This ‘baby’ has a taste for business

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This article was published 11/10/2023 (915 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Curries and noodles fill Mahak Mahajan’s baby.

The child isn’t of flesh and blood, though it bears Mahajan’s marks: she painted its ceilings and brought in mirrors from her own living room. She outfitted the restaurant, hired its staff and built its menu.

Just three years ago, she was immigrating to Canada. Two years ago, she was job hunting.

“Everybody asks me, ‘So when are you planning your baby?’” Mahajan, 32, said. “I say, ‘Oh, my baby’s already here.’”

She opened My Village Indian Cuisine and Hakka Cuisine Restaurant at 2211 McPhillips St. during the summer, officially celebrating its arrival this month.

“I’m just trying to express my gratitude,” Mahajan said.

She sat at a wooden banquet table, facing the eatery’s entrance with its mural of an Indian man and his bike near a sunset.

Mahajan lived in India’s Punjab state for most of her life, teaching business courses and assisting graduate students with their admissions.

Her father, a doctor, had his own private practice. Her husband contracts tow truck services.

“Business was always around me,” Mahajan said. “I was always inspired to start my own.”

Still, she continued her path of teaching and writing about business management. E-commerce was a regular topic for her — social media is key, she said.

Her partner was studying in Canada, eventually getting his permanent residency. They married and Mahajan decided to immigrate to Winnipeg in June 2020 during the pandemic. She wore a face mask for the entirety of the 14-hour flight.

“Most of the companies (in Winnipeg) were closed, and getting back to your teaching career, coming to a new country, is not really very easy,” Mahajan said.

She dove into Canadian culture programming at newcomer centres. Canadians are individualists and learn any time thanks to books and YouTube, she found.

“If you have a growth mindset and learning attitude, I think you can do anything,” she said.

She started nabbing instructor gigs, eventually landing at Robertson College. She then decided to launch her own business.

“(The) restaurant industry was always inspiring to me,” she said.

She and her husband often tried new eateries in India; her place was to be a fusion of her experiences.

The process of launching a business, however, was tough: securing a loan didn’t come easily, finding staff was difficult and understanding the market in a relatively new country still requires daily work, Mahajan said.

She settled on the 3,000-square-foot space last September.

It now has burnt-orange walls — to evoke communication between guests — and earthy touches, including a wooden bar, to contrast an increasingly digitized world.

Water comes in wine glasses to make customers feel special; a truck mural covers one wall because trucking is big in Winnipeg, Mahajan said.

“Every day, I was trying to understand what my customer really needed,” she relayed. “(I’m) making the changes in my menu, making the changes in my recipes.”

She invited neighbouring businesses to taste her food. Last week, Brenda Gatz stopped by, coming with colleagues from Rizal Optical.

“I thought (the offer) was just really nice,” Gatz said.

She enjoyed the food and the decor. My Village could draw more people to the area — a positive where “you hope the foot traffic comes over (here), too,” Gatz said.

Mahajan has already altered My Village’s service: the waiters, for example, now ask about spice level. Many of the recipes are milder than on opening day.

Mahajan has taken a page from her own textbook, using platforms such as TikTok to promote her company.

“They’re tomorrow, I’m yesterday,” said Mitesh Trivedi, owner of Charisma of India, a decades-old restaurant on Sherbrook Street.

He stopped by My Village to give Mahajan some advice Tuesday. Trivedi plans to retire in October.

“It’s a tough city. There’s lots of competition,” he said.

Three qualities — honesty, hard work and patience — can lead to business longevity, he advised.

Mahajan didn’t appear concerned about competition. It’s expected, she said.

“New neighbourhoods are being built, families are moving into the area, so expanded offerings like a new restaurant are always welcome,” Coun. Devi Sharma wrote in an email.

Sharma (Old Kildonan) noticed My Village in her ward a few months ago. Mahajan’s story is inspiring, she said.

Mahajan hopes to inspire immigrant entrepreneurs. Dividing business creation into small steps helped her, she said.

She will return to Robertson College on a part-time basis in November while also running her company. My Village has about 15 staff.

Mahajan envisions a second My Village location by the end of 2024 and a catering branch. Franchising is on the table, she said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com