This woman gave up law to start a restaurant — and turned it into a successful street food chain

Nisha Katona didn't truly privation to discontinue law. Her decades of moving arsenic a proceedings lawyer didn't consciousness similar enactment to her, she told CNBC; neither does her existent occupation arsenic the CEO of the fashionable edifice concatenation Mowgli Street Food.

"It wasn't that I fell retired of [love with] law. It's conscionable I fell caput implicit heels successful emotion with, became obsessed with, this different idea," Katona said. "This nutrient of my ancestors — what if determination is simply a concern successful here?"

Turns retired determination was. Mowgli, with its absorption connected Indian location cooking, present has astir 20 branches crossed the U.K. Katona has besides released 4 cookbooks, acceptable up a foundation and often appears connected TV arsenic a nutrient expert.

Before Katona started readying the archetypal Mowgli restaurant, she was already teaching Indian cooking classes and penning cookbooks — alongside her full-time occupation arsenic an proceedings lawyer (or barrister, arsenic it's known successful the U.K.). She wanted to sphere the recipes and nutrient civilization she grew up with arsenic a second-generation Indian migrant successful the U.K.  

"I realised that successful my classes radical loved this food. This was not represented connected the precocious street," Katona explains. "That was erstwhile that entrepreneurial thought spot me."

But pursuing Mowgli afloat clip was not an casual decision. Concerns astir taking attraction of her children, the owe connected her location and investing her beingness savings caused her immoderate anxiety.

"The extortion implicit my family's caput determination was astatine risk," she says. "In the backmost of my caput I knew: This has got to work."

And truthful she made definite she did not conscionable person a program A. "I took a lease that meant that I could get retired successful 2 years," she says. "I designed Mowgli successful a mode truthful that it could beryllium a java store the adjacent day."

She besides did not instantly springiness up her full-time job. Late nights and small slumber were communal arsenic she spent her days arsenic a lawyer and her nights grooming Mowgli's archetypal chefs and gathering the archetypal edifice from scratch.

"This is the proposal I'd ever give... Don't plaything crossed to that 2nd enactment until you cognize that 2nd enactment is secure. You're gonna person to bash some jobs for a small while."

But to Katona, it isn't each astir ambition, acquisition and appearances. "You tin physique businesses astir words similar emotion and betterment and purposeful and fulfillment," she believes.

"You crook up successful your pajamas if needs be, but it's astir existent emotion and authenticity ... Anyone tin bash it successful that mode if you've got the close product."

In immoderate ways, women really person an vantage that helps them negociate radical and make businesses that marque a difference, Katona says.

"We bring thing wholly antithetic to business," she explains. "We person these unsocial interpersonal skills, and this grace and this humility, and are arsenic susceptible to immoderate antheral of moving oregon starting anything."

Crucially, entrepreneurs besides don't request a concern inheritance to beryllium successful, Katona believes.

"You don't request to beryllium a concern person. You don't request immoderate concern knowledge. You prosecute the close radical successful for that benignant of thing. I would ne'er bash my ain accounts, for instance," she says.

Recognizing and utilizing the skills you bash person is cardinal though, arsenic Katona recovered portion gathering Mowgli. In her case, she's "all over" things similar gathering the brand, creating recipes, designing restaurants and grooming chefs.

And skills tin travel from anyplace — her vocation arsenic an attorney, for example, taught her to work people, which present helps her prosecute the close staff. And due to the fact that she (and galore others) already multitasked by managing her location and enactment life, starting Mowgli portion moving afloat clip and raising children seemed that overmuch easier.

"It was conscionable different thread. It wasn't the extremity of the world," Katona reflects.

The archetypal Mowgli edifice was rapidly noticed by investors, which she attributes to it filling a marketplace gap. She turned them away, wanting to marque the concern her ain and inactive reasoning of Mowgli arsenic one-location business.

She has present taken connected outer investors, but remains successful complaint arsenic CEO.

Her last words of advice? "Don't expect success." After all, Katona ne'er did — but inactive recovered it.