“Life is a game, you live so you play. Follow your dreams and win what your happy heart desires.”
― Roel van Sleeuwen
Rohnit Singh, the founder of one of the most reputed cafe’s, BrewBakes (1) believes and lives by this quote. Each one of us is different and is made to do unique wonders. Some of us, dare to take the risks while others don’t. Rohnit Singh is a person who wanted to live a life he loves and chased his dreams to get a goodnight’s sleep.
A little back in time
“All my family members belong to the service sector and I was the first one who dared to start a business even after failing to do so once,”
says the proud owner.
Rohnit Singh was born and brought up in Jammu. Just like his childhood went by surrounded by hills, he never feared to race after his dreams which seemed to be as high as mountains to the people around him. He had a normal childhood and was brought up with Indian values and culture. He wanted to have the steering wheel of his life in his own hands. Running a business of his own was something he always dreamt about but he somehow landed up into pursuing Bachelors of Technology. Toiling hard to pass with good grades and finally getting placed was itself a hefty task. He finished off with his graduation in the year 2012 and decided to work in a corporate set up for the time being. He worked for seven long years in an IT set up at Gurgaon.
Anyhow, the zeal of owning a place was still somewhere in his heart. He examined closely the culture of Gurgaon. The working of restraints and cafes attracted him a lot. Having a detailed discussion with his friends, he finally decided to quit the IT sector and follow his desire of running a business.
A dazzling new chapter
Rohnit Singh and his four other friends planned to take up the franchise of a food chain. They first tried to open up a place in Jammu itself but they didn’t succeed there. After knocking themselves out for a long time, they all finally concluded to start a branch of BrewBakes in Patiala. Fortunately this time, they got the location they were keenly looking forward to. Then, without having second thoughts, they all began to chalk out the procedure to turn this venture into a success. When they started to put things together, they got a reality check that “all that glitters is not gold”. Planning the process and then finally making it happen are way different things involving tons of risk factors.
Since Rohnit lived in Gurgaon for a long time, he was quite familiar with the culture that was followed there. The concept of conducting open mics intrigued him the most. After having designed the interior of BrewBakes, he was firm enough to give open mics at Patiala a fair shot. Filled with excitement and fear at the same time, he put up the first-ever open-mic in Patiala.
“Our entire team was so nervous with the idea of open mics as nobody had experimented this before in Patiala. The uncertainty of how the audience will react to it was a real fear,”
says, Rohnit.
To their utter surprise, the open mic went so amazing which none of them had imagined. Soon enough, they regularly started to keep open mics and the students of Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology participated in them with great enthusiasm; thus making them a big hit.
They set the trend of open mics all over the city and after them, many more cafes followed with the same idea. The overall response was beyond their imagination by their targeted audience – the youngsters. Slowly and steadily, the place bloomed and earned its name. The people got acclimatized to the concept of a food court with no hard drinks but with a lot more than a cup of coffee. Slowly and steadily BrewBakes got the recognition it deserved. Their customers started to book the place for birthday parties, surprise events and a lot more. But life is filled with ups and downs, and just when everything was going on smoothly came the lockdown.
A rollercoaster ride
The customers they had were mostly students from various universities but after the commencement of the lockdown, they faced a dip. The lockdown forced them to work on double their paces to make both ends meet. Rohnit and his partners didn’t get disheartened and without losing hopes, they came out with several new ideas to expand their audience.
They started a no-cost, no gain system for experimental purposes. To let the families dive in, they started with a scheme of buy one get one free pizza. They were just taking a risk to again make the name of the place from scratch. Luckily, the idea worked and brought record-breaking results. They got orders for numerable parties because of the eye-popping offers.
The silver lining
“I never learnt to do things as much as I did in the lockdown period when I had to cut down my staff and handle it all on my own,”
tells Rohnit.
Earlier he used to have many staff members, but due to the outspread of the pandemic, he had to cut down the number of his staff. He then handled all sorts of works on his own. Be it working behind the cash counter or washing the dishes, he did it all. He was no longer dependent on his staff and felt way more confident than ever.
When he least expected great things to happen that is during the lockdown, it was probably the only time when he was as content as he never was. He has no complaints or regrets of any kind in his life. He took the risks, faced the circumstances and tasted the fruity outcomes after a series of failures. At the moment, he is really satisfied to have created a brand like BrewBakes all from the zero levels. He is now planning out ways to expand it further. Opening a new outlet, targeting the locals and his list is a never-ending one.
The cosiness in BrewBakes
Rohnit Singh tells us that he provides his customers with maximum comfort. Whenever a group books up the place for a party, they allow them to play the music of their choice free of cost, the liberty to dance on the stage and whatnot. They have built a special cosy corner. It has a bookshelf stacked with all sorts of novels for the people who want to read while sipping their delicious shakes. A collection of board games for the young groups who come by and want to spend an enjoyable evening with their friends. This space is loved by almost everyone. They also reserve and decorate the place with all their heart even for two or three people.
Not only the interior but also their food is prepared with the utmost delicacy. He believes that the customers will keep coming only if the quality of the food served is top-notch. They have their head chef fully trained from Delhi, who has magic in his hands who previously worked at Dominoes. Thus, their pizzas are widely appreciated. They invested a huge amount of money in setting up a fully equipped kitchen. The specialities that come from the kitchen are mouth-watering pizzas, loaded wraps and cheesy sandwiches. They only serve non-alcoholic drinks which makes it a place that is loved by the families. They prepare the children’s favourite Oreo shake, heart-winning green apple mojito, freshly brewed coffee and a lot more.
Summing Up
“And two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I took the one less travelled by and that has made all the difference.” –
Robert Frost
Rohnit Singh took a risk with his life by quitting a well-paying job in the IT sector and starting a place where he’ll be the master. He says that just like everyone, his life too had a lot of ups and downs but there isn’t a single day when he feels that he made a wrong choice. He is still learning how to balance all the factors to make BrewBakes flourish but he’s thoroughly enjoying the experience. The lockdown has been in his favour when he got to learn everything and the sales went high. He has gained a lot of exposure in this field which nobody but he has in his family. He’s willing to face all the hurdles that might come in his way with a big smile on his face.
