Can I spend 5 days just exploring South Goa. Would request people to share off beat places for couples. Travelling from 11th July to 16th July. Also recommend if I should include North Goa as well, I can make changes in my plan. I just want to relax in this trip.
I took help from chatgpt to articulate it well. Please hear me out. Previous post link is here[here](https://www.reddit.com/r/StartUpIndia/s/ZUKf47WiHz)
I’ve been wondering where to even begin this, because the last month has been a rollercoaster. But here it goes.
I live in Manikonda, Hyderabad, and about a month ago I decided to start a small chaat business as a side income along with my IT job. It sounded simple in my head. It wasn’t.
Every day, I used to roam around for almost an hour on my bike, searching for a shop to rent. Most of the places on the main road were quoting ₹70,000+ rent with 5–6 months advance — completely out of my budget. Still, I wanted a visible location, but reality had other plans.
One day, while exploring inside a lane (not on the main road), I found a small shop where someone had run a chaat business for just a week and shut it down. That caught my attention.
I met a few people there — the food court owner, a nearby tiffin shop owner, and eventually the previous tenant. The previous guy was in IT too, well-connected, confident, and very convincing. He told me the location was great, that he’d support me with contacts, and that I should take it forward.
Honestly, I got swayed.
I ended up buying all his setup for ₹1.08 lakh — a chaat counter, a steel table, and some basic utensils — mostly because I trusted that he would help me. Then I paid ₹1 lakh advance and agreed to ₹20,000 monthly rent.
That was just the beginning.
Next came hiring — I found a chaat master for ₹900/day and a helper for ₹500/day. Meanwhile, I was struggling with something I never expected to be this big of a problem: getting a commercial gas cylinder.
No agency was ready to give a new connection. For days, I ran around asking people. Eventually, I had to rely on temporary arrangements — one cylinder from the food court owner and cooking prep using my home gas in the workers room which I got 1.3kms away from my shop. And in our home, we(me and my wife)are relying on electric stove.
We were literally cooking chutneys, samosas, vada, everything at home.
I also rented a small room for the workers, about 1.3 km away. For a few days, I was juggling everything — my IT job, dropping workers, transporting food — it became exhausting very quickly.
Then suddenly, that room owner asked us to vacate because he got a better offer. For 8 days I paid 5,000 and vacated the place.
Under pressure, I rented another place just 200 meters from the shop — ₹10,000 rent with 3 months advance. I paid it out of desperation, without even a proper agreement.
Finally, we opened the shop on March 31st with a small pooja. Our first day sale? ₹934.
I still remember that number.
Within a week, the nearby tiffin shop shut down due to the same gas issue. But soon, a new tiffin and snacks center opened right next to us — selling idli, dosa, samosa, aloo puri, and more.
That hit us hard.
Our daily expenses are around ₹4,500–₹5,000. But our sales?
Weekdays: ₹1,500–₹2,100
Weekends: ₹2,000–₹3,500 (earlier), now down to ₹1,500–₹2,000
After they opened, even weekends dropped.
The biggest issues I’ve faced:
Location: The shop is 70–80 meters inside from the main road. Footfall is low.
Gas problem: I still don’t have a proper commercial cylinder connection. I’ve had to literally beg people for cylinders. It’s frustrating and humiliating.
Competition: The new snacks shop next door overlaps with my offerings and affects sales.
Costs vs revenue: I would need to 3x my sales just to break even. Profit feels out of reach.
Overpaying & inexperience: I rushed decisions and overpaid for setup, boards, and equipment. I should have negotiated better.
So far, I’ve invested around ₹4 lakh.
In one month, total revenue: \~₹50,000.
It’s been mentally and financially draining. What started as a side hustle has become a constant source of stress.
At this point, I’m seriously considering shutting it down.
Maybe this just wasn’t the right move. Maybe I underestimated how tough the food business is — especially without local connections.
I’ll probably go back to focusing fully on my IT career and figure something else out.
I’ve been maintaining daily sales and expense records — happy to share if anyone’s interested.
