She owns Blah! & The Thane Club Ft. Niketa Sharma

[00:00:01] Thanks Nikita for coming to our show, it's all about women who have done the norm in their respective fields.

[00:00:12] You know you have started restaurant of your own which is went on to become a good name at least in VKT and Bombay.

[00:00:19] So we want to know your journey of starting up as a restaurant here and like what really inspired you to get into this field?

[00:00:27] So I studied hospitality, I've done my master's from La Roche International School in Switzerland

[00:00:33] and I always wanted to do something in hospitality as a hotelier or a boutique hotel person.

[00:00:40] But I think the stepping stone to gradually progress over there is restaurants and actually BLA if you see is a covid baby.

[00:00:49] So honestly after handling hospitality and the club that I have in Thane for almost 7 years is where I realized and I spoke to my brother who's my partner in BLA

[00:01:03] and we were brainstorming and we were thinking what new should we do in covid and how should we progress into different arenas

[00:01:11] and I pitched him the idea that let's do a restaurant together and I think that is that.

[00:01:16] And we just came back when you know what was that called?

[00:01:24] The restrictions were lifted a little so we could travel in Mumbai so we came back, we were actually in Lona BLA for almost 8 months

[00:01:31] and we came back and we thought that let's do this what we thought let's put it to action.

[00:01:36] Literally we saw the place, we saw BLA it had just emptied I mean you know the previous tenants had left 5 days ago

[00:01:44] and we came we saw and in a week we signed it.

[00:01:48] Oh it was that quick, it was that quick and then when because again covid struck again

[00:01:54] we got time to prepare and we had already hired the head chef and the other management team

[00:01:59] so then we got 3 months to prepare ourselves, we did research all of us were crazy and frenzied

[00:02:05] and whatsapping and instagraming each other different ideas and philosophies

[00:02:11] and I always wanted a women centric restaurant.

[00:02:15] Is it? Yes, yes all the time all my restaurants have swings

[00:02:19] all my restaurants have some feminine color or touch

[00:02:23] and there's always that one bold factor which I love in all of my restaurants

[00:02:27] so these 3 aspects are compulsory in any restaurant you'll go to that one these 3 touches will be there

[00:02:32] and so that is how BLA came into the picture and then it followed with other restaurants

[00:02:39] and I think it's been a fabulous journey.

[00:02:42] And how did you actually you said that you got the land in a weeks time

[00:02:47] and after that you started hiring what else did you do to make it come into real life?

[00:02:54] Actually it's a complete team effort I can say you can never run a restaurant alone

[00:03:00] so having the right people on board was the first aspect

[00:03:03] we got our managing partner, our marketing person, the chef that we had

[00:03:08] we also even hired our restaurant manager in advance then I was there

[00:03:13] and for legalities and licenses my brother was there

[00:03:16] so first I made the team then the team was briefed and the interior designer

[00:03:22] now the thing is we all sat together we all used to sit at socials or at Soda Botanical Bala

[00:03:27] and used to brainstorm that what do we actually want

[00:03:30] and I already had a clear vision that I want a female centric restaurant in the business

[00:03:36] corporate concrete sector of BKC

[00:03:39] and I do not want to be fine-nine I do not want to restrict myself into the regular plating

[00:03:46] or the regular nuances that are served in Soda and Beverage of Yo

[00:03:50] so we got that first move as advantage of Yo

[00:03:53] then the feminine aspect is what came

[00:03:56] I said that obviously we do not want to be pink pink like a babi or anything like that

[00:04:00] more offense I love babi but the idea was that you have to forget

[00:04:05] that you are in the middle of your work zone

[00:04:08] or you are in the middle of you know you are wearing a suit and a tie

[00:04:12] and all of that and you are coming it is a conversation place

[00:04:15] where you can chat it is a place where the ambiance is tropical and feminine

[00:04:20] wherein you can unwind yourself even if it is for that 35 minutes of lunch break

[00:04:26] that you have you know like 35-45 minutes is usually the lunch break that corporates have

[00:04:30] so we wanted I wanted to give that break

[00:04:33] and that is how we started brainstorming

[00:04:36] we got into multi-cuisine aspect we never wanted to seclude ourselves with one cuisine only

[00:04:42] we wanted to be multi-cuisine so fusion Indian continental European

[00:04:47] Asian are these aspects that we got

[00:04:51] and we got that feminine crockery

[00:04:54] we made sure that you know the golden colour

[00:04:57] butlery is there then we made sure that there was those frames

[00:05:01] and the greenery there is hydrophonics

[00:05:03] so we grew a lot of our herbs and spices

[00:05:06] and we used them in the bar or you know the microgreens were grown

[00:05:09] and they were used for garnishes all of these aspects is how we came together brainstorm

