The Intrepid & The Ingenious

Kapil Latey (22 years) and Nigel Dyas (21 years),who have recently started off with their own gaming zone called G-Zone,belong to this new breed of youngsters. Elaborating on it,Kapil says,“I knew I had to do something with my life. I just couldn’t see myself working on a 12-hour shift for five days a week in a centrally air-conditioned office. I know it sounds clichéd but I just wanted to do something that I loved and I wanted to make money while I was doing that. It was how I hit upon the idea of starting a gaming zone for people of all ages.”

Speaking more about their venture,his colleague Nigel says,“We both were total novices. Before getting into the gaming business,we went all over the city to check out the various online gaming portals that were up on offer. What we found was there was no space for personalising the experience and also,there were no places where people could just sit and play games on a play station or an X-box. That’s when we decided to open a gaming zone,which not only had the usual online gaming portals but also had personalised gaming consoles for those who wanted to play games individually.”

If gaming has been the forte for these two college graduates,Varun Bhatia (25 years),an engineer,decided to quit his job with a city-based engineering firm and start his own coffee lounge.

“After college,I worked for a year with a city-based tech firm,when I realised that this was not what I wanted to do. In addition to this,I always wanted to start my own business,” he says. “Small or big,I just wanted to be the owner of my own enterprise,so I decided to combine my hobby,which was basically making coffee and then decided to start my coffee lounge. Capo,my coffee lounge,which had a humble beginning 18 months ago,has now expanded to a coffee joint that offers over 100 different varieties of drinks on offer,” he adds.

Another young entrepreneur is Mrinal Kaul (27 years),who has jumped onto the restaurant bandwagon. “I was basically into running my own advertising agency after college but that was just a façade for my real passion which was getting my own restaurant,” he says. “Finally,after saving up for the same,I will be opening my own joint Mystic Momos which will serve various kinds of cuisines for those who love to experiment. In fact one of the main reasons as to why I chose to go into the business was the fact that I have always wanted to start my own enterprise and also it’s a kind of a thank you gift for my father who himself is an amazing chef,” he adds.

As far as the financing for their businesses were concerned,all the young turks have different answers. “We both pooled in all the money that we had made whilst we were in college and borrowed some money from our folks as a loan and then started our business,” says Nigel.

Varun,on the other hand,says,“Everyone I knew was skeptical about the idea. So,I had to go in for a bank loan. It was hard initially to get things moving but they eventually did get started,and slowly but surely,business has been picking up. If not great,it has been steady and good.”

Kapil says,“Getting up on our legs was not smooth sailing,but the one thing that drove us on was our passion to see a small idea take shape and grow into a full-fledged business. “It’s important to give it your best shot and also,enusre that there are no second thoughts about it. No Plan B,as they say,” adds Mrinal.