After returning from cycling, sipping my adrak tea in the early winter mornings of Nagpur which has a slight nip of chill in the air. It is a perfect blend of laziness and solace which we all deserve to say goodbye to the past week and welcome the future week. I love reading my Sunday Indian Express Eye. Eye always has something new, trying to cover topics of varied culture, groups, personalities, books, birds, or cuisines. This Sunday the article was on Sitaram Chole Bhature from Paharganj Delhi. The small article was a textbook of MBA. It taught me many lessons of how to run my Hospital in 5 min than my reading and experience of running it for the last 10years. The lessons I picked up were-

1) Desire and Hard Work- Sitaram was the pioneer and founder who sold his wife’s cooked CholeBhature on his bicycle after moving to Delhi from Lucknow following partition in 1947.

2) Location- strategically selecting Paharganj then as his area of survival due to residential dominance, schools, and offices.

3) Word of Mouth- Depending entirely on customer care, customer satisfaction the Sitaram’s right from the beginning have worked hard on developing a personal rapport and relation with their customers. With this relation they have not only touched their palates but their hearts and homes. Serving their loyal customers in their weddings, birthdays and parties from one generation to next.

4) Variety- along with CholeBhature the Sitaram provides Sweet Lassi. To chick peas allergens the Sitaram’s have added Special Alu Sabzi. When you are here we want to fulfil your satiety levels.

5) Value for money- in 55 Rs the Sitaram’s delights you with two paneer stuffed Bhature, a bowl of chola, green chutney, pickle and onion salad.

6) Expansion- post partition starting from a door to door tiffin service on a bicycle, Sitaram’s have come a long way to catering 1000 customers everyday in their new property from 8am to 6pm

7) Core products- The Sitaram’s feel that Chole Bhature are their identity and they don’t want to get carried away by expanding their range of products and break their core identity. The Chole Bhature are always always cooked in the spices brought from Khari Baoli in Delhi.

8) Futuristic belief- the newer generation headed by the grandson is now concentrating on digital and social media marketing to increase the online orders as well as the brand value and advocacy of Sitaram’s. The younger generation are also working with the railways and tie-ups. They are also open to a franchise model.

9) Principles- core values and principles are so deep rooted that the founder and the grandson believe that franchise usually kills quality of the products. They don’t want to leave any stone unturned regarding the quality of their products before they jump into the model. The two strong belief and principle of the group is- Word of Mouth through Best Quality and Value for money & Sitatam’s are chola Bhature and Chola Bhature are Sitaram’s, that’s the only thing we will have on our menu life long. Do small things but do it the BEST.