8 Content Hacks to Grow Your Business on Social Media with @ChefAjayChopra | The Ask Avi Arya Show

Started from a very humble beginning as a prep cook in PGI Fridays. And, you know, for six or seven months after being a gold medalist in the college, I would wonder that, you know, am I going to just keep slicing cheese and chopping cabbage, you know, all my life? And those are the questions that were hitting me hard on my.

Guys. Can we all give a big Internet moguls welcome to Chef Ajay Virtual.

Welcome to everyone. How are you? How are you all doing? Thank you so much for the welcome.

Awesome. So, you know, we always start with the hero introduction where we say the shortest. This shortest distance between two human hearts is always a good story. You tell a perfect stranger a good story and you win a heart for life. Ajay, what is your story?

Well, my story, and I cannot say it as beautifully as you do because I think you've become a master in telling short stories, which I'm still learning. But my story is that I came from a very small city. I was born and brought up in and around Delhi, but cities like Sonipat and Alwar and eventually Faridabad, and sometimes when I look back, I see that, you know, it is only God who has helped me to, you know, come bring me to a place where actually it's all about his mercy more than my skill, you know, and. And I just thank God for where I am today because I think this journey wouldn't have been possible if I wouldn't have the energy, the mercy that I could get through so many horrible situations sometimes that I came through in my life. And then I still pursued, you know, and I think pursuing is my story.

Lovely. So, you know, Ajay, I know that I've known you from, you know, from back in the day. And you were, you know, you. You were working in so many hotels. You were known how the master chef happened. Can you, can you tell people about that story?

Yeah. So I think, you know, that that story could take a little bit of time, but I think, Avi, I'll take that time. So, yes, worked in hotels all my life and started from a very humble beginning as a prep cook in TGI Fridays. And, you know, for six or seven months after being a gold medalist in the college, I would wonder that, you know, am I going to just keep slicing cheese and chopping cabbage, you know, all my life? And those are the questions that were hitting me hard on my face. But then I think, you know, the whole idea of, you know, keep pursuing what you really want, and that was because of many mentors that came my way who kind of Helped me, motivated me. And then from there, moved as a commie to Cecil Shimla, then did my ocld, which is, you know, the most prestigious thing that can happen to a hotel graduate in India. And then, you know, life started to journey with different hotels. So I worked at the Marriott for about four years and went to London for about three years, then came back to Goa Marriott. And that's where one afternoon I was just sitting in my office and, you know, I got a phone call. And this guy, you know, gave me a kot, a rough kot, saying that, there's a call for you, Chef. And I said, who's that? So I looked at the piece of paper and it was all dirty with oil marks and everything. And I just read through it, said, it's a PR company. So I called my PR lady, Reena was her name at that time. So, Reena, there's somebody from a. From a production house, wanted to speak to you. And two hours later, she comes back running and say, chef, you know what? This is great. Master Chef is coming to India. So what do I do? And she said, no, they want you as a judge. I said, oh, okay, let's talk. And that's where I think the whole journey began. We went through a gruelsome training to actually become who I am today. I was. I was very camera shy. I was. I was not as good in speaking and expressing myself, but I think that whole journey was an amazing one for me. But more than my whole development, I think what really stood out was that talent is something that is hidden in each and every home. It's just about people need to brush up that talent to really bring that out. And you cannot imagine how much more can come out of you. And that's what we saw in MasterChef. Simple, basic housewives coming in. And in six weeks, they were making croquembouche, which a hotel graduate would make after three years and still not make it well. But these guys just did it after two or three trials and, like, wow, you know, this is not something that they have to go to Le Cordon Bleu for that. But it's just your pure play, dedication, and striving that leads you to where you are. So I was completely encouraged with that.

Lovely. So you're saying keep marching. You don't know the next opportunity could be just around the corner.

Absolutely.

But you know what, Ek Bara, you know, I know you're a deeply spiritual person, and, you know, we connect. You and I connect many, you know, many times on Faith. So the one thing that every entrepreneur asks him or herself is, Kitna, how much should I try and how much should I leave it? How much is enough? You know, like, have you asked yourself that question and have you found an answer?

