Powell River’s Little Hut Curry made it to the final round in a province-wide competition to name BC’s Best Immigrant Entrepreneur. The restaurant, owned and operated by Janmeet Kaur and Mohinder Singh, was nominated last year, one of 600 entries across the province, and one of 16 chosen in their category.
The couple does not know who nominated them, according to Kaur, but they were informed in October of the nomination.
The next steps were not easy, said Singh.
“It has been a lengthy process,” he said. “In October we got an email from Small Business BC that we had been nominated. The next step involved canvassing the community for online votes.”
The couple was given just one month to appeal for votes, but they could not see how many people had voted for them. At that point, Singh said he had doubts they would make the next round.
“I had mixed feelings about a competition against businesses in big-city Vancouver with millions of people,” said Singh.
Singh said he believed it would be difficult for the small-town restaurant to compete. However, in November they received news they had made the top 10.
The recognition does not surprise Powell River Chamber of Commerce general manager Kim Miller, who said the restaurant has earned a great reputation at home and with visitors.
“Since they first opened their business it’s had rave reviews from residents and tourists alike,” said Miller.
The next step included an even more intense vetting process, according to Singh.
“They wanted to know who we are, why we chose to immigrate to Canada, and what hurdles we faced as immigrants,” he said. “Also, they asked why we chose to go into business rather than employment because being an entrepreneur is not easy.”
Before opening the restaurant in Powell River, Kaur and Singh had no experience in the hospitality industry. Singh is an engineer and Kaur worked in child care before the couple immigrated to Canada from India by way of Singapore.
When the couple learned they had made it to the top five finalists in their category they participated in what Singh described as a Dragon’s Den-style pitch process, followed by another tough question-and-answer period.
The judges had done their homework on every aspect of the business, he said, and had read every online review.
“They did 20 minutes of gruelling grilling,” said Singh. “They had checked everything, all our reviews. They were very thorough.”
On February 23, Singh and Kaur travelled to Vancouver for the awards ceremony where winners were announced. It was also a day when Vancouver received a dump of snow.
“Coming in from the ferry it was snowing so hard the car was swinging,” said Singh.
The awards party was worth the arduous journey, he added.
“The ceremony was a beautiful, cheerful event, something similar to our Powell River Chamber of Commerce awards, but on a larger scale,” said Singh.
Miller said Singh and Kaur’s achievement is not unexpected.
“It doesn’t surprise me that they were in the top five finalists of this category,” said Miller. “Mohinder and Janmeet exemplify all that a business should be.”
Singh and Kaur said they owe the success of their business to the supportive, welcoming community of Powell River.
“When we come to Canada and make this place our home we should bring the best of ourselves, the best of our culture and hospitality,” said Singh, “especially to the place that gave us an opportunity to make a second home."
The Best Immigrant Entrepreneur award went to a Victoria-based tech company, also originally from India.