[00:05:14] helped each other but had the same vision

[00:05:18] again your vision has to match with your team that matches

[00:05:21] you can achieve whatever you want

[00:05:23] that's right so how many team members do you have now

[00:05:26] so in all my restaurants and the Thani Club that I have

[00:05:31] which is a sports facility I have currently 300 plus employees

[00:05:35] wow that's very nice and you being a woman is leading at the top

[00:05:39] yeah we are very female centric I can say I am biased towards them

[00:05:44] a lot of my top management are females

[00:05:48] a lot of them and I am pretty proud of that

[00:05:51] and I think it's women who can accomplish anything that they set their mind to

[00:05:58] any human can but I feel the multitasking ability that a woman has

[00:06:03] I feel that's in born or in our DNA or in our culture

[00:06:07] I can say and because of that all the women most of the women I know who are working for me

[00:06:12] are either married or have children and still they are able to work and excel

[00:06:18] in their respective departments so well

[00:06:21] yeah that's lovely and tell us about the name how did you come up with the name Bluff

[00:06:26] I'll be very honest with you I was not in favour of the name Bluff

[00:06:31] so the first name that we had actually thought was Bed and Brunch

[00:06:34] Bread

[00:06:35] Bed and Brunch

[00:06:36] Bed and Brunch

[00:06:37] So that means it means from brunch to the bed you can come and chill over

[00:06:41] So Bibi, Aibi mere naam mein bhodsare employees se jinn ka naam hai ne bibi rakha hoi

[00:06:45] like you know the restaurant name was Bed and Brunch so Bibi main aisa kar diya tha

[00:06:49] So Bluff came into our conversations and the voting went against me

[00:06:55] and that's how Bluff came because Bluff negatively or positively is about talking

[00:07:01] it's about communicating it is about chatting with each other

[00:07:04] it is about conversing right and that is what was the main focus of the restaurant as well through its interiors

[00:07:12] or its food we are talking to you through all of these aspects

[00:07:16] so that is why Bluff came into the kitchen it was a risk that a lot of people

[00:07:19] and the PR agency told us that we are taking

[00:07:22] why didn't they like the name?

[00:07:24] No because Bluff can also be our aisa very blah place

[00:07:28] oh my god blah blah what is going on you know I mean it both again it's the tone that matters

[00:07:34] but we took the risk and I think we

[00:07:36] But when you choose unconventional names like these that's when it becomes the talk of the town

[00:07:40] like did you hear of this name even if good or bad it becomes a very good branding exercise

[00:07:46] and it has to be easy so Bluff is very easy to talk about

[00:07:49] yeah exactly yeah that's true and then tell me how you chose the name Kish Hospitality for your group

[00:07:57] so Kish Hospitality name has come I'm a big Krishna fan

[00:08:02] okay so the origin came from that

[00:08:05] yeah and that is how Kish Hospitality came into picture because we are Mathura people

[00:08:10] Mathura Brahmin and I wanted the company to have some aspect of Krishna Bhagawan

[00:08:17] and the Sunrise aspect of his to be a part of the company and that is why I gave the name Kish Hospitality to it

[00:08:24] well that's quite interesting yes and you spoke about your Thani Club as well so tell us more about that

[00:08:30] how did you get to be a part of it and then own it

[00:08:34] okay so Thani Club is my first project I started that project literally a decade ago

[00:08:40] in December I'll complete a decade over there

[00:08:42] are we having a ten year anniversary there?

[00:08:45] I hope I hope I'm not so it's on my dad's birthday actually

[00:08:48] oh lovely yes 13 December

[00:08:51] okay so I had just finished my college my course grad

[00:08:55] I first did my M.Com then for my master's and then again I went to Laurosh and came back

[00:09:00] and I joined the Thani Club which was taken over by my family six months ago and we were under construction

[00:09:05] okay so we started that job I started a job over there with two people one project head and me

[00:09:12] and only labourers and 100 pigeons, 500 rats and 2000 mosquitoes and what not

[00:09:20] that is how we started the project with two people Bricks and Motar

[00:09:25] and it's a 60-65 thousand square feet place which is a sports club like a private sports club

[00:09:32] sports and recreation to be honest wherein we have four swimming pools

[00:09:36] okay two gymnasiums three banquets four restaurants eleven rooms two badminton

[00:09:43] courts one sports court and changing room and all of that

[00:09:47] yeah so we started with the club for one and a half year I was under construction

[00:09:52] we built a team of ten in the first one and a half year then after that we

[00:09:57] gradually grew and today in Thani Club itself we are 200 people

[00:10:01] wow that's amazing but have you ever thought of launching a club in Bombay

[00:10:07] there's no space I have searched on space tell me how did you find a space for blah

[00:10:13] because I spoke to so many restaurant years who are wanting to do something in

