We often hear stories of people starting small and eventually making it big, but behind every such journey is a lot of thought, hard work and, of course, consistency. It takes understanding the market, knowing your target audience, figuring out what people actually want and then making sure you deliver it.
Gurugram-based Saket Saurabh has had quite an interesting journey. His experience could resonate with many who have wondered what it would be like to look beyond a regular job and build something of their own.
In 2023, Saurabh walked away from a corporate role that paid him more than Rs 50 lakh a year to try his hand at something completely different: momos. He went on to build what is now known as The Momos Mafia, laying the foundation for what would become a much bigger business.
The journey began when he joined his family’s Bamboo Café. The small momo setup reportedly started doing around Rs 10,000–Rs 12,000 in daily sales, giving him the validation to take the idea further. He then launched The Momos Mafia with the aim of building a recognisable dumpling brand, rather than just another roadside momo stall.
The business gradually expanded through carts, outlets and a franchise-led model, and reports say it now has a presence across seven Indian states.
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Saket mentioned, “The Momos Mafia generated more than Rs 5 crore in cumulative revenue within roughly 2.5 years, starting from just Rs 16 lakh in its first three months.”
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Despite the high salary, he chose to take a different route. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Saket revealed that before leaving his job, he had already tested the food business.
Saket’s move into entrepreneurship was not his first. After graduating from NIFT Delhi in 2014, he co-founded a startup called Wowflux.
The idea for The Momos Mafia, however, came from a much smaller experiment. While he was still working, Saket joined hands with his sister and brother-in-law to run Bamboo Cafe in Gurgaon. The menu covered everything from parathas to biryani, but it was the momos that quickly became the biggest hit.
The business recorded revenues of Rs 16 lakh in its first year. Interestingly, it generated the same Rs 16 lakh in just the final quarter of the 2023–24 financial year. The following year, revenues climbed to Rs 2.2 crore, with the current year already reaching the same figure and projections pointing towards Rs 3 crore by the end of the year.
Is there a business idea you’ve been thinking about for a while?
