Rayyan Sohail

entrepreneur behind the food brand OD

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Rayyan Sohail is a Karachi-born entrepreneur behind OD, a food brand described as one of the fastest-growing in Pakistan. He shifted from textiles to food, sold his company, and then partnered with the same buyers to build OD into a national franchise.

Early life and background

Sohail was born in Karachi and has lived there all his life so far. He was born into a business family, and his grandfather and father were in business. As the elder child, he had new approaches tried on him first, and he describes his childhood as overprotected by the standards of the time. [1]

He took a two-year break from school and was admitted to a madrasa to memorise the Quran. He completed hifz as a child, at about eight or nine years old. [1]

Education

Sohail was a strong student until matriculation and aced his matriculation exams. He was heading for O levels but changed schools partway through. The new school was chosen because it offered general education together with something related to Islam. His marks fell from the 90 percent range in matriculation to about 55 or 56 percent in the first year that followed. [1]

He studied for a BBA with a major in marketing and failed four subjects in his second semester. He says few of the teachers or courses he encountered in the classroom discussed practical implementation. He took five years to graduate instead of four and finished his degree in 2014. [1]

Early career

In the summers when he was 14 and 15, Sohail's father told him to come to the office in the mornings. His work included sorting items and weighing them on a scale until 5:00. He started business and entered working life at about age 17. [1]

Sohail was given a BlackBerry to use for communicating with buyers. He says he was the only person handling the work, with zero employees, including going to the factory to look at orders and get them sent out. He was responsible for managing a revenue stream and its cash flows, and for making sure household expenses were paid from it. He did export work, running it side by side with other work, until 2019. [1]

Food business

Sohail notes that food is a business with a high gross margin. The initial idea was to open a small bakery, and he moved into food with a cafe and bake shop. His cafe opened officially on 4 July 2014, during Ramadan. Money was pooled from a partner and from small savings in the export end of the business. [1]

He set menu prices based on perceived value, which put them below the market at that point. At one point 40 people were being sent back because it was booked. He says the cafe made a profit but was not managed well. He says there was no family experience of retail. [1]

Sohail said that franchising would spoil things and that he would go and run it himself. The first bakery opened around 2015, and a second proper restaurant opened around 2017. The business grew to about seven locations, including two proper restaurants and two or three bakeries. He says that by around 2018 he realised the work could not continue. [1]

Sale of the business

In October 2018, Sohail decided to focus fully on selling the business. In May 2019 the business was sold to another company that had multiple brands across Pakistan. The sale covered the brand name and the locations. He called the sale a blessing in disguise, since COVID hit about eight months later. [1]

OD

Capital from the deal was invested back in the buyer's company, giving a 25 percent stake. Sohail was to be paid a salary as well as holding the stake. He proposed that the partners run the existing operations in their own system. The idea of opening a donut brand had been pending for some time. [1]

R&D began and, around November, produced a product that the team liked very much. Sohail took part in a small pop-up exhibition at an A-level school in Karachi. At a pop-up, about 200 donuts sold out in half an hour. Pre-orders came in through Instagram, and he still has a list in his phone of people whose names are marked as OD customers. [1]

OD was launched as a brand for the general public at a festival held in Karachi in January. Another donut brand was starting at the same time. Sohail was voted in to run the company, and the first thing he did was close all the bakeries. [1]

He sold all the factory equipment, saying some money would be gathered and that they would only invest in OD. He insisted that, whatever the cost, they would acquire the company. He proposed franchising to raise the capital needed to buy the company. He is one of three partners in the company. [1]

OD gave out about three or four franchises. Its first franchise location opened in January 2021, and it signed a master franchisee for Lahore in 2021. Sohail says everything at OD is franchised and the company is not into retail operations. [1]

Operations at OD

Sohail says OD has 55 locations open, with one more coming. Of these, 21 or 22 are large dine-in locations, about 16 or 17 are express locations, and about 12 or 13 are donut-only kiosks. He says OD employs about 800 people, and the 800 staff figure includes retail staff. He says about 40 percent of OD revenue comes from donuts and 60 percent from other products. He says one location gets about 20 percent of its sales from donuts and 80 percent from other items. [1]

From 2023 onwards the company's core focus was on big locations. Sometime in 2023 OD added breakfast, the first time it added hot kitchens in its locations. OD is pushing an all-day menu for its roughly 20 big locations. Breakfast is offered in all the big locations so the menu stays uniform. Many of its small locations are at petrol pump marts. [1]

