Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies

(For- (MBA program only)-Defense Personnel and Their Dependents)

Constituent of Symbiosis International (Deemed University)

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 28th December 2018

Sub: Entrepreneurship
Topic : Interview of Entrepreneur
Submitted to: Prof. Arjun Panchal

Submitted By:
Arti Jha C- 14
Tanushree Mukherjee C- 50
Anoop C. Nambiar C- 08
 INTERVIEW OF ENTREPRENEUR

NAME OF THE BUSINESS VENTURE:

LA- KHEER-DELI

PERSON OF CONTACT: SHIVANG SOOD

Introduction: This is a food stall run by a group of 6 young entrepreneurs with a vision of making
Kheer as the national Dessert of India and to spread the sweetness in every possible corner. The
availability of this venture is across different locations in Pune and one visited by us is: ITI Rd,
Sindh Society, Vidya Vilas Colony, Anand Park, Aundh, Pune, Maharashtra 411007
Business Segment: LKD serves delicious and amazing kheer in different flavors which are:

• Blackcurr

• Nutelloreo

• Gulkand

• Brownie
They provide separate brownies too and the smart part is the use of cup which has caricature faces
and people to love to click with it. They also give marigold and spinach seeds to germinate as a
part of their CSR as they encourage eco-friendly environment.
 QUESTIONS ASKED TO THE ENTREPRENUER

Q: What is your Vision/ Idea/ Concept? What drives you to pursue the same? How did you
come up with this idea?
Ans: The vision is to make it a global product considering that rice is an essential part of dessert
of various cultures like of Spain, USA, Middle East etc. This idea is emerged in the kitchen of
Shivang Sood where his mother invented the combinational tastes in Kheer and they realized that
this variation has never been put in the market before. His Mother is the main person behind this
idea and she creatively converted a traditional sweet into something innovative and appealing to
the flavors of mass.
Q: Who is your target audience? Why?
Ans: Dessert is preferred by all demographics of the society but to make keeping in mind the
various flavors available in market it is presented with different combinational tastes that can
appeal to class and age groups of customers. Blackcurr is a new addition keeping in mind the taste
of people who prefer less sugar in desserts.
Q: Who are the competitors that worry you the most and why?
Ans: All Dessert outlets, Ice cream shops, waffle outlets are competitors as they provide variety in
the same dessert category and people are familiar with the taste.
Q: That one feature/innovation that differentiates you from your competitors?
Ans: Since Kheer is a known traditional dessert in India but never experimented with flavors like
Nutella, Brownie, Gulkand etc so this is a new variety and millennials are enjoying this variation.
Q: Relevant questions based on SWOT analysis.
Ans: STRENGTH- The product and idea are new in market and no other competitor provides
exactly the same product.
WEAKNESS- The business is new and it has its presence of only 1.5 years so it still has established
tastes and competitors to deal with
OPPORTUNITY- The new taste, smart use of backside of cup and aggressive pitching made an
impact and holds a lot of potential for future.
THREAT- If the venture fails to meet the expectant and changing taste preference of customers
over the time then it might lose its visibility.
Q: What are your major challenges and costs involved? How do you overcome it?
Ans: The government in India is not very supportive and unstructured when it comes to street
market and food stalls and food trucks. The Municipality has its stringent norms at place and at
times entrepreneurs who come with less capital and contacts find it difficult to start something
new. However, the founders are local residents and well aware of the area and procedures so it
helped them to network and bond with the people well.
Operational cost is one of the main costs which involves preparation of rice kheer, packaging,
perishability and stall set up. To overcome this, Shivang’s mother prepares the product at home
and takes care of quality and hygiene parameters so it also adds a “GHARWALA FLAVOR” to
it.
Q: Any innovative marketing/sales strategy that helped increase the revenues?
Ans: Word of mouth is the main marketing technique used here however use of caricatures, god
communication skills, a deep understanding of customer preference and interaction added the sales
pitching. Also, the location visits a lot of crowd on a daily basis.
The stall is open on weekends i.e. from Fri-Sun (8PM-11:30PM) so it keeps the curiosity alive in
people for the rest of the days.

Q: From where and how you arranged the initial funds? Have you got the funding?
Ans: The initial funds were own capital for this business idea.
Q: Do you plan to raise funding in near future? How much?
Ans: The plan is to acquire more similar range of business ventures for expansion in target
audience and location.
Q: Where do you see yourself/your startup 10 years down the line?
Ans: An all- India presence is kept as a target for 10 years down the line.
Q: Any advice to up-coming entrepreneurs?
Ans: Come up with innovative ideas and explore the potential in market. Even if a failure happens
it will give you some learning and you can come up with something better in future.
Q: Is your start-up in profits from first day? If not, how much time did it take to reach
operational (monthly, not capital) break-even?
Ans: It took 3-4 months to get initial recognition and now within its first year of establishment
they managed to open a store on JM Road, next to Naturals Ice Cream. It shows the potential of
product and market.
Suggestions to the start-up towards improvements/growth:

• Rice Kheer is the main base for this product however Sevai (Vermicelli) is another base
for kheer which is widely used in northern India and also used in other Asian countries and
Middle-Eastern Countries which can be mixed with different flavors with a slightly dry
nature that makes it tasty and this combination is popular during Eid so this idea can be
used.
• The outlet is available on Swiggy, UberEats and Zomato with good ratings but can be
offered in a more interesting manner like with cashbacks and add-ons which can increase
the online sales.
e.g.- London Bubbles started offering cheap Waffles at a price of Rs. 39 for all varieties so the
sales increased extensively. People specially college going crowd preferred it over Belgian
Waffles.
• The newly opened Store does not have any sitting option in the store. That should be
considered
• More tie-up with colleges for fest and events will gather visibility and popularity of the
outlet.

Learnings:
• The market potential is huge if one can has the right mind to analyze it. The product and
service could be anything niche or grand but the ability to present it in the right way is the
key.
• The communication and ability to interact with customer matters a lot. People want to be
treated nicely, greeted well and want their tastes are given preference.
• If these needs are fulfilled people always remember the business more for the service and
they spread positive feedbacks.
• The taste of India is changing and they want something new time to time so innovation is
very important with the high- quality standards.
This Picture is Clicked with Lavneet, who is one of the business partners, at the JM Road
store which got started few months back