[00:10:17] Bombay and they have the same answer

[00:10:21] I am very lucky I am telling you it's a COVID baby and that is how I got lucky

[00:10:26] I am telling you I got the opportunity and within a week I signed it

[00:10:29] so obviously yes Mumbai has space constraint here

[00:10:34] and currently even when we are in that expansion mode we have these issues

[00:10:39] and we are facing problems in that aspect but it's a part and parcel

[00:10:45] the industry is booming in itself and I feel if we keep the patience

[00:10:49] the pockets will arise

[00:10:51] but tell me on the coming back to the restaurant business

[00:10:56] how did you think of marketing it initially because all of these

[00:11:00] consumer facing businesses are all about getting people and getting to

[00:11:05] let them know that okay you exist and there's a reason why they should visit you

[00:11:09] not once or twice but every time they think of going out

[00:11:12] like for example if someone wants to have Pan Asian

[00:11:15] Yaucha is the first place that they would want to go and they don't even get

[00:11:19] tired of going there again and again so what was the brand narrative

[00:11:23] that you wanted to create for yourself and how did you get that executed

[00:11:26] so the brand narrative that we get like I already said is about the family

[00:11:30] and centric so any restaurant you can pull people for the first 3 to

[00:11:35] 6 months okay we had a great PR strategy our PR agency was

[00:11:39] Mint and May I love them I'm still working with them

[00:11:43] then we had a great social media team and our interiors are fabulous

[00:11:48] these are the first catchments because of which and influence of marketing that we did

[00:11:53] these were the first basic broad guidelines that we followed

[00:11:57] in getting people to blah but if I have to get somebody repetitively

[00:12:02] like you said if it's vanishing you will think of Yaucha

[00:12:05] if somebody thinks of pancakes and French toast or big burgers

[00:12:08] people think of blah you know the food is very continental

[00:12:11] very brunchy yeah you're right actually one of my friends

[00:12:15] just recently told me that I'm craving for pancakes and I said okay

[00:12:19] where will you go and have it she's like blah is the place

[00:12:23] exactly so what happens is for the first 3 to 6 months our idea

[00:12:27] was to get as many people as possible through the media

[00:12:31] through influencer marketing as well as through

[00:12:35] you know the social media social media has become a really big factor

[00:12:39] but after that that today also people are talking about blah

[00:12:43] or we have you know retained a lot of our consumers

[00:12:48] and there's a loyal base and we have created is because of two things

[00:12:52] good quality food and good service

[00:12:55] ambience will change your menus will change

[00:12:59] but your service and the food quality that you give

[00:13:03] is what makes a restaurant even for 50 years work

[00:13:07] there are those old school restaurants as well that are still there

[00:13:11] 50 years old 20 years old or 12 years old

[00:13:14] you and I might be having some nostalgic restaurants

[00:13:17] which we go to in childhood and even today we can go there to eat

[00:13:20] it is only because of the warmth and the friendliness of the staff

[00:13:24] and because of good food yeah so food is emotion

[00:13:28] and if your restaurant is resonating that

[00:13:31] just because of Instagram you need the vibe also to be there

[00:13:36] obviously but if I want to come back

[00:13:39] it is because you connected our love in my mind or my heart

[00:13:43] yeah and how is it in the case of a business like a club

[00:13:47] I know Thane Club was already there it was famous people knew about it

[00:13:51] but nobody knew it was a litigated property

[00:13:54] okay tell me more then

[00:13:56] so Thane Club is something which we took over

[00:13:59] after 8 years of it being under construction

[00:14:02] and it was only under construction

[00:14:05] so we took over and it was a litigated property

[00:14:09] which we took on lease then eventually from the government

[00:14:12] the TMC and there were 20 partners

[00:14:17] or I don't know 10-15 partners

[00:14:19] and then eventually we as single owners came over

[00:14:24] took over the lease and we have built it from scratch

[00:14:28] the name was also not there the club didn't have a name

[00:14:31] okay there's nothing what is the name now

[00:14:34] Thane Club

[00:14:36] so we wanted it to be resonating with the people

[00:14:41] the local people

[00:14:43] and we got a trade mark from the difficulty

[00:14:45] I know

[00:14:47] and there was nothing over there

[00:14:51] I'm telling you it was filled with rats and pigeons

[00:14:53] and all of these things

[00:14:54] so how did you build it up in marketing sense

[00:14:57] how did people come to know about it

[00:14:59] how did this start coming

[00:15:01] so in the club we have membership in the sports section

[00:15:05] you have to create loyalty in the club

[00:15:07] people need to win trust

[00:15:11] so the first thing that we did through our print ads

[00:15:13] through the traditional form of marketing in Thane

[00:15:16] about 10 years ago

[00:15:18] which was print ads and hoardings and bus bags

[00:15:21] and bus shelters and all of these things that we did

[00:15:24] and we did a lot of recreation activities

[00:15:26] for new people to come and

[00:15:28] see the facility and experience the facility

[00:15:30] if I am telling someone to put lakhs of rupees

[00:15:33] from their account to my account

[00:15:35] I need to give them experience of a lifetime

[00:15:38] and I need to make sure that they have so much fun

[00:15:42] or they are liking the facility so much

[00:15:44] that eventually they want to become my loyal members

[00:15:47] and that is why they will pay the money

[00:15:49] so everything boiled down in Thane Club

[00:15:52] to memberships

[00:15:54] we started giving out these things called as member for a day vouchers

[00:15:57] which day?

