In this special episode of Leadership Lessons, host Yatin Naik sits down with Siddhant Dalmia, founder of Dosa Coffee. Siddhant shares his journey from a computer science graduate to leading a thriving South Indian food brand with 22 outlets and growing. Discover the challenges he overcame, the strategies he employs to motivate his team, and the innovation behind Dosa Coffee’s success. Whether you're a food enthusiast or an aspiring entrepreneur, this episode offers valuable insights on leadership, perseverance, and building a brand from the ground up. Tune in to be inspired!
There must have been some challenges that you would have faced. Can you just talk to us about that? When I just decided, you know, I'm going to open a South Indian restaurant. And the first thing I went about doing was finding people who could cook South Indian food. I'm not a cook myself. Once we got them, we did a few trials, but seven days right before opening, you know, all four of them vanished, which was a big setback because now we don't have any cooks.
We have a restaurant which is ready to open.
Hi and welcome to another episode of the Leadership Lessons. I'm your host, Yatin Naik, business head at HT Smartcar, and I'm excited to be with you all here. This is a special episode brought to you by Dosa Coffee. Today, our guest is Siddhant Dalmia, the founder of Dosa Coffee. Siddhant's journey from a computer science graduate in US to a successful entrepreneur is truly inspiring.
He started Dosa Coffee with a vision to serve simple yet flavorful South Indian food. Under his leadership, the brand has grown to 22 operational outlets in Kolkata and Delhi NCR, and five more in the pipeline. His innovative approach includes running multiple formats, such as food trucks, kiosks, and casual dining, catering to a diverse customer base.
Welcome to Leadership Lessons. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having me here. So, um, you've done graduation from U. S. in computer science, right? And now you are a founder of a dosa coffee chain. Uh, tell us about this journey. Why, why dosa and coffee?
So, uh, you know, I got, I get that question a lot. Uh, so I did do my engineering.
I used to love it. And, uh, when I came back here, You know, it was always my deep rooted passion to like, you know, get into food or a food related industry where I was maybe building a small chain, standardizing something. That is what computers do, right? They're putting in a process, you know, making things scalable.
I want to do the same thing with food and I realized you could. Uh, I did not start or think of South Indian at first. Uh, but it just so happened, uh, the first place where we opened, uh, where we, where I was planning on opening my restaurant, uh, was family owned. I come from a traditional Marwari family and I was giving, I was given two constraints.
The first one was we couldn't serve liquor. The other one was we couldn't serve non veg. And after thinking a lot, you know, I came up with, and the only thing we could come up with was a South Indian. And I was like, you know, why not? Right. You know, let's build a chain which, you know, is hygienic, which is standardized and let's see how it goes.
All right. So that's how we got into, you know, building dosa coffee.
Right.
And yeah, it's been a super journey. It's
very, very interesting. Uh, yeah, I mean, uh, everything works in constraints and you worked in this constraint and figured out what you want to do. Uh, but you know what, uh, the, the question that comes to my mind therefore is, you know, dosa coffee is not a new concept, right?
I mean, there are umpteen of them, you know. Therefore, you know, what sets you apart and how did you think about, uh, you know, building this business?
So, uh, I think that's exactly why I started it because it was not something new. Right. You know, our name says it all. Uh, people are not confused about what we are doing.
Uh, the whole idea was to be focused.
Right.
Build a chain, which is all over India. Right now we are just in two cities. We are planning on building more. Right. But, uh, the whole idea was to. serve food, which is hygienic. Right. People know exactly what they're going to get. Uh, as simple as dosa in Italy, right?
You find it in every corner, every city, every street, but, uh, there was no one place where, you know, that every 365 days a year, when you come in, you're going to get clean, good food. Uh, as, uh, as, Extremely simple, but flavorful, and you'll not go wrong ever. And of course, you'll not fall sick. It's fermented food.
