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India Today
- 2021-12-31
Ajay’s: Making fast food affordable and accessible
Ajay’s Takeaway Food, a chain of Quick Service Restaurants (QSR), is going places. Literally. Built on a philosophy of serving high-quality food at affordable prices, ensuring it is accessible to everyone, the fast-growing food chain from Navsari city in Gujarat is now preparing to expand nationally.
Since starting its first outlet in Navsari in 2014, Ajay’s has achieved remarkable success, but the journey has had its fair share of ups and downs.
“We launched our first outlet in 2012, but it was not branded as Ajay’s. The outlet was doing very well, but the second one failed miserably. The failure got us thinking. We realised successful businesses have their brands, have a niche, and offer something different. We also used the setback to identify the gap in fast food offerings. We felt fast-food chains operated by MNCs were not affordable for a large section of the society and realised that offering branded and hygienic food at reasonable prices was an opportunity. It was challenging; still, we thought of going ahead with our plans, and this is how Ajay’s was born in August 2014,” says Ajay Solanki, the founder of Ajay’s, which is named after him and his elder brother Jaideep, the co-founder.
The unwavering commitment to quality and hygiene and strategy to keep prices affordable, and by 2020, the number of Ajay’s outlets expanded to 21, including its own stores and franchisee outlets. While things were going great, and Ajay’s was working out plans for its next phase of growth, no one was prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic. Like most businesses, Ajay’s too bore the brunt of the pandemic, and from 21 outlets, the number fell to 13 within two months of the nationwide lockdown. Eight outlets simply shuttered.
“It was a big blow. Our outlets nearly halved in that challenging period, but we didn’t lose hope. We knew that we had the right combination of quality and pricing. We had faith in our model, and instead of looking back, we decided to focus on the future,” says Jaideep, who is a mechanical engineer and MBA by qualification.
Ajay’s adopted a multi-pronged approach to scale up operations. It reduced the entry barriers with zero franchising fees and scrapped the 5% royalty on sales. The chain started tapping youngsters, who he feels are willing to work harder, for franchisee outlets. Today, more than 75% of its franchisee outlets are run by entrepreneurs below 35 years, and the rest in the 35-40 age group. Ajay’s also ushered in standardisation of products to ensure customers got the same food taste and experience irrespective of the outlet’s location. These measures also helped reduce fixed costs, improving profitability. They enhanced the use of technology in operations, leading to better efficiencies, and adopted the master franchisee model to scale up quickly.
The result is incredible growth in the last 18 months. From 13, Ajay’s outlets touched 97 on 16th December 2021. In a way, Ajay’s is an apt success story for growth amidst the pandemic. It made Ajay’s become a household name in Navsari, Valsad, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, in fact, the entire South Gujarat where it has an extensive presence. It opened its first outlet in Vadodara in August and has reached 16 already. It expects to launch in Ahmedabad by April or May, followed by Rajkot, simultaneously planning to venture in Maharashtra and subsequently in other states.
“When we started the first outlet, we had not imagined we would have 97 outlets so early. Our focus on taste, quality, and affordability and our commitment to serving good food has helped us reach this milestone. We are thankful to our customers for their love and support,” says Jaideep, adding, “Looking back at the journey so far, we firmly believe this is just the beginning for Ajay’s.”