[00:15:59] member for a day

[00:16:01] member for a day vouchers is what we started distributing to people

[00:16:04] and through that we wanted people to experience

[00:16:08] what it is to be a part as a member of TTC

[00:16:12] so people loved that

[00:16:14] because we had a new place

[00:16:16] we were well maintained

[00:16:20] we were one of the only clubs in Thane

[00:16:22] giving so many facilities under one roof

[00:16:25] and because of the experience that they had

[00:16:27] and then board of mouth

[00:16:29] we have grown

[00:16:31] and giving good experience we have grown

[00:16:33] and I feel marketing and all of these are supporting things for you

[00:16:38] eventually it all boils down to your experience

[00:16:40] how many members are we now?

[00:16:42] so we are around 3200 members

[00:16:44] that's a lot

[00:16:46] and what's the membership fee?

[00:16:48] membership fee starts from 275,000

[00:16:52] which is for an individual for 10 years

[00:16:54] and it goes up to a family membership of 975,000

[00:16:58] for a family of 4 for 20 years

[00:17:00] okay it's not bad

[00:17:02] but tell me in this kind of a business how do you achieve a break even

[00:17:06] because the capital cost is very high

[00:17:08] yes so the capital cost is high

[00:17:10] so the break even comes only after minimum 3-4 years

[00:17:13] and then everything is through your pockets

[00:17:16] okay yes such large businesses because the capital investment is high

[00:17:20] 3-4 years or max 5 years is what you have to invest

[00:17:24] you have to make sure that the great experience is given to them

[00:17:27] obviously your operating cost is covered

[00:17:30] because membership amounts are also big

[00:17:32] so all the operating costs are removed

[00:17:34] but the real ROI starts coming after that

[00:17:37] yeah that's true

[00:17:38] but how did you get the capital arrangements per bank loan?

[00:17:43] is it?

