From a small thela to 100 stores — MBA Chai Wala is now looking to hire 500 people for 100 more

• MBA Chai Wala is all set to mark its territory in 200 Indian cities by the end of this year.
• The company has expanded to 100 cities like Bhopal, Srinagar, Surat, Delhi and more.
• MBA Chai Wala now also looks to expand in the southern part of the country.

Prafull Billore-led tea cafe chain MBA Chai Wala is all set to mark its territory in 200 Indian cities by the end of this year, generating over a 1,000 jobs.

Billore — a son of a farmer — founded MBA Chai Wala as ‘Mr Billore Ahmedabad’ in 2017 after three consecutive failed attempts at CAT examinations. He wanted to get an MBA college and work at a multinational corporation, but instead he opened a small ‘thela’ cart outside his dream college IIM Ahmedabad.

“Under my father’s pressure, I also took admission in a local college but I dropped out in 12 days. My father got really upset. But I wanted to create my own identity,” Billore noted. His brother Vivek Billore also joined MBA Chai Wala as a cofounder in 2020.

The company has expanded to 100 cities like Bhopal, Srinagar, Surat, Delhi and more — since 2021. It now plans to double that number this year. It is currently opening 10-15 franchise stores on a monthly basis in an attempt to achieve these targets.

Each of these stores are operated under the brand name MBA Chai Wala but will be financially managed by a franchise partner, who also handle all the investments that go into the outlet. The company charges ₹20 lakh on an annual basis to sell its franchises.

Billore claims that the original MBA Chai Wala outlet in Ahmedabad earns up to ₹17 lakh a month. Meanwhile, an average MBA Chai Wala outlet employs seven employees and a smaller outlet provides employment opportunities to roughly five people. Based on this, the company will be generating employment for at least 500 people through its next 100 stores.

MBA Chai Wala has been focusing on expansion in Northern India so far but it will now also look to expand in the southern part of the country, Praful Billore told Business Insider India. He noted that they will launch stores in Chennai, Bengaluru, Belgaum, Goa, Tirupati and more.

“We used to get inquiry [for franchise] earlier too, but we scaled our business, built a name first and then started the franchise model,” Billore added.

The company plans to expand his business across all 1,900 pin codes and 4000 cities in India with a goal to grow worldwide. They also plan to start their own tea-leaf brand.

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