The entrepreneurial culture of Shark Tank India is also characterized by narratives of perseverance and enthusiasm, and the experience of Saket Saurabh can be seen as a tribute to such an ethos. Saket, the co-founder of the “Momos Mafia”, had been in the news as he left a highly paying career to realize his dream of creating a food brand. Saket used to have a steady and prestigious job in Gurugram before venturing into the street food and fast food business.
After completing his studies in 2014 at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, he embarked on his first business that he later acquired. In that purchase, he was offered a long-service contract to work as a product manager and received a fee that was quite impressive at ₹52 lakh per annum.
Saket got into the food industry with a generic cafe in Gurugram, where there was a mix of different items. He quickly realized that there was a certain market potential in momos and chose to shift his interest towards niche momo carts. The reaction was so encouraging that the first cart made sales ranging between ₹10,000 and ₹12,000 dollars every day. Although the growth in the number of carts was high during the first year, the business did not go without challenges.
Saket remembers that the cart model was inherently unstable, and it had a lot of operational problems like its unpredictable weather, staffing problems and also the frequent interventions by the local authorities who used to take away the carts. It was the wise move that resulted in the fact that, knowing the restrictions of a street-cart model in terms of scale to a multi-crore enterprise, Saket decided to shift to physical locations permanently.
This change of strategy became a turning point for the brand. This small-time side hustle activity has now developed into a considerable business imprint comprising 40 carts, 20 small stores, and two full-fledged quick-service restaurants. The financial success of Momos Mafia is a result of this successful scaling. During the last quarter of the 2023-24 financial year, the business generated ₹16 lakh worth of revenue.
The growth curve has been increasing tremendously ever since; last year, the company recorded a turnover of ₹2.2 crore. The business is already matching that figure of ₹2.2 crore in this current year and is expected to end the year with ₹3 crore. Together with the 2.5-year mark, a venture launched by Saket Saurabh has reached the ₹5 crore revenue mark.
The story of Saket Saurabh, which has already become viral on social media even prior to the release of an episode of Shark Tank India, points out the importance of taking calculated risks. His decision to sell a well-paid corporate job in exchange for the unpredictabilities of the food business showed that clear vision and the ability to change, when it comes to floating between the fluctuating street carts and the ground-level retail stores, are the key to long-term success.
Momos Mafia is currently a successful story of how a mere concept, supported by the heart of an innovator and the desire to rise despite challenges in its operations, can become a multi-crore company within a short time.