You need to be very careful. Uh, you know, because things can go wrong. The temperatures our country sees, you know, it is very easy for batter to over ferment and things like that. So we got all those processes in place, standardized our food. Uh, focus on a menu. So, you know, interestingly, when I was researching Delhi, uh, 95 percent of food chains serving dosa and idli were, you know, multi cuisine.
And rightly so, right? Rents are high. You know, people coming in, they want variety, but I always stuck to the fact and I always believed that if you're focused and we give people, uh, you know, standard products, they are not going to be looking for other things and that's how we, uh, that's what sets us apart.
I feel, you know, we have focused on South Indian food, uh, you know, making sure that it's clean, standardized. And you get the same thing again and again. Absolutely. Simple, clean
business. Correct. Okay, so now let's turn our attention to the business and your own entrepreneurship journey. Setting up a business, any business, and especially a restaurant business is tough, right?
You come from an entrepreneurship family, you come from a business family, uh, but there must have been some challenges that you would have faced. Can you just talk to us about that? So
yes, there were a lot of challenges. One which particularly stands out was right at the beginning. So when, when I just decided, you know, I'm going to open a South Indian restaurant.
Right. And the first thing I went about doing was finding people who could cook South Indian food. I'm not a cook myself. So once we got them, uh, you know, we did maybe a few trials, but seven days right before opening, you know, all four of them vanished, which was a big setback because now we don't have any cooks.
We have a restaurant which is ready, uh, to open. Um, so yeah, I mean, that was difficult. I was like, you know, you know, this is not going to happen. And, uh, I was like, you know, but we can't stop here. Right. You know, we are too deep into it. We need to get out there again. So we went out again to find people, to find chefs, uh, got them, uh, to, you know, start cooking again, and then we realized there were so many things I had to learn myself, so, you know, what the cooking processes are like.
Because the people we got, uh, you know, they worked at restaurants and these different places where they worked with a very different mindset where, you know, you had to just serve a plate of idli or just another dosa where I was trying to build something or make something which stood out. It was simple, the same product standing out.
And I think that happened only because, you know, we, we wanted to get processes and discipline into whatever we were doing. So yeah, getting them to understand where I'm coming from. Uh, the kind of mindset I want them to have, putting them in that mindset was something which was very challenging, but we did it step by step.
And, uh, yeah, I think, uh, that's how. That's how we, you know, got started with dosa coffee. But this is one of the problems that there were so many more building the restaurant. We built the wrong kitchen to begin with. What's that story? Yeah. So, you know, when, because, you know, we started and I was, I was never in favor of consultants, you know, there were a lot of consultants out there telling me, you know, we will design the kitchen for you and we'll do everything.
I was like, you know, I don't think this doesn't seem right because I don't have a single dosa or a coffee joint, which I would like to go to. Except for the street side ones where there is the, there is no practically no design. So I was like, you know, I have to do it myself. Let's see how it goes. So we, you know, I heard people out when I got them to my kitchen.
That exactly what they need. We put some equipment together and later on we realized we can do much better. Which I still think, right, it is, it's an ever evolving process. So, you know, you, you, you want to keep bettering it, but yeah, we designed the wrong kitchen. We started off with the wrong kitchen and over time we fixed it.
You know, uh, tawas became bigger, uh, you know, we, we, we are wasting a lot of space, which, uh, you know, we made it useful and functional with storage and refrigeration and a bunch of other things. So yeah, so right from getting people design, uh, you know, understanding your customer, you know, you perceive your customer in a certain way.
But, uh, they're very different, you know, they might think differently, so you have to keep listening to them. Uh, that's what we learned. Uh, you know, strong feedback loops was something which we went wrong with. We didn't have a feedback loop. Okay. Where we, you know, we, I was thinking, you know, what, what I think of food and the way I think the customer's going to like it is the only way, which wasn't.
So, I mean, you know, there was learning at every step, which we enjoyed, we failed, we learned, and, uh, I think, yeah, that did good to us, you know, brought us to this place and maybe take us further.
So you started, uh, almost out of college, right? Uh, this business, uh, restaurant business, especially is a very people business, right?
