How is Naru building ₹9 Crore Dhanda?

6 nuances of cracking a small restaurant scale.

May 07, 2024

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Onto the Naru ₹9 Crore Dhanda 👇🏼

The Naru Noodle Bar does ₹9 Crore Dhanda 💰
It has only 20 total seats in the restaurant 🤯
A small Bengaluru restaurant is going big ⬇️

I wrote a piece on Rameshwaram Cafe's business model 2 years ago. The south India restaurant was pulling in crowds to it's Indiranagar eatery. Now, a lot more plays popping up & "Naru" isn't an exception.

So how does Naru model work?

1. Picking a niche cuisine 🍜

Ramen as a food choice is still micro niche in Bengaluru. Please get out of your social chamber & just ask people when was the last time they had a ramen. The focus also allows to serve a lot more "artisan" food.

2. Artisan food insight 💡

Food margins aren't great. The only way to build profits is to sell artisan stuff to a selection of users - The Hilton, Ritz Carlton, Marriott. Naru costs approximately ₹2,500 per person - that's 20X of Rameshwaram Cafe.

3. Limit the supply 🤯

The restaurant has only 20 seats. It has 3 slots that you can book for dinner & lunch. This means it will only serve 120 customers a day. With a ₹2,500 average meal cost it makes 3L a day.

4. Reservations only model 📝

Every Monday 8 PM, online bookings open for the subsequent week to book a table. You can't prebook earlier than that & you can't walk-in. Its insane how this is antithesis to the whole restaurant industry. This ensures over 90% fill rate to what they can serve everyday.

5. Location & product experience📍

Centrally located, its easier to get to from most of the Bengaluru city limits in an hour. This also means it attracts crows across the city. Every single time you go, you will find the consistency in not just food but the whole experience. A $30 meal will need a trustable experience every single time.

6. Extremely high word of mouth 🎙️

I can bet you that out of the 120 people who they serve everyday, atleast 1/3rd post about it on Instagram. A hard to get reservation with the artisan food presentation is just built for IG bragging rights.

That's all for now. I'm pumped to see a local restaurant scale & compete with solid established brands at such a high price point right here in B'luru. Exciting times for small restaurants to pick a niche and build a solid market share.

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