Sohail says all of the supply chain is run from Karachi, including getting donuts to locations. OD's policy is run from Karachi. He says the supply chain could serve four brands. The company has made a couple of acquisitions in recent times. [1]

Each branch has its own P&L, and all of them are connected to the company. OD offers franchisees a turnkey project to open a location in about 90 days. Sohail says OD cannot let random people from outside come in, because they are familiar neither with the company nor with the product. [1]

He says the company has to provide a replacement, sending a trained person to that place. Retail locations submit their payroll to the company's HR. In some locations the company also manages the cash flows of the retail locations. [1]

Views

Sohail describes himself as a very optimistic person. He says the problem he sees within Pakistan is between the haves and the have-nots. He says that in his opinion the first thing is education. He says the number to look at is the literacy rate of people up to 15 years old, which he puts at 93 percent. [1]

He says the bulk of the middle class that is about to arrive is in Punjab, which holds 55 percent of Pakistan's population. He says Karachi residents were already very progressive. [1]

On business, Sohail says variances should be calculated and stock and inventories counted and kept in a system. He says that if you do not go big, you will have to go home. He refers to big locations in places such as Sialkot, Gujranwala and Faisalabad. He says that interacting with many people built an internal confidence that this had potential to grow. [1]

Personal life

Sohail has four siblings. He has a son and a second daughter. He says he did not have dinner at home for two years straight. [1]

Timeline

2014: Finished his degree.[1]
2014: His cafe opened officially on 4 July, during Ramadan.[1]
2015: The first bakery opened, around this year.[1]
2017: A second proper restaurant opened, around this year.[1]
2018: Decided in October to focus fully on selling the business.[1]
2019: The business was sold in May to another company with multiple brands across Pakistan.[1]
2021: OD's first franchise location opened in January.[1]
2021: OD signed a master franchisee for Lahore.[1]
2023: OD added breakfast and its first hot kitchens in locations.[1]

Appearances

Date	Title	Where
2025-12-01	O Donuts runs 55 locations without operating a single one	Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Rayyan Sohail?

What does Rayyan Sohail do?

Rayyan Sohail is an entrepreneur behind OD. He says everything at OD is franchised and the company is not into retail operations. OD offers franchisees a turnkey project to open a location in about 90 days.[1]

Where did Rayyan Sohail study?

Rayyan Sohail studied for a BBA with a major in marketing. He took five years to graduate instead of four and finished his degree in 2014.[1]

Where is Rayyan Sohail from?

Rayyan Sohail was born in Karachi and has lived there all his life so far. He was born into a business family, and his grandfather and father were in business.[1]

What is OD, the food brand behind Rayyan Sohail's work?

OD is a food brand described as one of the fastest-growing in Pakistan, and Rayyan Sohail is the entrepreneur behind it. He is one of three partners in the company. OD was launched as a brand for the general public at a festival held in Karachi in January.[1]

How many locations does OD have?

According to Rayyan Sohail, OD has 55 locations open, with one more coming. Of these, 21 or 22 are large dine-in locations, about 16 or 17 are express locations, and about 12 or 13 are donut-only kiosks.[1]

When did Rayyan Sohail sell his business?

Rayyan Sohail's business was sold in May 2019 to another company that had multiple brands across Pakistan. He had decided in October 2018 to focus fully on selling it. The sale covered the brand name and the locations.[1]

What are Rayyan Sohail's views on Pakistan?

Rayyan Sohail says the problem he sees within Pakistan is between the haves and the have-nots. He says that in his opinion the first thing is education. He puts the literacy rate of people up to 15 years old at 93 percent.[1]

References

O Donuts runs 55 locations without operating a single one . Thought Behind Things , 2025-12-01.