[00:17:44] yes so we took a bank loan

[00:17:46] and then there was some capital investment done by my parents

[00:17:50] okay in the first year

[00:17:52] so the first phase of the place that we made a gym

[00:17:56] one banquet and badminton court

[00:18:00] and a restaurant

[00:18:02] this was in the first phase

[00:18:04] so this we did it through a bank loan

[00:18:06] and I got a little bit of loan

[00:18:09] as capital investment not loan

[00:18:11] capital investment was given by my parents

[00:18:13] after that whatever that we have done

[00:18:15] where we've grown to 11 rooms

[00:18:17] 4 restaurants

[00:18:18] 2 gyms and all of these things

[00:18:20] in phases is what I have done

[00:18:22] every 2-3 years we've done a phase

[00:18:24] we've gone through the phase of Covid

[00:18:26] which is why we couldn't do much

[00:18:28] otherwise till now

[00:18:30] this third phase which I completed

[00:18:32] it would have been completed 2 years ago

[00:18:34] so I took out my operating cost

[00:18:38] saved it

[00:18:40] took all the difficult financial decisions

[00:18:42] and then came here

[00:18:44] how did you survive during Covid

[00:18:47] in terms of the rental costs

[00:18:49] and the salaries of the people

[00:18:51] in lease period the rentals

[00:18:53] whenever you take a lease property

[00:18:55] the rentals are a little lower

[00:18:57] but obviously there are other humongous costs

[00:19:00] which is like electricity

[00:19:02] and salaries and all of these things

[00:19:04] and we did not

[00:19:06] cut down on it

[00:19:08] at least for the first year

[00:19:10] from the second year we gave certain percentages

[00:19:13] and we did not fire anybody

[00:19:15] and I feel the team was very supportive

[00:19:17] but wasn't it too heavy on your books

[00:19:20] it was, it was

[00:19:22] 2 years again

[00:19:24] this kind of a business where the capital investment is so high

[00:19:27] you're not here for the short game

[00:19:29] you're here for the longer run

[00:19:31] even the membership fee like it's not a restaurant

[00:19:33] people will stop coming and it'll affect your business

[00:19:36] membership fee so there's anyway it's paid for

[00:19:39] so the plan is long term actually

[00:19:42] because of the long term plan

[00:19:44] Covid was a big jhatka

[00:19:47] I can literally say to everybody

[00:19:49] and especially the real estate

[00:19:51] and two places like the club

[00:19:53] which have big properties

[00:19:55] 60,000, 70,000 square feet is not small

[00:19:57] but if you have a great team

[00:19:59] and great infrastructure

[00:20:01] and if you have the ability to bounce back

[00:20:04] from that I feel

[00:20:06] that's what we did, we bounced back

[00:20:08] and you know

[00:20:10] the lower we went, the higher we'll be

[00:20:12] coming because the industry is booming

[00:20:14] in itself

[00:20:16] and because of that we'll be

[00:20:18] survived and eventually we'll be

[00:20:20] a better team

[00:20:22] that's very important

[00:20:24] but is this the only club in thane?

