Pizza Today - February 2021 - 34

OPERATIONS

Full Steam
Ahead
When and How to Expand
By Mike Bausch
Photo Josh Keown

E

xpanding is tough.
Small stores take
a lot of effort and
planning. A full-service restaurant roll-out can feel like
it's taken years off your life by
the time you're finally open.
To handle it, I've refined
my opening process to take
care of the other stores while
opening a new one. Here's
a list of best practices for
deciding to expand and what
to do when you finally take
the plunge.

1. System Health
You must be able to completely walk away from all
your other stores to expand
to a new store. That means
they are self-functioning and
require less oversight. You
should still have a presence,
but if you are the lynchpin
to an existing site's daily
operations, no, you are not in
a position to expand.
Is your brand systemized
in a way that lends itself to
expansion? If you haven't
done that, you'll have stores
making the same menu items
in entirely different ways.
There will be different service
standards and varying user
experiences. It's cool for each
store to have its own vibe;
it's not ok for each store to
deliver opposing experiences.

2. Fiscal Planning
You must have plenty of
cash on hand. Construction
delays and overages are par
for the course. Whatever
it cost you to get your last
store opened, you should
have access to double that
liquid before trying it again.
Otherwise, you might get to
the 11th hour with no money
for your first payroll or opening food order. Skimping on
labor or food budget in the
early days will lead to a lackluster opening and kill your
first impression. Getting that
amount of funding means
you have existing money
from your current store's
profit, i.e., your cash. Another
option is investment money
or get a bank loan. I like
bank loans the most because
they are clean and have legal
back-ups. If a bank is willing
to lend you money, it means
you've been vetted to some
degree that this venture isn't
a fool's errand.

3. Location
If you choose a wildly different style of demographic
for your second location,
you'll need to ensure your
brand adapts. For example, if
you're in a busy bar district
for your first store and go to
the suburbs for your second,
not everything will align. If

3 4 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / F E B R UA R Y 2 0 2 1



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Pizza Today - February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today - February 2021

Pizza Today - February 2021
Commentary
Digital
Conversation
Mike’s Monthly Tip
Man on the Street
Building Blocks
Tony’s Trending Recipe
Knead to Know
Destinations
PPP Forgiveness
The Current Job Market
Ins and Outs of Expanding
Latin-inspired Pizzas
Adding Sandwiches
Pizza Expo 365
Small Market Mom & Pops
Product Showcase
Pizza Today Yellow Pages
The Marketplace
Expo Spotlight
Pizza Today - February 2021 - CT1
Pizza Today - February 2021 - CT2
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Pizza Today - February 2021
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Cover2
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Commentary
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 4
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 5
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 6
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 7
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Digital
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 9
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Conversation
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 11
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Mike’s Monthly Tip
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 13
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Man on the Street
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 15
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Building Blocks
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 17
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Tony’s Trending Recipe
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 19
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Knead to Know
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 21
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 22
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 23
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Destinations
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 25
Pizza Today - February 2021 - PPP Forgiveness
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 27
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 28
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 29
Pizza Today - February 2021 - The Current Job Market
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 31
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 32
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 33
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Ins and Outs of Expanding
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 35
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 36
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 37
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Latin-inspired Pizzas
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 39
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Adding Sandwiches
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 41
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 42
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 43
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Pizza Expo 365
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 45
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Small Market Mom & Pops
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 47
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 48
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 49
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Product Showcase
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 51
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Pizza Today Yellow Pages
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 53
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 54
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 55
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 56
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 57
Pizza Today - February 2021 - The Marketplace
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 59
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 60
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 61
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 62
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 63
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 64
Pizza Today - February 2021 - 65
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Expo Spotlight
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Cover3
Pizza Today - February 2021 - Cover4
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