New Delhi: In a daring act of selflessness, a man has left his high-paying job behind to embark on a mission to make specialty coffee accessible to the masses in India. With an unwavering determination, he aims to revolutionize the coffee industry and bring the rich flavors of premium coffee within reach of every coffee lover across the nation.
And the man is Abhijeet Anand from Bihar. Pawan Rai from Zee Media spoke to him to gather insights on how it all started and his entrepreneurial journey. Excerpts from the interview…
What Led You To Quit Your 1 Crore Job To Start abCoffee?
Before starting abCoffee, I was working in the petroleum industry in Romania, making 160,000 dollars a year. I led a comfortable life there. I moved back to India in 2021 to do something for the country. The passion to solve some of the complex problems of the country coupled with the gap I saw in the Indian coffee market led me to leave my job, and start abCoffee
What Was Your Key Driving Force To Become Entrepreneur At Such Young Age?
I didn’t want to become an entrepreneur initially. I hail from Bihar. In Bihar, a child from a middle-class family has only three career choices – engineer, doctor, or IAS. So, I became an engineer, went to IIT, and got a job in the petroleum industry. I worked for 8 and a half years.
I have always believed entrepreneurship solves problems, gives employment, and becomes a pivot point in the growth story of a country. This drove me to eventually become an entrepreneur.
How Do You Identify Business Opportunities? What Metrics Do You Use To Measure Their Viability?
In February 2021, when I came back to India, I spent 20,000 a month on coffee, which is huge compared to the cost of living here. That’s when I realized there was a gap. So, the first metric is to see if it is just your problem or the problem of the masses?
The second thing is to see – how the market has been going. The third thing is to see the competitor’s behavior. Last but not least – Is there a white space in the market?
Do You Believe There Is A Winning Formula For Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur? What Is Yours?
I believe there are certain traits in a person that make them a successful entrepreneur.
a) Having a long-term vision is important if you want to succeed.
b) Being customer or people-focused – When I say customer-focused, I don’t mean end consumers only, but also the people you work with, because these are the people who will fuel your business. Every business, I believe, is a people’s business.
c) Third quality is being resilient. Resilience is underrated in entrepreneurship. You will see ups and downs and will end up doing a lot of things that you never imagined doing. As an entrepreneur, you will have to do anything and everything.
d) And the last and the most important thing is passion. It could be a business or a job, but if you don’t have passion, then it is almost impossible to succeed.
Work-Life Balance Is The Talk Of The Town. What Is Your Personal Mantra For Having A Work-Life Balance?
I believe Work-Life Balance matters depending on the stage of life you are in. Currently, my life revolves around work. I believe every time you get out of your comfort zone there is a period where you have to trade work-life balance. It is my personal belief that high-frequency growth cannot happen in comfort.
So, in summary, Work-Lifealance is essential, but it really depends on which stage of life you are in. That is why it is important to balance it. acknowledge how much time you are putting in but do keep in mind that without a work-life balance, it will be impossible to keep going on at the same pace.
Share Some Of Your Failures And Some Of The Best Lessons You Have Learnt From Them?
I would be lying if I said I didn’t see failures in my life. One of them was not acting upon my idea. In 2015-16, I had an electronics gadget business idea. But I didn’t have enough financial freedom. When I see companies in the segment, which are almost 200 million, I always regret the missed opportunity.
I have also had a failure in the last 1 year. Whenever I have hired anyone in a hurry, it doesn’t click. So now I tend to be patient, and not take hiring decisions in a hurry.
