Soumit Saha turns love for food into the "The Hunger Cycle Café"

"When you are brought up in a family which discusses food in 9/10 conversations and are lucky to grow up on 5-star global cuisine due to your mother’s job, a passion for food and cooking will inevitably stick. It was in the Young India Fellowship that I got the idea to open a college café. While city restaurants are always innovating, the college cafes is a format that hasn’t witnessed any overhaul. To feel up to the challenge both skill-wise and financially, I gained experience in a core operations role which honed me in skills like negotiation, people management, data analytics, costing, and finance and supply chain. 

Then, after a discussion with the founder of Ashoka University, who fully supported my passion, I decided that now was the time to start "The Hunger Cycle Cafe". My boss and organization were supportive, even though I was on a fast track growth. It took me 3 months of research, legal work, sourcing and sun-tanning to start the café using my personal savings. My parents have been very supportive as always. It’s been 4 months and the love from customers is what keeps me going. This experience has been the most valuable so far. My key learning has been that the small businesses world is tough because you are small and you have to build relationships with your bigger partners. Staffing in the F&B industry is a huge problem, skill and sourcing wise. Lastly, as a one man show, I have to do things one at a time. It might be slow, but it’s better to focus, finish and move forward. To all those who are unsure of following their passions, the most practical answer is – start young, the risk is little."

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