7th Heaven Bakery Chain - Q&A With The Founder 

From an online cake ordering service run by a father-son trio in 2011, to India’s largest live kitchen bakery chain in 2022, 7th Heaven’s business trajectory has been nothing short of exceptional. Composed of founders Arjun Chugh and Sanjay Chugh, Arjun’s partner Swati Chugh, and brother Karan Chugh, the core team at 7th Heaven has successfully used the franchise model to expand their bakery venture across 200+ stores in 75 different Indian cities. The bakery chain’s secret sauce to success is each of their outlet’s promise of designing freshly prepared cakes in their LIVE kitchens, and serving them to the customers, all in under 7 minutes.
Team Outlook set out to explore the success story and challenges of bringing 7th Heaven to where it is today, with the chain’s founder, Mr. Arjun Chugh.
 
When did 7th Heaven start, and how was your journey like?

Our journey started back in 2013. While pursuing my degree in psychology, I decided to dive into entrepreneurship. My father- Mr Sanjay Chugh, who has also been an entrepreneur and had business with foreign countries, guided me and my brother- Karan Chugh, to enter into food businesses- by setting up the company ‘Kitchen Fragrances India LLP’ and launching our retail store by the name of 7th Heaven. Swati Chugh- my wife, joined us to help us in the venture. After achieving experience and success in the retail store, we decided to expand through franchisees. Currently, 7th Heaven has 200 outlets in over 75 cities in 21 states of India.
 
What are the values that 7th Heaven would always stand by?
 
Right from the early days to the present times of scaling tremendously, we at 7th Heaven have, without compromise, stuck by certain guiding values. We ensure ethicality in every deal and interaction with our franchise members, as well as customers. Treating our employees with kindness and consideration is another core value here. Even during the most turbulent months of this pandemic, we did not retrench any of our permanent employees, and ensured timely payment of salaries. 7th Heaven’s franchises have played a central role in our rise to success, and in turn, we focus on serving the needs of each of our franchisees 24x7 around the year. We problem solve with our franchise members, and ensure due cooperation from our end. Lastly, the penultimate value at the heart of everything we do at 7th Heaven will always be our unwillingness to compromise on quality and hardwork.

  What was your biggest challenge while building 7th Heaven, and how did you overcome it?

Our franchisee model gave us challenges concerning the standardization of our products and services. We aimed to provide the same quality and experience in all our 200+ stores, from ingredients to recipes and the menu to the customer’s delivery experience. To do that, we needed to adequately train ourselves and our support staff, including our chefs. We deployed support teams at our franchise stores to solve any issues quickly. It took a lot of perseverance, dedication, and hard work to deal with such challenges. We emerged as an efficient system, and we proudly say that we have a great relationship with our Franchisees, with some franchisees owing up to 7 outlets, and more than 15 franchisees owning multiple outlets.

What are your long term goals, and how do you plan to achieve them?

We picture a 7th Heaven outlet in every nook and corner of India and want to become a go-to place for anything that is baked, sweet, and savoury. Although, we sell around 10,000 cakes and desserts daily and aim to grow exponentially, moving everything that comes our way;
Our vision is to be the number one bakery and desserts chain in India and to span across different countries in the coming three years. We wish to become a global brand synonymous with high-quality cakes and desserts. 
We also struggled during the pandemic like many other businesses, but we pride ourselves to have expanded despite the raging global health crisis. We signed about 51 franchisee deals in the year 2021, despite the pandemic, and is a record of sorts.

How come you chose a bakery business when your family business had no connection with the F&B industry?

During my graduation, I constantly devised new business ideas, and I knew I wanted to do something in the F&B space. As I had a natural inclination towards the bakery and desserts segment, I decided to venture into ‘7th Heaven’. I used to analyze the market during that time to understand critical aspects of this business. What particularly caught my eye was the lack of freshness in bakery products, even in big stores. Most bakeries bake their products hours before to display them, leading to stale items being delivered to the customer. I wished to solve this time gap, which led me to the idea of a bakery with a live-kitchen that promises quality and freshness without exception.

 Why do you think 7th Heaven fared better than its competitors?

There is no other bakery chain with the concept of a live kitchen. Quick delivery, freshness, and transparency that 7th Heaven promises to make our customers stick to us. Our extensive menu of bakery, desserts, beverages, and tidbits from different cuisines, gives us a large customer base compared to other F&B chains that specialize in specific food items. Also, we regularly update our menu, which keeps our customers intrigued and excited to try different food items that we offer. Further the designing of our store is very contemporary, which attracts customers. 
The standardization in our franchise model allows first-time franchise owners to run their businesses efficiently, and serve quality and well-designed products. It also gives us a chance to serve society by creating employment.
 
Being a family run business, you must have had unique advantages and disadvantages. How has the experience been for you?

Every person has their own set of skills and strengths that can do wonders for a business if appropriately identified. Moreover, it helps to do a fair distribution of labour, and no one is overloaded with work. Like my father handles finance, accounting, planning and strategy, and Branding, I handle operations and management, and the Training department, my wife Swati handles the operations and management, and HR (Human resources department), and my brother Karan handles Purchasing, Sales and Marketing. 
However, a major disadvantage of a family-run business is the conflict of opinions. If the work/departments are properly divided based on everyone’s skill set, the scope of conflict becomes negligible, which is what we did.

Why did you move to burgers, pizzas and Chinese food when 7th Heaven was traditionally a cake and dessert brand?
 
We strive to become the go-to option for anybody who craves a quick snack and give them a plethora of options. Our focus is to be more than just a bakery and a one-stop destination to satisfy all kinds of cravings. That’s why our menu comprises different types of desserts and cuisines.
 
 What is a word of advice for young entrepreneurs?

In a business, there could be different ways of selling something, but some basic principles should always be adhered to. For example, in F&B business, the taste, quality, USPs, pricing, and management go hand in hand. The smartest entrepreneurs keep learning about these business aspects. Also, persistence is critical to running a business.

Young entrepreneurs should first get rid of excuses because it is inevitable that no problem will solve itself. You must take conscious action, and you can find your way. You can build the road to achievement with a well-thought-out strategy. I feel everything is possible if you have a burning desire to achieve something.