A View From The Top

Fast casual CEO reveals 5 expectations of franchisees

Yiannis Kosmides, CEO and founder of several restaurant brands, weighs in on what it takes to operate a successful franchise.

Yiannis Kosmides, Provided

January 18, 2021

By Yiannis Kosmides, CEO, Apola International LLC

Opening a franchise restaurant during the coronavirus pandemic may seem like the wrong time to get into the business, but that's actually why it could be so lucrative. American diners desperately want to dine out, and once we put COVID-19 restrictions behind us, aspiring restaurateurs should find plenty of available locations to choose from.

As the owner and CEO of nine popular family restaurants (and growing), I have a strong idea of what it takes to do well in this business.

While our family expands the reach of our authentic, fast casual Greek grill, Apóla, through franchise agreements, we use a rigorous screening process to determine whether potential franchisees will make a good fit.

Here are five qualities we believe make an effective franchise partner.

1. Be open to embracing a new working culture.
We all have been exposed to different working cultures, carrying different types of baggage. When embracing a new work environment it is important to let go of all ego and jump at the opportunity. You cannot be too opinionated, too self-centered or too proud to admit mistakes or to learn from others or you will not fit into an existing company's culture and will likely fail.

One person alone does not know everything, and success comes by working as a team. It goes without saying that if you do not know everything, we do not know everything either. But as a team, we can make anything happen.

2. Keep an open mind.
The ideal franchisee is someone that understands that Rome was not built overnight. Potential franchisees have to be open-minded, patient and recognize that they have to stick to the program to reach their goals. Be open for discussion and willing to review different options and opinions. The degree of your success will depend on your willingness to learn and to communicate with your customers and with your franchisor.

3. Work hard.
Be willing to put in the work. Your success is a function of the amount of time and effort you are willing to devote to learning and executing each phase of the business.

Do not get envious of the single-location restaurant owner that is never at his restaurant and spends most of his day at the golf course or at the gym and drives the fancy car. Though there are exceptions, chances are, he is over-leveraged and highly dependent on one single employee/manager. Once he loses that employee he probably won't know how to pick up the pieces.

Know every single part of your business, and be ready to take over any position at any time. That doesn't mean that you can't go play golf or go to the gym, it means that you will have the skills to support your business whether you own one location or grow to 20+.

4. Practice gratitude and community service.

Be grateful. Understand that it takes a team to be successful and show appreciation for every member's contribution and the role they play. Thank them and acknowledge a job well done. An unhappy frontline customer service representative wears his displeasure on his face.

Be part of your community, too. You depend on your community and its members to keep coming in to support your business so when the community asks for support, whether it is to host a fundraiser or to donate some gift cards, always show your appreciation. The Yorba Linda (California) Chamber of Commerce selected us as Chamber Member of the Month due to our significant role in the community (we donate a generous portion of opening week's profits to the community for each location we open) and we were nominated for 2020 Chamber Member of the Year.

5. Feel comfortable with your franchisor.

Get to know the company's background. How long has it been in business? How many locations has it opened and closed? How long do franchisees stay, on average?

My brother, Stefano, and I opened our first Apóla in 2017, after planning for it for five years and our second in 2019. That said, we launched our first fast casual dining concept back in 2008, and our pater (dad), who's also involved, has owned and operated more than two dozen places over the past 43 years.

Check its reputation. Read reviews by critics and customers. Yelp users have voted Apóla a Top 10 Greek restaurant, and we have a 4.5 star rating on GrubHub.

Make sure you buy into the onboarding process and ongoing services. We take the partnership we form with each of our franchisees very seriously; this relationship is the foundation of our success. It is our goal to provide our support and services with the highest level of honesty, integrity and professionalism.

The type of comprehensive training and ongoing support we offer will keep you and your staff informed and competitive at start-up and beyond. Ultimately, through our thorough training program and ongoing support, we provide each franchisee the tools they need to succeed. How they decide to use those tools will reflect on everyone's performance, profitability, and overall success.

Apola Greek Grill, an Authentic Greek Grill has been featured on Yahoo Finance, US News, Food Service Exchange and on TV's "This is LA."

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