Ex-professor finds lessons apply at a pizza shop, too

At heart, a teacher is always a teacher.

Even after he's bid goodbye to teaching and research, and 20 years of advising and mentoring students.

And even when he's embarked on selling a pizza brand that's new to the area.

Sitadri Bagchi, who owns the Figaro's Pizza franchise at McQueen Crossing shopping center on Robb Drive in Reno and plans to open shortly a second one in downtown Reno, always toyed with the idea of owing a business someday.When his younger son left for college, he decided to take the plunge.

His interactions with all kinds of students studious, hardworking, errant and undisciplined aided in his transition from a university professor to a pizza joint owner.

It's not been an easy ride, and he's had his share of learning experiences since opening the first location in early 2005.

Bagchi, who obtained a doctorate in statistics from Ohio State University in 1981 and taught at the University of Nevada, Reno, for 18 years, is the owner, manager, pizza maker and order taker at Figaro's, alongside his crew of high school and college students all part timers who are always on the run.

Bagchi takes special pride in one of his workers, as any teacher would.

The worker received a score of 98 percent the highest grade ever in the entire country among Figaro's franchises in random tests the franchiser conducts on how the newly trained recruits take orders.

He's proud, too, of a worker he calls "a great guy,"who worked as a manager for a few months before he left to get himself a regular job after receiving his undergraduate degree in management.

But often times, he says, his young employees call to say they can't come to work.

Like a teacher, he listens to their excuses.

Another, who Bagchi describes as "very good at his work, very customer friendly," needs a bit of "babysitting." "He needs to be reminded to come on time--he sometimes oversleeps--and put on a proper professional appearance that he has to shave and always be properly dressed and that means 'no jeans'," Bagchi adds.

"After all it's a customer-driven business.We have to appear smart."

Soon after the first location opened, he also had to deal with a teen-aged employee who gave big discounts to his friends and was caught giving away pizzas to his friends through the back door.

It was not easy to catch him, and Bagchi blames himself.

"I had not installed cameras when I started.

I was trying to cut corners to save money."

Also, he wishes he has a working partner still would welcome one in making the pizza business a success.

All the store's customers the ones who call in and place orders to be delivered, the ones who eat their pizzas in the store and those who wait for take out pizzas get to experience the amiable nature of Bagchi and his staff.

And it comes naturally to all of them.

Perhaps it was natural for Bagchi to slip into the new role after years of an interactive life with students and colleagues.

And he picked his staff members in part because they are personable, and then he provided more training.

Bagchi's commitment to his customers and young workers doesn't surprise those who knew him in his earlier career.

Jerry Johnson, a professor of mathematics at UNR, remembers his former colleague as a very popular teacher with the students, always helping them.

"If you like working with students,with people, that's an important property for a person to have in the business world," says Johnson."I think he is very happy to work with his customers and treat them well."

Marketing has been a challenge, Bagchi says, for a new brand in town.A consultant he hired did not produce results as he got only the accounts of two small churches and a chapter of Future Farmers of America.

Bagchi himself makes the rounds of school districts and corporate offices but has so far not been successful.He points to his own error in inserting an advertisement in Sagebrush, UNR's student newspaper, during Thanksgiving week when the campus was almost empty.

Still, Bagchi is hopeful.

After an investment of about $175,000, he has yet to turn a profit, but he is encouraged by the number of return customers.

He reminds himself, however, that in the food industry a new restaurant often needs 18 to 24 months to take off.

And in a neighborhood where there are several eateries the break-even point could be two to three years, says Rod Jorgensen, executive director of counseling at Nevada Small Business Development Center.

The first of Bagchi's Figaro's location has been open only 10 months.

Bagchi's hopes to open about 10 Figaro's franchises in the market is a positive indicator, Jorgensen says.The counselor says he asks entrepreneurs whether they plan to open more than one location for their business.

"I want to see if they envision owning three, four or five of it.

Because that's the way to go," Jorgensen says.

As Bagchi readies to open his second pizza shop, he plans to sell a gas and convenience store in Sun Valley that he bought when he still was teaching at UNR.

It's been difficult to manage both, he says.

Half a day he works at the convenience store.

In the evening he is at the pizza shop.

"It's been a steep uphill battle," Bagchi acknowledges.

And in tune with his teaching background he does not hesitate to grade himself.

"I would give myself a C + for the gas station and a B here (at the pizza shop)," he says.