In no time, Cupshup, our small cafe in campus, became an integral part of our schedule in campus. More than subjects/classes, we waited cupshup time! But I guess Cupshup taught us much more than what they teach you in the class. We learnt the theory in class and practical in cupshup But how can I forget, the journey to cupshup was quite an adventurous one!!
It started when I joined this course. But it took 3 long months to just form a team which made Cupshup stand in campus. And once stood, it shook us all!! Accounting, Inventory management, Operational challenges, Organization behavior, Team dynamics, marketing funda, Crisis Management all of it in one Cupshup class!
It was that day of our life in Cupshup class when all four of us thought of an operational strategy which we felt was a breakthrough idea!! And hence we made all the arrangements, starting from getting coupons printed to enhancing the layout of our cafe, for seamless operations (making sure all food items were ready and properly displayed over counters). And then.. We waited! And.. we waited! May be, it was only us who thought that it was a breakthrough approach!! Nevertheless, we learnt it hard way that marketing also plays its role and the ROI can’t be deduced the very next moment! Our operational strategy worked eventually (Word of Mouth did its trick) and people started pouring in. And then there was no looking back…
We skipped classes, we ran in breaks, we took permissions from profs to leave classes early, neither quizzes nor exams could pull us away from cupshup. A customer delight made our day and a dip in sale stirred us! Cupshup made our stay very exciting. Finally after 3 months, Cupshup learnt to sustain itself!
Then one day.., foggy weather, early morning, we, our small cafe and the dog were on duty. No, not our regular duty. Rajkumar (our cook) and chotu (helper) parted their ways. We were on our duty to hunt for new members for Cupshup!!
How could we miss to learn crisis management?! So here we were, wondering what to do with worker’s unrest at cupshup making headlines in IIM L Noida Campus! But as I said, exciting times always stay @ Cupshup and with the help of other stakeholders, Cupshup is back again!
Nothing compares to this experience on the field! And what better than running your own small cafe inside the campus!
Do visit this small cafe Cupshup @ IIM L Noida Campus
Contributed by Vineeta Gupta (Class of IPMX 2012)
