BS People: T.J. Venkateswaran

Stepping into a new domain

This will be ex-SAB-Miller-hand T.J. Venkateswaran's first innings as an entrepreneur, but he is raring to go.

The former director, sales at the second-largest beer company in the country, will be setting up a chain of micro-breweries or brew pubs in cities such as Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi under the brand name TJ's Brew Works. His firm is called Rian Hospitalities.

The first one to get off the block will be an outlet at Pune, says Venkateshwaran.

For the 48-year-old, father of two, being an entrepreneur is the culmination of a long-cherished dream. "I have always wanted to do something on my own," says the man who has spent close to 25 years in the fast moving consumer goods and alcohol industries. Firms he has been associated in the past include Marico and PepsiCo.

At SAB, which he joined in 2002, Venkateshwaran handled various assignments including that of director, operations, north, and director, operations, central, before becoming director, sales. His association with the firm also coincided with SAB's first decade in the country. It set up shop in 2000 through a joint venture with Narang Breweries in Uttar Pradesh. From then to now, SAB has covered much ground, acquiring Mysore Breweries, which gave it the Knock Out beer brand, as well as that of Shaw Wallace brands Royal Challenge and Haywards besides Foster's India operations. Venkateshwaran, as part of the core team, was there at every step of the way as SAB made these moves. Peers say that he is a people's person, who is capable of the delivering goods in every role and assignment.

His current one though is not going to be easy. Brew pubs are still evolving in India. While the concept is new, Venkateshwaran says, it will grow. A brew pub literally means that the beer is brewed on premises. And cities such as Gurgaon in Haryana and Bangalore in Karnataka are fast seeing the emergence of such outlets. Gurgaon, for instance, has Rockman's Beer Island and Howzatt. Bangalore, has the Biere Club.

Venkateshwaran says that the gameplan is to set up at least 7-10 brew pubs in the next five years. He has also put in place a strong team comprising people from the hospitality, alcohol and consumer goods industries to help him achieve this objective.

Ravi Wazir, a hospitality industry veteran, who was part of the start-up team that launched the popular Olive Bar & Kitchen in Mumbai, will be chief operating officer at Rian. Ex-Levi's hand KV Rajashekar, will be chief financial officer, while ex-chief brewer at SAB, S Cariappa, is a consultant on board.

Venkateshwaran also claims to be adequately funded for now, putting his own capital and using bank borrowings to get his business started. "I will look at private equity investment, but not at this stage," he says. "That will take time."