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Penn Station franchisee reveals 3 tips for growing during COVID-19

Don Robinson, the managing partner of NV Ventures, a Penn Station East Coast Subs franchisee with eight restaurants in the Nashville area, shares how it's possible to grow during the pandemic.

Don Robinson, the managing partner of NV Ventures, a Penn Station East Coast Subs franchisee with eight restaurants in the Nashville area, shares how it's possible to grow during the pandemic. Provided

July 9, 2020 by Don Robinson

By Don Robinson, franchisee of Penn Station East Coast Subs

While the restaurant industry has obviously struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, sales are starting to stabilize for some brands, especially for fast casual restaurants that already had significant off-premises consumption and did not need to rely on customers dining inside. Restaurants owners who have maintained profitability during the pandemic and resulting shutdown have a unique opportunity to grow their business during this period.

If you have strong financials, it's a great time to grow. There is less competition, as many restaurants have unfortunately closed, either temporarily or permanently. This has also created additional real estate opportunities as some landlords struggle to fill vacant locations occupied previously by other restaurant concepts.

Here are a few ways you can find success.

1. Make sure your bench is ready.

Before opening additional restaurants, regardless of the circumstance, you should have a strong, well-trained team in place. Focus on your employees and make sure you are surrounded by talented people. If you are, take care of them and help them develop into even better employees. With the current job market, it's also a great time to find new talent if necessary.

If you are buying an existing restaurant, there is frequently good talent within that restaurant. Take the time to retrain existing employees and help them grow instead of assuming everyone needs to be replaced. For example, when we purchased the eight Penn Station East Coast Subs restaurants in the Nashville area, we were able to keep most of the employees. We've spent time putting our culture and expectations in place, but the process has been much smoother than we expected because of the existing talent. Focus on retraining and getting in front of every team member to set the standards before you start opening new restaurants.

2. Have a solid plan.

Growing during a pandemic has its benefits — there are less restaurants opening and more restaurants closing than last year — but it's also a complicated time for the industry. If you have strong operations, solid cash flow and a well-trained and eager team, put together a plan for what you want to accomplish before you start shopping for new locations. When we purchased the Nashville market, we knew we wanted an aggressive growth plan in the market, and we knew we'd work our way into Nashville by opening new locations on the outskirts of the market since Nashville is so spread out.

Your growth plan will depend on your market and your long-term goals. If you are in a large market, it is important to grow rapidly in the right areas to build brand recognition. Think of things like where your existing restaurant or restaurants are located and which areas make the most sense for growth, both in terms of potential customers and ease of oversight with your existing locations. From a management perspective, it is smart to grow in pockets instead of spreading your restaurants out over a large area that will take a lot of time to travel between. Clustering all restaurants creates efficiencies in travel time, marketing and oversight.

3. Balance speed and quality.

There is an advantage to growing quickly. It's why we are opening four new Penn Station restaurants in Nashville before the end of the year. That said, operations are still key. If you focus only on growing quickly without making sure your operations can handle the growth and the restaurants are operating perfectly, you could set yourself up for failure. Quick growth combined with perfect operations will help the brand recognition grow in your market in a positive way in a much shorter period of time.

The same goes with finding the right location. Real estate will dictate your growth to some degree in every circumstance. It is not worth it to choose a subpar or bad location just so you can open a new restaurant, even if your financials and team are ready for growth. Make sure you are choosing the right locations.

Whether you are a long-time multi-unit operator or simply looking to open your second restaurant, growing your business requires strategy, especially during COVID-19. With strong financials, a good team and a solid plan, there is no reason that COVID should slow your growth plans.

Don Robinson is managing partner of NV Ventures, a Penn Station East Coast Subs franchisee with eight restaurants in the Nashville area.

About Don Robinson

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Don Robinson is managing partner of NV Ventures, a Penn Station East Coast Subs franchisee with eight restaurants in the Nashville area.

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