Goli Vada Pav's founder shares his ups, downs and everything in-between, story

A successful entrepreneur understands the needs of society and thinks of fulfilling them, said Venkatesh Iyer, founder of Goli Vada Pav.

Iyer said that he converted challenges as the steps to achieve success. He said, "Finally, I got success in ethnic food business along with co-founder Shivadas Menon."

Iyer said that he did not lose hope when his outlets in Mumbai were shut and many cases were registered against him.

Iyer said, "It was the best lesson in my life and I took it as challenge."

He said Goli Vada Pav has 350 outlets at 90 places in the country. Iyer advised the young generation not to limit their dream to jobs and become entrepreneurs and create jobs.

He said, "Idea is more important to entrepreneurs. Without a proper idea, no entrepreneur can taste success. If ideas are shared with others, they will get a better shape. Exchange of thoughts is more important in entrepreneurship."

Iyer recalled that in 2007, an investor liked his story but joked, saying "vada pav" cannot be corporatized.

He informed, "Finally, one of the top names in Indian financial industry, Jerry Rao decided to invest in our company. Following that, a couple of other high net worth individuals took stake in the business and raised a first round funding of Rs 5 crore. Thereafter, we planned to open 300 stores in the city. However, steep rentals, high real estate costs and unavailability of space prevented us from doing so."

Iyer said, "Try out new things. Many of them may not work out, but don’t give up. Exploration will lead you to innovation which will lead you to best operational strategy. The design of business is the reason we have been able to scale up in an efficient manner and this came to us because we were not scared of exploring options and even failing at some."