I think I keep asking that every now and then. I'm sure every entrepreneur does, because, you know, sometimes I would say even Mr. Ambani would say, how much is enough? You know, but I think it's about the striving to the next goal. You know, the moment you hit one goal, striving to the next goal is what keeps you going. And as a human being, that God has made us, you know, he's given us the aptitude and the skill to actually keep striving for more. Whether it's, you know, a simple farmer who's had a bounty this year, the next year, he will make sure that he will invest that money, take another farm, and probably expect another bounty next year. It's as simple as that. So why not? As an entrepreneur, I think about various options, and I think the pandemic was a time where a lot of entrepreneurs actually took stock of what they were doing. And how could they do things better? I was one of them. And I realized that I thank God that I had put my eggs in. In not one basket, but many baskets. And that's how if one basket broke, then the other basket was still going on for me. And today I'm a content creator. Today I'm a YouTuber. Today I'm a, you know, I'm somebody on Facebook because I kept getting, you know, messages from people, hey, we saw you in MasterChef. We're seeing you. Seeing you after so many years. And that, for me was an understanding that people are every day on their phones, but they're not every day on their television sets, you know, so there's a big difference.

I like that.

So I need to be on their phones every single day.

I like that. I love that. Be on the phone. Yeah, they're not on TV every day, but they're on phone every day. I love that. So I remember that your pandemic. And at that time, you while every while the whole world was scared and thinking you had already plans to set up a new studio and you were buying your new gadgets and hiring a new team, and maybe you take in another apartment. And you said, my studio banara videos on Instagram are going crazy. So when everybody was scared and saying, how did you have the guts to, you know, to double. To double down on your efforts?

So I You know, I don't know if anybody in this group of 130 people do believe in the Bible or have read the Bible, but there's a story in the Bible. There are many, but there's a story about this man called Isaac. You know, he was Abraham's son. And Isaac went to, you know, a time where he was seeing famine all around him. And in that famine, he hears God's voice saying, sow and you will reap a hundredfold. Now, the point is that, you know, when you hear this simple statement that God spoke, you know, for men, it's very impossible thought, hey, how can I hear God? But listen, God is alive and he speaks to his people. He wants to speak to his people. It's just like you and I want to speak to one another. He wants to speak to his children. And in that time when he spoke to Isaac, Isaac, in a time of famine, had a hundredfold bounty. And that was the same thing. God spoke to us as in me and my wife, Amrita, through that pandemic, you know, that show in something new. And that's where we got the confidence and we started to just, you know, call every friend of ours and find out what. What is this all about, because, you know, although I was in the industry of the cameras and filming and shooting, but that wasn't my core. But here I was pressurizing myself to learn something new. You know, what softwares do I need to buy for editing, what cameras do I need to buy, what lenses? And then it was a step of faith that is very, you know, I can put this statement. It was a step of faith. And we are seeing, I mean, that it's a time that we've soared. Now we are waiting upon God to bring it a hundredfold. And that's what I think I gathered the faith and courage from.

That's fantastic, because you were creating good content. You were going from hotel to hotel, you were going from event to event. People were calling you. All of a sudden, you realized faster than anybody, because I think pandemic.

True.

And you were thinking of taking a studio before anybody could actually make sense of what's going to happen, when it's going to happen. You were like, I'm going to the next level. So that next level, like you said, required a lot of money. Now, when does that money come back? Nobody knows. But the thing is, social media was always open. So now let's shift gears and go into social media. When did you start believing in this forum, saying that this forum can get you known Reeds and sales.

