As a child, Delhi-based Jyoti Ganapathi would be mesmerised by seeing a huge Truck. When she became a teenager, she longed to open a dosa stall. But like most youths, she was pushed to build a corporate career for herself.

After graduating from Knox College in the United States and completing her master’s in human resource management, she joined her father’s logistics and supply chain company.

Later, she married Satya Koniki, who has a decade-long experience in startups in Silicon Valley and India. The couple shared an interest in cooking and a love for South Indian Food. So, one day, they decided to quit their corporate careers to live their dream.

In 2012, the duo started Dosa Inc, a South Indian restaurant that serves food on a truck.

But it’s not like just any Indian Food Truck. The couple drives to gated communities, residential buildings, and office complexes, and even offers home delivery in the area where the vehicle is parked.

“Instead of waiting for the customers to come to you, take your food to them,” Jyoti (43) tells The Better India. “This unwritten rule is the USP of our food truck Dosa Inc, which serves authentic South Indian cuisine to nearly 50,000 customers across Delhi, Gurugram, and Noida,” she says with pride.

Taking food to customers’ doorsteps

The couple started the food truck business way before the dawn of food delivery apps in the country.

“Starting a food venture was our life-long dream. We did contemplate starting a restaurant, but there were several limitations like investments and selecting the right property,” says Satya.

“Food trucks are a common phenomenon abroad, but in India, it was new. Here, food trucks are the ones that are parked at one location and cater to a specific crowd like office-goers. We wanted more than that,” he adds.

After getting permits and licences, and learning the motor vehicular norms of the state, they invested Rs 10 lakh to purchase the truck and the necessary kitchen equipment. The truck is environment-friendly as it does not cause vehicular emissions.

With their food truck, the couple serves delicious home-cooked food items like rava dosa (semolina crepe), tomato onion uttapam (rice flour pancake), medhu vada (black gram fritter), filter kaapi (coffee), and specials such as bendakaya vepudu (fried vegetable) and malabar parotha (flatbread).

In 2019, they also introduced snacks like murukku (crunchy Bengal gram snack), Mysore pak (gram flour sweet), coconut barfi (coconut sweet), etc which generated revenue even during the COVID-19 lockdown. The snacks are sold at the truck, and one can order by calling them as well.

Over the years, Satya and Jyoti ventured into new areas — from catering to social gatherings and marathon events to corporate shows.

Furthermore, they switched to eco-friendly cutlery. Food is served in disposable pattal (leaf) plates, sambar (lentil-based vegetable stew) and chutney are served in paper cups, and wooden spoons are used. Even the packaging is done in paper boxes. With this expansion, they observed a growth rate of 35 percent.

Jyoti’s mantra helped the couple clock a revenue of Rs 1.5 crore.

If you are interested in starting a business like this, learn all about it from Jyoti herself. In this video, she shares her business secrets, the do’s and don’ts of starting a venture, and her biggest mantra for becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Edited by Pranita Bhat