Film Synopsis - The Foursome's Fulsome Life

Synopsis #13

Title:   Foursome’s Fulsome Life

Idea:    One door must close for another to open

Plot:     The best thing to happen to four ‘thick-as-thieves’ friends was losing their jobs in a pandemic that shut down the economy but gave them a whole new life unimaginable

Genre: Slice of life

Script Regn No (SWA): 41443

Membership No: 49484

Seg 1

Four school friends from a small town in Kerala who grew up together get dispersed when they join college and from there on to different parts of the country on work. Due to the pandemic caused by a highly contagious virus all of them get retrenched from their jobs.

Seg 2

Saju after finishing his hospitality course joined a reputed hotel as a chef. Raju was a technician with a car dealership which saw a huge drop in cars coming in for service. Miju was a personal trainer at a high-end gym and had rippling biceps to show for it. Gyms had to close down. Sijo worked in sales and marketing with an export firm.

Seg 3

They returned home around the same time and got quarantined for 14 days at one location and a house which accommodated just four. They were happy to be together. They were also apprehensive of the future. They had some savings and their retrenchment allowances.

Seg 4

They wondered what the future held for them. The money they had was not going to last them too long especially as they had to send money home too.

Seg 5

Saju: “As soon as the quarantine period is over why don’t we set up a kitchen and supply food to homes. It is a high margin cash business. Mijo you can work out some health food recipes which can become our specialty. Raju can get hold of a used van to deliver the food packages and whatever is balance we can set up a take-away stall to liquidate the day’s inventory to avoid wastage. Sijo you can get us listed on the food delivery app and manage the promotion, sales, marketing and collection.”

Seg 6

The business took off like a rocket. From a home-kitchen they had to move to a larger place to cater to the demand. Soon people started visiting the kitchen which soon expanded to a ‘restaurant’ maintaining distance between tables and only known people at a table at any time.

Seg 7

After expenses and 30% kept toward investment and exigencies including paying off EMI on the van, the rest was shared equally between all four of them who also helped in the kitchen, purchase of grocery, some bit of cooking, serving and delivery. 

Seg 8

As the pandemic infections flattened off and began reducing, the restaurant business began expanding. The four friends had no idea of time. Their day began early to pick up the freshest produce to serving the last customer late at night.

Seg 9

They also realized that while they enjoyed the idea of running such a prosperous business and making more money than they did in their individual previous jobs, it was exhausting because they were working 7 days a week with a short break in the afternoon to catch on lost sleep or on administrative and personal chores.

Seg 10

Each felt that they need to take a break. They longed for a foreign holiday. And they wanted to celebrate the holiday together. Saju once again had an idea. To sell the business, share the proceeds equally, enjoy the holiday without a care in the world, and come back and start something new.

Seg 11

They all thought it was a brilliant idea. With one addendum. Mijo felt he was missing the gym and would like to set up one himself. Raju wanted to open his own garage to do up cars and get into used car sales. Saju felt he would like to continue with the restaurant. Sijo wanted to get into exports of fisheries and spices from Kerala.

Seg 12

Since Saju wanted to stay in the restaurant business he invited a Private Equity (PE) partner to value their business and buyout the shares of the other three so that they can exit from the business with some minor shareholding still in the busines.

Seg 13

However, the four wanted to have control over the business they built so they diluted only 40% to the PE. Saju retained 21% and diluted 4% of his share. The other three diluted up to 36% i.e. 12% from their 25% share each. This arrangement provided all of them money for their holiday and to make initial payments for to set up their respective business.

Seg 14

After completing the transaction, Saju entrusted the business to his head cook and his staff to run the business till he his back. The four partners went off for a rollicking holiday of three weeks covering many European countries.

Seg 15

They headed for Western Europe – Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal driving through all the countries. Saju stole the menus everywhere they dined, Mijo visited the health centres, Raju visited all the car showrooms and Sijo looked for business partners for his proposed export business.

 

Seg 16

The PE partner wanted Saju to grow the franchise to 51 restaurant all across the south in 7 years’ time after which they would look for an exit. The cost toward the expansion will be funded by the PE and commensurately the four partners will have to dilute their share so that the PE will have 80% and the four partners in the current proportion will have the balance 20% with Saju owning 10% and other three partners roughly 3.33% but all of them gaining from the enhanced valuation of 51 restaurant instead of just the original one.

Seg 17

Having got to know Mijo and his ambition for setting up a gym – they suggested he set up a chain and they will fund him. And, same with Raju. They encouraged him to set up a chain of used car sales and service outlets. And, with Sijo they invested in his export business.

