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Business Success Stories
You too can achieve the
Canadian Dream Razia Nathani Suleman ~ Indian Razia was born in Porbandar, India on the 17th of July 1944 to parents who were both High School Teachers. They lived a very simple and frugal life. It was a tempestuous time in the life of most Indians then faced with the Partition of India. She remembers her parents searching for a home to live in. At the age of three her parents were recruited by the Aga Khan Education Board to teach in Uganda, Africa. Her first job after her schooling was complete, was obtained in response to an advertisement in the "Uganda Argus" a local daily. The experience gained during her employment here would lay the foundation for future business successes. Her employer remembers to this day how Razia's astute businesses sense and her patience with him led him quickly to recognize that here was "future greatness waiting to be born"! In 1964 she left for the UK to pursue further studies as part of her training as a Teacher. Her first business venture was a small "Kindergarten Nursery" in Kampala, Uganda but as most people know, Idi Amin suddenly in a swift and brutal moved disinvested hundreds of thousands of Indian living in Uganda of their property, money and business assets. Razia was not one to die with her dreams. She quoted me Richard Bach's famous lines... "the death of the Caterpillar is the birth of the Butterfly". What Idi Amin took away from her in Uganda leaving her literally penniless and without a home Canada gave her back in abundance. And yet I wondered to myself, how many of us immigrate here in Canada with much much more and yet complain how things could be much much better. As Razia puts it "A piece of gold will retain its luster anywhere". Her advice to would be immigrants is "to give up your old-fashioned ideas and notions and adopt this country as your very own". Be open to opportunity and see potential everywhere you go. If you wish to land safely in Canada let your mind be like an open parachute....filled with dreams, powerful optimism and great ambition I am sure you will land safely". Now think about a closed parachute! After landing in Canada Razia's first venture was a property business. The business began to boom. She also went to an amicable divorce in the 80's which allowed her to fully concentrate on her business ventures like the "The Bayshore Inn" situated in Waterton Lakes, which she bought followed by The Glacier Suites another hotel in the Canadian Rockies. Razia and her son Shameer now manage the business along with other family members who have been totally dedicated to providing top quality service and care. Business has been growing steadily every year. Do visit The Bayshore Inn or The Glacier Suites and tell Razia you enjoyed reading her life story at razia@russcanada.com she would be pleased to hear from you. If you are a landed immigrant and seeking an entry level job please click here to read further.
Capt Bushan Misri ~ Indian I personally read about this wonderful gentleman in 1994 in a manual that I looked up at the Canadian Consulate in Dubai that had featured successful Asian Businessmen. Believe it or not! I even remember paying a Dirhams to copy this "Entrepreneur's success story". Shortly thereafter, one evening I spoke to a close friend of mine, also from India, about the whole issue and imagine my surprise when it turned out that they were close friends of his too. In 1996, as soon as my immigration to Canada I personally decided to look Capt Bushan Misri up and very soon found myself sitting in the Head Offices of Triton Marine Group Inc. sipping a hot cup of coffee while the good Capt regaled me with events and facts that were both inspiring and humorous (Capt Bushan Misri ) has a great sense of humor! I can vouch for that. I have never spent a dull moment interacting with him. Two things that struck me most was his total dedication to his business and his charming demeanor. When Capt Bushan arrived in Vancouver in the early 70's he started of as a humble salesman and within a very short while realized that he would never make money working for anyone else. He opened his first company Arya Marine Supply as a result of realizing there was opportunity and adventure in an industry that few other people at that realized there was a potential for. Capt Bushan Misri later went on to establish several more business ventures such as MARITIME SERVICES who are the largest stocking distributor of nautical charts and publications in western Canada. Pharos Marine Electronics offers a wide array of marine electronic products from navigation and radio communications to fishing equipment, for vessels ranging from pleasure to commercial fishing and deep sea and The Quarterdeck Western Canada's largest and most extensive marine Book, Clothing and Curio Store! Albi Beverages is a quality bottling plant. I will be adding shortly to the above as I am scheduled to meet with Capt Bushan for yet another cozy chat and a cup of coffee. CANADIAN BUSINESSES MEN AND WOMEN I HAVE YET TO MEET IN PERSON BUT ALSO GREATLY ADMIRE. COOKIES BY GEORGE ~ Tara and Gayle Hallgren As probably everyone on the west coast of Canada knows by now, there has been a small but growing firm called Cookies By George which has been in Vancouver only since January 1983, but has taken that city by storm with its witty ads, zany promotions and fine quality cookies. Tara was a stewardess for Air India and used to go to Dubai, play tennis all day and drive about in a Mercedes. It was her sister Gayle who said to her while on a visit to Dubai, "Leave this land of Luxury. Come home and make cookies." When they returned to Vancouver, the two girls had no money so Gayle did window displays with friends who owned a clothing store and Tara swept the floor at the Pacific Center which is a long way down from the tennis and Mercedes scene from Dubai. Tara used to often say," I am not creative. I cannot do anything." One day Tara met Noreen Kenney-Campbell. Noreen was saddened to discover that the two sisters couldn't bake, so she began to do the dirty work on the boat she lived on. "I made bunches of cookies," she says, while her two tentative partners kept talking about opening this cookie store. But a moment of truth had arisen. "Are we going to do this or not." Tara and Noreen found a location. Noreen did all the graphics and artwork and they tested cookies endlessly. They painted the store themselves, grouting the tiles, and while they were making all this mess, Vancouverites kept coming into the signless store and asking for half a dozen cookies. They flew in Mrs. Fields Cookies and David's Cookies and tested them, turning them over in their hands and looking at them. "We wanted a cookie better than theirs!" There were long lonely hours at the ovens. Tara recalls "After one week as we were cleaning up our mess at 1 A.M., and we could barely move our hands I cried out, 'I left Dubai, and a houseboy, for this?'" They opened the first Cookies by George on March 29th, 1983, the store was 827 square feet in size. They opened a second store in November of 1983, and then three more in 1984. When the first store brought in $325,000, in the very first year they knew they had a winner. The Super Rich!!! Mr. Lee Chin
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