Thane Woman Packs ‘Memories Of Home’ In Tiffin Boxes, Turns Her Love For Cooking Into A Business Of Crores

Is there anything in life that makes you heart smile like simple “Ghar ka Khana”? I doubt. It is pure happiness and who better can understand that a person who is away from home. So, a Thane-based woman, who knew she was “meant to become an entrepreneur”, did just that with her food venture, ‘Gharachi Aathvan’, a restaurant that offers home-style food. Gharachi Aathvan, means ‘remembering home’ which specialises in cooking traditional, simple home-cooked delicacies that suits your bellies and also your pocket.

Born and brought up in Thane, now 37-year-old Lalita Patel majored in physics for her graduation. She got married at the age of 20 for love but deep down she wanted to become financially independent. When her husband’s business began to fail, Lalita Patil from Thane turned her love for cooking. As a graduate of physics, she first tried to give tuition and then sell medicines at a pharmacy. But she knew that only starting her own business will give her satisfaction. So in 2016, she invested Rs 2,000 in purchasing tiffin boxes, and another Rs 500 to distribute leaflets for advertising. With this, she began a home tiffin business.

But soon, she realised that people still viewed her as a ‘homemaker’, despite her thriving business. Lalita opined that she knew that to earn respect, she would have to scale the business outside the four walls of her house. “Just because I ran a business from home, people did not consider me an entrepreneur. I was disappointed and wanted to earn the same respect as other working women in the society,” she told the Better India.

But she had no capital to invest. And then one day in 2019, she came across an advertisement for Britannia Marie Gold’s My Start-Up contest. She took the opportunity and won. She received Rs 7 lakh in hand after tax deductions and invested Rs 6 lakh in the restaurant.

The small restaurant was opened on July 9, 2019, and Lalita earned Rs 1,200 that day. Since then, revenue has been increasing – despite the coronavirus-led lockdown in 2020. Today, her business clocks an annual revenue close to Rs 1 crore. She earns a business of at least Rs 6-7 lakh per month. And her husband now quit his work to support her. She has also hired 10 employees who work full time.

Gharachi Athavan’s menu includes vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis that come with roti, vegetables, dal and a sweet dish for dessert. Lalita also offers dal khichdi and stand-alone food items for which the cost ranges from Rs 90 to Rs 180.