Food cart business over corporate job? Khadak Singh Da Dhaba CEO shares ₹75,000 + salary warning, risks and rewards

Khadak Singh Da Dhaba CEO Kawaljeet Singh warned corporate employees, especially those earning ₹75,000+, about the realities of entering the food cart business. He highlighted potential profits but also emphasised long hours, market challenges, and social stigma that come with the business.

Khadak Singh Da Dhaba CEO Kawaljeet Singh has cautioned corporate employees against rushing into a food cart business after quitting their jobs, particularly those earning ₹75,000 or more a month.

Sharing his views on X, Singh said many corporate employees feel they are “wasting their life” and believe starting a food cart could offer a better lifestyle. However, he cautioned that the reality of running a food business can be very different from what it appears on the surface.

“Grass is always greener on the other side,” Singh remarked, before listing several advantages and disadvantages that aspiring food entrepreneurs should consider before making the switch.

Why a food cart can be attractive

Singh said one of the biggest advantages of a food cart business is its relatively low capital requirement. According to the Khadak Singh Da Dhaba CEO, unlike opening a full-fledged restaurant or shop, a cart can be started with comparatively lower investment.

He also said that the business does not necessarily require extensive prior business knowledge. Singh noted that a good location can address several major challenges by bringing in a steady stream of customers.

Singh highlighted the possibility of net profit margins of around 10-35% of sales, while adding that family members can help reduce labour expenses. Food carts can also have lower compliance costs compared with full-sized shops.

Affordable pricing may help attract mass-market customers, reducing the need for extensive marketing, he said. Another advantage is flexibility: a cart can potentially be relocated if a particular location does not generate sufficient business, the Delhi entrepreneur observed.

Unlike food businesses that rely heavily on delivery platforms, cart owners can also avoid online commissions and advertising costs, allowing them to retain higher retail margins, according to Singh.

The hidden challenges

However, the CEO said the low entry barrier can itself become a problem, as too many people can enter the business with relatively little capital.

He also warned that a food cart may look like a five- or six-hour evening job from the outside, but preparation often begins in the morning; this can effectively turn it into a 12-hour working day.

Unlike restaurants listed on food-delivery platforms, carts depend heavily on physical footfall. This makes the business vulnerable to weather conditions, while regulatory uncertainty and dependence on local authorities can add another layer of difficulty, he mentioned.

Singh also pointed to the absence of proper rental agreements in many cases, saying a cart could potentially lose its location with little notice. He advised entrepreneurs to maintain enough working capital to survive for at least three to four months, warning that insufficient funds could result in the invested capital being lost quickly.

There is also no guarantee of sales or profits even when an owner works throughout the month, Khadak Singh Da Dhabha co-founder stated, further believing that the business can remain heavily dependent on the owner's physical presence, leaving little flexibility over working hours.

Singh's ₹75,000 salary warning

In another X post, Singh highlighted what he described as a major factor he had initially left out: social perception.

“Cart business won’t ever give you White collar respect,” he wrote, adding that people may realise this only after making the switch.

He suggested, “if you are earning >=75k pm from your job, don’t plan to enter Cart business.”

About the Author

Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers. <br><br> With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for 101reporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations. <br><br> Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’. <br><br> He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune. <br><br> He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP. <br><br> He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X

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