Episode Details

Key Takeaways:

• How Himanshu went from delivery driver to franchise owner without ever working for anyone else
• Why choosing the business over buying a house paid off in two and a half years
• How he built community trust in a conservative Australian suburb through local sponsorship
• Why the four to nine evening model makes Town and Country a genuine lifestyle business
• What staying consistent for ten years with one brand can lead to

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Welcome and guest introduction Himanshu Gandhi franchise owner Town and Country Pizza and Pasta Lara Victoria

00:37 Arriving in Australia in 2016 as a Masters engineering student and starting as a delivery driver at Town and Country Geelong Waterfront

01:21 Rising through every role from delivery driver to kitchen hand pizza maker kitchen supervisor and store manager in just three years

06:14 Asking Joe Rossi if he was ready to own his own store after 10 years with the same employer

07:31 Buying an existing 13 year old store in 2023 and how visa conditions and timing aligned perfectly

07:55 Choosing to put savings into the business rather than a house and paying off the loan within two and a half years

09:47 Navigating years of visa uncertainty through COVID and the path to permanent residency

10:16 How Himanshu blended into the conservative Lara community by sponsoring local footy netball soccer and the RSL

11:54 Managing a team of 30 people and how rising through every role shaped his management style

12:20 Work culture in India versus Australia and why the lifestyle model here changed everything

13:20 Operating just four to nine in the evenings six days a week and why the lifestyle model suits his family

14:38 How central marketing is handled by Town and Country while Himanshu focuses on local community support

16:01 Plans for a second store in regional Victoria within 45 to 60 minutes drive and what consistency means for the next step

17:01 Stay consistent put your focus on hard work and the opportunity will come towards you

Himanshu Gandhi arrived in Australia in 2016 as a Masters engineering student with no plans to stay in hospitality. He took a delivery driving job at Town and Country Pizza and Pasta as a side hustle, and a decade later he owns one of the brand's stores in Lara Victoria. He has never worked for anyone else. His entire Australian career from delivery driver to kitchen hand, pizza maker, kitchen supervisor, store manager and now franchise owner has been with the same brand under the same managing director Joe Rossi.

He opens up about choosing to put his savings into the business instead of buying a house, paying off the loan in two and a half years, navigating years of visa uncertainty through COVID, winning over a conservative Australian community by sponsoring every local footy netball and soccer club he could find, and running a lifestyle friendly four to nine evening model with a team of 30. With permanent residency around the corner and a second store in his sights, his advice is simple: stay consistent, keep showing up and the opportunity will come to you.

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