From Immigrant to Millionaire: The Indian Chef's Journey

The story of an Indian immigrant who succeeded against all odds has gone viral on social media. A user named Sunil shared the tale of his Indian friend who immigrated to the U.S., opened a restaurant, and became wealthy. In his post, Sunil, who holds a master's degree, mentioned that despite his friend completing only ten years of schooling, he achieved great success in life.

Sunil shared in his post how his immigrant friend believed running a restaurant was the sure path to richness. However, Sunil tried to bring him back to reality. "I told him that Peter Thiel (the American billionaire) said the worst business to start is a restaurant. The failure rate is very high, and customers are unpredictable. When I mentioned Peter Thiel, he raised his eyebrows. Clearly, he didn't know who that was," he wrote.

Sunil revealed that when he talked to his friend and tried to dissuade him from the idea, his friend explained he had at least 50 families who would be regular customers. He dismissed Peter Thiel's claim that restaurant customers are unpredictable, saying that minor issues like under-seasoned food wouldn't drive them away.

"He has 50 close families living in New Jersey who would come to his restaurant to enjoy good Indian food. If there's not enough salt in a dish, they won't stop coming. They'd just tell him to add more salt. Many Indians from New York and Pennsylvania rent buses when they need to visit Robbinsville, North Carolina. On their way, they stop at his restaurant to eat delicious Gujarati thali. Each bus holds 50-75 people," the friend told Sunil.

The X user explained that all his friend needed to do was wake up each morning and cook traditional Indian meals. According to him, this simple approach has turned him into a millionaire over ten years.

Sunil concluded his post by emphasizing that his friend's success wasn't derived from formal education or business theories, but from practical common sense, intuition, and taking calculated risks.

This story resonated among social media users. It sparked a debate on the value of traditional education versus practical experience. "We can't blame the West for not recognizing these business models, nurtured and promoted by connections and community networks. It's probably unique to a few communities globally, all from India," wrote one commenter.

"It's very simple when you genuinely feel and use your common sense and observe what's happening around you. This simple observation can give you an idea about the business rather than listening to podcasts, which only make you feel you need a lot of skills, which isn't true for most!" another responded.

Since being shared, the post has accumulated over 564,000 views and nearly 8,000 likes.