Show the source passages (101 statements)

He was born in Karachi and has lived there all his life so far. I was born in Karachi, stayed in Karachi all my life till now.
He was born into a business family; his grandfather and father were in business. I was born in a business family. Hum matlab my grandfather, my father, everybody was into business.
He took a two-year break from school and was admitted to a madrasa to memorise the Quran. I took a two-year break from school and mujhe madrasay mein admit kiya gaya for to memorize the Quran.
He completed hifz as a child, at about eight or nine years old. after completing my hifz, so acha main bhi aaj agar dekhta hoon peeche, let's say eight-year-old or a nine-year-old completing that
He was the elder child, so new approaches were tried on him first. because I was the elder one, toh pehle bache pe pehle experiments ho jate hain
He describes his childhood as overprotected by the standards of the time. So, us zamane ke hisab se I was still overprotected.
He has four siblings. I am responsible for this this is this is like me my mother my father four siblings
He has a son. aapke apne bache hote hain na, mera beta hai, main toh khair work from home itna ho chuka hoon
He has a second daughter. I recently had my second daughter and I can already see
He was a strong student until matriculation. I was always good in studies till my matriculation.
He aced his matriculation exams. I did my matriculation, aced everything.
He was heading for O levels but changed schools partway through. I was going towards O levels lekin beech mein I shifted schools.
The new school was chosen because it offered general education together with something related to Islam. toh yaar koi is tarah ke school mein jaya jaye jahan pe like it would be jo bhi education hai plus something related to Islam also.
His marks fell from the 90 percent range in matriculation to about 55 or 56 percent in the first year that followed. from being into the 90% completing my matric, first year I ended up at probably 55, 56-ish.
He studied for a BBA with a major in marketing. BBA BBA tha so BBA majoring in marketing
He failed four subjects in his second semester. in the second semester I failed four subjects acha yes
He says few of the teachers or courses he encountered in the classroom discussed practical implementation. whatever we were studying in the classroom uski bahut kam teachers the ya bahut kam is tarah ki courses the jiski practical implementations ke upar koi baat kar raha tha
He took five years to graduate instead of four. instead of graduating in four I did it in five right to ek saal late
He finished his degree in 2014. 2014 mein then I finally graduated
In the summers when he was 14 and 15, his father told him to come to the office in the mornings. in the summers of when I was 14 and 15, un do saal ke summers mein my father has said had said to me ke yaar subah office aana hai.
In those summers his work included sorting items and weighing them on a scale until 5:00. till 5:00 o'clock woh sortings karwani hain, unko wing scale pe ja ke weigh karana hai.
He started business and entered working life at about age 17. I started business very early, got into work life very early. Like I was 17 years old
He was given a BlackBerry to use for communicating with buyers. mujhe ek blackberry diya gaya tha ki yaar this is the device that you will use to communicate with with with the buyers
He says he was the only person handling the work, with zero employees, including going to the factory to look at orders and get them sent out. I am the only person which means ki yaar factory ja ke order bhi dekhna hai nikalwane maine karne zero employees
He was responsible for managing a revenue stream and its cash flows, and for making sure household expenses were paid from it. I was responsible to manage this revenue stream and cash flows and responsible to make sure ki yaar jo general expenses of the house are being paid through this
He did export work, running it side by side with other work, until 2019. ye export wala kaam main side by side kar raha hoon. I did it till 2019.
He notes that food is a business with a high gross margin. you need to understand in food is ki aapka gross margin bahut hai
The initial idea was to open a small bakery. To the initial idea was always ke ek choti si bakery khol dein.
He moved into food with a cafe and bake shop. Vintage Cafe and Bake Shop uska naam hai.
His cafe opened officially on 4 July 2014, during Ramadan. I still remember 4th of July 2014, it was Ramadan at that time, where we were to open up officially, Vintage.
Money was pooled from a partner and from small savings in the export end of the business. money pooled up from Shahrukh and then from whatever little savings we had in the export end of the business
He set menu prices based on perceived value, which put them below the market at that point. Perceived pricing ke oopar maine menu pe prices daal di. Ke agar main consumer hoon mujhe kya acha lagega. Kitne ka. Right. To that was below the market at that point.
At one point 40 people were being sent back because it was booked. Matlab 40 logon ko hum wapis bhej rahe hain ke sorry booked hain.
He says the cafe made a profit but was not managed well. did we make profit? Yes. But wo manage hum se bilkul bhi ache tareeke se humne nahi kiya.