So I think I'll just go back to 2003, when I first joined JW Marriott. And you know, the. The person there who actually sat me down and spoke to me was my boss, Elton. And he, you know, he said that you have to understand the power of media at that point in time. And I'm sure that you must have come across, you know, chefs like us who would actually hate the PR department because they just take too much time and, you know, they just want too much effort from a chef. Remake this, you know, refilm this or reshoot this. Hey, I don't have all that time. That's what all the chefs would say. But at that time, I realized the power of media. I had no idea that MasterChef is going to come my way or anything like that will happen. But I think, you know, 2013, when social media actually started to, you know, grow, you know, a lot of people spoke to me that, Ajay, you aren't there as much as you should have been, you know, And I told people, I said, hey, listen, it's not me. It's not my personality. I can't blow my own trumpet every single day. And then somebody very senior in the industry, I don't want to name him right now, but very senior in the media industry. And he was almost at the top ranks of O and M. He said, there's a common saying, if you don't blow your own trumpet, people use it as a spittoon. And that statement just hit me. And I said, okay, fine. So this is the business now. Everybody is showing off. I don't want to show off. I want to add value in people's life. How can I add value? Now? I know cooking. I can add value in people's life in cooking. So I can give them hacks, I can give them tips and tricks. And trust me, abhi, I'm not bragging here. But before reels even began, I had already started to showcase shortened content because I realized that people aren't watching it. I put a 10, 11 minute video. Nobody's watching it. The moment I shortened it to four minutes, people just picked it up, you know, So I already made a property called as Jhatpat Kitchen in my Instagram, which was a huge success. So I am shooting a samosa and chutney video. What I did was after I did a re edit of the chutney and I combined six chutneys and I said, you know, so this is how I started to create small content which people Started to really enjoy. Now this is how I added value in people's life because it's IPL time. People are wanting to see a good snack which is not time taking and I can quickly make it. At one point in time I'm servicing their needs of that. On the other hand, I'm also helping them how to plate at home. On the other hand, everybody in Pandemic was wondering when will we ever get back to restaurants? So we did a series of restaurant food, you know, how to make restaurant food at home. Because to be honest, it just needs that, that ingredient and that skill. So if I'm imparting that skill to you, I'm adding value in your life and I think that's what really, really helped us. To answer your question, which I have not answered as yet, when did social media really become meaningful for me, I think it was in the year 2020 March. And I'm being obviously honest. I was on social media, but I was not on social media the way I should have been. But once the Pandemic hit, I really evaluated, re evaluated where I was, what I need to do. And now we are gunning for more.

So now social media is your everyday thing. You get up in the morning, you already have a script, you have a team, you have the camera, you have amazing lights, everything on. How do you script for all of the people over here? There are 134 entrepreneurs and everybody's thinking, so what is your message to everybody? To say how, what, what's, what is the basic structure that they need to get started with everyday content?

So, so the basic structure is this, right? I am sitting with my phone, I don't have much shadows right now. I have a shadow. So I need to make sure that the light is coming on my face. So I don't have a shadow and my face is clearly visible. I need to have a decent earphone or a headset so that my, you know, voice recording is clear. I'm not in a very noisy zone. So I need to hear. I need to understand from my viewers perspective that if he gets to see me talking in a very clear format, which if I'm speaking is going straight into his ear. And that is my responsibility by the way, as a content creator, I can't blabber. I have to get very clear communication. So the crisp it is, the short it is, the better it is. So you can do small bites. So if you want to speak 20 lines reset on those things, on those 20 lines, cut it to 30%, then cut it more Then cut it more till the time you can't cut anything more, and then speak those lines. So I can explain a recipe in just three lines. Take a pan, heat oil, add jeera, let it crackle, put in the dal, you know, so that's how crisp it has to become. Because people don't have the patience or the energy to go through a long talking session. Maybe right now, a lot of people are here because they want to gain that value, and that's why they're here, you know, so it's. It's audience, which is. Has got an appointed time with you and me. But if it was just my time, I'm sure nobody wants to hear this, you know, lecture, to be honest. But we people are hearing this because they want it.

So you're saying Instagram short snackable content so that people can understand who you are and take value back. Yes, in the first few instances. Let's not think about monetizing the audience. Now, that is for Instagram.

