An EduInvesting Breakdown of Street Hustle vs Salaried Struggle
🧓 Meet Your Competition: Ramesh Bhai, Tea Tycoon
You:
- Works 9 to 6 (but actually 9 to 9)
- Salary: ₹35,000/month
- PF deducted, TDS deducted, soul deducted
Ramesh bhai:
- Runs a tea stall outside your office
- Sells 500+ cups daily
- Net profit: ₹70,000/month
- Smiles more than your HR
📊 Let’s Do the Math — “Tea-nomics” 101
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Tea Cups/day | 500 |
| Price per cup | ₹10 |
| Daily Revenue | ₹5,000 |
| Monthly Revenue (26 days) | ₹1,30,000 |
| Monthly Raw Material Cost | ~₹35,000 |
| Helper Salary + Rent | ~₹25,000 |
| Net Profit | ₹70,000–₹80,000 |
🛠️ Expenses Breakdown
| Item | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Milk (100L/day) | ₹25,000 |
| Tea Leaves & Sugar | ₹8,000 |
| Gas + Water + Paper Cups | ₹5,000 |
| Stall Rent/Police/Local Goonda Fee | ₹5,000–₹8,000 |
| Helper Boy (Vikram, 17 yrs, MBA in milk boiling) | ₹10,000 |
Still better margins than a Zomato delivery dark kitchen.
💀 Meanwhile, You:
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Monthly Take Home | ₹32,000 |
| House Rent | ₹14,000 |
| Commute + Petrol | ₹3,000 |
| Lunch (at same chai stall) | ₹1,500 |
| Netflix + Spotify | ₹700 |
| Left at Month-End | ₹217 + a headache |
📈 Why the Chaiwala Wins (Financially, Not in HR T&Cs)
✅ 1. No PF, No Tax, No HR Evaluation
- Government thinks he’s unemployed
- Reality: He employs 2 others
✅ 2. Cash Flow Daily
- No credit period
- No TDS
- Pure, clean ₹10 notes raining in
✅ 3. Product with Repeat Demand
- 3 cups/day x 50 customers = 150 guaranteed
- Even HR drinks when appraisal doesn’t come
😭 And Let’s Not Forget
Ramesh bhai doesn’t use ChatGPT. Or Excel. Or CRM.
Just two stoves, one helper, and 5kgs of patience.
And yet he:
- Has no debt
- Pays for his kid’s tuition in cash
- Owns a second stall near the Metro gate
💡 What This Actually Tells Us
| You Think | But Actually |
|---|---|
| Salaried job = stable | Low growth, high tax |
| MBA = high income | Not unless you sell tea at IIM |
| Business = risky | Tea stall has better ROI than Paytm in 2023 |
💬 Real Example
🔍 A chaiwala outside Infosys Pune told us:
“I make ₹4K/day in profit, my son does delivery on weekends. I funded his B.Com without loan.”
Meanwhile, an actual B.Com grad inside Infosys earns ₹24K/month and takes 18-minute breaks to drink his chai.
🚨 The Hidden Truth: Low Capex, High ROI
| Business | Investment | Monthly ROI |
|---|---|---|
| Tea Stall | ₹40,000 – ₹60,000 | ₹60,000 – ₹80,000 |
| MBA Degree | ₹8–12 Lakh | ₹35,000 job, eventually |
| Swiggy Franchise | ₹5 Lakh+ | ₹15–25K/month |
| Crypto Portfolio | ₹1 Lakh | -95% in meme coin winter |
🧘 Why We’re Not Saying “Quit Your Job”
We’re saying:
Rethink what “success” looks like.
It’s not always suits, slides, and Skoda EMIs.
Sometimes it’s:
- Hot chai
- Fast cash
- No boss
- And owning your damn day
🏁 TL;DR
Ramesh bhai:
- No resume
- No LinkedIn
- No bio that says “chai innovator ☕ | retailpreneur | hustler | INFP”
But he’s profitable.
You’re taxable.
And that’s the real difference.
