While getting a job of Software Engineer at Infosys is a dream for many, here is the story of a guy who quit this dream job to follow his dreams. It is the journey of an Indore based common man who has achieved enormous accolades because of his strong desire and mission to introduce hygiene foods. The journey of Chatar Patar started because of one bad experience Prashant Kulkarni had with roadside Panipuri, which incurred him to research about Panipuri offerings in India and started his own Panipuri brand- Chatar Patar.
How it was all started
Following a successful career as Software Engineer with Infosys, Mr.Prashant Kulkarni and Mrs.Vinaya Kulkarni was happy with the corporate job, a balance Lifestyle and no headache. But who knows when the desire of common man brings something out of the box. The couple love street foods especially Panipuri, they often visit local vendors to enjoy savoury snacks like Chaat, bhel, etc. One day when Prashant felt something awkward after consuming Panipuri he was very disturbed, says Vinaya Kulkarni. It is the time when the couple started to think about alternatives to improve quality of street foods.
Beginning of Entrepreneurial Journey
After some time, the couple decided for food service startup. Like an average Middle-class employee, it was testing phase for Mr. Prashant Kulkarni to left the job and became an entrepreneur. Initially, he had around 30000 INR cash with him. It seems pocket didn’t favour the couple’s dream of startup at that time.
The Challenging Period
One day Mr.Prashant thought to present the idea of starting a Panipuri business in front of family members. No one was there to support him; moreover, Prashant being an MBA and Vinaya, an M.Tech, the decision of starting Panipuri business was out-of-the-way. As per family members such type of business won’t work. Yes, it was difficult with few bucks in your hand without any financial support.
The Research Part
Panipuri is most popular street foods around the nation, but local vendors don’t follow standard hygiene practices. Additionally, they only offer similar flavours.
After tremendous research, the couple managed to develop 112 flavours of Panipuri, and various other forms of chaats, bhel, etc. Some of them includes Maggi Gapagap: a combination of various tastes with the regular Maggi, Masala Fries: Indian street version of French fries, Chaatizza: Chaat+Pizza, Idli fries, idli chaat, and khakhra chat.
Chatar Part On the Streets of Indore
With little cash in hand, Prashant Kulkarni and Vinaya Kulkarni started “The ChatarPatar” on streets of Indore and the first-day collection was around 200 (according to Prashant). It was unique; it was delicious and more importantly hygienic. The dream of common man is now shaping into reality, after few weeks, a customer from Gujarat like the taste and concept of Chatar Patar.
The success period of Chatar Patar
The first store of Chatar Patar was successfully launched in Rajkot, Gujarat, since then there was no looking back. Mr Prashant Kulkarni, aged 30 has gained words of appreciation from customers and investors all around the country. At present, there are over 100+ outlets of Chatar Patar running in major cities and the brand is planning to penetrate international markets as well.
Author’s Point of View:
The journey of common man to entrepreneur was quite challenging but a source of inspiration for many individuals who want to become their own boss. Prashant could easily ignore that one bad experience of roadside Pani Puri and can pursue his engineering job at Infosys, but he wanted to solve that problem and thus took a step towards entrepreneurship. It’s all about showing some courage towards your dreams, that later determine your destiny.
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