Rajat Jaiswal - My Approach Has Always Been Systematic Management And Automation (Cofounder Wat-A-Burger and Founder Keydroid India)

 Without software and technology, it would've been virtually impossible for us to scale. We switched to digital inventory for better stock management, digital stock ordering for efficient warehousing, digital menus for reducing print and manpower costs, digital checklists for operations management, and so on. 

1. Tell us something about your early days & career story.

I was born and brought up in Allahabad, now Prayagraj, and did my schooling in science and math. Post that I did Aeronautical engineering before going to the US to get my pilot's license. My life was always planned as it came and I never really spent too much time planning it in the earlier days. After finishing school, I made a choice in aeronautics because airplanes always fascinated me. 

While studying I cleared a national selection for a cadet pilot program and decided to switch to actual flying. This was also because my entire family was predominantly into business and there was almost little to no guidance on career options. So I took life as it came, one step at a time.

2. Why did you decide to be in the food industry? 

Traveling was a core aspect of my profession as an airline pilot. Traveling brings you close to two things worldwide, culture and food. 

I always had the acumen and interest for business, but food seemed to be a big space with a gap for me, and the start seemed to be easy. Also, during my initial days before flying, I took up an ice cream chain franchise and got a much-needed insight into the industry.


3. What are some of the day-to-day business challenges that you face & how do you overcome them?

The primary hurdle I always have is time and sleep management in my personal life. This has always pushed me to plan a day for better efficiency, which automatically forces me to have a systematic approach toward business. 

There's a standard set of issues and challenges that one would face in the restaurant industry, the primary being consistency in quality and inventory management. My approach to both these has always been systematic management and automation. We moved to a digital inventory system and central warehousing at a very early stage, making it easier to manage these challenges. Secondly, traveling being a core part of my life as a pilot, helps me visit and check stores in real-time and fix issues that we observe.


4. The food industry is a major contributor to wastage; how do you minimize that?

There's not much margin when operating in a QSR format, especially in the pocket-friendly category that we belong to. 

This forces us to do efficient cost control and manage operations to minimize wastage and costs. Some examples are tying up with vendors who purchase used oil for recycling, third-party vendors for partially pre-prepped food to reduce in-store process and wastage, using a digital inventory system to have managed stock control, and larger supply days to reduce storage requirements.


5. How do you leverage software & technologies for business efficiency?

Without software and technology, it would've been virtually impossible for us to scale. We switched to digital inventory for better stock management, digital stock ordering for efficient warehousing, digital menus for reducing print and manpower costs, digital checklists for operations management, and so on. 

Today every single process in a restaurant, actually uses technology to gain better efficiency over traditional systems.


6. How do you stay connected with the F&B industry, and the apps that you use to do so?

It goes without saying that aggregator apps today give you a lot of insight into what the industry is doing at the public level. I use it to check out trends, price points, and competition. 

Even Instagram these days provides a lot of insight into FnB businesses, especially new trends. For all professional engagement, LinkedIn has always been the preferred choice for everyone.

7. What are your future plans?

We've scaled Wat-a-Burger from a restaurant company to an investment company into other businesses, like supply chain management, restaurant construction, consulting, and food manufacturing. We intend to focus more on dine-in and introduce a Cafe model, with more variety and options. 

On my personal front, I've already launched a new startup dealing with my passion for automobiles. We've launched Keydroid, as a primary website for smart car keys, the first in the country to upgrade a traditional car key to a touch-enabled smart key while making www.keydroid.in also a hub for trending accessories for cars and a full range for India's first aromachology based car perfumes under the brand Nerve. We started sales this year in Feb and have made decent revenues in the preceding months with some really exciting plans for the year ahead.


Brief Bio:

I've always believed in the idea of being persistent toward your goal. The first startup, Wat-a-burger! Brains behind the entire project. Food to branding, juggling between everything since day one. Love anything at Wat-a-Burger? Probably gone through me. Deep knowledge of nutrition and food with experience in developing Customer Relations, Restaurant architecture, and Brand Image development.

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Interviewed By - Aarya Gode