Avinash Bharwani
The juicy way to wealth, and health.
When business runs in your blood, it should be easier to jumpstart your own revenue stream -- right? Wrong. For 22-year-old Avinash Bharwani, convincing his dad to park some money to launch a health juice bar was more arduous than simply toeing the line in the family business.
"I started off with the family-owned computer hardware and networking institute chain," recollects Bharwani, "but on a trip abroad I became conscious of the fact that health juice bars, which were a common fixture in the West, weren't exploited in India." An alumnus of Mumbai's Jai Hind College, Bharwani started experimenting in his own kitchen with a selection of protein shakes and smoothies.
Figuring that health supplement juices for Indians had never really been marketed, Bharwani seeded his Has Juice Bar with an initial investment of Rs 25 lakh (Rs 2.5 million) that went into acquiring state-of-the-art equipment from the US and special ingredients from Germany. "I found myself a retail store that was strategically located close to a couple of prominent gyms in Mumbai." And "I recovered my costs within a year," he asserts.
But it was a rocky year. The alien ingredients were costly, and paying a premium for a "healthy" glass of proteins or pulpy slush was novel for most customers. "It took several months and many free juice samples to get the taste right. We wanted our customers to realise that our protein shakes and smoothies were complete meals and not just a thirst-quenching source," reasons Bharwani.
Taking the health supplement concept a step ahead, Bharwani's juice bars have special recommendations for customers who have colds and coughs. "There are special fruits and herbs that can be blended into your protein shake to cure health disorders without spoiling the taste," explains this self-taught juice expert.
Busy fine-tuning his latest "express juice" model, Bharwani is now setting up kiosks inside five BPO organisations, and the franchisee model of expansion is working with 12 franchisees already signed up. "You will see company-owned juice bars in Pune and Nagpur by next month, and three more juice bars in Mumbai," he adds. Go drink to that.
Image: Avinash Bharwani shows the juicy way to wealth, and health.
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