… also called “Fuchka bibhrat”.
Not sure how to introduce the concept of “fuchka” to anybody uninitiated in this delicious snack. But if you have ever seen “Gol gappa” or “Pani Puri” in an Indian restaurant, you will know what I am talking about. It is sold on the roadside under highly suspect hygienic conditions. However, the taste trumps all and religiously my brother, sister, brother in law and myself go ever evening to a nearby roadside vendor here in Kalyani and partake of about 10 of those or so.
This afternoon, everybody was sleeping except my brother, brother in law and myself – so, for over two hours we debated extensively around the whole business model of selling “fuchkas”.
Essentially, we needed to estimate total revenue and margin levels. My brother and I were on two extremes and my brother in law was desperately trying to avoid taking any sides.
The analysis was intense – we had to get a scale (ruler) to estimate the volume of a “fuchka”, estimate how many “fuchkas” a standard size potato would fill, the size of the full container the vendor brings. We even applied time and work estimates around statistical distribution of customer flow, average serving time per “fuchka”, overlap period of one customer eating and the next customer being served. Finally, we had to review the formulas for volume of a frustum of a cone (his container), a sphere (“fuchka”), packing factor and so on.
After so much of precision, my brother and I came miles apart in our answers 🙂 I have 75% gross margin on average sales of 600 “fuchkas” per day with a revenue of around Rupees 2,25,000 per year. My brother came at 50% gross margin on average sales of 1500 “fuchkas” per day with a revenue of around Rupees 6,00,000 per year. Both of us agreed that the full container has around 2000 “fuchkas” when totally filled.
Finally we called truce over a cup of tea and agreed to ask the vendor this evening what his real numbers are. I am highly suspicious if he keeps any real accounts though!
It was a great way to spend some stress free quality time with my brother and brother in law though 🙂
You want to take any guesses?