It’s the space and the energy that makes us different from others in the market- A tea time interaction with Ankit Bohra and Sourabh Bapna, Founder Tapri!
Tea has always been a part of the morning routine of Indians and we also happen to be amongst the largest consumers of tea in the world. This is probably why the new generation of entrepreneurs are taking initiatives in making tea points more structured. A contemporary ambience, a wide and healthy variety of tea’s and usual accompaniments sum up to make tea points a place where anyone and everyone can hang out. One such start up and a success story in this line has been of
Tapri - The Tea House in Jaipur. Started by two young individuals in the year 2010, Ankit Bohra and Sourabh Bapna had an idea of converting a “chai ki dukaan” into an organized place. Investing two years of their time in understanding the different categories and tea as a product by visiting tea gardens, the first outlet was a mix of fear and excitement of leaving their corporate jobs and coming full fledged into business. The idea and the name came very instantly while the two of them were sitting at a Tapri and thought of organizing the place they were sitting at.
“Behind every successful man there is a woman”. We would also like to acknowledge the fact that in between also stand thousands of conversations around a cup of tea that go beyond business discussions. The duo played with their core strength of the market knowledge of Jaipur and identified the areas where they would get maximum crowd and assured returns. Initiating on a very low pace and devoting their time in learning and unlearning various concepts; it was their passion and excitement that made them open their first two outlets, Tapri Pratham followed by Tapri Central. In fact, Tapri Pratham, their first outlet started in a 800 sq ft space and there they tried to cut down all the costs to the maximum. Also, everything that was earned from the business was put back on growing it again. Making Tapri move from just a student hub to now one of the preferred destinations by a lot of corporates for their meetings, Tapri has made its space for everyone. While in their learning phase, they realised that there is a huge scope in this business and not all part of it has been explored. Ankit Bohra, Director Tapri shares how he and his partner make themselves 24*7 available and take control of everything at Tapri. Since chai and all the snacks are hand-made and in-house, a lot of control has to be there to deliver the best. They ensure that their focus is only on the product. Luckily they have always got support from their customers in improving the quality with every passing day.
The best and the most encouraging part is that they got their breakeven in just 6-7 month of starting the business. One of the reasons for a quick breakeven was also that they kept minimal initial investments and expenses. With 90% of repeat customers, they keep their marketing budget quite low and focus only on social media and word of mouth to do wonders for them and this works beautifully for them. Though there were a lot of categories in the Food and Beverage industry that could be tapped, chai is something that is a part of the daily routine of an individual. It blends perfectly with any and every snack. Just for example, vaada pao and coffee don’t make such great combination as vada pao and chai do. Plus there is a great variety like herbal infusions, ice tea’s etc explains Ankit.
Sharing the expansion plans, initially they want to follow the COCO model only and that’s why they are planning to first have a strong foothold in their home market only. Planning to launch two more outlets in Rajasthan by this year end; in the future as well they will first be targeting similar markets. Balanced cities like Surat, Pune and Banglore are in the list of the next 5 years expansion plans. Introducing innovative concepts like experimenting on something around water, kiosks etc; Tapri is a home for young, aged, lovers, corporate’s, family gatherings, friends, gossips and a lot of mouth watering snacks. While they do not compromise on their customer service, right pricing is something they have been revising till date. With an average walk in of 200 plus customers even on a usual sunny day, winters see 100% occupancy throughout. Not to miss the amazing sunset view from the terrace, the center park view, the beautiful and original tapri interiors with a mix of traditional and modern sitting, colourful kettles, and different themed tea sets is something that will make you come to Tapri for your next tea break!
Sharing the fact that when they both started Tapri, they were completely unaware of what they are getting into. Learning and unlearning played a major role in what they have achieved today and this became the biggest challenge as well as the reason for their success. Absorbing and implementing the best that kept coming from their travels, customers and brainstorming helped them making it a delightful and wholesome experience for their customers. Gaining their finest learning’s from the “Taj Mahal Tea House, Mumbai”, Tapri for sure has a lot to more in their basket for the tea lovers. Terming the customers as a “demanding queen” rather than a king, Ankit further shares on how the market and customer is changing. Customers have now become participative as well judgemental. They have strong opinions on everything. They review and give feedbacks on everything and that is actually helpful in retaining customers. Keeping them engaged through Facebook and Zomato has worked out quite well for them.
“I feel is there is a lot of positive energy around here which we and all our customers feel. It’s more about space and energy which differentiates us from other places”. We have also launched the shop section on our website that has a variety of tea leaves, tea accessories, special gifting and dating vouchers and other merchandise. Our menu keeps evolving with a variety of over 70+ eatables and 45+ teas’. The interesting part is that we keep adding our own inventions to the menu and the customers have loved them. We have received suggestions of converting Tapri into an exclusive tea shop, which was a big compliment that we got. Giving credits to their business involvement and good intentions; 5 to 10 years down the line both Ankit and Sourabh see Tapri operating as an independent entity, though it will be their only business throughout. Giving their piece of advice for the young entrepreneurs, they share that business has to be an on-going process. You should be able to reflect yourself through your business. Go for something in which you can grow and use your personality and skills to expand it. Calling themselves as GroupZero, both of them scored a zero when they presented this idea to their faculties, but that zero was the beginning for them. So don’t miss to visit this place to celebrate chai and bak- bak with them on your next visit to the pink city.
