The Backyard : Pilot

Five months ago when we started Froody’s we didn’t have a business model, no big valuation dream, or no fiction on the excel sheet. We were just a bunch of friends, and previous startup mates who had shut down our last three startups, gone bankrupt, and were completely clueless of what we were about to do next.
We came to Hyderabad for a fresh start, and to try to move on from the past. We had burnt all our cash, and days were passing on interviews for MNC’s. We had good profiles and skillsets. But everywhere we applied, we were being called off in the interviews for our profiles coming from startup backgrounds, with the fear of us being unstable and not holding on the job for a long time. Amidst the job trails, interviews and the scorching heat we felt the need of a good juice bar in our locality. We had an immediate requirement to get a revenue source fixed, so we decided not to wait and open up our options with what we were capable of doing. We started by doing a market research for two days and realised that starting a juice bar had good potential. So we decided to go with it.
The final thing we had in our hands to start-off with was credit cards limit and some friend’s phone numbers. We used all the limits of the credit cards and pooled in cash with one of our friends as a loan amount of 50k. So the initial setup was launched, with renting a space near DLF Cybercity with 1.5 lakhs.
We started working on getting our unit economics right and profitability up from day one. We created a menu, researched the recipes, and got the menu sorted in Twenty days. Five days to hunt the location and on the 26th day we were up for the show.
We started Froody’s as a juice bar from a small space of 80 sft with our core value as friends, juices and fun. It was focussed on good customer service, a chilled out environment, and top quality servings. We did that right, and within a month after we started the sales starting shooting up to 2 lakhs per month. In the peak month it reached to 5 lakh a month.

Then monsoon started, and the store was completely closed for a week. In 10 days we did 20 sales and the climate hit us hard. During the journey we realised on a daily basis that with no prior experience with the food industry, our execution abilities as a team together were on point. Whereas five other competitor stores opened up and closed within the same location. We could survive all of them. The store that we started as just a trial and a side income source transformed into the main income source.
Froody’s started as standalone juice bar to serve good quality juices and desserts made from fresh fruits with the motto of all Natural and Healthy.
After a run of five months we have decided to take this business venture to the next level. We sat together again and came up with the core value that kept us going through this tough time; togetherness and culture. It made us survive the whole time, it made the team work together and the customers love us. It is something that naturally exists in us, and the work we are doing is just a reflection of it.

We decided to name it Backyard. An informal place where great food and conversations happen. In our childhood it has been where the family and friends would meet, sit and have good time chilli’n out.
Through backyard we want to break social barriers and bring people of different cultures, race, and religion together.
We want to scale backyard and grow it as QSR plus food chain brand of Indian snacks and beverages. In 5 years we want to serve 1 million consumers every day.
Stay tuned..
