The Bar Stock Exchange Opens its Doors for Franchising; Aims to Add 200 Outlets

THE BAR Stock Exchange has recently opened its 12th outlet in India and has plans to expand in the coming time. Mihir Desai, Co-owner of Corum hospitality (The Bar Stock Exchange, Desi Culture, Mr. Baozi) Spoke about his plans in an exclusive interview with BW Hotelier. After successfully launching 10 owned outlets in India, the company has finally opened its doors for franchising.

Brief us about your story, how did you landed in the F&B space?

After our first stint together as partners in Monza (Mediterranean), then Aziano (Pub) and Lemon Grass Phoenix (South East Asian), Amit and I formed the company ‘Corum’ that has, in less than a decade, created three successful and popular brands spanning over 12 locations in Mumbai. Amit Singh entered the hospitality industry soon after finishing his graduation from Mumbai University. Always interested in knowing and evaluating how businesses work, Amit has handled the finance, administration and human resource departments at various companies such as Almanac Hotels Pvt. Ltd, Dolce Vita, BJN Group, Liquids India etc. I have felt the entrepreneurial streak ever since my graduation from National College and jumped head-on into the hospitality industry after completing a bartending course from London. Now, I run over seven restaurants till date and have developed a deep insight into the working of restaurants. Now, on the brink of expanding my current restaurants, I am looking forward to experimenting with newer restaurant types and offerings.

What were the major challenges faced by you?

Keeping operational costs low whilst finding perfect locations. Also, keeping service consistent, since it’s a people-driven business, there are bound to be challenges. Crowd control is also an important aspect that needs to be looked after, at a restaurant.

Brief us about the clientele and how do you plan to target them?

We are organic and consumer-driven in our marketing approach. We intelligently use our application to push out notifications, PR, Social Media, a small section of ATL promotions and offers and deals to communicate new openings, offerings etc. Currently, the market opportunity is huge as there are a lot of opportunities and acceptance and a pool of talent to choose from. However, my strong suggestion to every restaurant is to examine the right rental - that is the biggest effect on your balance sheet!

What makes you stand out from the crowd?

 We have learnt that location is a key player in our business. Also, innovation is as important as the core product, so one must keep upgrading and changing from time to time, experimenting with offers and maintain a keen eye on market trends to cash in on the wave. Also, the customer is the king and you must be open to listening to what he has to say each time and be willing to learn from his/her opinions and behaviour patterns.

Brief us about your expansion plans. 

The Bar Stock Exchange after successfully launching 12 of its own outlets in India has opened its doors for franchising. And in a year we have already opened three outlets. The basic aim is to launch at least 200 outlets via franchising.