He says variances should be calculated and stock and inventories counted and kept in a system. if you don't calculate your variances, if you don't take count of your stock, your inventories and keep that in a system
He says he did not have dinner at home for two years straight. So I didn't have dinner at home for two years straight.
He says there was no family experience of retail. Acha dusra koi family experience of retail bhi nahi hai.
He said that franchising would spoil things and that he would go and run it himself. nahi yaar franchise karunga to kharab ho jayega. Main khud karunga jaake.
The first bakery opened around 2015. And probably 2015 ke andar we we did the first bakery at Naheed.
A second proper restaurant opened around 2017. And then jo dusra proper restaurant kiya that was about 2017.
The business grew to about seven locations, including two proper restaurants and two or three bakeries. we had about 7 odd locations jis mein do proper restaurants the. Uh do ya teen bakeries thi.
He says that by around 2018 he realised the work could not continue. So by 2018-ish uh I realized ke ye kaam to nahi chal sakta ab.
In October 2018 he decided to focus fully on selling the business. To phir in October 2018 maine faisla kiya maine kaha ab poora focus hoga bechne pe.
In May 2019 the business was sold to another company that had multiple brands across Pakistan. To in May of 2019 we struck a deal. We sold it off to another company who had multiple brands across Pakistan.
The sale covered the brand name and the locations. Yeah, everything. The brand name, the locations, everything.
He called the sale a blessing in disguise, since COVID hit about eight months later. Ek tarah se woh blessing in disguise hai kyunke uske theek 8 mahine baad COVID hit.
Capital from the deal was invested back in the buyer's company, giving a 25 percent stake. Humne jo hamare paas extra capital aaya tha us deal se, we invested that back in that company aur humne uske andar 25% stake acquire kar liya.
He was to be paid a salary as well as holding the 25 percent stake. we were we were supposed to be paid a salary for for for working and and then this 25% stake
He proposed that the partners run the existing operations in their own system. So I said to them ki yaar ek kaam karein yeh operations jo hai na aap apne system mein aap chalein.
The idea of opening a donut brand had been pending for some time. As an idea jo kab se atka hua tha ki yaar yeh donut brand kholna hai
R&D began and, around November, produced a product that the team liked very much. we started R&D and like sometime around November-ish we came out with the product that we all liked very much
He took part in a small pop-up exhibition at an A-level school in Karachi. we have this small pop-up exhibition type going on at Lyceum, it's one of the A-level school in Karachi.
At a pop-up, about 200 donuts sold out in half an hour. We went there with 200 odd donuts, sold out in half an hour.
Pre-orders came in through Instagram. Ab Instagram pe pre-order aata hai.
He still has a list in his phone of people whose names are marked as OD customers. So I still have a list of people jinke naam naam ke aage OD customer likha hua hai aaj bhi mere phone ke andar.
OD was launched as a brand for the general public at a festival held in Karachi in January. Usmein announcement hui ki yaar January Karachi Eat Festival is happening. To humne kaha yaar this is a good opportunity, just go out and and do it. To wahan pe we launch OD as a brand brand in terms ki yaar for the general public properly.
Another donut brand was starting at the same time. And with us there is another donut brand by the name of Happy Donuts that's starting off.
He was voted in to run the company. To wahan pe I got voted in to run the company.
The first thing he did was close all the bakeries. To the first thing I did was I closed off all the bakeries.
He sold all the factory equipment, saying some money would be gathered and that they would only invest in OD. I sold off all the factory equipment. Maine kaha yaar kuch paise ikhatte honge so we will only invest in OD.
He insisted that, whatever the cost, they would acquire the company. Maine kaha nahi yaar yeh jo 2-4-6 mahine mile na isko mein lose nahi kar sakta. Whatever the cost is, we are going to acquire this.
He is one of three partners in the company. me, Shahrukh and the third partner now that we have is Umar bhai.
He proposed franchising to raise the capital needed to buy the company. let's franchise this to locations. Hmm. Usse hoga yeh ki we will be able to raise capital to acquire this company.
OD gave out about three or four franchises. we we gave out about 3 or 4 franchises.
OD's first franchise location opened in January 2021. So in 2021 January jo hai uh pehli jo franchise location thi that started off.
OD signed a master franchisee for Lahore in 2021. in 2021 like four five months after this location we had signed off Lahore with a master franchisee.
He says everything at OD is franchised and the company is not into retail operations. Everything is franchise. We we are not into retail operations.
He says OD has 55 locations open, with one more coming. we have uh 55 56 abhi ek aur aa rahi hai to 55 locations open as of now
Of these, 21 or 22 are large dine-in locations. jismein 21 22 are complete big dine-in locations.