[00:20:26] do you think is that the reason

[00:20:28] why it's working so well

[00:20:30] because in competitive

[00:20:32] competition is with those bigger societies

[00:20:34] because thane is very planned

[00:20:36] being planned and it's becoming

[00:20:38] the next smart city

[00:20:40] of the state

[00:20:42] of rastra

[00:20:44] so because of that

[00:20:46] competition is usually with other

[00:20:48] societies

[00:20:50] because they're creating gyms

[00:20:52] everything is available

[00:20:54] our advantage is

[00:20:56] because of the magnanimity

[00:20:58] of our place

[00:21:00] with four different types of restaurants

[00:21:02] four pools

[00:21:04] one toddler pool

[00:21:06] one diving pool

[00:21:08] one indoor pool

[00:21:10] you have a crossfit gym

[00:21:12] you have a regular gym

[00:21:14] you have table tennis, you have squash

[00:21:16] because of that and plus the networking

[00:21:18] that you get to do

[00:21:20] people still want to come over

[00:21:22] or unwind

[00:21:24] they want to get out of the house

[00:21:26] they want to have a lifestyle

[00:21:28] or they want to have some time

[00:21:30] wherein they forget their phones

[00:21:32] and that is what club is about

[00:21:34] club culture is only about socializing networking

[00:21:36] and doing things

[00:21:38] beyond your mundane activities

[00:21:40] that you do in work and in family

[00:21:42] yeah that's right

[00:21:44] but how do you think club like this

[00:21:46] would work in a city like

[00:21:48] bombay for example which already has soho house

[00:21:50] or other small clubs like the quorum

[00:21:52] so Mumbai

[00:21:54] in itself i feel the club culture

[00:21:56] is still there

[00:21:58] like harjim khan and otters club

[00:22:00] have waiting list now

[00:22:02] they are not selling

[00:22:04] even if they are selling

[00:22:06] google if you read it is around 25 lakhs

[00:22:08] 50 lakhs

[00:22:10] so club culture is there

[00:22:12] because it's an escape

[00:22:14] and soho house

[00:22:16] is an international chain

[00:22:18] they started clubs

[00:22:20] but over there clubs is more about

[00:22:22] socializing

[00:22:24] the kind of events that they do are fantastic

[00:22:26] it's about networking

[00:22:28] it is more about socializing

[00:22:30] but if you see a club like NSCI

[00:22:32] or CCI

[00:22:34] or MCA

[00:22:36] or otters or harjim khan

[00:22:38] they have a different mindset altogether

[00:22:40] jujim khan

[00:22:42] all these clubs have a different mindset

[00:22:44] they are working on the longer run

[00:22:46] they are working on your generations

[00:22:48] generation membership is there

[00:22:50] in nca and all i have a few friends

[00:22:52] that my grandpa has given me 11 rupees

[00:22:54] so both the concepts are very different

[00:22:56] soho house

[00:22:58] membership is only 1 year and 3 years

[00:23:00] and the other club

[00:23:02] is 25 years

[00:23:04] in the next generation

[00:23:06] 25 years

[00:23:08] we are 25 years

[00:23:10] we are also our kids

[00:23:12] our kids will also come

[00:23:14] they go to house

[00:23:16] then they go to brand children

[00:23:18] so there are these two segments

[00:23:20] there is dolly's club

[00:23:22] soho house

[00:23:24] these are only into networking and socializing

[00:23:26] and that is why the tenure is also less

[00:23:28] yeah but what kind of

[00:23:30] trends do you observe now

[00:23:32] which will make a club successful

[00:23:34] in a city like bombay with so many options

[00:23:36] with so many options

[00:23:38] i feel a club is a place

[00:23:40] where the location will matter

[00:23:42] first is

[00:23:44] a club is a place which should be in your radius

[00:23:46] 3 km

[00:23:48] where i can walk

[00:23:50] or i can take a bike

[00:23:52] or a car and reach in 5-10 minutes

[00:23:54] the biggest vicinity

[00:23:56] for club is the location

[00:23:58] and it has to be at a residential area

[00:24:00] because that 5-6 km

[00:24:02] are the only people who are going to come to you

[00:24:04] and take the membership

[00:24:06] so scope is there

[00:24:08] but yes

[00:24:10] now how it is

[00:24:12] the tharnik club if you see is a long structure

[00:24:14] it is spread in 1.25 week

[00:24:16] right now the clubs that you see

[00:24:18] are in a building structure

[00:24:20] correct

[00:24:22] now it is at our height

[00:24:24] it is becoming vertical

[00:24:26] so that is why

[00:24:28] i feel there is scope in the club market

[00:24:30] but yes now the focus

[00:24:32] is more on the younger generation

[00:24:34] because of the age category

[00:24:36] that is there of the current population

[00:24:38] of india and mumbai also i will say being cosmopolitan

[00:24:40] i feel soho house

[00:24:42] and jolly's clubs are places

[00:24:44] which will do better than the rest

[00:24:46] the places

[00:24:48] and that is because we are heading towards

[00:24:50] something called as a gig economy

[00:24:52] where in everything is project based

[00:24:54] everything is short term

[00:24:56] covid has made us realise that there is no point

[00:24:58] in working 24-7

[00:25:00] and being available all the time in your professional life

[00:25:02] you need to have personal time

[00:25:04] you need to have me time

[00:25:06] you need to have self love

[00:25:08] you need to have family time

[00:25:10] and i am okay to earn x amount of money

[00:25:12] doing a project for 6 months

[00:25:14] and then going back again to work

[00:25:16] this trend is coming

[00:25:18] which was in the western world

[00:25:20] and now it is catching up in india

[00:25:22] and we are growing at such super

[00:25:24] super fast speed

[00:25:26] as a country

[00:25:28] i feel there is place for everyone

[00:25:30] so because you support women

[00:25:32] so much

[00:25:34] and i have this idea i want to bounce this off

[00:25:36] you that how about

[00:25:38] making a women only club

[00:25:40] what are your thoughts on that

[00:25:42] we have a membership

