In 1996, Yamuna Bhattarai arrived in the USA for the first time, while her husband had gone there two years earlier. Like most immigrants, Yamuna Bhattarai also started working in a restaurant, earning five dollars per hour.
Since then for the past three decades she went through a lot of ups and downs. She switched to business from a job. Due to her hard work she became successful. Currently, Yamuna Bhattarai’s net worth is 500 million dollars.
Starting from a scratch
Starting from a general store, her business has expanded to liquor stores, real estate, and solar energy.
In Nepal, Yamuna Bhattarai and her husband, Nandi Bhattarai, worked at Nepal Telecom. During that time, Nandi got an opportunity for pilot training in the United States and went there in 1994. Two years later, Yamuna also joined him in the U.S. Thus began the couple’s struggle in Utah, USA.
While working in the restaurant, Yamuna Bhattarai also learned baking. After two years, she received an offer to become a manager at a fast-food restaurant; however, she declined the offer.
Instead, she began studying computer information in college. Although she did not complete the program, it ultimately helped her improve her English. She had to choose one among a job and a study, and she chose the second one.
She did not want to spend her life working in a restaurant because her husband had previously run a business in Nepal. He owned 11 communication centers that provided fax and telephone services. He also held licenses for four money exchange businesses. Additionally, he owned a furniture factory and a showroom. Since then, she has had an interest in business.
The couple saved $150,000 USD. This was back in 2001. They gave that amount to a friend for investment, which was used to invest in three gas stations.
“We trusted the person because he was a friend of my husband, but neither the business nor his behavior worked out. All three stations were closed,” Yamuna Bhattarai recalls. “We had good jobs and promising careers, but we lost everything.”
The couple had to start over from scratch.
Lessons from failures
They had initially come to Dallas, Texas, with the intention of starting a business, where they had no job contacts. Eventually, they returned to Salt Lake City, Utah. At that time, Yamuna Bhattarai was pregnant, but there was no option for her to rest. It was a “do or die” situation. Even when she was seven to eight months pregnant, she continued to work hard.
Compared to before, their salary had increased slightly. Within a year and a half, by 2003, they managed to save $35,000. However, that was not enough to start a business. By 2006, they had saved $100,000 and decided to return to Dallas to pursue their business ambitions. About six months later, they started running a store in partnership, but it did not generate significant earnings.
Earlier, a friend found a store worth $300,000 for them. They sold their old store and invested in the new one. However, this time,Yamuna Bhattarai decided not to have any other partners in the business. She told her husband, “From now on, we will run the business together, just the two of us. I will be your partner.”
They started the business in Yamuna Bhattarai’s name, and she took on the leadership role. The store they were running in Dallas was operating steadily, but she was not satisfied with the earnings.
Around 2004, Dallas, Texas, was considered an unsafe city, with Oak Cliff being particularly known for frequent criminal activities. Despite the risks, Yamuna Bhattarai found a store in that area. Caught in a dilemma about whether to start a business in a high-crime zone, she decided to take the risk, planning to run it for just two years.
During the two years she operated the store, gunshots were fired twice. Fortunately, she escaped unharmed. Despite the risks, she managed to save $150,000 from the store’s earnings. Using that investment, she began expanding her business.
She lived in Frisco, Dallas. She bought two stores in a place called Paris, Texas. The one-way distance was 90 miles, meaning she had to travel 180 miles (around 290 kilometers) daily. Just commuting took her four hours a day.
In this way, she established five gas stations within five years. With children by her side, the long daily commute was not only unsafe but also made her question the future of gas stations. She wanted to diversify her investments. Through her research, she discovered that liquor stores were highly profitable.
While searching for a liquor store, she came across an advertisement for an auction. She decided to participate. As the bidding intensified, she acquired the store for $35,000. However, she had no prior experience in running a liquor store.
As she was thinking about how to run the store, the second-highest bidder approached her with an offer: “You don’t have experience in operating a store—sell it to me, and I’ll buy it.” The store’s inventory alone was worth around $300,000. She decided to sell the inventory to the second bidder for $150,000.