Seg 18

With the investment the PE firm invested in a building in a high traffic area which had the restaurant on the ground floor, the gym on the first floor, co-working space on the third and fourth floor where Sijo set up his office and the adjoining plot was bought by the PE for Raju’s Used Car Sales and Service outlet. This worked well for all four partners as their clientele were the same. And, they could still lunch and dinner together.

Seg 19

Their clientele gym’d and then came down for nutritious (high priced) juices and then wandered around to the used car park to see if they can switch their cars for a barely used latest car model. Sijo offered his export-import customers the facilities of his friends for dining, to gym, and hiring car from Sijo for outstation drives whenever they came to Kerala to meet with Sijo for some major export order.

Seg 20

Each of the friends prospered beyond their imagination. More than anything else they relished their friendship and time together.

Seg 21

The PE began putting pressure on each of the friends to expand. This meant not only traveling to see new sites for their business. Sijo operated from the original ‘mother’ office but his work involved frequent visits abroad to push his export business.

Seg 22

Over time each got married and had one or two children. But the pressure of relentless expansion was getting to them. It was back to the point when their restaurant was doing so well but they had no time for themselves leading to the sale to the PE – just for a holiday – and to build separate businesses.

Seg 23

Once seen as an angel, now every call from the PE was like a grill stake in their sides. This pressure was showing up in their family life with outbursts over very small things. The friends realized like Siamese twins joined at birth with two heads but one thought that the PE was killing them.

Seg 24

They had to get out this relationship without losing out on what they have built – the original business and the expansion they had undertaken which was only 35% done but more the 70% of the time given of 7 years was over.

Seg 25

It would not get easier only more difficult to get good sites, as many customers, with higher rates with each expansion to make needed profits to enhance the valuation before exit for the PE.

Seg 26

Instead of setting up the business from ground-up they began buying businesses and rebranding them but could not ensure the quality as the staff whether in the restaurant business or the gym business was the same.

Seg 27

The head office had grown manifold operating as a corporate staffed with professionals with degrees that the original partners could not make head-or-tail of. Most of the staff reported to managers that the PE had appointed.

Seg 28

The partners knew their business in-and-out but it often meant dealing with people who felt that they were bosses in their own right. There was steep a learning curve for the original partners. But increasingly they were beginning to wonder what they have got themselves into. 

Seg 29

They began to become more and more nostalgic about what brought them together in the first place. They all hated studies. Saju loved good food. Raju loved cars. Mijo loved hanging from any bar and lifting anything that could not be lifted. And, Sijo was always scouting for something that he could buy cheap and sell with a good margin.

Seg 30

Sijo’s income often helped them enjoy good food and go for all sports competitions. They were the back benchers in class and none were darling of any of the teachers. They did group studies. That is one person studied one subject as best as he could and taught the others. They just about managed to pass. They got into college for their extracurricular activities and for their basic smarts.

Seg 31

At one such nostalgic chat, Saju raised the issue of what they were doing to their life, with this mad expansion demand of the PE which was giving them no time with the family and vice versa.

Seg 32

They decided to sell their stake to the PE at the existing valuation (which was the PE’s intention). The professionals were running the different companies in any case. Only Sijo continued to run his own business as the PE investment in his company was limited. He did not need PE appointed managers to run his business. The three partners were happy with what they got. They also choose to retain 1% of their shareholding in the company to benefit from the IPO whenever it happens.

Seg 33

When the stake sale happened, like they had done with their very first PE deal, they decided to celebrate with their family with an overseas holiday. Sijo also planned his overseas work visit in such a way that he and his family could also join the three partners and their families.

Seg 34

They had a wonderful time visiting Central Europe – Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Bosnia and Croatia which was a road trip by a luxury bus from Warsaw, Poland to Zagreb, Croatia and back to India.

Seg 35

The three friends meet when Sijo was away on his business trip when they are all abroad and asked the question what next. We have made enough money to take care of ourselves and the next and next generation.

Seg 36

They decide to create a trust to fund philanthropic works. They start with their own school. They fund setting up a sports department within the school with facilities that is the best in the country with the children having the opportunity to train and compete with the best.

Seg 37

The turn their attention to upgrading teacher skills to make them more digitally savvy and improve the quality of content, math and science subjects but also liberal arts and commerce. 

Seg 38

They make sure they are spending more time at home with their families and spending time in community activities.

Seg 39

They travel with Sijo when he is attending a trade exhibition and helping him to set up and man the stall and meet with important customers. They use the time to explore the city. They are now completely focused on doing things which brings them peace and happiness with no outside pressure to get thing done.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” 

Curtains.