manifold. He firmly believes that F & B franchising in India is in its nascent stage since India is yet to have a single sustainable local brand he aims to change that scenario.

It’s a pleasure to feature such a successful entrepreneur, welcome to EO India #startupstories Karan…

1) How did you get your idea for this business?

When I started this business, I owned the franchise of a brand called ‘Goodies’. The products of Goodies were outstanding and I was wondering why can’t it grow across India. Later, I became a part of a brand, Kutchi King, and we grew it up to 200 plus stores, but later realized that we have made some fundamental mistakes which would pose challenges of scalability. From both of these experiences, I concluded that there are good products in the market but there is a lack of capability and values for franchising business. There is no company in India that has professional F & B franchise management capability which can help a good product scale up and become an international brand. Realizing this problem and was also an opportunity, I ventured into this business.

2) Why is “now” a good time for this idea to exist?

The restaurant industry is booming as new and innovative products have started to hit the market. A lot of investors want to open a restaurant franchise but are in dread of a professionally managed brand. People these days eat out more than they used to in the past. What can be a better time for a company like us that bridges the gap between scaling a good product and supporting the franchise with efficient operations?

3) What was the reaction from your family when you first decided to become an entrepreneur?

Well, they always knew this was coming. Coming from a Gujarati family, a decision to do business is not a surprise but a normal course of action. My family has always been encouraging and supporting, especially during bad times. I am very lucky to have this side sorted for me.

4) What was your biggest mistake in business and what did you learn from it?

My biggest mistake was getting carried away and doing many things at a time. I learnt that things take their time and it is best to focus on a single capability and go deeper into it to gain market expertise, and success will follow. I do not get into a lot of projects now but instead focus on building on value from what I have already incubated.

5) What is your biggest obstacle in the next 12 months and how will you overcome it?

My biggest obstacle will be to build up a solid team. Because franchising is very naive in India and it is hard to get good people for franchise management. Next year will be the year of producing and grooming good functional leaders who understand the values of franchise. We believe in a lot of hand-holding, two-way feedback and we also allow leaders to make mistakes so they can learn from them. Without a good team, we can not accelerate towards our vision of coming up with 1000 stores.

6) What habits contribute to your success?

Focus, risk taking ability, quick decision making and of course hard work.

7) If you had the opportunity to start this business again what would you do differently?

I would have started it 5 years earlier ?

8) What is your favourite inspirational quote?

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

9) Where do you find inspiration?

I find my inspiration by reflecting back on how we have progressed, how our team members have grown and franchises are getting good returns. We take a step back and analyze incremental progress periodically and that gives us inspiration to move ahead strongly and quickly.

10) What is your favourite book?

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari It is very helpful to control your mind which suits the business practices.

11) What advice would you give to someone starting out?

Do what gives you a kick.Go deeper in what you love and gain excellence. Success is bound to follow. It is always very important to understand that everything comes at the right time, nothing before time.

A huge thank you to Karan for taking the time to connect with EO India and share his knowledge. Congratulations for being featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

His advice about not focusing on too many things at the one time is very important. As an entrepreneur your time and attention is limited. Spend it wisely. Outsource the things you cant do or that will take too much of your time.

Also, the point about building a good team is vital for any business. As Richard Bransonsays, “look after your staff and they will look after your customers”.

If you want to check out a Restaurant managed by Karan and his team then check out theBroaster Chicken Facebook Page to see if there is one opening near you

As usual don’t forget to check out the recommended reading below. It comes recommended for a reason!

Karan’s Recommended Book

EOIndia Book of the Week