The infamous kick and much-needed break catalyst – sutta a.k.a cigarette is prevalent today amongst most office-goers. It is their respite from stressful office meetings, their calming anecdote before important presentations, and sometimes, just an excuse to catch up with colleagues. When taken with cutting chai, the duo makes a perfect combination. Chai and sutta are quintessential elements to take a break from hectic work. Although prevalent for decades, Anubhav Dubey had a clever mind to make a successful business from Chai and Sutta Bar. We have heard of bars selling alcohol, but a bar selling chai and sutta! Well, the concept just had to do well.. Kudos to the brain behind this! Let us get up close and personal with Anubhav Dubey.
Early Life and Education
Born in a middle-class family in Rewa, Anubhav completed his schooling at a local school, Maharishi Vidya Mandir until class eight. Their family had to face many financial hardships when he was a child and sometimes, he had to wear torn shoes to school as they could not afford new ones. His family’s problems were strongly etched in his mind. He recalled in an interview how he owned only one set of white uniforms to school which his mother used to wash every day. He also revealed that he used to write only with pencils in his school notebooks and his mother used to erase all the pages at the end of the school year to reuse the books.
As a child, they used to visit their maternal grandparent’s house in Chilpa ( a small village around 215 km from Rewa) and his father used to borrow his friend’s car to travel there. On the way, his father used to take random passengers on the way and drop them off en route to Chilpa. He used to charge them for the fare and used the same money for fuel. These were Anubhav’s initial lessons in financial planning.
By the time Anubhav had completed class eight, his father’s financial condition improved and his father admitted him to Columbia Convent school in Indore and even managed the hostel fees. But his brother stayed back with the family as they could only afford one child’s education.
He gradually adapted to the big city culture and made a few friends in school. His best friend was Anand Nayak from class 11. Although both were average students, they were street-smart and would come up with different ways to make money. They used to trade in phones and motorbikes to make some extra cash.
In 2014, he earned a degree in commerce from Renaissance College of Commerce and Management in Indore. In order to cover some of their personal expenses while in college, they continued to trade in used phones on the side.
First Real Business Plan
Anubhav moved to Delhi to study for the Civil Services exam and enrolled at the Vajiram and Ravi coaching institute in Karol Bagh to realize his father’s dreams. But one day, he got a call from his friend Anand who asked him to start a new business together.
With just a small investment of 3 lakhs which Anand’s father had given him, the duo thought about real estate business initially but later finalized on setting a tea shop. Anubhav had not informed his father about his venture. Only his mom knew and she used to support him secretly for the rent.
Anubhav and Anand settled on a corner location at Bhanwar Kuwa Street directly across from a girls’ hostel after much introspection.
They selected a perfect place under a huge tree for a rent of Rs. 18,000 and managed all the labor costs by doing the majority of the work themselves. They managed to hire an employee Manoj from a nearby dental clinic and agreed to pay him only once the business picked up.
They even painted the digital name board themselves and on their inaugural day, they offered free tea to all the passers-by.
The Turning Point
Slowly, their business started picking up. They went around the town telling people about their ‘Chai and Sutta Bar’. Soon, they replaced paper cups with kulhads. They started serving seven different chai flavors including Chocolate Tea, which was much loved by youngsters.
Within three months, they were successful in selling their first franchise. It was then that his father came to know about this, but his reaction was neutral.
When Anubhav was invited for a TED talk, he took his father along, and after his session, his father hugged him tight and displayed his pride and affection for him. Anubhav recalls that this was the first time his father ever hugged him.
Today, he feels that although the pandemic hit the F&B business really hard, it will definitely bounce back. Despite the pandemic, none of his outlets ever faced problems, and managed decent business throughout. From just 3lakhs investment, Anubhav Dubey and Anand Nayak have made a 100crore turnover business and are sailing strong. They sell one franchise for 6 lakhs today.
Theirs is a story of how two people followed their passion to make big things possible in life. Although entrepreneurship was never in his blood, he learned from a very young age, the value of money, taught to him by his dad. Today, Chai and Sutta bar outlets are growing in every corner of India and manage to attract a whopping young crowd day in and day out.