Uh, whether it's your own team, it's the external stakeholders, you have to really, uh, You know, lead people, uh, what, what has been your leadership style and what do you think has worked for you so far? I feel,
you know, the way we built dosa coffee, uh, I built dosa coffee was, uh, I gave a lot of freedom. I created a place where people felt valued, empowered, and I think that went a long way.
I think I've learned from, you know, right from the person who heads our operations to right from the utility workers, maybe washing dishes, we've learned from everyone, you know, they had points of view we valued. Uh, I think that took us a very long way, uh, in our designing, in the way we function, you know, as a restaurant, uh, how we manage our customers.
So, yeah, I think, you know, everyone had a voice, everyone has a voice in Doza Coffee and that has always been my leadership style. Um, and, um, hopefully, you know, that benefits us.
Right, right, right. Interesting. And, uh, how do you keep them motivated day in and day out? Anything
unique that you So, you know, I feel, uh, when, when we are working together and, uh, things work out, uh, we see growth, we see things going right.
That is the best form of motivation for them as well. But you know, when we, when, when they see that I am invested in their growth, you know, they don't go anywhere. I mean, they, they get aligned with your vision. Uh, they understand exactly where we are going. They feel the difference, right? They worked in other places and when, when they work at a dosa coffee or they're working together, they feel the difference.
They know, yeah, you know, this, this place is something different. You know, where they are heard, uh, you know, and where they are, you know, they're valued and, uh, yeah, they can grow sky's the limit.
Right, right, right. And how are, how, how are you guys structured in terms of, you know, how do you look at the organization?
Uh, who heads what, like how, how is the overall management structure here? So, you know,
it's fairly simple. As I said, we are a bootstrap company. We are a very small team, right? Managing those type of fees. So lastly, now we have structured it is. There is one department looking for locations, which is the, you know, the most important thing, right?
In the restaurant business. Right. Uh, the second, uh, group, the second department is when, where they're building on the restaurants are running. Exactly. Uh, you know, how we want them to be. And, uh, the third department is people running them. Right. So, uh, but you know, as I said, you know, there are other departments as well, so marketing, auditing, um, accounts and finance.
But since, you know, we are, you know, we are limited in number, uh, we are managing everything, a lot of people have multiple responsibilities. Uh, so yeah, that's how we are structured. And, uh,
let's
come to
the challenges. Uh, I'm sure as an entrepreneur, first time business, uh, uh, getting into businesses has been, has, must have been personally challenging, right?
So talk us about some of the key moments that you fix.
The biggest ones being, uh, first understanding your customer and listening to your customer. I think I didn't, I, I, in the beginning I was trying to, you know, go out there and tell customers exactly what they want, which was on them. You added America, which did look for a bit.
But then I let, I also have to listen to them and understand exactly what their requirements are. We did tweak a little bit. Uh, but hey, you know, I come from the philosophy of Steve Jobs, where he says that, you know, people don't know what they want. You have to give them, you want to give them your best product and then see, oh, you know, who sticks it out.
So that's exactly what I did. So you know, we went out there, we, we gave them a product. And then we, after that, we started listening to them, you know, what are the minor changes or tweaks they would like in the product we have made, which we can sell to them. So, uh, that was one of the mistakes. Uh, the other ones were challenges.
I wouldn't say a mistake, challenge. The other challenges were, uh, you know, finding your second location, your third location. Because the first location we opened was a hit. Oh, and now the second one was, you know, the every now the, the question in my head was, is it a one store one or do you, you know, does the same thing happen in the second one?
So the second one we opened didn't do as well at all. That was that. So that was inside a mall, one of the malls in Kolkata. Uh, but it didn't do well. Uh, but that didn't demotivate me. That taught me that, you know, your food can work in some places and might not work in other places. And so location is extremely important.
So, uh, one of those, one of the challenges was, you know, location binding. Uh, the third was building a team. Building a good team, right? So it was, you know, good people don't want to come to you because they're like, you're too small. You're looking at maybe a dominoes or a KFC and you, you already established, you know, we don't even know if you have a future, how long you last.
