Shelf Life — What Supermarket Shifts Teach About Building a Business That Lasts

Rebuilding a Business After Collapse: What two years of supermarket shifts and real estate taught an Australian travel operator about local trust

When COVID took Sahil Nijhawan's Melbourne travel business from around $22 million in annual sales to zero, he shut it down and took work where he could find it, from supermarket shifts to teaching RSA courses to selling real estate. Those two years put him face to face with Australian customers every day, and showed him how much buying rests on local trust rather than reach. He argues that a rebuild starts by letting go of the old version of the business instead of trying to protect it, and that the relationships come back before the revenue does. He carried that through real estate and back into travel, and now leads Nexus Oceania toward a target of $1 billion in regional sales across Australia and New Zealand. Listeners leave knowing what to rebuild first after a business collapses, and what to let go.

About Sahil Nijhawan

Sahil Nijhawan, podcast guest

CEO and Director Oceania of Nexus DMC, Entrepreneur and Startup Investor

20+ years Travel industry experience$22M Annual sales built before joining Nexus DMC30+ Real estate projects sold in 12 monthsFirst employee Joined a future leading Australian private-fleet company

Sahil Nijhawan is a Melbourne-based entrepreneur and operator-investor building across travel, technology, real estate, construction, and consumer brands. Over more than two decades, he has developed a practical view of how businesses grow: through strong operators, trusted relationships, community access, and the ability to adapt when the market changes.

His career began in travel with Ebookers and Expedia, before moving into private aviation as the first employee of what became one of Australia’s largest private fleet companies. From there, Sahil built businesses across retail travel, inbound tourism, and destination management, working in the middle of the travel ecosystem where agents, suppliers, tourism boards, sporting clubs, membership groups, and global travellers all connect.

Before joining Nexus DMC as Director and CEO Oceania, Sahil had built a portfolio of retail travel stores and an inbound tourism business generating around $22 million in annual sales. Then COVID hit, and the businesses went to zero. He shut things down and took work wherever he could find it, including real estate, supermarket shifts, and teaching RSA certification courses in schools. Real estate became the bridge back: he sold more than 30 projects in 12 months, rebuilt momentum, and later used that experience to invest in a construction company.

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