Alpha Ideas

I love reading books written by Indian entrepreneurs as they bring to life the challenges and difficulties of operating a business in India.

The book My Journey With Vada Pav written by Venkatesh Iyer is the story of Goli Vada Pav-a chain of 350 Vada Pav stores across 90 Cities in 21 States.

The book is written in a very light and breezy style and narrates in a humorous way the challenges and pitfalls the author faced while building up his business.

There are many interesting anecdotes of how Venkatesh built his brand, built his logistic and manufacturing partners,his franchise network and so on.

One anecdote that I found very amusing was this:

A franchise owner calls up the Central Kitchen to complain that the Vada has a small stone in it.

The phone is picked up a very junior kitchen staff who after listening to the tirade replies: “Panch rupay ke vada mein patthar nahin to kya heera milega !”

The book also highlights how political risk can destroy a business in India-the business was almost killed owing to political douchebags.

Feeling hungry after reading this book…off to get myself a Vada Pav !