Last Sunday, I went to a food street with my wife and kids;
a 2 minute walk from my place.
While we were roaming around and deciding where to eat, I realized, there are now many food shops opened throughout the street.
Some big brands but mostly unknown ones; started by people many of them are — may be — trying to see how this business works.
And just like that I wished I should also open a mini-café here.
C'mon admit it. We all dream of having our own café.
Now hold on to that for a moment while I tell you the little backstory about the street.
Currently the lane is covered with many food shops selling all kinds of cuisines.
But it wasn't always like this.
25 years back when my father purchased the land in this locality, it looked like a forest with only few houses and empty plots. You could literally see people walking and waving from a distance of 500 meters.
Little to no traffic, some empty plots with big trees and cows enjoying their leisure time.
But now the same lane has turned into a crowded street.
The property rates have almost tripled in the last 10 years.
Everything that was considered a residential land till few years back has now turned into a romantic crush for commercial land droolers.
Every new construction is being done with rental commercial space in mind.
Home owners have been renovating so they can have commercial shops and office space on the ground floor and they will live upstairs.
Rental income you see! 🧠
I can't complain because that in turn increased property rate of my home :)
Anyways, so while I have been wishing to have my own café, I tried to see if there are any available shops for rent.
Because honestly, I can't afford to buy another land in this locality.
But the shops are all either occupied or are asking for so much rent that I am not willing to pay at this time.
"It's not possible to start a café in this area" my natural instinct says.
Does that mean we need huge money to start a business?
No. because what I saw next blowed up my mind and changed my perception of starting businesses completely.
A person was selling Pastries from the trunk of his car.
No shop, no rental, no dependency. Nothing.
I doubt if he even had a trade license with him.
He just drove in and parked, opened the trunk of his car that had hanging handwritten labels of his "brand" and started selling.
I was intrigued so much seeing this.
I wanted to see how this all worked.
The guy stayed there for about one hour, sold all his pastries (about 300) and left the place.
He was selling pastries for INR 50.00 each.
My wife is a professional baker so I know there is a profit margin of at least INR 30.00 after considering all the expenses.
That means in one hour he made a profit of INR 9000 (~USD 108)
Assume he parks his car at 4 places in a day, he would be making around ~USD 430.00 a day
Also considering that he would be selling at different prices depending on time of day and place he has parked, it would still be USD 400.00
That makes around USD 12K a month in profit in 4 hours a day.
And that only with those pastries. He will add additional bakery items in the coming days, for sure.
Now the real reason why I am telling you this story.
Because this is not just a story. It's a live example of how do'ers behave different than thinkers. Two important lessons.
- If you really want to do something, nothing can stop you.
If you want to do some business, put aside all the shame and work out things with whatever resources you have.
That trunk man gave me a reason to look for alternates if I really want to open the café.
Sure the initial days may not be the same as you expect, but if you remain onboard, nothing is impossible. - Rental properties are best passive income.
If you have some land or space that you are not using, you should consider renting it to some commercial establishment.
Why I say that is because commercial establishments have better rate of growth compared to residential properties.
Whether I am opening the café or not, time will tell, but the lessons do really apply to any business.
If you really start something with your full conviction
..and your blood
..and your sweat
..and all your wisdom
(exaggerated?);
then NOBODY CAN STOP YOU EXCEPT YOU.
They say the best time to start a start-up was 5 years back.
The second best time is now.
Wrapping it up
When I started writing this newsletter, I wasn't sure what would be the best format.
I don't want to make this thing a boring piece of sh*t that nobody reads.
And the only way to do that would be to make sure that the issues don't sound monotonous without compromising the value.
Reply to tell me how do you like or hate this email.
Life is short. Enjoy it with your loved ones.
Have a great weekend with your family.
Best to you
Anshul
