How A Tea Stall Out Of College Became A Rs 3.5 Cr Biz: Success Story Of ‘Chaai Seth’ Founder Arpit Raj

Arpit Raj, the founder of Chaai Seth, has a BBA in Travel, Tourism & Hospitality and an MBA in Marketing. The co-founder Prateek is also an MBA Finance grad and worked with KPMG. Arpit Raj started the ‘chai’ concept in 2015 in Shillong.

Success Story: Chai, because Indian is not just a drink, but an emotion. Our day is empty, boring and exhausting without the “energy drink”. Sitting on a chai tapri with your friends, chatting and having frank conversations over tea are some of the best moments of our lives. Nothing can match the joy.

Chai cases are also in trend now. Almost every day we see a new chai wala in the news building a successful business. However, not everyone has the potential to grow and expand at PAN India level as it requires a lot of dedication, taste stability and discipline.

But a boy from Bihar who was studying in Shillong quit his well-paid job to start the startup Chaai Seth. Arpit Raj invested 50,000-60,000 collectively with the help of his friends and started a small Tea tapri in Shillong, Meghalaya in 2015. “There was no brand name. It had just begun,” he said. He was in the hilly state doing his BBA in Hospitality.

Speaking to Tribalbox.com, Arpit said he and his friends would often roam the streets of Shillong looking for good eateries. However, studies combined with a hectic curriculum meant the boys wouldn’t get time off until late at night when the city was too dark to stroll.

“We thought that if we had a midnight craving, there would definitely be others like us who would be happy to have food delivered,” Arpit told the publication, talking about the many stops along the way that led to him starting the “Chaai Seth” venture. founded. years later. It would become one of the fastest growing tea franchises in India.

How it all started

So in the hostel room where the boys lived, Arpit and his friends initially started a tiffin delivery service solely for those who wanted a late night snack. At his own university, he often noticed how people from different parts of the state craved food from their own culture. This is when Arpit and his friends started looking for an off-campus food stand. Initially, they cooked themselves and delivered it to the people.

Soon the boys moved into a flat, which meant they could also hire a cook to help them with orders. “I remember hiring a local Bangladeshi woman who would prepare snacks, aloo parathas, gobi parathas, etc. and we would get on our scooters to deliver them. Our promise was that we would have the food with you within 30 minutes,” he told Better India

So instead of aiming for perfection in different cuisines, he decided to focus on a food item that could bring people together no matter where they came from. And tea was the answer!

The idea worked incredibly well. Shillong’s climate made people flock to the tapri so often, and soon Arpit and his friends began to see a return.

Arpit has roots in Bihar and was in Shillong for 3 years where he started this concept. In the last year of his studies, he was placed in Delhi and had to work at a food startup. When he worked there for 2 years he realized that he had to work on my own venture and shape it in a bigger way by turning it into a full fledged Pvt Ltd company.

With a total investment starting at just 6-7 lacs, Arpit offers over 20 teas and fast foods through its Chaai Seth franchise! Recently, Chaai Seth was also nominated for the 500 startups award.