From Employee to Empire How Prerna Kalra Built India’s Smart-Food Revolution

Things often start with something simple. It can be a moment when something does not go right or we need something that we do not have or we just get curious about something. Sometimes these things are like a spark that sets everything off. The thing that starts it all can be something like a moment of inconvenience or an unmet need or a spark of curiosity, about the things that are going on around us.

Something special happened to Prerna Kalra on a work trip that was really not very special all.

What happened next was really not normal. It was very unusual what followed was not something that you see every day what followed was anything but ordinary.

From Paytm’s 3rd Employee to an Unlikely Entrepreneur

Before Prerna Kalra became a founder, Prerna Kalra was known for something. She was one of the employees of Paytm. Prerna Kalra joined Paytm when the company was still very new and small. At that time Paytm was, like a company that was hungry to grow. Paytm was dreaming of the future of India.

The woman was, around exciting things every single day. She saw innovation all the time. It was a part of her life and the innovation was always there.

The woman saw Paytm become very popular. Paytm started as an idea and now everyone knows about Paytm. Paytm is a name that people use every day because Paytm has become well known.

She figured out how to make systems work get services to be bigger and fix problems that actually happen in the world. She learned how to build systems and scale services so she can solve real-world problems, like the ones people face every day. Systems are what she focused on building.

Prerna was not looking to take any risks. She did not want to start her company.

She was not looking to be called a founder. The title of founder did not matter to her. She did not want to be a founder for the sake of being a founder. The title of founder was not what she was, after.

Life had a plan, for her it seems. Her life was going to take a different turn and life was not going to be what she thought it would be. Life had things in store for her.

The Work Trip That Changed Everything

I still remember that one work trip. It was a work trip that changed everything for me. The work trip was not any ordinary work trip. This work trip changed the way I looked at things. The work trip was an eye opener.

The people I met on the work trip were really nice. They were very friendly and helpful. We did a lot of things on the work trip. The work trip was very eventful. I learned a lot of things on the work trip. The work trip was an experience.

I think about the work trip often. The work trip had an impact on me. It changed my life in ways. The work trip was a turning point, for me. I am really glad I went on the work trip. The work trip was an experience.

On a day when Prerna was at work she had a problem that a lot of people have. She wanted to find food that was clean and fresh like the food we eat at home. She was not, at home. She was out and about so she needed to find this kind of food on the go. Prerna was looking for home-style food.

The cafeterias were shutting down. Cafeterias were closing. This meant that people could not go to the cafeterias anymore. The cafeterias were shutting.

My food delivery was really late. The food that I ordered did not arrive on time. I was waiting for my food delivery. It was delayed.

The healthy food choices were not very many. I did not have a lot of options to choose from. The healthy options were limited.

And anything available immediately was usually junk.

That tiny frustration stuck with her. It was something that she could not get out of her mind. The tiny frustration was still bothering her.

I think it is really tough to find fresh homemade meals. This is especially true for people like office workers and students who're always on the go. They need something to make and eat. Homemade meals are the best. They can be hard to find when you are busy. Office workers and students have to eat on the move so they need meals that are easy to take with them. Fresh homemade meals are great. It can be hard to make them when you are, in a hurry.

We usually. Then we just forget about the whole thing. Most of us do this.

Prerna did not.

The woman asked something.

“What if the solution isn’t a restaurant… but access?”

And that was the beginning.

The Birth of Daalchini — A Simple Idea With Massive Potential

Prerna imagined something she thought about a lot of things and then Prerna came up with this really cool idea that Prerna wanted to try out.

We have these vending machines that are all connected to each other. They can give you meals that taste like they were made at home. You can get these meals from the vending machines at any time and, in any place. The smart vending machines are really convenient because they have home-style meals.

• Not chips.

• Not chocolates.

• Not sugary drinks.

• Real food.

• Warm meals.

• Instant access.

So Daalchini came into existence. This name is really special because it reminds people of the food their mothers make at home in India. Daalchini is a name that makes you think of an cozy Indian kitchen, full of delicious home cooked food, the flavours of home that you get in Daalchini.

But ideas are the easy part.

Building them is the challenge.

Prerna wasn’t a typical risk-taker.

She wasn’t the loud, aggressive startup stereotype.

She was a calm person always thinking things through. This woman was really practical and thoughtful too. She would look at problems carefully and then figure out a good way to solve them. She was good, at solving problems in a way.

That method was successful. The approach that was used worked out well. It turned out that the approach was the thing to do.

Turning Vending Machines Into a Smart-Food Network

This thing that started out as an experiment really changed into something big it became a revolution. What was an experiment, at first turned into a revolution.

Daalchini created an ecosystem where people can do things in a way. Daalchini is making it easy for people to get what they need. The Daalchini ecosystem is, like a system that helps people. Daalchini is the part of this ecosystem.

• Smart vending machines powered by IoT

• Home-chefs and cloud kitchens preparing meals

• Fresh, hygienic food replenished multiple times a day

• Affordable pricing for students and office workers

• 24×7 availability across campuses, hospitals, offices, and public spaces

It was not a business that had vending machines. The vending machine business was something. This vending machine business was different, from what people think of when they hear the words vending machine business. The vending machine business was special.

This food network was really something because it used technology to make things work. It was fast. People could count on it to get things done. The people in charge were open, about what they were doing. It was easy to make the network bigger when it needed to be. The food network was fast and reliable. It was also transparent and scalable.

The results?

Extraordinary.

• From 1 Machine to 4,000+ Across India

• Within a years Daalchini expanded to:

• 4,000+ smart retail vending machines

• 110+ cities across India

• 250 crore+ annual revenue

• Lakhs of daily customers

• Partnerships with corporates, colleges, and hospitals

• Thousands of home-chefs powering the food supply

Prerna did not just fill a gap

The woman created an industry from scratch. She made this industry. It is still around today. The industry she built is really something.

Today Daalchini is the smart food store network in India. It is making food shopping really easy for people. Daalchini is changing the way we buy food making it convenient for a generation of people, in India.

The Lesson in Prerna Kalra’s Journey

Her story teaches us something that every person who dreams really needs to hear:

You do not need a sad or exciting story about your past to be successful. A lot of people think that you have to have something big happen to you in order to do well in life. That is not true. Success is about what you do not about what happened to you before. You can still achieve your goals. Be happy even if you do not have a dramatic story, about your life. What matters is what you are doing with the life you have. That is something that you have control over.

You do not need to wait for the moment.

You do not need to be someone who loves taking risks to be an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is about running your business and that is what matters, not, about being a risk addict. Entrepreneurs are people who start and manage their businesses like entrepreneurs and that is what is important.

A simple problem can really become an opportunity, for something big. When we look at a problem it can actually become a massive opportunity. We just have to think about the problem and how it can turn into a massive opportunity.