As the saying goes, “teamwork makes the dream work.” In the case of Neil Shah and Rizwan Bhopal’s business partnership, the old adage couldn’t be any truer. By Tamara Rahoumi
The Dream Team: Pizza, Paisano’s and Partnership
As the saying goes, “teamwork makes the dream work.” In the case of Neil Shah and Rizwan Bhopal’s business partnership, the old adage couldn’t be any truer.
Shah and Bhopal first met between 2012 and 2013, when days of driving around trying to lull his baby son to sleep in the car would sometimes find Shah killing time and grabbing a bite at a local Papa John’s overseen by Bhopal, who was serving as general manager. Over time, Shah – a franchise man himself coming from Subway – got to know Bhopal better, and the two got to thinking about how they could combine their industry expertise to do something new together.
“We just started talking about it, and it went from there,” said Shah. “And then, one day, he kind of ‘popped the question,’ you could say.”
Now, Shah and Bhopal have been business partners for about eight years, and together own and operate five Paisano’s locations across Maryland and Virginia.
When asked about the secret to their success, the duo point to Paisano’s business model, sharing that the support they received – especially at the onset – was a big factor. They’re also grateful for the team they’ve built, without which they couldn’t have accomplished what they have to date.
However, in the same vein as Bhopal “popping” the question to Shah at the onset of their journey together, Bhopal noted that one of the biggest keys to their success overall is thinking about their partnership in the same way one might think about a marriage.
“You have to understand each other,” said Bhopal, “and the give and take is very important. Learning about each other is very important – for example, the other person’s behaviors – and then working together to come up with ideas and all of that.”
As far as what Shah and Bhopal have loved most about their journey, a major highlight has been the creativity that they can bring to the table. While some franchise operations tend to have a fixed method with little room for franchisee-driven innovation, Shah noted that Paisano’s has always allowed him and Bhopal to bring new ideas to the table. In this way, they’re able to unlock a side of their entrepreneurial spirit that sometimes remains untapped in other franchise structures.
“Our creativity has come more to the forefront these last few years,” said Shah. “And I think that’s a trust level that had to be built on both sides. Now, Rizwan has come up with a lot of good marketing ideas, for instance, where they’ve implemented it across the whole company brand.”
Proud of what they’ve built to date, Shah and Bhopal are excited about what is next in their journey – though that future still remains unwritten. According to Shah, the team is simply always open to new opportunities and taking things as they come. Of course, given the duo’s start with a serendipitous encounter that turned into a tremendous success story, it’s probably safe to say that this go-with-the-flow approach agrees with them.
Tamara Rahoumi