Jagdish, a hotelier by profession, worked across different countries for 22 years, but could not find that inner satisfaction and launched his own startup. He now goes by the moniker "NRI Chaiwala" and operates franchises across the nation.

Jagdish Kumar is the Director at ‘Corpbite’ and ‘NRI Chaiwala’.

Jagdish says that he belonged to an extremely low-income family. His father worked as a labourer, and his mother used to do several minor jobs to make extra money to support their large family. He attended a government school for his education and used to work to cover his own school fees. Thereafter, he graduated from Delhi University.

During his graduation, he developed an interest in marketing and later got admission to the Institute of Hotel Management in Bhopal. However, it was challenging for him to survive on his own in a completely new city, and he used to work as a waiter to earn his college fees.

Jagdish shares that after completing the course, he got a job and was offered a good package, but he did not find internal satisfaction and wanted to focus more on his career. He eventually quit his well-paying job and joined a company in Manesar, where he might find a platform and connections to grow his career. Gradually, he got a promotion as well as a chance to work outside India, such as in Ukraine and several Middle Eastern countries. He came back to India in December 2018 to launch his own startup.

Sharing his experience, Jagdish says that he talked to many corporate companies, but no one was interested in his idea, so he started his tea stall and named it NRI Chaiwala outside a corporate hub. Many corporate employees started coming to his stall, and while many appreciated him, many made fun of him. He didn't care and continued serving tea.

After some time, the management of the corporate company asked him to sell his tea inside their company, and from there, his journey started, and eventually he opened his first franchise outlet in Noida, where he served 35 varieties of tea. His concept was to create an environment and a taste that would bring back people’s emotions and memories. He also launched an ‘Immunity Booster Chai’ during COVID. Today, this special tea is in demand throughout the country. He aspires to expand his business and reach every household in India.

Jagdish believes that business is all about taking risks and converting your bad times into opportunities. If anyone wants to start their own business, they should learn to be patient, have confidence in themselves, and have in-depth knowledge about the product and its quality. They should also learn how to do right marketing for their product and know about the needs of the people they want to serve. He also advises them to be clear about their reasons for starting a business and to be passionate about their goals.

Jagdish believes that the combination of both education and experience is essential. He feels that the learning that we gain while gaining experience is extremely valuable.

In his free time, Jagdish likes to spend time with his family and think of new ideas for his business.

Jagdish advises everyone to enjoy even the smallest things in their lives.