What about YouTube? Yeah. So I'm saying, first of all, we have to understand. So as a content creator, I have to understand what these mediums are, right? So, for example, I'm a chef. Why do people come to YouTube to watch me? So I have to understand that very clearly they are not here to look at, you know, how smart I am or how well I'm talking. They are there to learn food. Because if I have to learn food, and this is a research done by YouTube themselves or by many content creators that if you really want to know or learn. So every how to question is not punched on Instagram, not on Facebook, but on YouTube. So how to make it Every how.

To question is not on Instagram or Facebook, but it every how to question is on YouTube. Fantastic.

So somebody very senior in this industry said Facebook or Instagram. So I have to showcase what my best are on my Instagram, because Instagram is short, snappy, you know, not more than one minute. And then Facebook, I can go to about four minutes against snackable content, which is nice and interesting. That I can see. So there's a content creator called Sanjot Khair. You know, he makes amazing videos, you know, and me as a chef, I don't know about everybody else. Me as a chef, I am drooling after seeing his videos, and I want to get to the kitchen and start making those dishes. That's how good your content should be in terms of visuals. But for the beginners, trust me, if you're starting on YouTube, you know, depend on your skill set. Do what you can do best and try add value in people's mind. Don't try to think my YouTube, if that is your intention, you'll probably hit a thousand dollar mark and that's it. Post that will be.

You'll hit a thousand dollar monthly mark.

If at all.

If. Okay, yeah, but, but, but the thing is. So guys, for all of you people who are getting, you know, who are getting inspired by this talk, we today have a guest who is known all over India and now internationally. Not as a. He did not start as a social media content creator. He is a chef. He loves to do what he does. He used the medium to amplify his message and get into everybody's homes. So you can do the same. Because a lot of people say social media, we are not a social media, you know, sort of family. But here is somebody who adopted and adapted to the changes in social media. A because he understood the power, his mentors taught him, his colleagues taught him also because during the pandemic, everybody had to do something. And I loved the story of Isaac who said, you'll have a hundredfold bounty. So with faith, he jumped in. And during pandemic, my biggest respect to you, Ajay, because during pandemic everybody clamped down and said, we believe in God that much. We believe in God. We don't believe in God that much. To be able to invest money now, that required another level of faith. And the fact that you and your wife together took that decision and were in the, in that same boat was fantastic. So moving on, when I want to ask you, when you structure your day, when you go into your studio, can you tell everybody how, what you do, do you script beforehand or do you just randomly go and say aj ma ye batanga and you know, some camera angle, some shots, give us some behind the scenes on what happens behind your show.

Okay, so firstly, I don't shoot every day. I don't even shoot every week. So for my YouTube content, what I do is that I shoot for a month. So I shoot like, you know, I put three videos a week, so which means 12 videos a month. So I shoot about 15 videos a month. And in between that, you know, there might be some brand work that keeps coming in or if I have to shoot something for Instagram or for Facebook. But generally what I do is that when I'm shooting for those three days, I have my master list ready. So, you know, on the same day I will shoot something in a 9 by 16 format for Instagram. So if I'm shooting a recipe for example, my Appam and you know, stew recipe is thumb today. So whilst that was being shot over three cameras, I also shot some shorts, some swipe up stories, you know, some, some behind the scenes. So that when I'm posting my UPAM video next month, I am ready with these snackable topics as well. So I'm thinking a holistic view not just for YouTube but also for Facebook, also for Instagram, even for, you know, a channel called Roposo that I am on. And today we hit a 1 million follower mark on Reposo. Uh, so, so this was just in six months by the way. So thank God for that. So now that is how I plan for my larger shoots but for my smaller shoot. So for example, like I said, Instagram people really want to jump into our lives and see what this guy is doing on a day to day basis. So sometimes I'm just talking about the weather, sometimes I'm just talking about the pakora that I want to eat and so craving for it or you know, somebody like wife made Rajma chawas missing mama. So right now I have, I've just come to my mother's house in Faridabad and I'm waiting for dinner since I'd already promised you this time. But you know, as soon as I finish, I'm going to hit the dinner table and click those pictures and tell people that hey, I'm at mom's place and I'm going to enjoy mum's cooking today. So it's about being real to your audience as well. It's not just about putting another face. Nobody wants to see another face. No, you're not a model, you're not a, you know, a Bollywood celebrity that you have to become then sham one day and Shyam Sundar the other day, you are who you are, you know, so you showcase people who you are. If, if Avi Arya loves to go onto the mountaintop and say, hey, let's go to the mountaintop with my lovely vlogging Sony camera. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna show you from the top. Not just the mountaintop, but also the top of industry. I love that. I love that bite about you because that was you, that was you telling people that, hey, I can do it, you can do it. You know, it's about bringing people to that reality. And today social media's biggest disadvantage is that people make believe a lot of things which are not reality. That's the disadvantage. But the advantage on the other hand is the same people also believe what is true. You know, so it's totally the onus lies on us what we really showcase people. If I showcase that you can make Italy in 10 minutes, but actually I made it in one hour. That's lying to me and lying to everybody else. People have to be taught. That's how I, that's why they will follow. And I made that one mistake. And you know, I thought my butter chicken was the best butter chicken because a lot of people have told me. But unfortunately the day I was shooting, you know, the butter chicken gravy wasn't as thick whilst I'm making it, you know, and I can realize it. So I'm trying to, you know, thicken it myself. But when the edit came, I didn't check the edit. The voice was that. But actually on the visual I can see a thin gravy and I was trolled on that, you know, and that that recipe didn't move because butter chicken is the highest searched recipe on Internet. Every content creator who has made butter chicken has hit a million views like this. But my recipe didn't. And I realized when I read the comments, I said, wow, that's a mistake. People need to be told the truth.