So convincing people, uh, letting them know that, you know, uh, this is a journey where there's a risk, there's no doubt. Even I don't know what tomorrow looks like. But I know what pretty looks like and, uh, you know, convincing them to, you know, join and be on your boat and sail through the stuff.
So, if you were to look back, uh, to this five year journey and when, you know, re uh, relive that, uh, what are some things that you
might want to change?
You know, nothing. I wouldn't want to change anything because every part, every challenge, every mistake we made, I think it taught us something. And if, if, if I wouldn't go through them, I wouldn't be the person I am today. So I wouldn't change anything about my journey. I wish to go through, you know, similar journeys again and again, maybe building other brands, uh, after Dosa Coffee.
But, uh, yeah, I mean, every, every bit of it was important. It taught me something or the other every time.
What are your future plans? How are you looking at this market expanding?
So, you know, I feel I feel for any brand, especially for the regional cuisine, right? Uh, the sky's the limit, right? Uh, things are growing.
People are getting more aware. People are more health conscious. People are looking for quality. So, you know. I, I feel we can open a dosa coffee in every, every locality, in every neighborhood in the country. Uh, we, I want to be the, you know, the dosa, neighborhood dosa shop, where, you know, people go for their, you know, their light vegan, you know, actually our cuisine is also vegan, if you don't use ghee, which is obviously optional, additional.
The entire cuisine is vegan, vegetarian. So, yeah, it's, it's a light, quick meal. So that's, that's the idea, right? To be at every neighborhood, be that option, which is, and our cuisine doesn't have bread. So carbs are already limited. So it, it's going to be the healthier option among the other options available.
But do you, do you also talk about this in your messaging? Uh, we actually, you know, right now, uh, there are two things we've done. I, we, our entire menu is vegetarian, but I have never ever advertised our brand as vegetarian or vegan is because we wanted to see if that even makes a difference. We have people coming in again and again, so we don't want to.
Make it sound like, you know, we are a restaurant only for vegetarian people. We are not. We are for everyone. So even if you enjoy non vegetarian food, you're going to love dosa coffee because when you come, you're not, you know, you're not going to miss, you know, the non vegetarian stuff. So, yeah. And I believe in this, and especially because we were from Calcutta, majority of the population is non vegetarian.
So yeah, I think we stuck to it from day one here in Delhi as well, uh, that, uh, you know, we, we are going to be, uh, uh, we are going to be. We are never going to label ourselves as vegetarian or vegan. We are vegetarian and vegan. And, but, uh, we don't want, we just don't want vegetarians to come. We want everyone to come to our restaurant.
Absolutely. Absolutely. You don't want to get bracketed. Correct.
Uh, and what about expansion in other parts of the country?
So, yeah, you know, there are, there are so many options. And, uh, so the, the ideas in the next three years, we be in all the Northern States, the Southern States, uh, of course, you know, uh, they already have A lot of dosa shops and they're opening new ones every day.
But I feel in Northern India, there is still a gap where we can fill it. So hopefully in the, in the next three to five years, we cover, you know, all the states up North. Right. And, uh, yeah, let's see how it goes.
What would be a message to budding entrepreneurs, budding people who, who have ideas, who want to, you know, get into startups?
What would you?
So I feel, you know, two things which work most for me and I feel they're very important is persistence. You have to be persistent, you know, a lot of people are not going to believe in you. Maybe on day one, maybe even when you're in your, you know, the thousandth day, but you need to be persistent.
You have to believe in what you're doing and also be a humble learner. Uh, throughout your journey. Uh, so I feel, as I said before, as well, you know, I've learned from my utility worker who do, you know, the most senior members of my team, uh, you have to have the humility to learn from everyone and that's going to take you a very long way.
Right. So I think I believe in persistence and learning. You have to be a learner.
Right. Great. Uh, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and great insights and all the best for your entrepreneurship journey. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks Siddharth.