If you’ve been through something similar or have advice, I’d really appreciate hearing it.
Below is page for all my expenses till now
Below is my daily sales for the last one month
I took help from chatgpt to articulate it well. Please hear me out. Previous post link is herehere
I’ve been wondering where to even begin this, because the last month has been a rollercoaster. But here it goes.
I live in Manikonda, Hyderabad, and about a month ago I decided to start a small chaat business as a side income along with my IT job. It sounded simple in my head. It wasn’t.
Every day, I used to roam around for almost an hour on my bike, searching for a shop to rent. Most of the places on the main road were quoting ₹70,000+ rent with 5–6 months advance — completely out of my budget. Still, I wanted a visible location, but reality had other plans.
One day, while exploring inside a lane (not on the main road), I found a small shop where someone had run a chaat business for just a week and shut it down. That caught my attention.
I met a few people there — the food court owner, a nearby tiffin shop owner, and eventually the previous tenant. The previous guy was in IT too, well-connected, confident, and very convincing. He told me the location was great, that he’d support me with contacts, and that I should take it forward.
Honestly, I got swayed.
I ended up buying all his setup for ₹1.08 lakh — a chaat counter, a steel table, and some basic utensils — mostly because I trusted that he would help me. Then I paid ₹1 lakh advance and agreed to ₹20,000 monthly rent.
That was just the beginning.
Next came hiring — I found a chaat master for ₹900/day and a helper for ₹500/day. Meanwhile, I was struggling with something I never expected to be this big of a problem: getting a commercial gas cylinder.
No agency was ready to give a new connection. For days, I ran around asking people. Eventually, I had to rely on temporary arrangements — one cylinder from the food court owner and cooking prep using my home gas in the workers room which I got 1.3kms away from my shop. And in our home, we(me and my wife)are relying on electric stove.
We were literally cooking chutneys, samosas, vada, everything at home.
I also rented a small room for the workers, about 1.3 km away. For a few days, I was juggling everything — my IT job, dropping workers, transporting food — it became exhausting very quickly.
Then suddenly, that room owner asked us to vacate because he got a better offer. For 8 days I paid 5,000 and vacated the place.
Under pressure, I rented another place just 200 meters from the shop — ₹10,000 rent with 3 months advance. I paid it out of desperation, without even a proper agreement.
Finally, we opened the shop on March 31st with a small pooja. Our first day sale? ₹934.
I still remember that number.
Within a week, the nearby tiffin shop shut down due to the same gas issue. But soon, a new tiffin and snacks center opened right next to us — selling idli, dosa, samosa, aloo puri, and more.
That hit us hard.
Our daily expenses are around ₹4,500–₹5,000. But our sales?
Weekdays: ₹1,500–₹2,100
Weekends: ₹2,000–₹3,500 (earlier), now down to ₹1,500–₹2,000
After they opened, even weekends dropped.
The biggest issues I’ve faced:
Location: The shop is 70–80 meters inside from the main road. Footfall is low.
Gas problem: I still don’t have a proper commercial cylinder connection. I’ve had to literally beg people for cylinders. It’s frustrating and humiliating.
Competition: The new snacks shop next door overlaps with my offerings and affects sales.
Costs vs revenue: I would need to 3x my sales just to break even. Profit feels out of reach.
Overpaying & inexperience: I rushed decisions and overpaid for setup, boards, and equipment. I should have negotiated better.
So far, I’ve invested around ₹4 lakh.
In one month, total revenue: ~₹50,000.
It’s been mentally and financially draining. What started as a side hustle has become a constant source of stress.
At this point, I’m seriously considering shutting it down.
Maybe this just wasn’t the right move. Maybe I underestimated how tough the food business is — especially without local connections.
I’ll probably go back to focusing fully on my IT career and figure something else out.
I’ve been maintaining daily sales and expense records — happy to share if anyone’s interested.
If you’ve been through something similar or have advice, I’d really appreciate hearing it.
Below is page for all my expenses till now
Below is my daily sales for the last one month