Amazing. So, but I like the research. You know, butter chicken is not only because you, you make, you know, the best butter chicken, but also you realize from a content perspective. 8 million views potential here. So you research content. Can you tell us a little bit about how you research content?

Okay, so that's the most important part of it because it's like putting fuel in your car. You know, you can have the best car at your home, but if you don't put the right fuel then not going to go a long way. So research is based on three topics. One is you have to know that where and which season are you in. So if you are in winters in India and, and I know that 80% of my public that watches me is from India, I can't be, you know, cooking, you know, a chilled mango shake, right? I can't be showing them that. I have to, I have to show them a hot, nice soup or something more with mutton or chicken or something nice and warm, which kind of warms me up. I have to be very conscious about that. So which season I am, if I'm in mango season, I must show mangoes. When a strawberry season, I must show strawberries. So seasonality is very, very important. Then you go to www.Google Analytics.com, right? And you research from Google Analytics what is being most searched. Now in that search you have two options. One's a web search, one's a YouTube search. So you get both the options with you and say, okay, this is what people are doing. So people are finding out more about dosa. I realize I already have a dosa. Hey, but I don't have a rubber dosa. Let's make a rubber dosa. You know that's going to click. So it is fueled up with that click ratio. So more people are shown because Google understands that DOSA is trending. So you made DOSA when it was trending and you got the hits. The third thing that you have to be aware of is when you are putting up your video again, the commonality and genuinity of the content is very, very important. But it's also about what time. So the research is very important. What time are you putting? So there is a heat map that the YouTube analytics gives you. So you have to go through that heat map and it tells you that maximum of your traction comes at let's say 2pm and that's why I'm posting all my videos at 2pm so time seasonality as well as what is trending, these three have to be taken care of. Apart from that, there are tools like TubeBuddy which help you to give the right keywords, you have to have the right thumbnail. And then when you put your video, it is very much possible that it garners great traction. But hey, I must also make people aware that, you know, I have started my YouTube journey only seriously last year. So it is not a one day game, it is not a one year game. It is going to take time. So if I have to hit a million, either you know, I am bad shah that I can hit a million in a month or I have to work my way towards it. Be patient but be consistent. So if I am putting three videos, I keep putting three videos, however hard it may hit me.

And then you. So once you've done all of this, you said you don't shoot every day. So whenever you shoot, you have you send it off to editing and editing.

Happens in the same place where I am sitting. So I have control over it.

