Rory Canavan gave up the day job to open a pizza truck and hasn't looked back since

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For Rory Canavan – the owner of Garlic & Thyme Artisan Pizza – it’s all about balance. Not so much the bank balance but rather the perfect work-life balance, if there is such a thing in the world of self-employment. 

I wasn’t quite able to pin down Rory for a chat as early in the week as I had hoped as he was away enjoying some wild camping on the far western shores of County Donegal. Thankfully the weather made it a lot less wild than it needed to be for Rory and his soon-to-be-wife, Laura. 

But it’s that balance of time away from the business that Rory works hard to achieve. The 32-year-old gave up his role as a transport planner at Manfrieght at the onset of the pandemic. 

The world of self-employment was where he was always destined. In fact, his time at Manfrieght was the only role he have had as an employee – he’s a man with an entrepreneurial spirit. 

Previously, Rory had his own cleaning company which operated in the Newry area. He specialised in carpet and office cleaning. Rory loved working for himself; he just didn’t love cleaning. 

“I thought if I could combine working for myself with something that I actually enjoyed, I think I can go quite far,” said Rory. “Food has always been in the background and with working for myself always at the forefront of my mind, I just thought I’d combine the two and go for it.”

But cleaning, transport planning and pizza making all seem a bit scattered in terms of his approach to his career, but Rory has always had a passion for food, thanks to his parents. 

“My mum and dad were very good amateur cooks so I always grew up with really good food,” he explained. “I always had an interest in it and always knew I was going to go into food at some stage, but I'd never had any formal qualifications. 

“When COVID struck, I told Chris Slowey – the owner of Manfreight – about my plan and he said he would keep the job open for me if it didn’t work out. So it was a no brainer for me and it was the perfect opportunity because everyone was buying takeaway food; all the restaurants were closed. I thought I could really land on my feet if I go for it right now and that’s what I did and we've been busy from day one.”

Rory has been at the helm from day one. His partner Laura was still working full-time but was helping with deliveries. Laura would come on board full-time eventually.

Staring out there was an initial £20,000 outlay and that was a significant one for Rory. He had £10,000 saved up but required a loan for the rest. 

“We were actually meant to go to Australia, Laura and I, but that was knocked on the head with COVID so we had that money set aside, so I used it for the setup business.”

Was it a difficult choice for Rory, giving up on a trip of a lifetime? Not at all!

“I just knew it would work,” he enthused. “I just had it my head and I knew if I really went for it, it would work. I mean, who doesn't like pizza and there was no one in Portadown doing it the way I wanted it. 

“So if I can keep quality high and advertise myself I just knew it would work. I mean I had parachutes there. I could go back to my job if I needed to; I could sell the wagon if needed, so it wasn't a massive risk.”

On day one, Rory rocked up at a vacant lot beside the Orchard Wine Lodge on the Loughgall Road, having contacted the owner who was happy to oblige. 

Rory enlisted the help of his mum to begin with, after all, she helped inspire his dream from a young age. 

Said Rory: “She said she would help me for a few months until I got on my feet and from that first day we had a queue line up for our pizzas.”

The recipe for success is not a complicated one, according to Rory. 

“I think anything new in the area, people are just curious. So that helped with the first couple of months. People always want to try something new, especially when it’s food related.”

And when your product is of quality, the best form of advertising is word of mouth. 

Today, Rory and Laura’s time is split between selling to the public, outside Portadown Football Club, and events, however, it’s the latter Rory wants to do 100% of the time. 

“Since day one I've always wanted to be event only; so weddings, parties, corporates, that sort of stuff and I would say we're maybe 60 or 70% of the way there. Hopefully by next year we will be event only, I hope. That's the way we're going and that's the way I want to be.”

Rory believes events offers the best way to make a business like his work, a lot because it's all prepaid and much of the guesswork is eliminated. 

“You know exactly what you're making,” he explained. “The host will order so many pizzas and it's all prepaid upfront. There's no questions about turnout or anything like that because it doesn't matter.”

Garlic & Thyme’s first event was that of a neighbour of Rory’s who happened to notice the wagon. 

He explained: “They were just about to get married and she asked if we could come and do pizzas for their wedding event; it was during COVID and because the way food was at that time, they couldn't do a sit down meal. So it was a trial for me really, the first one, at a hotel in Belfast.”

And the idea caught on. Since then, the business has grown to a point where Rory got himself a small unit in CIDO (Craigavon Industrial Development Organisation) last year. There’s only so much you can do in a spare bedroom. 

Said Rory: “Everything we were doing, we were doing it from the house at the start; the house was becoming a business and I wasn't getting away from it, so we got a small unit in CIDO, which is a prep kitchen for us now.” 

Before that, Rory and Laura had transformed the small box room of their three bed semi-detached into a makeshift prep room. It contained three fridges a dough machine. Admittedly, “you could hardly move in it”. 

“We were getting bigger and bigger and I had to prep more and more dough balls. It was just impossible to get bigger without getting a unit because I just couldn't fit the stuff in it at the end.”

Unfortunately, Rory was unable to supply any photos from those early days….

With Laura on board, having quit her full-time job, the double act became the ultimate dream team and they decided to make it official with a marriage proposal earlier this year too.

Before that, Rory had employed one person but they went back to school, which is why Laura was able to fit seamlessly in. 

For Rory and Laura, the team is as big as it needs to be. They aren’t chasing riches of a monetary kind but rather the riches of time, something which is often much more valuable. 

“Since COVID, people are reevaluating their businesses, their money and their time; it's definitely something I have revisited and I believe that time is so important. That's another reason why we're trying to do events because it gives us more money and takes less time. And I want the happy balance between money and time because it's really important to me to have that time. Laura and I couldn't be happier to be honest. We work three or four days a week and we spend the other two or three days together just seeing the sights of Ireland.

“We could grow and we could get a premises. I even did a business plan for some premises but I figured out Laura and I would be working six plus days; a minimum of six days to make it worth it. 

“I just thought, yes, I'll have probably a healthier bank balance, but it wasn't that much to make it worth going through four or five years of stress. This way is less stress and more time. We're not poor. Whenever we are out we do earn good money but we're not going for that millionaire status.”

That’s not to say Rory and Laura are not always learning and making the most of that time away from the business, physically, to learn more.

“We're always trying to keep up to date with what what's sort of new and current in the pizza world, and in the food world in general. I would often try and do wee crossover pizzas. My big passion is curries so I like doing the odd curry pizza from time to time and obviously visiting other restaurants as well, especially Belfast, and keeping up to date what's going on Belfast.”

For now, Rory and Laura are working hard but enjoying their downtime – it’s the balance that self-employment has allowed them. It’s certainly a balance many people would love in their lives, whether it’s employment or self-employment. 

It’s clear what side of the fence Rory is on when it comes to employment or self-employment. 

“I always say if you can try and do something for yourself, do it. I believe, if you can get it to a point where you can work a little bit less, then why not? I mean, if you're putting in 37 hours plus – most people are working 45 hours a week – if you can put that into your own business, I believe you'll be successful, I really do.

“If you have that notion in your head, just take the jump, for the risk is definitely worth the reward.”