Q1. Tell me something about yourself and also tell me about your journey so far.
I strongly believe that I am a huge product of my journey. I am from the small town of Faridabad, Haryana. I largely grew around my maternal grandparents who played an integral role in shaping me. I completed my schooling from APJ school, Faridabad before getting into and graduating Gargi in 2011.
I was always shy as a child. Even though I did participate in extra curriculars, I lacked confidence. In fact, even during my initial days in the college I was a little subdued and inactive, however I feel that Gargi proved to be the right environment for me to be able to work on enhancing my confidence through being given responsibilities, building relationships etc.
After graduation I worked at Deloitte, Gurgaon for 3 years as an auditor. However, I always had a flair for art and painting. I feel many people are clear about their career paths, but in my case I needed some experience to gain more perspective. I did not want to do an MBA. Thus, I finally decided to apply for the Young India fellowship program, which was extremely competitive and I luckily got selected. The experience has a special place in my heart as it helped me expand my horizons by teaching me to think in a multi directional way by improving my critical thinking skills.
Further, I went on to join an NGO in tribal area in Madhya Pradesh which was started by my political economy professor. The NGO had a truly sustainable women’s livelihood program - Kumbaya which trained them to make garments. It was honestly one of the toughest parts of my life both physically and emotionally. My family had their reservations too, and though I will agree that it has not added much to my profile professionally (since I switched fields later), but I can confidently say that those 10 months have truly changed me as a person by boosting my confidence and personality in innumerable ways.
Right after, I joined another social enterprise called ‘Rangsutra’, which worked with embroidery workers and weavers. It was far more structured with bigger and more reputed buyers such as Fabindia, IKEA. However, I still felt the lack of structure in this sector which was hampering my growth as a professional. It always made me feel like I was not making good use of my time and skills due to which I decided to quit after a year. Soon after I moved to Amsterdam with my spouse, which was a move that made me both nervous and excited. I didn’t begin to look for job straight away, and was just searching for sustainability start-ups when one fine day the idea for Tasty Talks came to me.
Q2.What is Tasty Talks and how did you come up with this idea?
During a particularly stormy winter weekend, I was missing pakoras. I had always hated cooking, but started to like it better gradually. So soon, my husband suggested that I start a store in the farmer’s market, but I wanted to have people come to my place for food and conversation. Thus, I ended up randomly posting such an event on facebook.
The first event lasted 4 hours. We had an Argentinian couple come over, who were charged 10 euro each, and we talked in depth about Indian and Argentinian cultures, books, weathers etc. The experience helped me make friends. We are still friends and share a deep genuine connection.
Being an expat with no contacts, it was initially difficult to find some people who would work with me for workshops. I started with a lady who taught how to make dumplings and we soon started overbooking events.
I believe consistency is the key to success. Even in times of failure, we kept going ahead with patience. In fact, we completed 100 events just before Covid hit.
Q3. How has been your three years at Gargi? Share some experiences and memories that Gargi added to your life and that you will cherish lifelong.
We were blessed with some heavily invested teachers and mentors which helped us with both our studies and personalities. I was always told that I had a spark but was underconfident. However, my time in Gargi and the constant support of teachers pushed me to hone myself.
My mentor Ms. Sheila once had me design a folder for a commerce fest. Eventually, it was liked so much that the demand went up to reach about 200 folders. I made a stencil and people were regrouped into teams to achieve this seemingly impossible feat of making 200 folders in 2 weeks. Later I was even given a position in the society without contesting. The brief 2 weeks episode had a lasting impact on my personality.
Q4. Since you are operating your business in various cities of the Netherlands, can you tell us about the official procedure of having a start-up out of India.
I had a visa that allowed me to get a business of my own. Starting it was simple, you just needed to go to the Chamber of Commerce, explain your concept and revenue model and they helped you register it.
As an expat though, being open to possibilities is essential. I remember travelling 10-15 kilometres by bicycle many days in order to attend completely random networking events. This helped me get a a sense of market I was expanding in.
It is also important to comply to rules and regulations. Many times, we are unaware of many new rules, which is how I ended up getting a 5000-euro VAT fine once. Luckily, I talked to some people who helped me get it repealed by writing to the concerned authority. Finding a consultant and asking these questions could also be extremely helpful.
