EP 21... Raju Ghimire - Owner Dumbo, Sani, Yuca cafes

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Raju Ghimire is director of the Hospokendra Group... owner of successful Melbourne cafes Dumbo in West Footscray, Sani in Brunswick East & Yuca in Toorak village. Born in Nepal, to a mother who was 15 years old at the time, it has been a long winding road to get to where he is today. 

Opportunity. Failure. Bouncing back. Learnings. Taking risks. Expensive lessons. Twenty lenders saying no. Bad credit. Not giving up. Surviving lockdowns. Pour over coffee.  Winning. Success. Family. Arranged marriage... All worth it.  

If you are in the hospitality game or even business in general, this will be a valuable listen. Get to know Raju on a deeper level. Please enjoy! 


Topics covered:
* The early days in his home country of Nepal
* Impact of his parents on his life
* The importance of social status in his home country & the decision to come to Australia
* How he fell into the hospitality game & how he literally started from the bottom
* Two significant business failures early on & two expensive lessons to the tune of $500,000
* His will to succeed & never giving up after 20 lenders said no trying to fund the Dumbo venture... finding a way
* How Dumbo survived during the adversity of lockdowns
* The mindset behind making the pie bigger mid lockdowns... enter venture #2 - Sani
* Introducing a unique coffee menu to Sani, pour over coffee & my favorite dish! 
* The expansion continues with venture #3 - Yuca
* Challenges of a new fit out, business, name & feel with an older & more traditional client base
* Openly sharing costs of rent, timeframes/planning/costs regarding cafe fit-outs, staffing challenges & many other pressures associated with being a business owner in hospitality
* Incredible story about how he met his wife & the arranged marriage that followed!
* What does he do in his spare time?

Raju Ghimire

* Instagram - @dumbomelbourne @sanimelbourne @yucamelbourne 

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Branko Lemaic
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