So yeah, okay, so you have, you have, you've realized that the investment as a con because that you realize that one part of your aspect just a HR department business make accounting content creation department V in house full time.

So I have realized that because I, you know, I realized that restaurants are not operational. My whole 90% of my time was going in restaurant consulting. I was opening restaurants across the globe and that required me to Travel a lot, but hey, I'm not traveling. There are more restaurants. So let me focus my time and doing this. And that's why I also realized when some people called me and said, you know, I can't figure out making chapati, even after looking at a YouTube video. So what I realized that a YouTube video can only give you this much. You know, it can give you five minutes of, you know, understanding of how to make. But if I had to really learn from scratch, there is a lot of data across the channels, across the web, but no consolidated data for somebody who's a beginner. So that's where we came up with this new business idea where we launched our app called as Cook Academy. And in Cook Academy, we had three levels, Basic, intermediate, and advanced. I must thank you for guiding me through that as well. So, you know, the basic level is called as of cooking. It starts with how to hold a knife. What is the kitchen? What is all about? Then how to make a roti, how to make a paratha, how to make rice, how to make dal. So if you are a new, you know, person who's learning how to cook, or you're thrown off in the US because your parents wanted to do higher studies there, but Wampa Indian, Kana haini, or if you're in Canada, just like Avi is right now, and, you know, you don't have Indian food around you, but you want to cook safe, so you can download the app and learn from the basics, then the intermediate levels are, you know, obviously a little more advanced, and then the advanced level is there. So this app is, you know, obviously there are a lot of players are doing this app, but I'm doing it purely from the perspective where I want to teach people who are in need. So my vision is that tomorrow, if I have to do a restaurant consulting, I can do it sitting in India for a restaurant in Vancouver purely because it's about learning how to cook, making your menu, making your costings. You can do all of it in zoom. And I think, Avi, there's no better example than you who's proved that that businesses, new businesses, can open during this lockdown. And you've done it. So if you've done it, I. I can do it. I can do it. Everybody can do it.

Awesome. Love that. So what's the name of the app for everybody over here? If you. I know all of you people know about Ajay's show, Ajay's Instagram, but if you don't know about this app, I would encourage all of you people to download this app. Can you tell us the name again?

So the name is. I'm actually typing it also. It's called as Cook Academy. On Play Store it's called as Cook Academy. And on App Store you just have to download the My student app. And since it's a third party app, so I have not developed the app. So that's why this so on App Store it's called as you download the My student app and you have to put the org code yxw kv I'm just putting it in the chat box as well.

Y, X, W, K V. Guys, remember this. Get into the app. You're getting it straight from the creator.

There is street food of India. There is Matthias of India. There is baking, baking and intermediate baking coming very soon. There is Italian food, there is Mexican food and a whole lot of basic Indian food. So you will love to learn, you know, the nuances, the recipes and also what goes behind it. So lots, lots to learn.

Before I go ahead, can I tell you the biggest challenge that I'm facing right now, this minute is that I'm trying to go through a 14 hour fast and you just told me what all is available on your app.

I think, I think, you know, they can just look Forward to the 13th hour and 57th minute and yeah, that's what you can.

That's a good one. That's a good one. Ajay, what I love about a conversation that we have is obviously there is a structure to everything. That's how you became, you know, India's Top Chef. But that same structure you put into your videos, you know, like I'm sure many other chefs around the country must be calling you and think all of that. But I know that one thing, that one thing that is always there in everything that you do is faith. And there's another, you know, all of all of these entrepreneurs here are people who work with us in a one year program over digital. We teach different businesses from different parts of India on how, how they can develop digital entrepreneurship. So one question from Swati Naidu is that great, all the amazing hard work Ajay is putting it. But what if your life throws you challenges, you know, every day? Maybe there's, you know, there's something at work or health problem or something in the family that throws you off balance. And I'm sure that happens with everybody. And I wanted to take this question for you because I know that with faith you've powered through every problem in life. So what, how would you answer Swathi's question.

