UK Entrepreneur Gajan Umapathy & His Mother Started Rani Mix, A Company Selling Healthy Sri Lankan Sweets & Snacks

"My mum makes amazing food. When we first came to the UK in the early 90s, she started making palagarams for our birthdays and for family and friends. Soon, a lot of people started asking my mum to make it for them and they started paying her even though she didn't at first take any money."

Entrepreneurship

Jul 10, 2022

Ara Ehamparam

Business Owner

Toronto, Canada

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What made you start Rani’s mixture?

My mum makes amazing food. When we first came to the UK in the early 90s, she started making palagarams for our birthdays and for family and friends. Soon, a lot of people started asking my mum to make it for them and they started paying her even though she didn't at first take any money. She was just doing it as a hobby and helping out family and friends. At the time my mum was doing tailoring, flower arrangements, bridal makeup to make money as she was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades since it was difficult to find people who can do this type of work those days. It was when people started to order the mixture not just for celebrations, but as a snack to eat at home as there wasn't anything like it we started selling it to the shops and Rani Mix as a company was born.

How was the decision made to co-found the company with your mother, given it can be tricky to work with family in a business relationship?

Starting a business with siblings or relations could be a problem but it's never a problem when it's with your mum - after all, a mum does everything for her kids. My mum and I have great chemistry and work well as a team so it was a no brainer.

What makes Rani’s mixture different from your competitors?

We make a unique style mixture which is fresh & hand cooked (not greasy) and tastes great. You can have Rani's mixture by hand and you won't need a tissue to wipe the grease off your hands. We believe food should be fresh so we always ensure we only give the shops small volumes and put a shorter "best before" date for the product.

Did you have to do something else full-time (ie. 9-to-5 job) in the early days of the business as it was growing? If you do, what was it and how did you transition over to doing this full-time?

I still have a full time job in IT and have not yet left that. For the business I manage the overall marketing, online order processing but the manufacturing, packaging and distribution is done by my mum and other employees of the company. The problem I have is that I love my IT job and I love the business so I haven't yet made the step to leave my IT job and expand the business.

I noticed that your product is currently available in Whole Foods. That’s amazing! How did you get that opportunity?

The Whole Foods deal was done through a distributor. It looks great in terms of brand awareness as it gives you confidence and a sense of validation. However, when you look at the margins that you pay the distributor and Whole Foods, it's only worthwhile if you reduce costs with economies of scale and are big enough to leave the distributor to go direct to the big shops.

How have you been able to get customers? Is it a combination of targeting individuals and businesses?

Our main customers have all been through word of mouth and people trying the products in the shops. The shops we've acquired by targeting individual businesses and we have some inbound leads who specifically ask for the product. When we launched the online website, the customers were obtained by social media marketing. Most of these customers become repeat customers so that's always great to see and it shows we are doing something right.

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How did you think your childhood or your formative teenage years play a part in you becoming an entrepreneur?

I always wanted to become a business owner and to have something which I can run without being fully involved so it will continue to make money when I'm spending time with family and friends or traveling. I know working a 9-5 will never get you there. However, I always had a passion for IT and my job in IT is also rewarding as I'm always learning new technologies and have a great team at work.

What’s been a failure (or “learning lesson”) you’ve experienced in the last 3-5 years and what did you learn from it?

My passion to expand the business. I went to India, bought some machines to help with the production and spent a lot of money importing it to the UK. However, when it came to actually making the products, the products just didn't taste the same and it was actually faster to do it without using the machines. I learnt that with these machines you need to go there and simply try to make the product using the machines before buying it. It was the same story with some mixing machines and packing machines. An important lesson is that you need to think very carefully before you start spending a lot of money on something for the business. It's okay to take some time before arriving at a decision.

Where do you see yourself in the next 3 years?

I want to get the business running itself with employees only and get my mum off the business so she can relax and spend more time with her grandkids. I would like to double the business and expand across the UK while going part-time in my IT job so I can focus more on the business expansion.

What role has your family & friends played in the choices that you’ve made in your life so far? Did anyone question your decision to focus on this business full-time?

Family and friends are always supportive and love the work I do. I've not yet gone full time on the business and they only ever encourage me to do the business full time as they also see a lot of potential.

What do you do outside of work for fun?

I love going out on family trips with my wife and kids. Running a business, having a full time job and two kids doesn't leave much time for anything else. That being said, I find both the business development and my IT job fun.

What is an insecurity you have?

My insecurity is deciding when to leave my full-time IT job to focus on the business full-time. I'm not sure if I would enjoy the stress associated with only doing the business and not having a guaranteed salary.

In terms of your personal legacy, in a few sentences, describe how you want to be remembered by your family and friends?

I want to be able to be remembered as a successful entrepreneur who is always willing to help others and has made Sri Lankan Tamil food appealing to the mass market.

What do you think you would tell 16-year Gajan looking back?

I would say start a business earlier and take the risk to go big, before other life commitments stop or slow you down later.

What is your favourite book(s) you’ve read recently and why?

To be honest, I don't get much time for reading books but I do listen to audiobooks. Recently I've listened to Sapiens and it's really thought provoking on how the human race has evolved over time. I also tend to just listen to Blinkist which gives me the key ideas from non-fiction books.

What is a new belief, behaviour or habit that has most improved your life?

I'm very laid back and always take things easy. I tend to spend a lot more time with the kids - playing with them and making them happy because soon they will be too big and probably not want to play with you.

What is something that you've splurged on recently in the last year that you have zero regret about?

I love my gadgets and tech products. I recently got a new Samsung Frame TV (even though I had a decent TV already). I have no regrets about this because the TV blends in well with the room and when you are not using it, it just looks like a picture frame.

How has the UK Tamil community impacted you both personally and professionally?

The UK Tamil community and the Tamil community around the world are very inspiring. We have successful people in all areas and it makes you proud to know that they are Tamil. It's also very inspiring and encourages you to want to be successful as well. They are some great role models in the community for kids to emulate.

What is your favourite Tamil food (meal or dessert)?

I love puttu, prawn curry and fried prawns. I also love the sweet version of puttu with milk and banana or mangoes.

What is your favourite Tamil movie?

This is very difficult. I love a lot of Tamil films. I love the old Maniratnam movies like Nayagan and Thalapathi to the new Vikram movie. I also love Bahubali.

What does Tamil culture mean to you?

Tamil culture for me mainly means the traditional Tamil clothes and Tamil food.

*** You can buy their products directly from their website - https://ranimix.com/.***

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