R E C O N N E C T
“ Just always do what you said you would do , how you said you would do it , and when you said you would do it .” a dozen or so employees in QSR , but it takes several dozen in a restaurant .”
R E C O N N E C T
up now and we are in the middle of expansion plans ,” he says .
One way he ’ s expanding is with Tropical Smoothie ’ s newest concept , Island Wing Company . The new brand , with just 5 locations open in Florida , is a family sports bar offering baked wings — no grease and no fryers to deal with . “ My one location has been open for about 6 months now in Tallahassee , and we expect to do $ 4 million to $ 5 million this year .” Stretching out from years as a QSR operation to a full-service restaurant has been a challenge , he says . “ You only have
“ Just always do what you said you would do , how you said you would do it , and when you said you would do it .” a dozen or so employees in QSR , but it takes several dozen in a restaurant .”
Still , things are working out just fine for Osborne , who has beefed up his infrastructure since we last spoke . “ I hired a regional director of operations about five years ago , and that has freed me up to do more of the big picture thinking and planning to chart growth ,” he says .
Osborne expects to add four more Tropical Smoothie Cafes to his operation in 2017 , and perhaps one more Island Wing Company . At 44 , he says he has a lot of franchising left in him .
Annual revenue : NA .
2017 goals : We are fi nalizing three leases in TSC right now , with another one just starting the process . I hope to have three stores opened by Q2 with a fourth opened by Q3 . I feel pretty confi dent we can get another two franchise agreements signed by year-end as well .
Growth meter : How do you measure your growth ? I like to always stay ahead of the curve . The QSR industry is doing pretty well right now , and I would like to try to stay ahead of the industry ’ s comp sales by at least 2 to 3 points . In a new family restaurant / bar like Island Wing Company we haven ’ t been able to track year-over-year results yet . I am hoping that when we hit our 1-year anniversary in July that we can see a 10 percent growth in the next year .
Vision meter : Where do you want to be in 5 years ? 10 years ? My goal is to have at least 10 to 15 additional Tropical Smoothie Cafes opened within 5 years and possibly one more Island Wing Company . In 10 years I would like us to have hit that 50-store mark in TSC and possibly be doing some different things in IWC , while at the same time branching out to some other , different investments or business ventures .
How is the economy in your regions affecting you , your employees , your customers ? We are riding a really nice wave right now and have been for the last 4 years . We have seen double-digit growth in sales year after year . As for our employees , it has become much more competitive to fi nd good candidates because the job market has opened back up again . We have to really work hard on “ casting the biggest net ” to fi nd new potential candidates . It ’ s great to see our customers all happy again . Florida got hit pretty hard about 10 years ago and it took a while for our region to bounce back . There were a lot of sad stories about folks losing their jobs or commissions and that seems to have really turned back around .
Are you experiencing economic growth in your market ? Yes , big time .
How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business ? It is hard to grow when fi nancing dries up . Banks are now working with us again to do new stores or improve old ones . Six or seven years ago it was almost impossible to get money for a restaurant . I just completed a new loan with a local bank in Tallahassee where they are giving us 100 percent fi nancing to move our store to a new location .
How do you forecast for your business ? With Tropical Smoothie Cafe
BOTTOM LINE
we sit down at the end of each year and take a look at three factors : 1 ) How is the QSR industry doing in comp sales trends ?; 2 ) How is TSC doing in comp sales trends ?; and 3 ) What things do we think the coming year will have in store for us ? This helps us make a conservative estimate as to where we think we will line up . Forecasting isn ’ t just about where we think our bottom line will end up with regard to profi ts . We also have to create local advertising budgets well in advance so we can line up all our marketing strategies for the year .
What are the best sources for capital expansion ? I have always liked working with local or regional banks . A lot of times it ’ s not just about whether the business plan makes sense for a bank to decide whether or not to make a loan . It ’ s about the person . Getting to know the people who run the banks is so important in establishing trust . They are making an investment into the person just as much as they are the company .
What are you doing to take care of your employees ? I have always been a believer in giving them opportunities to move up and to make bonuses if we hit our goals . In both my concepts we have different ways to incentivize them .
How are you handling rising employee costs ( payroll , minimum wage , healthcare , etc .)? This is one of those things that quite frankly is just too much to try to pay out without increasing menu costs to the customer . It ’ s a fact of life that when costs go up there is a fi ne line where the company can and cannot absorb those costs from the net profi ts . There are so many new costs out there right now that unfortunately the only way to stay in business is to increase pricing .
How do you reward / recognize top-performing employees ? I have always paid my employees more than most of my competitors . That said , I also expect the best out of them . We have to get and keep the best to perform at the highest level .
What kind of exit strategy do you have in place ? At 44 , having an exit strategy just doesn ’ t even sound right . I make jokes all the time that I haven ’ t decided quite yet what I want to do when I grow up . I do know that 15 years from now I want to be doing a lot more traveling and working less often . I don ’ t know exactly how that may work out , but in a perfect world I see myself bringing on some additional staff who would run more of the day-to-day stuff that I still work on right now , and then having the fl exibility to step back and enjoy more personal time with family .
36 MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE ISSUE I , 2017