Taru Bhatia
With an idea to rejuvenate the taste of India, blending the flavor of home-grown spices, Asvin Simon gathered up his passion for fast food to open up a QSR restaurant in India. Owing to a passion for fast food, he thought to discover a unique taste in the fast food market with a new kind of twist in menu and came up with the idea of launching “Bangs”. The Company founded its roots in the year 2009 in Chennai, as India’s first domestic spiced flavored fried chicken brand.
It was the journey which started developing into a small shell, and then emerged out as a fastest growing QSR chain in India. “We took the first footstep by opening a small kiosk in just 80 sq.ft areas, but the today we are actively engaged in more than 13 states, through 35 plus outlets. These outlets are a mix of three types of formats – restaurant, kiosk and express.” said Asvin Simon.
Though the task to set up a whole new fast-food restaurant among many other giant survivors in Indian food industry was quite a tough take, Simon believed that customers are deeply connected to their roots and what they seek is quality in taste with pinch of their native culture. “I believe that there is a lot of craze in India for International brands. I boldly accepted the challenge of stepping in the QSR industry to make the fast food lovers understand that an Indian brand, Bangs, can also give customers the same quality & Quantity products with the better pricing option for their pockets.”
When asked about how he manages to sustain his position in the market among those QSR which offers burgers and fried chicken, Simon replied confidently, “The Food & Beverages market is a growing one and there is an increasing demand for Fast Food these days. Bangs India Pvt. Ltd is well positioned to deliver in this market because of its extensive range of food. This major asset would enhance Bang’s value proposition to the Indian & International consumers. There is a tremendous potential in this industry Regionally, Nationally & Internationally.”
Market strategies
In order to gather more of the audience from different regions, Simon chose to initiate his food business with a small concept. So he opened up kiosks, and fortunately, the idea struck at the right chord. “Small formats have potential to appeal foodies. We are getting a positive response from these outlets. As to make the sales better, we offer home-delivery for better turnover. This got me very good results. I could generate enough volume to think of expansion. I decided to set up many more Kiosks to cover different regions of the cities, rather than going for the restaurants.”
When success that he obtained from his food started intersecting his ways, Simon desired to rise above from the dimensions of his shell, to spread out more extensively. Consequently, he introduced the other two formats for his QSR i.e. Restaurant and Express. He desired to penetrate into the corners of every region, so to stitch up the presence of Bangs among foodies. “Through all these three formats-Restaurant, Kiosk & Express, we are able to cover all cities. We want to see our self all over in India & International. The thought behind number of kiosks was to acquire greater visibility in the city. This was one way of branding the Bangs in bigger way.”
Besides, he keeps the buzz alive in the media on a regular basis, which he feels is an effective tool for marketing approach. “We do regular basis lots of marketing activities like Events, Conferences, Media interactions, PR News etc. Through all these promotional activities we keep on in news everywhere we have outlets. It adds good media mileage & sales in our outlets.”
It is also a fact that no strategy is fruitful until your customers are satisfied. For Asvin, Customers’ benefit has always been a priority, and he always keeps a note of the product rates that should be affordable without compromising on the quality. He takes into consideration that the menu gets revised after every six months and new varieties are incorporated. He proclaims that people of this generation are so robotic that they take at least one meal of the day from the fast food market. The primary reasons for this are the mouth-watering taste, affordability and the fast service where they don’t have to wait for long hours to get their meal.
Therefore, market competition is never in his mind, as he is primarily concerned for his customers and wants them to relish his food without getting a wrinkle on face.
Gateway to franchising
Bangs adopted the franchising business model in the mid of 2010. This model was liked so much that within a span of one year. Through the franchisee route, Bangs expanding its network with the opening of 500 outlets across the country in the next five years, 100 would be company owned while the rest 400 would be franchise.
In our franchised outlets, we are taking care of supply chain, product quality & training of the staff. As Bangs franchisee, the outlet owner will receive all the technical & marketing support on the continued basis. We also conduct regular visits & mystery audit checks.
Forecasting growth
With the current revenue of Rs 12 crore and aiming to stretch it over to 25 crore in next 30 months, Simon has expansion plans in mind. He’s planning to open 500 outlets across the country for next 5 years, of which 100 will be of company-owned while the rest 400 will be franchise outlets. “We are looking cities & markets for expansions like; Gujarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Srinagar, Kanyakumari and Rajasthan.”
The company will be targeting Metro’s & Mini Metro’s to set up its company-owned outlets, he’s looking to raise Rs. 20 Cr via private equity.