It was never in his wildest dream to become a successful businessman.

Saten Prasad, 42, of Tuatua, Labasa left his teaching job of 18 years to focus on their family business Naodamu Su­permarket in Labasa.

“My father was the sole breadwinner of the family, he worked hard to provide us a better life and good education for his three children,” Mr Prasad said.

“The struggle was there and we had a hard time as my father did his best to provide for us back in the days.

“I never dream that I would become a businessman one day because I gradu­ated as a secondary school teacher and taught maths in various schools.

The father of two children said he was only able to make the decision to leave his teaching job in 2016 because he had good support from his wife and his par­ents.

Leaving the classroom, was not easy because he had to sacrifice more time in the supermarket to be able to move from the space they were renting in since the opening of the shop in 2010 and moved to their own building last week.

The supermarket is fully owned by Mr Prasad and through their profit they have been able to include a bakery.

“There’s alot of demand for bread and pastires,” he said.

The former maths teacher said even though it was a challenge to work longer hours, he was happy.

The former Labasa Sangam student said that honesty and reliability paved the way to his success.

“If you want to succeed, one must have good characteristics such as honesty and reliability,” he said.

“I have never cheated and did my best to always do what is right as I set the stand­ard for my family.”

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