Episode 20: Building a business

Starting a business isn’t always fun and games, and it is tough, especially in the food and beverage (F&B) industry. The Got Tea team has been working on this business for over a year now, but there is still so much to learn.

Streamlining operations

As the business gains more traction and love from its customers, they have had to deal with challenges arising in the operations. This is the core of the F&B industry, as Yu Sung says, and to be successful, it is essential that the team identifies problems as soon as they arise and adapt quickly and systematically, so that employees can follow along.

To streamline operations, there is a need to keep updating the systems, to reflect the current reality. This also allows the team to determine what is more important at any given time, to the business, and how they can prioritize their needs for their success.

For example, the reason why Got Tea also focuses on this blog is so that they can reflect on their week at the store, the issues they are facing, and how they can possibly solve it. It allows the team to voice their thoughts, and also allows different perspectives on the business to be expressed.

As the business has grown and the team has settled into it, the Got Tea management has also begun to focus more on building the business aspect of things. They have started tracking their costs more closely, and have focused on building projections so that they have an idea and a goal for where the business is going.

Strengthening the team

But perhaps one of the biggest aspects of building a business is human resources – i.e. building a team. For the Got Tea management, this means they do not want to continue with the way things have always been – they want to keep exploring new ways of thinking and operating.

As people who have worked in fast paced environments and have a few years of work experience under their belts, Yu Sung, Armaan and Jo did not want their employees to burn out or feel like the job is mundane. While a job is only a job, it should also be something that supports you, uplifts you and teaches you things. And this is a core value for Got Tea.

This means that the team is building their employees to be well-rounded and multi-skilled. In turn, this helps build the team and diversifies individuals’ skills. The team has also worked to make Got Tea a safe space for their employees. This entails building trust and team spirit, often extending extra support to their employees. Some tangible ways that the management team has done this is by committing to vaccinate staff before asking them to resume their duties in the store and by extending COVID-aid support if employees needed it.

While these may be small things that do not have much of an impact on the outside, to the customer, these are essential in the smooth running of a business, and building internal operations stronger will have a greater impact on the business in the long run.

This journal is an ongoing series tracing the story of Got Tea, the latest bubble tea store launched in India, located in South Delhi, now available on Zomato and Swiggy. Want to know what happens next? Stay tuned – new episodes come out every week!