Praful Jagtap - a young entrepreneur in the making

I was born and brought up in Satara. I have 2 elder brothers - one is a salesman in Pune and another is pursuing his higher studies in Satara. Both of them are successful in their careers and I look upto them, but I had different goals in mind for myself. One day a mobilizer from PACE Hospitality Center in Satara visited my locality and informed me and my friends about the course. Though I was informed that a near 100% placement guarantee is offered by PACE, I was more interested in pursuing the course as I could see it as a huge stepping stone towards my goal - starting a small restaurant of my own. Though I am just 17 years old, the mobilizer never discouraged me. Instead, he informed me on how by doing this course I would gain adequate knowledge to start my own restaurant. This motivated me to join this course.

The knowledge I have received here so far has been really helpful and I am sure it will definitely help me in my business. The edge I can have over other neighboring restaurants is that - now I know how to provide service to the customers and what works well with them. Service in a restaurant is as important as the food we serve. I joined the Food & Beverage course as I found this course was more suited for my career prospects. The trainers are really cordial and friendly. The center head took us on a visit to a star hotel -Basilica, Goa. It was great to see such a grand hotel, because it gave us exposure on how to serve, knowledge of different kinds of beverages, menu items, etc. We were mainly observing our seniors from our previous hospitality batches work. We had to work really hard from 7 in the morning  to midnight. This gave us a first-hand experience of what we were getting into. During the visit, our trainers gave us important tips using our previous batch students, who were working there, as examples. Ajit Sir (FnB trainer) is pretty strict and appreciates discipline, while Pradeep Sir (Housekeeping trainer) explains using examples and his experiences, which make the lectures interesting. We are not just getting theoretical knowledge but getting practical exposure too. Also, the personality development lectures conducted by Jyoti Ma'am are really helpful in our overall grooming.  She teaches us time management and basic etiquettes. We are also given a chance to voice our own opinions in these lectures. We have also done Mind Mapping activities during a personality lecture.

I am half way through the hospitality course and I have really enjoyed the course until now. If my idea  to open a small restaurant works out then I will be most thankful to the staff at PACE Satara center for grooming me well.