Bridgestone Select Whakatāne owners Sarvadaman and Jane Varshney have spent the past 10 months building their business while getting to know the local community.

For Sarvadaman, owning the store is the result of an unexpected career change.

After moving to New Zealand in 2016, he worked in hospitality for four years before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the industry.

Looking for work, he was referred to Bridgestone by a friend and started as a tyre technician.

Within a week he was promoted to assistant manager before becoming a store manager three months later.

After three years with the company, he took on a regional role overseeing stores across Tauranga and Gisborne before purchasing the Whakatāne branch.

“Going independent is always a challenge,” he said.

“When you run under corporate, everything is given to you. Here you have to create a feast for yourself, your team, and make sure every customer goes back and recommends you as a good place to come next time.”

Varshney said the skills he learned in hospitality transferred naturally into retail, where building relationships with customers remained his priority.

“I think if someone has worked in hospitality, they understand the value behind customer service,” he said.

The couple hope to grow the business while becoming more involved in the community.

“We really want to get to know the community more,” he said.

The business has already begun promoting itself as locally owned and operated through social media and local radio, but Varshney said earning customers’ trust took time.

“The biggest challenge right now for me is obviously, we are new. People take time to build trust.”

He believes taking the time to explain repairs and maintenance to customers helps build that trust.

“If you ask me questions, I’m happy to explain everything,” he said.

Rather than simply completing a job, he aims to make sure customers understand what work has been carried out and why.

The family moved to Whakatāne when they bought the business, and Varshney said they had quickly come to appreciate the town’s strong sense of community.

“Wherever we go on weekend events, people see us and we see the people. We say hi, have a quick interaction, just check how things are.

“We just feel more part of the community now.”