About 16 or 17 are express locations. Then we have 16 or 17 odd that are express locations in terms ki they are selling those sandwiches
About 12 or 13 are donut-only kiosks. And then we have about 12 13 kiosk locations that are donut only.
He says OD employs about 800 people. we employ about 800-ish people is waqt in the company.
The 800 staff figure includes retail staff. Nahi, they include the retail staff. They include the retail staff.
He says about 40 percent of OD revenue comes from donuts and 60 percent from other products. we are let's say 40% of our revenue comes from donuts and 60% now comes from other products
He says one location gets about 20 percent of its sales from donuts and 80 percent from other items. for example the I-8 location that you talk about, about 20% comes from donuts, 80% is all other items.
From 2023 onwards the company's core focus was on big locations. So basically uh let's say from 2023 onwards the core focus of the company was on these big locations.
Sometime in 2023 OD added breakfast, the first time it added hot kitchens in its locations. To sometime in 2023 we added breakfast and this is the first time we are adding hot kitchens in our locations.
OD is pushing an all-day menu for its roughly 20 big locations. we are actually pushing towards a all-day menu for all these big 20 odd locations
Many of its small locations are at petrol pump marts. because bahut saari hamari petrol pump marts pe hain. Is tarah wali jagah pe bahut saari choti locations hain.
Breakfast is offered in all the big locations so the menu stays uniform. if we are doing breakfast to breakfast has to be let's say in all of these big locations to ensure uniformity
He says all of the supply chain is run from Karachi, including getting donuts to locations. All of supply chain is being run from Karachi in the sense ki yaar aapke paas chahe donut pahunch raha hai
OD's policy is run from Karachi. In terms of policy woh saari cheezein jo hai na are being run from Karachi.
He says the supply chain could serve four brands. Ab woh chaar brands ko cater kar sakti hai.
The company has made a couple of acquisitions in recent times. in recent times we have done a couple of acquisitions also.
Each branch has its own P&L, and all of them are connected to the company. every every branch will have its own P&L and its own thing going on, but everybody is connected to us.
OD offers franchisees a turnkey project to open a location in about 90 days. we will do a turnkey project, say for x amount in let's say 90 days, you will have this location up and running
He says OD cannot let random people from outside come in, because they are familiar neither with the company nor with the product. We can't let any random person of of the road coming into it because woh toh na humse familiar hai, na product se familiar hai.
He says the company has to provide a replacement, sending a trained person to that place. So replacement humne provide karni hai because we have to send a trained person in that place.
Retail locations submit their payroll to the company's HR. all the the retail will submit the payroll to our HR.
In some locations the company also manages the cash flows of the retail locations. Kuch jagahon ke upar we are also managing the cash flows of of the retail locations.
He describes himself as a very optimistic person. Uh, so generally I'm a very optimistic person.
He says the problem he sees within Pakistan is between the haves and the have-nots. mujhe jo problem nazar aati hai within Pakistan is that between the haves and the have-nots.
He says that in his opinion the first thing is education. in my opinion, the the first thing is education.
He says the number to look at is the literacy rate of people up to 15 years old, which he puts at 93 percent. the real number that you should be looking at is the literacy rate of up to 15 year olds. Um, interestingly that number is 93%.
He says the bulk of the middle class that is about to arrive is in Punjab, which holds 55 percent of Pakistan's population. the bulk of the middle class that's about to hit is the 55% of Pakistan's population that's in Punjab.
He says Karachi residents were already very progressive. Karachi wale log jo hain na woh they were already very progressive.
He says that if you do not go big, you will have to go home. yahan pe na if you don't go big, you will have to go home.
He refers to big locations in places such as Sialkot, Gujranwala and Faisalabad. in in places like Sialkot and and Gujranwala, Faisalabad wahan pe there are these big locations
He says that interacting with many people built an internal confidence that this had potential to grow. So when I had interacted with so many people to ek ek hai na aap mein internal confidence build ho jata hai ki nahi yaar this has potential to grow.
He shifted from textiles to food, sold his company, and then partnered with the same buyers to build OD into a national franchise. shifted from textiles to food, burned through cash in restaurants, sold his company, and then partnered with the same buyers to build OD into a national franchise.
He is the entrepreneur behind OD, a food brand described as one of the fastest-growing in Pakistan. we sit down with Rayyan, the entrepreneur behind one of Pakistan’s fastest-growing food brands - OD.