From
Corporate Comfort to Hometown Courage
In 2019, Pradeep Kannan made a sudden shift leaving
behind a thriving career as the operations head at Oracle India in Bengaluru to
return to his hometown of Karur, Tamil Nadu and sell falooda-ice-cream. At the
time, many thought he had “lost it.” He described: “I had the perfect 9-5, good
salary, beautiful family. Society said: You’re settled. But something inside me
wasn’t.”
A Humble
Beginning with Big Dreams
Kannan’s plan was unconventional: start small,
in a small town, with a dessert shop selling faloodas and ice cream. While
others stuck to the safe path, he chose to build something of his own. From an
air-conditioned office and routine corporate life, he stepped into franchise
kitchens and soon set his sights on global shelves.
Rapid
Growth: From One Shop to 18+ Outlets
Six years later, Kannan’s venture The
Falooda Shop has grown from that first outlet to more than 18 stores across
India and even in Dubai. His post on X (formerly Twitter) summed up the
journey: “Small town dreams → AC Offices → franchise kitchens → global
shelves.”
Kannan says the 18 outlets are just the
beginning. He claims he is now working publicly to build what he calls “India’s
next aspirational D2C ice-cream brand.”
Why He Did
It
What prompted such a bold move? Kannan says he
felt something was missing despite the outward signs of success. The comfort of
a secure job did not satisfy him. He wanted to build his own enterprise, be
part of creation, not just execution. His story resonates with many
professionals who feel similarly restless.
The
Challenges Along the Way
The risks were real. Leaving a stable,
high-paying job meant losing security. The food business in a small town
carries its own constraints: sourcing, supply chains, branding, scaling, and
competing with established names. Observers at the time considered the move
unusual. But Kannan persisted. People who laughed at his decision are now
applauding his success.
What We Can
Learn
Kannan’s journey offers some key take-aways:
Going with passion: His
choice shows that following a personal conviction can lead to unexpected
success.
Start small, think big: Beginning
in his hometown gave him grounding while he built out possibilities.
Be willing to take a risk: Leaving a
comfortable job meant embracing uncertainty.
Scale thoughtfully: Instead
of sprawling uncontrolled growth, the brand has steadily grown to 18+ outlets.
Make the brand your platform: Moving
toward a D2C ice-cream brand shows evolution from simply running a shop to
creating a business with ambition.
What’s Next
for the Brand
With 18+ outlets already operational in India
and Dubai, the brand is now gearing up for the next phase: building a
direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand, expanding further internationally, perhaps
exploring retail shelves and global markets. Kannan’s bold ambition suggests
this is not just about another dessert shop, but about making a home-grown
brand with global reach.
In Simple
Human Terms
Imagine you have that “perfect job” good pay, social respect, everything in
place. But inside, you feel something is off. That’s what Pradeep Kannan felt.
So he walked away from his comfort zone, returned to his roots, and launched a
falooda-ice-cream shop. Many thought it was crazy. Six years later, the shop is
a chain across India and Dubai, and a full business with ambition. His story
shows that sometimes the path less travelled can lead to transformation and
that settling for “good enough” may not satisfy the heart.
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