New Delhi: In a remarkable entrepreneurial success story, Saket Saurabh, a Gurgaon-based businessman, has become a rising name in India’s fast-growing food startup ecosystem. Leaving behind a high-paying job worth ₹50 lakh per year, he launched his momos venture called ‘The Momos Mafia’ in 2023 — and within just two and a half years, the business has crossed an impressive revenue milestone of ₹5 crore.
Today, ‘The Momos Mafia’ is rapidly expanding across India, operating on a franchise-based model and marking its presence in seven Indian states.
Quit a High-Paying Career to Follow a Dream
Saket Saurabh resigned from his lucrative corporate job in September 2023, taking a bold step to pursue entrepreneurship full-time. A graduate of NIFT Delhi (2014), he had already gained startup experience earlier by co-founding a company named Wowflux, which was later acquired by FlixStock.
After the acquisition, Saket joined FlixStock as a Product Manager, but his passion for business led him back toward entrepreneurship.
The Idea Began with a Café
Even while working, Saket teamed up with his sister and brother-in-law to open a café in Gurgaon named ‘Bamboo Café’. The café offered a variety of dishes, but it was the momos that became the top-selling item.
This popularity inspired Saket to experiment further.
A Cart That Earned ₹12,000 a Day
To test the market, Saket set up a small canopy outside the café exclusively for selling momos. The response was overwhelming. Soon after, he launched a momo cart at Gurgaon’s Infotech area, which started generating daily sales of ₹10,000 to ₹12,000.
The growing demand attracted office workers and aspiring entrepreneurs who wanted to open similar momo carts — which eventually laid the foundation for a franchise business.
Challenges Forced a Bigger Vision
Despite early success, Saket realized that the cart model was unstable and difficult to scale. The business faced frequent operational issues, including:
- Carts being removed by authorities
- Staffing problems
- Weather-related disruptions
- Limited long-term brand-building potential
After a year, Saket concluded that a multi-crore brand could not be built solely around street carts.
Shift to Outlets and Quick Service Restaurants
In the second year, Saket shifted strategy and began opening small retail outlets, while continuing to place momo carts outside them. He termed this approach the CSR Model (Cart Service Restaurant).
Currently, ‘The Momos Mafia’ operates:
- Around 40 carts
- 20 small outlets
- 2 fully developed Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs)
Business Growth and ₹5 Crore Revenue
The company was officially registered in January 2024, with five partners including Ekta Kumari, Gautam, Surya Prakash, and Shubham Thakur.
The revenue growth has been rapid:
- First year: ₹16 lakh (Jan–Mar FY 2023-24)
- Last year: ₹2.2 crore
- This year so far: ₹2.2 crore already
- Expected this year: ₹3 crore
With consistent expansion and increasing demand, the business has now crossed ₹5 crore in total earnings within 2.5 years, making it one of the fastest-growing food franchise success stories in the region.
A Modern Startup Success Story
Saket Saurabh’s journey is a powerful example of how risk-taking, market understanding, and smart business scaling can turn a simple street-food idea into a profitable and expanding brand.
From leaving a prestigious job to building a nationwide food franchise, Saket has truly proven that sometimes the biggest success begins with the smallest cart.
Discover more from SD NEWS agency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.