A Rs 52 lakh corporate job to a momo business? This journey is the story of a Gurugram entrepreneur whose company earned Rs 5 crore in less than three years. Saket Saurabh, 33, is the co-founder and CEO of The Momos Mafia, launched in 2023.
An NIFT Delhi alumnus, Saurabh earlier worked as a product manager after his startup Wowflux was acquired by FlixStock. The company was paying him Rs 52 lakh per year. Eventually, he decided to pursue food business after quitting his job in September 2023.
Also Read: Qantas To Outsource 850 Corporate Jobs To Accenture In India
Also Read | Layoffs Are Rising In Tech, But These Skills Are Helping People Unlock Better Pay
His journey into the food industry began at Bamboo Cafe in Gurugram while he was still employed. He started his food journey by helping his sister and brother-in-law run the cafe. Despite serving everything from parathas to biryani, momos became the cafe's best-selling item. This gave him the idea to build a business around them.
“It was a generic cafe. We were selling everything. As an experiment, we opened a small canopy selling only momos right outside the cafe,” Saurabh told HT.com in an interview.
The team then placed a cart at Gurgaon's Infotech location. “That cart did great business. We were doing Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 in sales every day,” he said.
The strong response from office-goers led to the idea of expansion. “We met many office workers at that stall who wanted to open their own momo carts. That's how the franchising business started,” Saurabh said.
The Momos Mafia was officially registered in January 2024 with five partners: Saurabh, Ekta Kumari, Gautam, Surya Prakash and Shubham Thakur. The business now runs around 40 carts, 20 small outlets and two quick-service restaurants.
Initially, the business operated in an early cart-led model, but faced operational hurdles including weather disruptions and staffing issues. Subsequently, they moved to a hybrid mode, opening small shops with carts outside them. “We called it the CSR model: which stands for Cart Service Restaurant,” he explained.
Also Read: The Liver Doc Doubles Down On Deepinder Goyal Over Temple Device: 'No More Scientific Updates'
According to Business Today, the business earned Rs 16 lakh in the first three months of 2023-24. Revenue rose to Rs 2.2 crore the following year. It has already recorded another Rs 2.2 crore this year, with a target of Rs 3 crore by year-end. This takes its total earnings past Rs 5 crore in just two-and-a-half years.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
