Comboyne is a town in New South Wales, Australia, situated south-west of Port Macquarie. It's an attractive agricultural area with fertile soils and a high rainfall.
Donna Iance, a farmer and Comboyne resident of 20 years, said, "When we first came here the town had a thriving service centre for the dairy industry, but after the dairy deregulation happened, the things went down the hill. Thigs were closing; the shops were closing. Basically shops were closed down they had no alternative but to close down. "
As the isolated rural town of Comboyne was struggling to survive and to retain essential services, Govind and Ramila bought the corner store.
Why did Govingbhai not buy a store in a vibrant city like Sydney or any suburb near Sydney?
He answers, " I wanted to start my business with a small budget, so this place satisfies that aspect. In towns People are very very friendly, it's not like a big city. I can get the same profit and do my business without much tension."
Govindbhai did not have any experience of doing business. To start a grocery and fuel station was completely different than what he studied. The new chapter of life came with some challenges, and it took almost a year for him to overcome.
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"The store which I bought was a grocery and a fuel station; it was completely different from my occupation. So it was a massive challenge for me to how to do that. I was new to this town so, I did not know what will work and what not. The problem was also what products to store, to understand people's needs."
"I also had the challenge to know people of this town. But after 6 months I started to work it out. For the first 12 months, people were a bit hesitant to come to my shop. Then my wife and I put in some effort to win their trust, to a built relationship and now they come to our store every day, " says Govindbhai.
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Govindbhai also encouraged the local community to start cafes and shops to sell local produces.
Govindbhai shared that he feels this place as similar as his native place Kutch. He talked about the relationships with the local community.
"This is the town where on every last weekend of the month- They have a wine night over here and beer night, and I got an invitation for that after one year. It was such a good feeling that finally, people of this town felt that I am the part of their family. It was heart touching, so now every month I join them for the event.I take this opportunity to know community's need and spread Indian culture..."
Govindbhai also told SBS Gujarati that here People often do food exchange as people do in India.
Eventually the hard work of Govind and Ramila won over the community.
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Donna Iance appreciates their efforts.
"When Govind and Ramila arrived, they made a substantial investment in shops, and it revived the town completely," she says.
"Well, it's very small town, and it has all the essential facilities- mainly the fuel so you can see tourist coming here. They provided what was needed for this town. I think we all love Govind and Ramila and the whole town is looking forward to their baby."
