Interview Log – A Day in the Life of a Woman Entrepreneur and CEO of FreshMenu

Planning to kickstart your entrepreneurial journey? Wondering what a day in the life of a woman entrepreneur looks like? Do they have a routine or is every day something new for them? 

To help you begin your entrepreneurship journey, we collaborated with Ms. Rashmi Daga to get a glimpse of what is her daily routine as a woman entrepreneur. One of the revered female CEOs in India and a seasoned entrepreneur, she is an inspiration for millions. This blog shares her story of becoming an entrepreneur, roles and responsibilities, skills required, and more.

Rashmi Daga is the Founder & CEO of Fresh Menu, a Bangalore-based online food delivery service that delivers freshly prepared food at your home or office desk. Equipped with a rich experience in spearheading and managing several start-ups and diverse businesses, Rashmi Daga laid the foundation of FreshMenu in September 2014. 

One of the most exciting food tech companies, FreshMenu is on a constant quest to whip-up interesting food options in the kitchens that deliver freshly cooked food to the doorsteps of its customers. With 35 kitchens across Bengaluru, Mumbai, and the National Capital Region, FreshMenu focuses on the concept of ‘fresh’ and offers a different menu every day including burgers, sandwiches, salads, desserts, set meals, and more. 

Ms. Rashmi pursued MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad, and started her career as a Business Manager at IBM in 2003.  She then went on to enjoy successful tenures at LifeScan and TutorVista. She started her entrepreneurial journey with Afday.com and has also worked with segment leaders such as Bluestone.com and Olacabs.

A Day in The Life of a Woman Entrepreneur and the CEO of FreshMenu

1. What was your story of becoming a woman entrepreneur (please talk about your past work experiences, career growth journey, and share your long-term vision)? 

Ms. Rashmi – My long term vision was to be an entrepreneur as I was always attracted to the idea of creating a new way of doing things, creating jobs, and leaving a big impact behind with our work. All my roles before being an entrepreneur helped with immense experience in functions like sales, operations, and people management. Different business domains also help you learn resetting priorities basis the business realities and also plan around short terms and long term goals. 

Check out some online Operations courses and certifications covering operations management and quality management.

 

2. Share in detail about your current roles and responsibilities as a ‘thought leader.’ 

Ms. Rashmi – I am far from being a thought leader and I am learning constantly from varied food businesses and leaders. 

As a young business, we have a lot of responsibility towards our customers, employees, and all the stakeholders. 

 

3. What does a day in your work life look like?

Ms. Rashmi – My days are full of a lot of excitement including meeting new people all the time, trying out new food products and ingredients, solving operational challenges, finding new growth hacks, tracking business metrics. 

 

4. Which business learning skills will you recommend for becoming a successful entrepreneur? 

Ms. Rashmi – Businesses today are very dynamic and all sectors are seeing changes very rapidly. The most important skills would be to build people skills and first principles of problem-solving skills. 

 

5. What expert advice will you give mid-level managers to move on to leadership roles and conceptualize growth strategies like a leader? 

Ms. Rashmi – Learning to take accountability and responsibility for the business outcomes would be the first step in moving towards leadership. 

Explore some online leadership courses and certifications here.

 

6. Tell us about some hard lessons that you have learned to thrive as an entrepreneur. 

Ms. Rashmi – Entrepreneurship could be quite lonely as a journey and you need to find ways to keep yourself motivated in all conditions. I have learned to start each day as a fresh start to learn and do something new. 

 

7. What measure you took to scale up FreshMenu from 1 kitchen to 35 (learnings & challenges).  

Ms. Rashmi – It has been a host of challenges and learnings to scale up a food business including building products, technology, supply chain, processes, and last but not least people who run this business. 

 

8. According to you, what is the scope of food-tech business in India and how will it shape in post covid times.

Ms. Rashmi – FoodTech and especially delivery friendly food has a lot of growth prospects in the post COVID world and we are seeing it with cautious optimism. We are seeing consumer trends of shifting food habits and trusting delivery convenience. Consumers are caring for food that helps them build immunity and overall wellness and we see cloud kitchens as the best equipped to serve consumer needs for healthy eating. 

 

9. Which certification do you hold, and which skill development paths, books, or channels do you recommend for upskilling to aspiring professionals?

Ms. Rashmi – I pursued an engineering degree before going for an MBA at the IIM. There’s a lot to learn from some of the business leader’s biographies and their entrepreneurial journey. Ted Talks and podcasts also have good content to learn from.  

Wondering whether enrolling in an online MBA program will set you up for career success? Read our blog to know what is an online MBA and what you can expect out of an online MBA program.

 

10. Last words – Do you have any expert advice for our readers?

Ms. Rashmi – Follow your heart and keep learning. 

 

Whether you’re diving in to become a full-time entrepreneur, or you’re planning out for a side hustle, you must get ready for the long road ahead. We hope this interview log will help you with a fresh perspective on your entrepreneurial journey!

 

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