Small Ideas Big Changes

Idea

Ashit Patel always had big dreams. He wanted to take on the pizza delivery business that was closely guarded by many giants. Patel has been responsible for taking pizza to the masses with his pizzas being less than half the price of the competitor. He entered the market when Domino's was promising to deliver within 30 minutes, and Pizza Hut's weekly innovations were kicking in. But Patel's passion for food and business acumen quickly gave Garcia's a reputation of a chain that delivered very tasty and affordable pizzas.

Business

Ashit had the idea of value-for-money pizza, which over a period of time forced other chains to lower their prices. By making pizza affordable, it revolutionized Mumbai’s taste for the Italian staple dish.
Patel introduced coupons and added meal combinations for inducing movement across the low-movement period of 3 PM to 6 PM. He also christened the pizzas with European names such as 'Spicy Senorita' and 'Italian Lovers', which immediately caused the sales to pick up by 60-70%. In the race to differentiate Garcia’s from the competitors, he introduced varieties like pahadi chicken, chicken tikka and oriental chicken."
He was unrelenting on his insistence on low prices, yet he did not want to compromise on quality. He believed profits would follow if customers were satisfied. Patel was able to charge low prices because he kept costs down. He eliminated several layers of managers. With no time-bound delivery guarantee, each of Garcia's 20 outlets employs just eight to ten delivery boys, which Patel said was a quarter the strength of bigger chains' outlets.
Sticking to small stores without sit-ins kept Patel's overheads low. Based on his start-up capital, Patel was clear that he would build a chain only in Mumbai. Crucially, he was also clear that he did not want to franchise his company, because he wanted to control quality.
SuccessGarcia’s had to fight for survival in the early days. In 2004, Garcia’s first outlet sat vacant. Patel and his crew would wait for the phone to ring, before finally setting off at 3 pm to hand-deliver fliers at every building in the area for the next three hours. But today it’s a different story. Garcia's has outlets all over the city that are strategically located in every business hub, such as Bandra, Malad and Andheri. Patel estimated that the business would have been generating revenues of Rs 10 crore to Rs 12 crore a year before he made his exit late last year.