Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2014 | Page 18

MULTI-BR A N D 50
includes working as a behavior modification therapist for autistic children and
a marketing research coordinator. But
her son Ryan was persuasive, and today
the woman who wanted nothing to do
with restaurants co-owns four, with 13
more in the works.
In July 2008, she and her husband
Rob, with son Ryan as general manager,
opened their first Egg & I Restaurant
in North Dallas, where they’d moved
some years before to accommodate Rob’s
job. In October, the market crashed and
“people stopped going out to eat,” Colarossi says. “We started seeing our sales
plummet. We had no brand awareness at

“I told my
son running
restaurants is
the hardest job
there is and one
that I, personally,
wanted nothing
to do with.”

all in our area, and it seemed there was
so much stacked against us.”
She rallied, using all she’d learned at
Curves. “It was guerilla marketing. We
knocked on doors with samples and introduced ourselves, we networked, we
did everything we could think of to let
the area know about The Egg & I,” she
says. The work required to get the restaurant off the ground was so intense
that in 2012 Colarossi had to sell the
Curves she’d purchased 10 years before.
Based on what seemed at times to
be Colarossi’s sheer will, the restaurant
began to gain ground. Today, she co-

MANAGEMENT
Business philosophy: Produce a great product, keep your establishment
clean at all times, and give the customers great service and a great experience.
At the end of all that, make sure you give back.
Management method or style: This goes back to the Golden Rule. We
have a culture of respect: respect for one another and respect for the customer.
I believe we should try to lift people up, not push them down. We also treat our
staff like they are a part of our family. We are very fair, but they know we are
running a business and there are, as in all of life, natural consequences.
Greatest challenge: Realizing that some employees are just not cut out for
the restaurant business, and that this is all right as long as you both figure it
out before too much damage has been done.
How do others describe you? Very friendly. I don’t believe in passing
another human being without acknowledging them. Saying hello to someone is
so easy and can really make a difference in their day and yours.
One thing I’m looking to do better: My friends and staff joke that there
is an electrical force field around me. My iPhone and computer and emails are
always giving me issues, so I’m working on that.
How I give my team room to innovate and experiment: We have
surrounded ourselves with great management, and as a team, we are always
looking for ways to improve both front and back of house experiences. By talking to the guests and watching the restaurant from the guest’s perspective, you
learn a lot about what is working and what is not.
How close are you to operations? Our son handles The Egg & I Restaurants along with our GMs and KMs [kitchen managers]. At Mama Fu’s,
we have a strong GM and KM, and one of our partners works in day-to-day
operations. The remaining partners have specific roles based on their area of
expertise. Though I’ve had to be hands-on in operations at various times, my
strengths are in local store marketing/networking, customer relations, and
guest perceptions.
What are the two most important things you rely on from your
franchisor? A successful model and the benefits that come from scale as we

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MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE IS S UE II, 2014

grow. Their model has been proven to work, and we expect to learn from and
build on their experiences as well as our own.
What I need from vendors: Reasonably priced quality products, quick
response times, and consistency.
Have you changed your marketing strategy in r esponse to the
economy? How? Absolutely. When we opened our first Egg & I in July
2008, we were an unknown brand. The stock market crashed 2½ months
later. Most people stopped eating out, and the few that continued stuck with
brands they knew. We had to rely on guerilla marketing tactics—knocking on
doors, handing out menus, offering catering, attending networking meetings,
starting our own network meeting, Facebook, etc. The Egg & I restaurants were
not in the catering business. However, as a business owner, you must adapt
and do what’s necessary to keep the business thriving and food on your family’s table. We continue to use these tactics in growing our Mama Fu’s brand.
Here we are, the first Mama Fu’s Asian House to open in the Dallas area and
people are not sure what we are about. We have had this challenge before,
and thankfully we can use our experience to tackle a lot of these issues.
How is social media affecting your business? We feel it is a critical
component and work with multiple resources to ensure we continue to have a
pulse on guest experience.
How do you hire and fire? We hire and fire based on skills and attitude.
It has been our experience that most skills can be taught, but attitude cannot.
How do you train and retain? We are lucky because our franchisor
training programs are very solid. Of course we continuously train and cross-train
in house by assigning lead trainers in each job segment. Because we treat our
staff with respect and never expect anything from them that we would not do
ourselves, it’s been easier to promote tenure.
How do you deal with problem employees? This typically is handled
by the GM.
Fastest way into my doghouse: It takes a lot. However, four things will
land you in the doghouse quickly: lie, steal, bully, or manipulate.