Section 36
Jayaram Banan
Sagar Ratna · Karkala, near Udupi, Karnataka
- ₹3,250
- Weekly rent of the first restaurant · 1986
- About ₹70 crore
- Turnover · 2011
- 67
- Outlets · 2012
The story
Jayaram Banan was one of seven children in Karkala, a village about 30 km from Udupi. At 13, after failing his school exams, he took some money from his father and ran away to Mumbai.
His first job was washing dishes in the canteen of Hindustan Organic Chemicals. Within three months he was promoted to waiting on tables. Eight years later he left as night manager and moved to Delhi, where he started a canteen of his own at Central Electronics in Ghaziabad.
In 1986 he opened Sagar, a 40-seat South Indian restaurant in Defence Colony, paying ₹3,250 a week in rent. In 1991 he took over the eatery Woodlands and named it Sagar Ratna, and in 1996 he began franchising. By 2011 the chain had about ₹70 crore in turnover. That year he sold a majority stake to a private equity fund, and later bought it back to revive the chain.
Timeline
- 1986Opens Sagar, a 40-seat restaurant in Defence Colony, Delhi.
- 1991Takes over Woodlands and renames it Sagar Ratna.
- 1996Starts franchising.
- 2011Turnover about ₹70 crore; sells a majority stake to a private equity fund.
- 2018Has bought back his stake and plans to revive the chain.