[00:25:44] unfortunately i tried that

[00:25:46] but we were not very successful

[00:25:48] why is that

[00:25:50] because in thane

[00:25:52] the crowd is a mix of

[00:25:54] cosmopolitan and traditional thane

[00:25:56] people staying over there

[00:25:58] i mean we are

[00:26:00] of this generation

[00:26:02] we see a lot of working women

[00:26:04] but actually reality is not like that

[00:26:06] seeing the population grid

[00:26:08] i am telling you there are many women

[00:26:10] who are still dependent on men

[00:26:12] or their house wives or home makers

[00:26:14] or they are doing something from the house

[00:26:16] so even if we want

[00:26:18] and all women kind of a club

[00:26:20] to be created

[00:26:22] it can be done

[00:26:24] but it has to be formed

[00:26:26] in a very particular

[00:26:28] format or manner

[00:26:30] because women when they come together

[00:26:32] its madness

[00:26:34] we do women's day

[00:26:36] events and that is why i can say

[00:26:38] its madness and its insane fun

[00:26:40] its super

[00:26:42] but only a women's club

[00:26:44] right now we are not

[00:26:46] at that stage or at least thane club is not

[00:26:48] so in thane club we have a special

[00:26:50] discount and we have a lower

[00:26:52] category lower number

[00:26:54] of yours although our minimum number

[00:26:56] of yours that we have is 10 years

[00:26:58] but if you are a woman whether married or single

[00:27:00] you will get a 5 year membership

[00:27:02] at an x amount of rupees

[00:27:04] so like that the membership starts from

[00:27:06] 1000 but because you are a female

[00:27:08] whether a married woman or an unmarried

[00:27:10] woman that doesnt matter to us

[00:27:12] age category doesnt matter to us

[00:27:14] we give you a special membership at 1 lakh

[00:27:16] 50,000 rupees okay thats good

[00:27:18] yes so we have it for athletes

[00:27:20] so we have a lot of state level

[00:27:22] district level badminton

[00:27:24] and swimming champions

[00:27:26] practising with us

[00:27:28] we have a special category for women

[00:27:30] for athletes and for senior citizens

[00:27:32] understood for athletes its

[00:27:34] much lesser is it

[00:27:36] no same 5 years

[00:27:38] the number of yours is set

[00:27:40] and the discounts that we offer

[00:27:42] is separate for them

[00:27:44] because they are under the athletes category

[00:27:46] and they do a lot of training

[00:27:48] and its sports club

[00:27:50] thats why

[00:27:52] and all women's club is a great idea

[00:27:54] I think it should be a niche that can be created

[00:27:56] but at the right location

[00:27:58] where I have a rapid fire for you

[00:28:00] where I talk to you a little bit

[00:28:02] coffee with Karan

[00:28:04] coffee with Radhika

[00:28:06] can you give me a cup of iced

[00:28:08] iced latte

[00:28:10] so starting off

[00:28:12] who has been one of the most influential

[00:28:14] figures for you in your life

[00:28:16] personally or professionally

[00:28:18] both

[00:28:20] so personally has been

[00:28:22] my father

[00:28:24] he has been a huge influence

[00:28:26] on me

[00:28:28] and there are these principles

[00:28:30] that he has taught me

[00:28:32] I have this radio interview

[00:28:34] few ground principles

[00:28:36] and ethics have been

[00:28:38] passed on from him to me

[00:28:40] and I look up to him

[00:28:42] to the highest level

[00:28:44] so in my personal life its my dad

[00:28:46] but yeah on the professional side

[00:28:48] who has been the inspiration to you

[00:28:50] so on the professional side

[00:28:52] Ratan Tata and Shah Rukh Khan

[00:28:54] like very weird nature

[00:28:56] but

[00:28:58] humbleness

[00:29:00] and again the principles

[00:29:02] and ethics that they have followed

[00:29:04] or at least what I have read in the Ratan Tata

[00:29:06] book or its in the interviews

[00:29:08] that I have seen of these people

[00:29:10] I feel Shah Rukh Khan

[00:29:12] from being an actor to being a businessman

[00:29:14] and now again at this age

[00:29:16] becoming an actor again

[00:29:18] that full circle in life

[00:29:20] Ratan Tata

[00:29:22] from Air India going

[00:29:24] to Air India coming back

[00:29:26] to the company

[00:29:28] to his you know

[00:29:30] not his logo

[00:29:32] the proverb that he says very frequently

[00:29:34] in a lot of interviews is

[00:29:36] I first take the decision and then I make it right

[00:29:38] you know you need to have guts

[00:29:40] to say that

[00:29:42] and to do it

[00:29:44] and only a great visionary

[00:29:46] businessman can think and talk like that

[00:29:48] because you are not scared of failure

[00:29:50] and the success also doesn't affect you

[00:29:52] that's the main part

[00:29:54] you are only

[00:29:56] constant working for excellence

[00:29:58] success and failure

[00:30:00] is you know

[00:30:02] a byproduct

[00:30:04] of course you need to take the risk

[00:30:06] that's a very important learning

[00:30:08] but talking about that can you tell us

[00:30:10] some

[00:30:12] learnings that you have had from your mistakes

[00:30:14] and incidents where

[00:30:16] you failed and things didn't go the way

[00:30:18] you planned

[00:30:20] oh yes so many

[00:30:22] examples

[00:30:24] top 3

[00:30:26] there was this salon that I had opened many years ago

[00:30:28] 7 years ago in the club

[00:30:30] I had a salon

[00:30:32] it was a thousand square feet

[00:30:34] salon I had taken franchise

[00:30:36] I want to name brands it's not right

[00:30:38] maybe off record

[00:30:40] off record we will talk about it

[00:30:42] what happened in that

[00:30:44] because it was on the first floor and I thought

[00:30:46] it would be a great thing for members

[00:30:48] because our member discount was giving

[00:30:50] one thing that I realized in the salon industry

[00:30:52] was

[00:30:54] location was wrong

[00:30:56] because it was the first floor and it was inside a club

[00:30:58] first that was wrong

[00:31:00] is what I realized

