He got his start with the help of Atul Patel, the self-described godfather of Asian-American-owned convenience stores in the Roanoke Valley, who routinely fields phone calls from fellow immigrants seeking business advice.
Atul Patel helped found the Roanoke Valley Asian American [image-nocss] Business Owners Association in 2007. Today, he and fellow board members Bhupesh Patel and Dharmendra Patelnone of them relatedroutinely help their countrymen find a new start in the United States.
The aim of the associationled by established entrepreneurs whose early careers demanded working days of 18 hours or more and occasional risks to life and propertyis to generously pass along to newer members the keys to the castle.
When we got our first business, everybody had their own challenges, things to learn about how to survive," Bhupesh Patel, owner of the Holiday Inn Tanglewood, told the newspaper. You work so hard. But if you do not know where you want to be or how to get there, you end up struggling on the harder path.
The group's business-savvy members sometimes help finance the endeavors of rookies pursuing their share of the American dreamsupporting those who, like immigrants before them, believe that hard work, sound business decisions and ambition yield success.
On a recent weekday, customer Esther Alls visited Neal Patel's Southwest Market c-store on a mission.
I stopped here for gas not long ago, and when I went in the store, I bought some of their macaroni and cheese, Alls told the newspaper. I loved their macaroni. Before, I really didn't want to stop here.
More than 20 years ago, Mark Kary ventured into Roanoke's Old Southwest neighborhoodhome to the Southwest Marketto buy a building now widely known as The Water Heater, a performance art space. Friends told him he was crazy. That particular stretch of Fifth Street could be rocky.
His next-door neighbor was a bad-news convenience store at Elm Avenue and Fifth Street.
There were irresponsible sales of alcohol, there was loitering and the collateral issues of prostitution, drug dealing and littering, he told the newspaper.
Kary bumped into Neal Patel soon after Patel purchased the store in 2007.
From the very beginning, Neal and his family were very open to change and improvement, Kary said.
On the day they met, Patel solicited Kary's advice about how to begin.
I told Neal, 'When I look at the store, I see poor maintenance, people loitering around. I see litter. I see posters and shelving blocking the front windows, which makes people worry it isn't safe to go inside.'
Patel immediately instructed an employee to trash the posters, Kary said.
Patel and Kary developed a sense of mutual respect, and Kary helped him understand the nuances of city ordinances and codes and win the support of city police.
Now, Patel shares what he has learned with fellow members of the Roanoke Valley Asian American Business Owners Association.
Neal Patel estimates he has spent about $300,000 to renovate Southwest Market.
Today, the brighter, cleaner and safer Southwest Market bustles with customers.
It's one of those examples. You will do well if you do the right thing, Kary said.
Neal Patel's story contradicts one common misconception held about Indian businesspeople, Kary said.
The stereotype that an Asian-American comes in and runs a convenience store and doesn't care about the neighborhood just isn't true, he said.
In reality, some Indian immigrants get started in business by buying a convenience store or hotel in neighborhoods others might consider dangerous.
Atul Patel said convenience stores appeal to many Indians as entry points to commerce because you do not need a lot of education to get started, owners need not be fluent in English, and hard work and the support of family can produce results.
Convenience stores in tougher neighborhoods also usually sell for less, he said.
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