Mr. and Mrs. Jagannath returned from London to Nepal and ventured to open Bodhi Books & Bakes where people sip coffee reading books with their utmost privacy. Breaking the stereotypes in the family that educated people should not do small business, they opened this venture with innovation and its uniqueness.
About Bodhi Books & Bakes
Bodhi Books and bakes was initiated on 2015 A.D with the concept of giving a proper homely environment in a coffee shop where everybody can feel comfortable with any business they are doing. It was initiated after the founders Mr. Jagannath and his wife returned from London and planned to do something in own motherland.
Bodhi books and bakes is different from any other typical coffee stations. As long as you stay there in the café you can enjoy the aroma of books and sip and bite of coffee and bakes. You can feel the homely environment like “home away from home”. There is a cozy couch where you can work a whole long day. You can focus on the work and passion you are wondering about as the environment here is quite silent and peaceful. They believe in no disturbing policy. “I started this policy as I think every coffee shop should have the peaceful environment where people can enjoy their work in silence as I also used to search those kinds of ambience in the coffee stations.” said the founder.
Bodhi Books and Bakes has an impressive section for the coffee and the book lovers as there are lots of category of books. This is also another factor where the customers get more attracted. There are lots of categories of books like Nepali pieces of literature, English fantasy fictions, classics, non-fiction, romantic. You can pick one of the books you like and enjoy your day in soft couches with a respect to your privacy.
Inspiration & Initiation
They had this unique idea for the coffee shop as they wanted to make a space where the customers can enjoy the sip of their Nepali coffee with the gossips with the friend or with extracting some pages of books. At first, they didn’t start thinking it as a proper business but rapidly with the growth of the customers they sustained in the business where the customers loved their new idea of sipping a coffee. They use the available resources of Nepal in their business where actually they are promoting the cultural and traditional values in their coffee shop.
Problems Faced
As they were new in this work they had to face a lot of family pressures as there is a traditional thinking of the society that the one who is educated should not get involved in little business. Another huge problem they faced was a massive earthquake in Nepal in 2015 A.D. which occurred after two weeks of opening the shop. They literally had no idea what to do with the business as everybody was shaken by the earthquake. After slowly and gradually the distress problems solved they slowly came into the track again but again another no lesser than the earthquake, Nepal-India blocked effected their business a lot.
Customers Response
“Talking about the customers, they are happy with the ambience and the service that we provide to the customers and many customers are returning back to back. The customers who visit café feels another kind of excitement as they find much humble environment inside than they expect. They love the organic coffee we provide them, they feel like a homely environment here. Most of the readers spend hours of time here enjoying our books and the coffee. Most of the customers come here to enjoy the delicious bakery items we provide to them” said Mr. Jagannath.
Future Plans
“I’ve thought of expanding the size of the shop where the customers can get even more ambience.” Says Mr. Jagannath. They were new to this business world as they were involved in journalisms and took a risk to start a business with a unique idea, “It was our learning point, it is like our school who taught us about the business. We are learning more and trying to give our best to our customers.” said the founder. They are expanding the list of the bakery items as well where the customers can have a variety of choices.
Message to Youths
“Everybody in the society pushes to go abroad or study further but what I want to say is implementing the creative idea which you have in time is the best formula to be successful in future. The education system, political factors and socio factors don’t have too much flexibility in Nepal but you have to fight and get independent on time. If you give a dedication to the work that you are doing it will surely bring the reflection in the future. So, do whatever you want to do in a right way in a right time the success will run behind you.”
Presented by: Rojal Rajthala
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