[00:31:02] location is so important in hospitality

[00:31:04] especially if you are in a service industry

[00:31:06] you have to be on the face

[00:31:08] so I learned about location

[00:31:10] from the salon

[00:31:12] second training to your staff

[00:31:14] management of staff is what I learned from that

[00:31:16] failure

[00:31:18] because in the salon industry

[00:31:20] you are literally dealing with somebody's hair

[00:31:22] dealing with somebody's face

[00:31:24] even if it is an eyebrow

[00:31:26] it doesn't matter

[00:31:28] even it is a nail polish or nail filing

[00:31:30] it doesn't matter

[00:31:32] you are dealing with the physical appearance of that person

[00:31:34] that person is going to carry after going away from the salon

[00:31:36] so you really need to be good

[00:31:38] experts about it first

[00:31:40] otherwise don't advise it

[00:31:42] so for that you have to groom and train your staff

[00:31:44] a lot

[00:31:46] if you see any successful salon

[00:31:48] their training is so hard

[00:31:50] so strong

[00:31:52] that

[00:31:54] it's a part of the DNA

[00:31:56] in a few months or a few training sessions

[00:31:58] time

[00:32:00] dealing with irate customers

[00:32:02] or how to deal with them

[00:32:04] obviously you are going to a salon to unwind

[00:32:06] I don't want to be uptight like this

[00:32:08] so

[00:32:10] because of that I feel I learned a lot

[00:32:12] that people management

[00:32:14] of your employees

[00:32:16] training them regularly

[00:32:18] product knowledge has to be great

[00:32:20] in that industry

[00:32:22] that even applied to restaurants

[00:32:24] even in spite of not being a chef

[00:32:26] I try and learn about ingredients

[00:32:28] taste

[00:32:30] the plating techniques that chef does

[00:32:32] how much ever I can

[00:32:34] brainstorming with him

[00:32:36] or reading about it

[00:32:38] I feel this is what

[00:32:40] the salon taught me

[00:32:42] then

[00:32:44] what had happened is I had a failed restaurant as well

[00:32:46] what was that about

[00:32:48] it was again a franchisee

[00:32:50] many years ago around 7 years ago

[00:32:52] I had one in Lokhandwala

[00:32:54] not naming

[00:32:56] and it didn't do well

[00:32:58] because at that time

[00:33:00] the rental I was giving was not good

[00:33:02] the rental calculation

[00:33:04] is what I made a mistake

[00:33:06] in and we signed the deal

[00:33:08] it was in partnership with

[00:33:10] another family

[00:33:12] friend of ours

[00:33:14] there I realised

[00:33:16] that your financial

[00:33:18] knowledge of running

[00:33:20] the show or doing the business

[00:33:22] the right percentage

[00:33:24] of the ROI

[00:33:26] the right numbers is very important

[00:33:28] whenever you are getting into hospitality

[00:33:30] or the restaurant business at least

[00:33:32] if you don't have a numbers right

[00:33:34] even though the location is great

[00:33:36] your team is great

[00:33:38] it was a stain on me

[00:33:40] don't go on passion

[00:33:42] only passion is very important

[00:33:44] it will take two places

[00:33:46] but you need to be

[00:33:48] grounded and you need to

[00:33:50] have your reality check on the numbers

[00:33:52] business

[00:33:54] if you are running from passion

[00:33:56] then there are many businessmen

[00:33:58] there is a thin line

[00:34:00] between genius and madness

[00:34:02] and this is that line

[00:34:04] that's nice

[00:34:06] and what would have been an alternative

[00:34:08] career for you?

[00:34:10] I wanted to become a journalist

[00:34:12] did you try it?

[00:34:14] yeah

[00:34:16] my dad didn't allow

[00:34:18] I don't know

[00:34:20] he was not meant for you

[00:34:22] he was in the police background

[00:34:24] so he knows how to

[00:34:26] so he was like no

[00:34:28] then I wanted to go lawyer

[00:34:30] then I did studies for CS

[00:34:32] then I did a course

[00:34:34] in diamond assorting

[00:34:36] and grading and event management

[00:34:38] and eventually I landed

[00:34:40] up doing M.Com in financial accounting

[00:34:42] and then masters

[00:34:44] MBA again in hospitality

[00:34:46] so many career prospects

[00:34:48] oh my god

[00:34:50] thank god I asked you this question

[00:34:52] otherwise I wouldn't know

[00:34:54] that you have studied so many things

[00:34:56] yeah I think I've been

[00:34:58] but lastly what's the last thing

[00:35:00] that you did for the first time?

[00:35:02] the last thing that I did

[00:35:04] for the first time is come and speak in a podcast

[00:35:06] oh correct yeah

[00:35:08] that's what we started with

[00:35:10] it's come a full circle

[00:35:12] and it's been a lovely conversation

[00:35:14] with you Neketa thanks for your time

[00:35:16] thank you so much

[00:35:18] thank you

[00:35:36] thank you for listening why?

[00:35:38] we hope this conversation was helpful

[00:35:40] and allowed you to deep dive into the mind

[00:35:42] of a senior women investor

[00:35:44] we're certain that we will soon see

[00:35:46] more women wiping out the norm

[00:35:48] and becoming more successful

[00:35:50] and we hope that you will be able to

[00:35:52] see more women

[00:35:54] and become more successful

[00:36:05] and we hope that you will be able to

[00:36:07] see more women

[00:36:09] and become more successful

[00:36:11] and we hope that you will be able

[00:36:13] to see more women wiping out the norm

[00:36:15] and becoming senior leaders in investing

[00:36:17] if you think you derived great learnings

[00:36:19] from us in this podcast

[00:36:21] please share it with your friends who might be fundraising

[00:36:23] or are just wanting to get that push

[00:36:25] to get started also tell us

[00:36:27] if there's any questions you would want us

[00:36:29] to ask our transnational

[00:36:31] women leaders in our next interviews

[00:36:33] till then stay tuned for our other episodes

[00:36:35] where we speak with women

[00:36:37] investors from places like Palestine

[00:36:39] Brazil

[00:36:41] Mexico and others