Q5. In order to bring your thoughts to reality one of the most important things must be finance. So, can you tell us how you managed to collect ample finance for your start-up?
Like I said before, I never wanted to do an investment heavy business. My major investment was in form of time and not money. Our basic business model is that we have a 20% mark up and the rest goes to host. It was always important to ensure a good online presence and data base, but business was always profitable from the beginning.
Q6. The covid pandemic has terribly affected the businesses in the world. Please tell us how it affected your start-up?
I was quick to react to the change and to shift to online classes, which was an instant success. Since people did not have much to do during the lockdown, they were excited to learn about new recipes. Covid also helped expand my business and network. It also made it possible for me to bring in experts such as an Italian chef for teaching Italian cuisine to people and so on.
Q7. Now you have a well-established business so what are your upcoming goals for your start-up?
My goal now is to expand to all cities in Netherlands as soon as possible. I also wish to open an office in India, and there I am mainly aiming to work with home cooks. I would love to work further on the concept of dinners and theme nights as well. Lastly, I also want to set up team and get funding to grow and expand further now.
Q8. We all know that having a unique idea is a different thing and bringing the same to reality is a farfetched task and it becomes more challenging when it comes to food, so how many unsuccessful attempts were involved to bring Tasty Talks to this place.
I’ve had many unsuccessful attempts before Tasty Talks. I had a start up before this, which started during my fellowship days as I was required to do a live project for it. So, I started an ethnic footwear business along with 4 batchmates using the help of the street cobblers of India. Unfortunately, the group dynamics did not work out and we eventually had to close.
This time I started alone with only some help from others. I have had to be careful during this time. Even with this business there are times when the business takes a hit. For instance, in the summer, business takes 50% dip in Europe, due to which no one was signing up. Also, some times the promotion hasn’t been done right or people just are not interested or there could be many different reasons for people failing to sign up.
In conclusion, I would say I have had my share of both good and bad days. I have had minor failing in learnings along the way, but I believe it is all a part of the process.
Q9. After some point of time, we all get a saturation point in our life but we can see it's nowhere in your life. So, what keeps you motivated all the time?
I just am filled with this feeling that there’s so much more to achieve still. Though we are an established business in Amsterdam, but I feel the idea still has the potential to grow further and reach new heights.
Recently, I had a break and came to India. I feel it is essential to have a healthy balance, especially when you have a good idea with potential for growth that keeps you from getting saturated. I love the happiness Tasty Talks brings to people. This is my passion, and I love seeing it grow. In fact, I would go as far as to say that Tasty Talks is what has taught me what the word passion really means. I have a lot of repeat customers as well and we are attracting a good crowd, and it just fills me with hope and excitement for the future.
Q10.Would you like to give some insights to those who are also planning to go on the same track?
I feel it is important to observe your surroundings and just be open to any possibilities if you do want to set up a business abroad. In my case, I used to hate cooking before, and now I’ve built a business out of it so I guess I would say it is also important to never say never. A great idea might be there with you all along and you might have never discovered it, but travel often helps you rediscover yourself and to gain some perspective.
I also feel some distance from others helps you consider what you really want to do which makes it easier to pursue to what you really believe in. It is also important to realise that many barriers are just internal and to not be too judgemental or self-critical.
Lastly, to anyone wanting to open a business, I would suggest doing something related to the care industry for children and elderly as it is going to be a much-needed service in years to come. In general, just give yourself a chance to innovate and rediscover yourself.
Highlights
Manasi is a successful entrepreneur with a business named Tasty Talks that is currently based in Amsterdam.
An alumnus of Gargi college, she went on to secure a place in the Young India Fellowship program that helped shaped her critical thinking skills.
She was also a part of two NGOs before she moved to Amsterdam, which is an experience that she feels has greatly helped her.
In Amsterdam, she soon registered her business and started her first event through a random post on social media.
Soon she found that people greatly showed interest in this new concept and business began to grow.
While the pandemic has created hardships for many, she feels that her quickness to respond to this new situation has actually helped enable her broaden her clientele and expand business.
Completing 100 events just before Covid-19 hit, Tasty talks has seen both good and bad days, but it is Manasi’s passion for the work that she does that keeps her moving forward
She now wishes to expand her business to every city in Netherlands as well as have a branch in India where she hopes to work with home cooks.
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