Q1. Tell us something about yourself.
My name is Gaurang Gadia and, I'm the co-founder of FOMO Brews, on a mission to uplift the lifestyle and consumption choices of people without compromising on taste. I'm in my second year at Hansraj College, pursuing economics honours, and am also the president at TEDxHansrajCollege. I'm also the head of business affairs at the E-Cell, Hansraj College. Both Avik(co-founder) and I have been athletes for major parts of our lives and are avid sports lovers. Avik has played tennis professionally and, I've played cricket professionally at National and State levels. Sports certainly have a lot of influence in starting with FOMO.
Q2. Where did the idea of FOMO come from?
The idea stemmed from my athletic life. Also, we are foodies and athletes at the same time. So, we are constantly looking for healthy foods and drinks. When Avik and I went out in the market, we found out that there are no soft drinks that are tasty as well as healthy. We took some learnings from there. It was the problem that we were facing ourselves, and we wanted to find the solution to our problem, but we couldn't, so we decided to solve it ourselves.
Q3. What was the escalation moment for FOMO?
We started ideating about the venture in March-April,2021, and officially started just before Diwali. The peak of our career was when we got the confidence that this drink is something that we can work with. Said confidence came to us when we sold the drinks in a gourmet store. Since our product is an iced tea, December is a month when the sales are low but, we had a turnover of 45 percent. We kept 15 bottles in one store and got repeat orders in 4 days.
Q4. What were some of the struggles that you faced while launching your venture?
Our mission is to bring forth the revolution of healthy sugars. We as a company believe that we need to move away from sugars towards healthy sugars. So, the first challenge was recipe development. I taught myself food science and started experimenting in my home. Avik, who handles the operations and the supply chain would arrange the raw materials for me. So, we started experimenting on what was working and what was not. That's how we came up with our recipe. We also set up our makeshift production facility in Avik's garage. As we know, the beverage industry is very capital intensive, and we being students were bootstrapped. We did not have the funds or the investors to arrange much capital. So, instead of going to a factory or any other setup, we established our makeshift production facility and figured out the whole process in that very domain.
Q5. How are you managing your personal and professional life?
At times it gets tricky. I am managing three things at the same time, TEDx, the start-up, and another college society. The start-up is my brainchild and a lot of time goes into it. Ironically, the pandemic has been helpful, if it weren't for online college, I wouldn't have been able to devote such time. So, the academic part gets balanced since it's online. I faced a bit of a problem in the months of April-May when we had just started. We were in the process of experimenting and developing the recipe. During the day, I was working for TEDx and ECell, then in the evening, Avik and I were talking to the industry experts who could guide and mentor us, since we were fairly clueless about the industry. Through the college societies, we knew a bit about marketing and sales, but how to start, we were not sure about that part. After that, at night, we were in the kitchen developing the recipe. But it was not a hassle because we were doing something that we enjoyed.
Q6. What are your learnings from this journey so far?
My first learning is that always focus on what's next. That is, always having a long-term vision. The second learning is in contrast to this one. You need to execute the task at hand before anything else, you have to build day by day. I came to understand that the beverage business is seasonal as well, so there were days when the numbers dipped. From November to December our sales were low. During such times you just have to trust the process. Trust the brand that you are building and, work on other backhand works like operations and managing the supply chain. The third thing is that I'm still in the process of learning teambuilding. I feel that great brands are built by great teams. Initially, it was just the two of us, but now we have expanded our team and will continue to do so. For that, we have to find the right people. It is like the wheels of a car; every member is pivotal for the team's growth.
Q7. How did you manage the investment aspect of your venture?
Being students running a start-up, we just bootstrapped it. We did not invest much, just enough to start the production facility. Apart from that, we invested in the registration and the licenses.
Q8. What advice would you like to give to others who want to start their journey in entrepreneurship?
From my experience so far, the first tip would be to just start. If you have a vision or an idea, even if you are a student just start with it. This is the right time because what do you have to lose? You are starting from zero. My next piece of advice is a follow-up of this one. Running a start-up or an entrepreneurial venture is like writing code. When you write a code you will find a bug, then you debug it, and then, you will find another one. Similarly, in a start-up, you will have to make pivots and, you should never be afraid of them. You will have small failures, but your start-up journey is a collection of failures. It is an endeavour that collects all those failures towards bigger success. My third tip is that sail through it. Be scrappy, hustle, and always remain positive.
Q9. Where is FOMO headed in the near future?
I would like to take FOMO Brews to a commercial setup. Taking it to a level where we find good investors. We want to have a tangible growth rate, and grow in terms of real revenue. We are also on a mission to create a portfolio of "better for you" products.
Highlights
Gaurang Gadia is a second-year Economics Honours student at Hansraj College, Delhi University. He is the co-founder of FOMO Brews.
He is on a mission to uplift the lifestyle and consumption choices of people, without compromising on the taste.
His athletic life planted the seed of FOMO in his mind. He along with his co-founder, Avik ideated about the venture in March-April,2021, and officially started near Diwali, 2021.
The biggest learning from his start-up journey is to have a long-term vision. Along with having the trust in the brand that one is creating.
His advice to fellow entrepreneurs is to take action on their visions. Also, in a start-up, one will have to make pivots and one should never be afraid of them. He believes that a start-up journey is a collection of failures. It is an endeavour that collects all those failures towards bigger success. One must simply sail through it, be scrappy, hustle, and always remain positive.
He wants to take FOMO Brews to a commercial setup. Taking it to a level where they find good investors, tangible growth rate along with growth in terms of real revenue.
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