PRAFULL BILLORE

INDIA,S MOST ICONIC CHAIWALA PRAFULL BILLORE

Prafull Billore, who started from a roadside tea stall, has now built a Rs 3 crore turnover F & B business 

On the first day he made a sale of Rs 150, and there has been no looking back since as his business took off.

He has tried many new things; including selling tea at political rallies, naming the tea after the programmes initiated by the parties, and by FY 2019-20 the turnover had touched Rs 3 crore.

Prafull’s business model grabbed the attention of the media and an invitation to address the students at IIM Ahmedabad, where he had dreamt of studying once.

His story can be an inspiration to anyone who has failed to achieve their dream and has given up on life. Prafull could not study his dream MBA course, but did not allow the disappointment to keep him down.

He chalked out a new course, dreamt a new dream and now shares his success stories on various platforms to motivate others, when many people his age are still looking for a job!

In fact, he started earning even while studying. While doing his graduation in commerce, Prafull made a mark as an ace Amway salesman earning up to Rs 25,000 per month.

He said that ..

“I was able to balance work and studies because an average student has lot of time in his hands, since he doesn’t have to worry about studying too hard and competing with the toppers,” he chuckles.

He sold products and enrolled new members for the company. But he quit the job after around a year since he found no future prospects in it. That’s when an acquaintance told him about MBA and CAT (Common Admission Test) exams and he decided to give it a shot.

He finally hit upon the idea of starting a tea stall, and borrowed about Rs 8,000 from his father to launch his business. “Frankly, I spent about 45 days to gather the courage to start the tea-stall. I took money from my father on the pretext of doing a professional course on export and import,” says Prafull.

Since he didn’t rent a shop, the investment was low – just Rs 8,000 to buy a few utensils and some tea packets and milk.

On 25 July, 2017, I started my business. Initially, I used to open the stall only in the evening hours between 7 pm to 10 pm. I worked at McDonald’s in the mornings, between 9 and 4,” he recounts, tracing the early days of his journey as an entrepreneur.

Though his was a roadside stall, he differentiated it from the others by serving tea in earthen pots, along with a toast and tissue paper and priced the combo at Rs 30.

He also did a bit of marketing by approaching people sitting in their cars and asking them to try his tea.

“I introduced myself in English and urged them to try my tea. People used to become awestruck at a tea seller speaking English and they purchased from me,” he says.

“I sold five cups on the first day and made Rs 150. The income was good as there was no rent or other overheads.”

On the second day, he sold around 20 cups making Rs 600. Within a month he was selling 10,000-11,000 cups daily. Soon, his family came to know about his business after a YouTuber made a video on him.

Prafull differentiated his tea stall from others by serving tea in earthen pots

Prafull is now a motivational speaker and is often invited to speak at colleges