Cycle Gap ‘la’ chilling

CHENNAI: While Chennai’s nightlife is still considered to be in its nascent stages, it’s one of the few sectors that has witnessed steady growth over the past decade. With restaurants, pubs and resto-bars cropping up across the city almost overnight, it takes a lot of business acumen and ingenuity to not just survive but thrive in this field. These four men of Cycle Gap — Raghu Raman, Nanda Kumar, Vishal Kumar and Pradeep — make it look like child’s play, and have figured out how to do it right. Excerpts follow:

How did this collaboration happen for Cycle Gap? 
Raghu Raman: We four used to party together.
Pradeep: We used to gather at Illusions when he (Raghu) owned it. Nanda, Vishal and I used to go there with our friends often. Raghu would socialise with us. I do not drink; still a shocker for my friends. So I kept on looking at how the business works. Then, I approached Raghu (with the idea to start a new one). Raghu wanted us to do it together; we then pulled Vishal and Nanda in as well. In 2016, we set up the first outlet in Bengaluru. Then, the Chennai one followed. 

From Illusions to Cycle Gap, the transition is quite drastic. What influenced the change?
RR: It was just us evolving with the times. During the time of Illusions, there were only three to four outlets in the city. Now, it (the business) is more area centric — centred around Adyar, Anna Nagar, Nungambakkam. So Cycle Gap is more like a neighbourhood bar.

It must have taken quite a lot of faith to band up with friends and dive into such a risky market. How could did you manage that?
RR: (We managed because) we are very transparent with each other — be it Rs 1 or Rs 1 lakh.
Vishal Kumar: Trust…that’s the only answer I can give you. 
P: We function autonomously. There is no approval required for Nanda to handle the accounts; he does it himself. And we do clash over things but we want the clash to happen. 
Nanda Kumar, VK, RR: That is what is good for business. 
P: We will fight for an hour, maybe. Then, when we step into the smoking room, we sort it out. Or it will get solved over a drink. 
RR: It’s all forgotten once we leave the table.

What keeps you running, outside of Cycle Gap?
RR: I’m professionally a doctor though I serve a different kind of medicine here. I’m not practising yet. I have a construction business as well.
NK: I’m a builder; I’ve been in the construction business for 10 years now.
VK: I’m a sportsman by birth! I used to play cricket for about 10 years; I’m into squash as well, and I play snooker. 
P: I would call myself a technopreneur. I own an IT company and a retail e-commerce website. My wife was in the textile industry — a product specialist. We combined that with my experience with technology and took that to the e-commerce level. It has been doing well for a long time now. I also got into building material trading.

Amid all this work, how do you unwind? 
P: I don’t have time to kill! The only thing I look forward to doing is spending some time with my daughter and wife. My daughter waits up for me every night; that is routine before I go to sleep.
NK: I travel. But more importantly, I try to learn about the new technologies in the construction industry and the trends in the hospitality industry. 
RR: I usually take a break once in three to six months — for at least a week. I travel with my family to someplace in or outside the country. Besides, half the Sunday is dedicated to my family.
P: We plan a trip outside India at least once a year. Other than that, we do all these devotional trips.
VK: Whenever, here and there, I have the time, I take off. Besides, sports is my thing.
P: I’m more into workouts. Every day, I make sure that I hit the gym. 
RR: I have a habit of reading newspapers; I read three to four papers every day. It’ll be a bad day for me if I do not get to read them.

Being in the hospitality business, has your network of connections translated into friendships over the years? 
RR: Nearly 75 per cent of it has turned into friendships.
P: We made lots of friends. Our business has created a new circle of friends for us.
RR: We have socially positioned ourself in the city through Cycle Gap and gotten to know a lot of people. 
P: For a simple example, with most people on social media, we would have 700-800 mutual friends. 
RR: But there is also a personal touch to these relationships. It is not just on social media. 

How have your families taken to this partnership among the four of you?
RR: More than with us, they are together.
P: They are all connected. 
VK: It is always family and friendship that comes through at the end of the day. 
P: His son and daughter are my son and daughter; that is it. It’s all family.