After earning profits from the auction, she began searching for locations for liquor stores. The first liquor store she opened was in Jamestic. After that, she bought the inventory of three more liquor stores. Realizing that it was not just about opening one, but building a chain of liquor stores, she began searching for potential locations for that.
In 2014, a location was found in Trinity. The vacant space she identified for business in the mall had a radius of 10 miles around it, a completely dry area where alcohol trade is banned.
She thought If she can open a liquor store there, she can earn a lot of money. However, the mall owner was reluctant to give her the space and would not even meet her to discuss it. But She forcefully managed to meet him.
“The state will not allow a liquor store to operate here. That is why I can not give you this space for a liquor store. But if you want to do something else, I can give it to you,” the mall owner said then.
She proposed a deal: if she obtained a liquor license, the owner would provide her space to run a liquor shop; if she failed, she would vacate the premises. The mall owner agreed, and they formalized an agreement stating that Bhattair would be responsible for securing the license.
After the agreement, the mall owner said, “If you can get the license from the state, you will become a multimillionaire from this store. You won’t have to look back!”
Road to a millionaire
The things just took place as the mall owner said. On the very first day of opening the liquor store, Yamuna Bhattarai earned $4,000 in sales. 30 percent of that was net profit.
“That means a profit of $270,000 per month and $3.25 million per year (equivalent to NPR 450 million at the current exchange rate),” she says to Onlinekhabar.
People would stand in long lines to buy liquor. She recruited four to five security guards just to manage the queue. For five years, Yamuna ran a highly successful business.
Now, however, the surrounding cities are no longer dry, which has impacted the store’s sales. Still, this remains her main store in the U.S.
Currently, more than 100 people work at her stores. However, for the past few years, she has felt that the liquor business is not sustainable either.
Big retailers like Walmart are fighting a legal battle to sell liquor in Texas.
“Walmart already sells liquor in many other states. If they get permission here as well, our business will face loss,” she says.
Since 2018, she has been working on diversifying her investments. Her new investment focus became real estate.
She initially bought 156 acres of land in Florida for $1.1 million. Now, the price per acre has risen to $2 million, bringing the total value of the land to approximately $310 million.
After that, she purchased 851 acres of land near Frisco, Texas, just 20 minutes away. Currently, she owns over 7,000 acres of land.
In 2018, a broker approached her with an offer, saying, “There’s a good piece of land available.” She bought 550 acres. A few years later, the same broker returned, asking to sell the land.
She told him, she is not selling that land. Then he asked her to at least lease it out, then.
She asked, “Why do you need the land ?”
“He replied, ‘An investor wants to set up a solar energy plant here.’
Then Yamuna said, “If that is the case, I will lease the land. It will bring in good rent.”
Then, Yamuna Bhattarai leased out 1,000 acres of land for $1 million per year. However, the company that set up the solar plant there earns $4 million annually.
She has also leased another 880 acres. Altogether, she now earns $3 million per year just from rental income.
“At the same time, I also started researching investments in solar energy,” says Yamuna Bhattarai. “My daughter has worked in this field. It is clear that solar plants are emerging as a new investment sector.”
She says that the solar project is halfway complete. She is working on installing a solar plant on 4,000 acres of land.
From this, she expects to earn between $5 million to $6 million annually.
“Right now, my focus is on solar energy, but I am also considering my next investment sector,” she says.
She has invested in startups—some have performed well, while others have failed. However, Yamuna has not calculated her exact net worth. She estimates that it has already surpassed half a billion dollars.
She was honored as Entrepreneur of the Year by the Yeti Chamber of Commerce in October 2024.
“I want to become the first Nepali female billionaire, and for that I am working hard,” she says. “I am particularly cautious to ensure that my investments don’t go into the wrong places.”
She is also involved in various social organizations. “Engaging in social work sometimes affects business profits, but it gives me a deep sense of fulfillment,” she adds.
