When Janette Slonimski announced out of the blue she was buying an Oporto store, no-one was more surprised than she was.

“Anyone who knows me knows I don’t make quick decisions. I think everything through from all angles,” she says. “But there was just something about this brand that I loved.”

And 22 years on, it’s clear her out-of-character decision was the right move.

“I love working! I like what I do and you can spend a long time looking for something you like. When I came across Oporto, and did some research, I could see its potential.”

It was Janette’s brother Aron who was the catalyst for the pair’s entry into business ownership.

“I was a finance consultant with one company for 17 years. My brother in Sydney introduced me to Oporto, it’s very big there and he was really excited about the opportunity. That’s where it started.

“We are in the business together and we complement each other. He is creative and he relaxes me whereas I’m structured with an iron fist! You have to have both sides in business,” says Janette.

Commitment and brand passion

“We’re both really committed, Aron is a great support and we’ve built the business together.

“Everyone in Oporto represents the brand, and we are all responsible for the brand. The franchisees and staff are in it together.”

The siblings own and operate the Oporto Melbourne Central store, an existing business they bought in 2011, nine years after they opened their first restaurant in Chapel Street.

The pair sold Chapel Street, and focused on the city store. But their business suffered when Victoria went into Covid lockdown.

“What surprised us was how quickly we recovered,” says Janette. “Melbourne people like to go out, so once it opened suddenly everyone wanted to be out. We recovered to where we were and stayed on track.

Leading by example

“We’re fortunate we are across from RMIT University which provides a lot of business. And on the other side we have offices, so unlike other food courts, we do our best sales throughout the week.

“The good thing about our location, students change every year and we have a captive, transient audience.”

The success of the business is due in part to the constant presence of Janette and Aron, she says.

“I like to lead by example. It doesn’t matter how much you spend, you want your money’s worth and people want food fast, especially at lunch time. We ensure our staff understand the importance of food safety and customer service; we don’t want poor standards or robotic food service.”

Janette is a big fan of the Oporto menu, and the operations processes behind the scenes.

“We believe in the products of course, but I was impressed by the business model, it is very organised. Aron and I were happy with the passion of the CEO and the management group, everyone was very welcoming when we joined.

“The Oporto business has grown a lot since then but it really is a family, everyone helps each other as franchisees.”

Oporto’s franchisor is part of the four-chain Craveable Brands business. Janette admits she might be biased but she says “I see Oporto as the supreme brand”. 

Support and scale

The franchisor’s scale brings advantages of greater bargaining power, investment in innovation and streamlined IT programs, and expert knowledge.

“I have a great business consultant, who is always prompt at getting back to me. The CEO is accessible, and that makes us want to do better. At Oporto, the door is always open, and I’m never scared to walk through and give feedback and the franchise team is not scared to listen,” she points out.

“At Oporto there’s a lot of support from many different departments. We have the opportunity to learn from people who are excellent at what they do.

“Today we had a store audit; we pride ourselves on being one of the best – we’re putting the brand principles in place. There are no shortcuts.

“We’ve overcome the hurdles, we’ve done the right thing by the brand, and the brand supported us.”

Oporto regularly updates online training and courses, and provides guidance to franchisees. 

“They help develop our supervisors and management so we are not left to do it by ourselves. My shift supervisors come up through the business, which is very satisfying. 

Satisfaction all round

“The nature of the business means employees come and go but I get great satisfaction from seeing how they grow. Staff have come back and told me they appreciate what I taught them when they were starting out.”

Customer satisfaction is another of Janette’s passions.

“If customers return and say they had a great experience, it makes my day.

“The most important thing as a franchisee is to be passionate. Be prepared to build up a business, work in it and learn,” says Janette.