So Swati, I think we have to go back to what Avi started to explain, that for everything there is a structure. You know, God made a structure. He made a day and he made a night. You know, it was a structure in the night we sleep and day we work. That's the structure. Now similarly, the structure of a family is very, very important. That's how God made the family structure. Now in the family, you know, if there is unity between the husband and the wife and the thoughts that they have, there is growth. You know, you always see that when there is no unity, after a while you see the husband or the wife breaking down, right? So that's structure. So I operate with that structure. Now faith enables that structure. Prayer enables that structure. And it helps me to go on every single day. Because without that structure, I fall down. And gay, I fall down. It's not that, you know, I'm all good and everything, but I fall down. But those days I need to go to God and say, God, unless I have your mercy, unless I have your grace, I can't go on. And that enables me. So all you have to do is, you know, even in the kitchens where I used to always tell my, my chefs that, hey, listen guys, not everyone knows everything. So when you're in trouble, all you have to do is raise your hand, raise your hand, somebody will come and help you. But people become shy in raising their hands. There is no problem in asking for help. I wanted help. I asked Avi Arya and I realized he was sitting in Vancouver and I called him at 3:30 in the afternoon. Maybe Guy was sleeping and I'll call you in the night. And then we spoke. We spoke for about two hours. I raised my hand, I said, hey, I need help. I don't understand anything about this. Can you help me? He guided me, right? So you have to ask help. Ask and you shall receive. That's what the Bible also says. So, you know, it's about asking help.

And following the structure and to ask for help from God also sometimes to say, I can't figure it out every day.

I live by that every day, Every day. And I love Avi when you say thank God. You know, I love your post just saying thank God because I think that is something people don't do enough. We don't thank God enough. We don't thank each other enough.

So, you know, I'm going to take another few minutes because I know your mom is waiting for dinner as well and I really, really appreciate you taking the time out. It's going to be breaking news, Chef. So that would be.

This is no breaking news. I tell you, Avi, I am a foodie by heart, by soul, by mind. You know, I can go to gullies to get the best chart. I would be in indore in Sarafa Bazaar for the whole night to enjoy the charts. If you, if I, you know, so I can go anywhere where there is good food.

Lovely. So my next question is, this is not cool enough. This is not big. This will not become big on social media. Business go or apnea value providing whatever business they have, whatever, you know. But you are saying something as simple as. And after that, the celebrity status and the stardom and everything are ancillary. You're not talking about that at all. You're talking about the love for food, the love for teaching people how to make food. So people who undervalue the product or service that they have, what's your message to them?

So I did mention before that if you don't blow your own trumpet, people will use it as a spittoon, which means that you have to believe in your product. Avi, you worked very closely with hotels, and I had this biggest problem with our sales team who started to think that our restaurant just does a menu. I said, listen, you are sitting on the 18th floor. The view that you have, no other restaurant has. You are making the best croissant in the city. Nobody's making that. Now, if you don't believe in your own product, how are you even going to sell it? That was my question to the sales guys. Now this is my question to every entrepreneur that it is good and great to take a stock of things in your business. You have to go back and say, hey, am I doing the right thing? Am I doing the right thing? But do not undervalue your own product, which actually is good. And a good way to do a dipstick test is to just send it free to 10 people and say, what do you guys think about this? Yeah. Unbiased answers. And they will give you perfect answers for yourselves. Evaluate that with what's going on in your heart. Don't just take 100% of that. I never take that. I take 50% of that and 50% what God is putting in my heart. If both of them matches, I'm spot on. I'm going the right way. If they don't match, you know, I work on that product more. That's what I do till the time I perfect it. So it's a balance that one needs to draw between, you know, is My product, great. Some people can just take a bad product and say, no, no, my product is the best. Even that is wrong. So you have to take a stock of where you are, how you are, what is it doing in the market, and you have to take from your learnings that, okay, something's not right. I need to change.

