Moving 150 Kilometers for a New Chapter: Bringing British Columbia's First TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® to Victoria

For 28-year-old Nirmal Pandey, building his first business meant figuring out much of it on his own. After moving to Canada in 2017 and earning a business degree, he spent four years growing an independent trucking company, an experience that gave him confidence as an entrepreneur but also showed him how long it can take to build a business without an established support system.

Pandey had his doubts about franchising at first. After building his own company, he wasn’t convinced there was much reason to put his efforts behind someone else’s brand. A 2024 trip to California gave him a different perspective. He kept spotting TWO MEN AND A TRUCK*® vehicles on the road, and after asking a friend about the company, the name stayed with him. So when he later found an opportunity to open a location in Victoria, he took a closer look.

As he prepared to enter the moving industry with his family, he saw value in starting with an established brand behind him. Now, Pandey is preparing to open British Columbia’s first TWO MEN AND A TRUCK location alongside his father and younger brother, bringing together his previous business experience and the support of a franchise system as the family builds its Vancouver Island operation.

Pandey sat down with 1851 to discuss his transition from independent business ownership to entering the moving industry with his family. Here’s what he had to say:

1851 Franchise: Tell us your story in one sentence.

Nirmal Pandey: I came to Canada in 2017 to complete my bachelor's degree in business, started my own successful full-time trucking company in 2022 and am now transitioning into the moving industry alongside my dad and younger brother.

1851: What was happening in your life that made you realize it was time to make a change?

Pandey: Building a business from scratch without any help takes a lot of time and effort. It took me about four years to build my independent trucking company, which is something I feel I could have done within a single year if I had proper guidance and professional support. I decided to go with a franchise model this time so that I could leverage their 40 plus years of experience to fast-track my success.

1851: Why did you choose this franchise over every other opportunity?

Pandey: Back in 2024, I was in California with some friends and noticed a lot of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK vehicles on the road. Because I was already in the trucking industry, I always found myself looking at other trucks, wondering where they were going and what company they belonged to. I asked my friend in California what the deal was with them, and they told me the company was doing incredibly well in the moving industry. That statement really stuck with me, and later, when I was scrolling through the internet, I came across an online ad about an opportunity to open a franchise in Victoria and decided to dive right in.

1851: What is it really like preparing to open a TWO MEN AND A TRUCK franchise?

Pandey: The entire onboarding process was extremely fast and lined up within a month of seeing the online ad. I didn’t feel nervous because my prior business experience gave me a lot of confidence that I can pull this off. Since completing some of the training, I've realized that franchising is not about being a "one-man army" where you have to do absolutely everything on your own. Instead, it is a true partnership where both hands need to know what the other is doing so that we can grow together.

1851: How has this opportunity changed your life?

Pandey: It has completely changed how I look at branding and business growth. Previously, I used to be skeptical of franchises, thinking, "Why would I use someone else's name when I can build my own name and business?" But I've realized that when a company has been working on its brand for more than 40 years, you cannot easily compete with them. Partnering with a bigger brand is a much more viable path to grow together. On a personal level, it is also prompting me to relocate about 150 kilometers from Nanaimo to Victoria next month to focus on building up our territory.

1851: If your best friend had enough money to buy this franchise tomorrow, what would you tell them?

Pandey: I would tell them to absolutely go for it because it is a very good decision. You get incredible technical and operational support and you get to utilize more than 40 years of institutional experience, even if you are only 28 years old.

ABOUT TWO MEN AND A TRUCK Canada:

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK is an international, full-service franchised moving company with more than 430 locations and 3,000 trucks operating in 47 U.S. states in addition to Canada, Ireland and the U.K. Each location is independently owned and operated, and together, the TWO MEN AND A TRUCK network has performed more than 10 million moves since its inception in 1985. The moving company has been in Canada for the past 20 years, and more than 30 franchise locations are operating across the country. In 2024, the Canadian locations moved 26,000 customers while maintaining a 95% referral rating, living up to the brand’s tagline as the Movers Who Care®. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK offers comprehensive home and business moving services, professional packing and unpacking, and storage and junk removal services.