The bell of the ice-cream vendor was one of the anticipated sounds in most of our childhoods. As quickly as Gagan Anand would hear the bell again within the 90s, he would rush to his mom to borrow Re 1, run behind the ice-cream man down the roads of Jharkhand (then Bihar). Different summer season treats included ‘barf-ka-gola’ (snowcones).
The love for ice-creams, ice-candy and gola continued effectively into his maturity, and have become ‘all-weather buddies’ for the 37-year-old. He rose from being a crew member at Pizza Hut to managing large manufacturers like Gloria Denims Espresso and Rasna, and now runs a profitable ice-cream firm.
The youngest of 4 siblings, Gagan grew up in a middle-class residence with lofty desires of changing into an actor. Nonetheless, his father retired when he had simply accomplished Class 10, which propelled him in the direction of making his personal life by sheer onerous work.
With Rs 1,200 in his pocket, he moved to New Delhi to pursue appearing at simply 16. He quickly realised that making a reputation for your self on this area was reasonably troublesome. Roaming round Connaught Place in Delhi, the doorways of Pizza Hut beckoned him in the direction of a extra secure profession path.
Beginning as a part-time crew member at 17 after finishing his Class 12, the bold younger man rose by the ranks to grow to be a restaurant normal supervisor at 21. From there on, he labored with worldwide and Indian manufacturers for over 18 years earlier than deciding to construct an organization himself.
And the enterprise thought was a no brainer. It needed to be one thing in ice-cream – however with a twist.
Launched in September 2020, ‘Scuzo Ice-O-Magic’, a dessert cafe, serves ‘dwell’ popsicles and gelato. Over the previous 4 years, the corporate has grown to having over 30 shops throughout the nation with a turnover of Rs 8 crores within the final monetary yr 2023-24.
From not having cash to afford lease to offering employment to over 140 individuals at this time, right here’s Gagan’s journey.
Large desires, humble beginnings
Gagan’s father labored as a block agriculture officer which meant frequent transfers and postings in rural Bihar/Jharkhand the place electrical energy was a luxurious.
“We not often had electrical energy rising up as we used to remain in Naxal areas. It was a precarious scenario and as security itself was such a giant concern, lack of electrical energy didn’t appear to be a giant downside then. The primary time we had uninterrupted electrical energy was once I was 12 years outdated,” Gagan shares with The Higher India.
Regardless of this, that they had a cheerful childhood, he shares, as that they had one another’s firm.
Whereas in Delhi, he grew to become a shift supervisor at Pizza Hut in 2006. This was shortly adopted by the restaurant normal supervisor put up in 2008, on the age of 21.
Curiously, when he was chosen as the very best supervisor, the video was circulated to Pizza Hut shops the world over, which led to his subsequent stint at certainly one of its centres in Afghanistan on the Kandahar airfield.
“I used to be dealing with Pizza Hut, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Rooster (KFC) shops at Kandahar as a normal supervisor for two.5 years,” he provides.
This stint propelled his profession, resulting in his subsequent stint at Gloria Denims espresso in Dubai. He returned to India to construct an organization referred to as Honey Hut, which gave him a floor up thought into franchising.
“I needed to construct their franchise vertically. I created 15 shops in two years and developed their Commonplace Working Procedures (SOPs), the way to work, what to do and what to not do,” he provides.
From right here on, he labored in different franchising verticals on the Chocolate Room and Rasna.
“I created the meals and beverage verticals at Rasna as they wished to make cafes. We opened over 70 shops for them,” he provides.
After creating manufacturers for others, Gagan desired to create his personal model. “Regardless of being in a excessive place, I couldn’t make my very own selections. I wished to create my very own model the place I might have the freedom to do no matter I need,” he provides.
Taking a visit down reminiscence lane
His childhood reminiscences, coupled with the persevering with craze for popsicle sticks the world over, led to an thought of making a ‘dwell’ popsicle model.
If pizzas have been being made in entrance of shoppers, why not popsicles?
“Within the US, there are a lot of manufacturers promoting popsicle sticks. In India although, I discovered that it’s nonetheless being bought on the streets. I made a decision to work on making it an immersive expertise, taking individuals down the reminiscence lane,” he provides.
The thought was implanted in his thoughts since 2016-17 and Gagan labored on it for over 4 years earlier than launching the enterprise.
The primary wave of COVID-19 and the lockdown gave him the right alternative to experiment and create these popsicles. In an try to supply a more healthy different to ice-cream, he labored with cooks to create recipes made out of fruits. He additionally bought his crew prepared.
Most significantly, he labored on creating a popsicle machine that will freeze them in a matter of minutes. Months of trials and 4 prototypes later, he had the right machine prepared, which “freezes a popsicle inside 7 to eight minutes in entrance of you with a temperature of minus 31 levels”.
His expertise within the franchising enterprise and QSR (Fast Service Restaurant) led him to develop a string of processes that may simply be replicated throughout shops.
Investing Rs 70 lakh of his financial savings, Gagan began the primary Scuzo Ice-O-Magic retailer in Netaji Subhash Place, Pitampura, New Delhi in November 2020.
Understanding that simply popsicles may not work, he additionally developed gelato, an Italian frozen dessert, in a producing unit. With a view to cater to a wider viewers, the dessert cafe serves waffles, milkshakes, sizzling drinks, sundaes along with popsicles and gelato.
The shop had an amazing response, in accordance with the founder, with individuals enquiring for franchisees within the first three months itself. The primary franchise retailer was opened in March 2021.
At present, Scuzo has 30 shops in 25 cities throughout the nation, of which 27 are franchisees and three are company-owned.
The popsicles begin at Rs 65 a bit whereas the gelato begins at Rs 110. Their bestseller is the chatpata jamun popsicle. Gagan shares that the popsicles are constructed from ‘one hundred pc fruit’. Moreover, in addition they provide shakes, that are served with edible rice straws.
The journey has been removed from clean because the second wave of COVID-19 introduced a halt to his progress. The primary retailer, which was in a mall, needed to be shut down and moved to Noida.
Supply too, is a giant problem, in accordance with Gagan. Most meals supply corporations don’t present the cooling pouch, which has led to only 5 % of gross sales from on-line channels. To fight this, Gagan hopes to start out his personal supply service to make sure correct supply of the popsicles.
So, what was his happiest second? “My father advised me that he was very happy with me as a result of I achieved a lot with out taking a single rupee from him. He handed away in 2021, however he bought to see all this,” he shares.
Edited by Padmashree Pande; Picture Courtesy: Gagan Anand
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