Kaushik Guha (MBA '07) put his business degree to work by opening his own takeout Indian restaurant, Hakka Bakka, in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
A fresh perspective Quinlan alum Kaushik Guha serves up authentic Indian food to eat on the go • BY TRAVIS CORNEJO
“If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” It was that line of thinking that led Quinlan School of Business alum Kaushik Guha (MBA ’07) to open Hakka Bakka, a restaurant offering his take on fresh Indian street food. While working at EY (formerly Ernst
& Young), Guha avoided nearby Indian restaurants because the options were “too heavy” and not something he could eat on the go. He was looking for something similar to Chipotle or Panda Express, but for Indian food. That’s when his entrepreneurial
spirit kicked in. Guha decided to leave his job as an economic consultant, earn a certificate in culinary arts, and enter the restaurant business.
What inspired you to open a res- taurant after getting your MBA? In my career as an economic
consultant, a lot of my clients were food clients. And it seemed like when dealing with multimillion-dollar projects, restaurants could do no wrong. So I thought, “Why do small restaurants not do well? Why do 95 percent of them fail?” So in addition to wanting a better
Indian food option, I was inspired by professional curiosity about the restaurant business. Eventually I quit my job, earned a certificate in culinary arts, and concentrated on my restaurant full time.
How did Loyola prepare you for a career in the food industry? In my MBA program, there was a focus on entrepreneurship. I remem- ber Professor Michael Welch would get speakers—people who were extremely successful in their indus- tries—to talk about the importance
of entrepreneurialism and small busi- ness. That really influenced me. More directly, Quinlan helped me
get my first job at a firm that normally only hires Ivy League graduates, and I was able to save up enough money to start my restaurant. So if it weren’t for Loyola, I wouldn’t be here. And the program at Loyola gave me enough credits to become a CPA, so I don’t have to hire an accountant—I run the books myself.
What’s the biggest challenge in running a small business? For small businesses, money is always tight. Maybe I’m just too numbers oriented, but that’s the biggest stress factor. How many people are coming in and out? Day to day? Hour to hour? Another challenge is working 18
hours a day. It’s a change in lifestyle; there are no vacations or evenings off.
Even when you’re not at the restau- rant, you are doing things—entering invoices, thinking about marketing strategies, or paying credit cards.
What is the best part? Every time I worked for someone else, I thought things were overly bureaucratic. There were so many layers to decision making. Now my wife and I call most of the shots. Also I can see an immediate impact of my decisions, whether they are good or bad. Working for large corporations, that’s hard to see.
Any advice for someone looking to get into the same field? My biggest advice is you really have to jump into it—there’s never really a right time. Obviously have a plan, but know things will never pan out the way you expect. L
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