How my Hospitality degree made me successful: Sumit Sharma

Amity University

There used to be a myth in the early ‘90s or even in the glorious days of the 21^st century that the one who studies or opts for Hospitality stream after the senior secondary education will become nothing more than a chef at a local eatery. We may call it a myth or ignorance of people, but the course was better recognised like that only.

People didn’t know about various industries and departments where Hospitality graduates worked. I must say people don’t even know that TATA – a big brand in every segment, grew with the help of its hospitality business. Many of us don’t know even that TAJ Group of Hotels is owned by TATA only and it brings 14% of revenue for the whole company.

It was not easy even for me to opt for a hospitality degree, as I studied Science in HSc. My parents always wanted me to become a medical professional as they were doctors. However, after a lot of efforts, they allowed me to get into whatever I wanted to.

I did a 3-year integrated programme at Amity University and completed my  bachelor’s degree in it. One amazing thing that happened after it was that I got my first industrial training exposure with ITC Maurya- A Luxury Collection, New Delhi.

I was not a 'local chef'. I had learnt all the core departments of the hotel industry that comprise of Sales & Marketing, Front Office, Food Production, Food and Beverage Service and Housekeeping. For the people who are unaware of the fact, hospitality graduates undergo Architectural subjects and Engineering subjects in their course structure as well?

Being a graduate is not the task accomplished. The real life starts when you choose your industry as it can be anywhere. Every company needs a hospitality professional. Working as a professional, I had opportunity to work for hotels, airliners, railways and cruise liners. But these options made me realize that following conventional path can never make you big, you have to do something different. This is when I started a startup in the hospitality sector. Starting in 2015, along with an engineer, I thought of a startup and worked for 1.5 years without even naming the company or brand as we were not ready to be out.

14^th July 2016 it was, when we incorporated the idea under Companies Acts and formed Miniatures Hospitality Private Limited. Thereafte, there was no turning back. We kept on working on the idea and launched our first prototype. We got an investor to invest as well, however, the selling equity was not our thing, thus, we turned down the offer and bootstrapped everything on our own.

Success story can never be complete without a failure, so yes, even we had a great fall and because of that, it made us change the whole structure and idea. The concept didn’t work. We lost our money and time as well, but what we were left with was learning. A learning which will help us now to continue with some other projects, avoiding the threats behind.

Again, we followed an idea used worldwide and we tried to apply it in India. This time, we were lucky, as we became one of the 4500 selected startups all over India by the Government of India. We got a startup recognition under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, and it helped us to enjoy the benefits.

Till now, we are working on the same and soon SIDBI will invest in our project. In the beginning, we used to be two, and now we are 8 monsters. Miniatures is doing good and we can assure that it soon will be a word of mouth for our consumers.

I believed in myself, thus I am moving ahead. People will keep on scolding and criticising you; they will say it in front or say it behind your back, but yes, it is better to avoid them and move ahead slowly and steadily.

I don’t suggest anybody to choose business or a startup over a job. It is not everyone’s cup of tea. But yes, if you feel strongly about it, you can be the next Gates or Zuckerberg. I would say choosing Hospitality was the best thing for me and yes, if anyone thinks that I didn’t get a job or I didn’t have one, so for them, because the name of the college I mentioned, I would like to state that tearing 17 offer letters was even tough for me, but yes, I did it and I am proud of it. Follow your passion and go ahead; the only one who can stop you is yourself.

About the Author:

I am Sumit Sharma, aged 23. Born and brought up in Delhi. I currently act as a co-founder and Guest Retention Head in Miniatures. A hospitality graduate from Amity University, Noida. I spend most of my time in my company and yes, it interests me to counsel new generations about career options. I love to travel and I am a fitness enthusiast.