Wow. I love this. This was fantastic. I. You said take feedback because you don't know, but when it comes, use your own heart and gut as well. Don't take everything. You know where your product is, it's your baby. You know how it's doing. So 50, 50, I'm going to use that as well. Because sometimes what happens is you throw out feedback into the market and you get defensive or you get, you know, you. You just go 100% with whatever the, you know, the market is saying. So have a mix of both. I think that was fantastic. So, you know, before we, before we wrap up, I have two final questions. One is, I see that a lot of people know about all your various mini shows within your show. So can you just quickly break down what all there is and what kind of, you know, what kind of shows are there on YouTube and Instagram so people know exactly where to navigate that journey from. From tonight onwards.

So, so YouTube, you know, there is a channel called as Chef Chopla. I had many channels before, but now it's all back into one channel. It's Chef Ajay Chopra. You will see this guy in the blue jacket folding hand, so you can't miss it. On Instagram, it's again, Chef Ajay Chopra. On Facebook, again, it's Chef Ajay Chopra. You know, so I've kept it common so far. Just very ease of finding it out. That's another key that if anybody, any creator wants to use, try and keep the name same so that people are easy to search everywhere. Right? So ask Aviaria is so, so embedded in my mind right now that I don't have to think, you know, so it's Aska VR. So it's like that. And so Instagram, YouTube, Facebook. I am not on Snapchat. I am not on. I'm on Twitter as M. Chef Ade Chopra. That was Master Chef Adej Chopra at that point in time. I've not changed the name, but apart from that, I think there are a couple of TV shows that have been going on right now. So on ZZ, there is India's 50 best dishes. And very soon we're going to start shooting for another one which is called as not supposed to reveal the name though. But yeah, it's coming on on Z Cafe. Awesome, awesome.

So my last question before you go, what is the with all the faith, all the success? See we know whenever success comes in Utnahi doubt like you said, will it continue? Should I put, you know, I've got this much money coming in, should I put it all back for another 5 year, 10 year future? This things, things are always, you know, in motion. What is the next five years? What can, you know, what can India see for the next five years with Shaipajay Chopra? What is your, you know, where are we going to see you?

So you know, I believe in God, you know that by now. But I also practically believe in God in many ways. You know, the book of Proverbs actually teaches me everyday lessons. So the book of Jeremiah says, my plans are higher than your plans, you know, so that's what God says. And when I hear that, then I say, why should I plan? You know, but that's not right. God says you still plan, you know, so that's an order. So what I've planned, I'll share that. But again, you know, as the pandemic told us that nothing can be planned. Whatever you plan can be thrown off. So I'm just going to share what I have planned. So what I have planned is Cook Academy to reach new heights where, you know, it goes to somebody who does not know cooking but also goes to a hotel management graduate where he can learn something more than his college. It also can go to a restaurant here where he can learn, you know, how to make a new menu. It can also go to a small entrepreneur who wants to open a QSR chain. So I'm going to have different models in Cook Academy where, you know, if I want, if I'm a new entrepreneur, I want to open a home chef business. I can do that. I want to open a qsr. I can do that. If I want to, you know, apply for a management training program and I need to learn through the industry skills and traits, I can do that because I'll have general managers and everybody coming in and taking lectures there, management lessons happening there on Cook Academy as well. So this is Cook Academy. Apart from that, I think content creation is something that I'm going to continue. Restaurant consulting is going to continue and I'm in fact we're sitting right now here for a meeting. I'm playing around with the idea of making Indian Mithais glorious. I've always wondered, why does a Fauchon sell their macaroon at €3. Why is a moti chud laddu Never sold above 10 rupees? So that's the change I want to bring. So I want to bring a change where we can take Indian Mithais to a level where everybody can pay good price to it. That market is niche. I know. But then I'm trying to see that.

That again makes it difficult. Those 14 hours. You haven't made it easier by saying that 14 hour fast with talking about this Mithais now. Awesome. But that was fantastic. We let you get back to your dinner. My regards to your, you know, your mom and everybody at home. And guys, for all of us, Chef Ajay has taken the time out for all of you people for the second time within a year. Can we all give a big, big, big thank you to Chef Ajay in the comment box?

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for your friends.

Talk soon. Bye for now.

God bless you.

Thank you. Thank you.