This story is about Prafull Billore (MBA Chaiwala), whose dream was to pursue MBA from a reputed college and acquire a hefty package. But this dream was not fulfilled, but he did not give up.
He started with a small job with McDonald’s, and later, opened his own venture. He began with a mini tea stall at the roadside and today his unique style has made him a topic of discussion all over.
His work was appreciated on social media and he got recognized worldwide. Today he is an entrepreneur as well as a motivational speaker.
He is called upon to deliver motivational speeches in colleges, institutes, and schools, along with “IIM Ahmedabad” from where he wished to pursue his MBA.
Failure paved way for success
The story of Prafull Billore begins from a small village in Madhya Pradesh where he used to live. His father desired for him to get a good job by passing the CAT exam and pursue an MBA from a well-reputed college.
Like an ordinary middle-class teenager, he adopted his father’s dream as his own and reached Indore to fulfill it. He was too, attracted to the hefty package offered after the completion of the MBA course.
He started living in a PG in Indore and also did a 6-month English speaking course. Along with this, he started preparing for the CAT which is considered to be one of the toughest exams in India. For this, he forgot everything and studied all day having numerous cups of tea. He considered tea as his companion.
But unfortunately, even after three attempts, he did not succeed in the CAT exam. He was not able to score the percentile required to get into an MBA college of his choice. It was not admissible for him to do an MBA from any other college.
He was completely disappointed and was not able to find a way ahead. He felt like his world has ended.
Prafull Billore — First job in McDonald’s
He left behind his dream of pursuing an MBA and set out to explore India. He went to cities like Bhopal, Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and finally reached Ahmedabad, where he felt being at home. He found the place quite interesting and thought of doing something in Ahmedabad only.
On the other hand, his father was pressuring him to complete his MBA. But after visiting the city he found the people very friendly and nice and wanted to stay there.
Prafull could not figure out what to do and was confused. So, he grabbed a job at McDonald’s restaurant for ₹ 32 per hour. After some time, he also got promoted but was not satisfied with the job. He always wanted to open his own startup.
He got to learn a lot working at McDonald’s. He met new people every day and learned many business tricks along with humility, courtesy, and etiquette.
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After working there for 3 months, he thought of starting his own restaurant but the required investment would cause a big risk, and he did not want to do so.
Dream big and start small
Prafull Billore thought to start small, as he believed in “Dream big, start small and act now“. Prafull lied to his father and asked for ₹ 8000 for a course instead of a tea stall.
His father agreed and sent the amount, as he wanted his son to study well. He did not want to lie to his father, but he did not want to hurt him either, by informing him about the setup of the tea stall on the roadside, so unwillingly he had to lie.
Then he bought the required material for making tea but was still confused about what people would say about him. He thought he would be criticized for selling tea after going to pursue an MBA. He kept thinking for the next 45 days.
Ultimately, he dared to open his tea stall on 25 July 2017 from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm on the roadside. In the morning, he continued to work at McDonald’s from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, and then sold tea in the evening.
English Speaking ChaiWala
On the first day, he could not sell even a single cup of tea, so he decided to approach people directly. He went to the people sitting in the cars parked nearby and told the specialty of his tea in English, and asked them to try it once.
He would also ask for suggestions from people. He was selling tea with a completely different approach. He served tea in a clay cup, with tissue paper and toast at ₹ 30 for the combo.
Gradually, people showed a keen interest in the English speaking chai wala and his style of vending. His sales started growing as there was no extra cost.
He had read somewhere that “बेस्ट लोहार है टाटा और बेस्ट मोची है बाटा”. His philosophy was to do something unique, that no one has ever done. That is why he wanted to do the best in his tea business too.
English-speaking chai wala became a point of discussion in social media. People started looking for him. His growing sales and popularity were begrudged by the tea sellers nearby. He was forcibly removed from there.
Now again he faced the same problem, what to do? He had already left McDonald’s. But he did not give up. His old customers started looking for him and that motivated him to start again.
Now he set up his tea stall outside a hospital, but this time he paid the hospital for installing his stall, so the same problem does not occur again. Slowly, his fan following grew and he was famous all over social media.
MBA ChaiWala
Now, he started working with a different strategy. He dedicated a corner in his stall where he had put up a job board. The tea drinkers, who were unemployed, were asked to leave their names, telephone numbers, and qualifications on that board and the employers who needed employees would contact them.
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In this way, unemployed people would get jobs and this was also a good way of marketing for his tea shop. Now there was a need to give a name to his shop, for which Prafull wanted a different and unique one.
Many names were suggested, but in the end, he liked the name “MBA Chaiwala“, which meant Mr. Billore Ahemadabad. Many people used to make fun out of him, but he did not care for them and would continue to work. Now his tea stall had become famous all over.
Some of his achievements include:
- He was called into local events, rallies, entrepreneur programs, high tea parties, and crowd campaigns all across. He became the people’s perfect choice.
- He organized a “Kaam wali chai” campaign for the Delhi government.
- After the floods in Kerala, he went there and launched the campaign “Let’s chai for Kerala” and donated the proceeds from selling tea to the flood victims.
- Last year, on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, he also offered “Free Chai for Singles“. People used to present offers for couples on this day, but they presented this offer to singles.
- He also formed an NGO for women empowerment, blood donations, and other social causes. He used to donate his earnings from the tea social event to the victimized and needy people. In this way, within 2 years, Prafull Billore organized more than two hundred social events.
Gradually, he launched his own restaurants and started giving franchises. At this age, people of his age find jobs for themselves, but on the other hand, he has provided employment to 30–35 people.
Recently, he has been interviewed and covered by large media giants. Prafull Billore’s story was covered by BBC, ZEE, AAJ TAK, INDIA TV, CNN etc.
In his motivational speech, he says,” No work is small. Every great work starts from a small step, so do not panic while doing any work. Do not think or bother what people would say”.
In this way, Prafull Billore became the 2nd most famous Chaiwala of India, providing employment to many people.
To know more about Prafull Billore, please check:- Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Website.
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