If founders, chefs and other creatives are the beating heart of the restaurant industry, then franchisees are the veins delivering their ideas to all corners of the globe. Franchising is critical to the success of the industry, allowing brands to quickly scale their big ideas using other people’s capital. And whether it’s a mom-and-pop restaurant owner with one or two franchised restaurants or a seasoned veteran whose influence in the industry is well-known, franchisees — with all their individual attributes, styles and personalities — make a huge impact on the success of a business.
In this week’s installment of Franchisee Spotlight, we spoke with Dunkin’ and Dave’s Hot Chicken franchisee, Suhel Ahmed. Ahmed just signed an exclusive deal with Dave’s to open 20 locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and spoke about what it’s like to operate multiple concepts, while bringing a brand into a major new market.
Store count
40 Dunkin’ stores in New York City and North Carolina, several Little Caesars restaurants in the same market, 5 Dave’s Hot Chicken stores in New York City with a 20-store development deal in the works for Manhattan and Brooklyn
From finance to franchising
I worked in tech for many years on Wall Street, and I've always wanted to own my own business, but I didn't know how, so I did a lot of research and found out the franchising was the best way. I became a Dunkin’ franchisee years ago in the New York market, and we own stores in Manhattan The Bronx, and in North Carolina as well. Dunkin’ is great—they dominate the Northeast-- but I was looking to add another brand. I got approached by a lot of different brands, but I was waiting for the right concept. Then Dave’s Hot Chicken came along, and I did my due diligence and found out it was like no other brand I've seen. I love the fact that I was able to get in at the infancy stage of development, since they only have 170 stores open today. I signed the deal for Manhattan and Brooklyn because I know the boroughs very well- I’ve lived in Manhattan all my life and my parents lived in Brooklyn. So I felt that Dave’s Hot Chicken would resonate really well in this market.
Development timeline
There's no timeframe; the brand is not pushing it. The five stores are doing extremely well. I want to make sure that I'm picking the right assets and real estate-- that’s key for me. I’m committing to my development over the next two to three years, actually.
Bringing an emerging brand to a new market
The hype around Dave’s Hot Chicken is amazing. When we opened up our first store, the demand was just unbelievable. It’s had celebrity investors, and has been such a big deal on the West Coast, specifically L.A., the hype coming into it was insane. When we opened up Aug. 18th last year, we did record sales…. The product is unmatched and there’s no competition in this area for this chicken.
Why Dave’s Hot Chicken
I felt that they were the strongest player in the chicken category, so that's number one. I also loved their leadership -- The founders own stores and they're franchisees themselves so that's that says a lot about the brand—they’re invested in the brand. I can call one of the leaders right now ask about food costs or the menu, and I think that’s unheard of… Also, the brand is at its infancy stage… and I think the brand awareness will grow as the brand grows. I can't wait to see what it’s going to be in five years when they get to 500 or 600 units.
What it’s like to be a multi-brand franchisee
I think there's a lot of benefits: you have a bigger, stronger team. You obviously have the volume and the sales… and it also gives you access to capital, and access to vendors, but most important for me, is that I built the internal team… I believe in running multiple stores versus one or two stores becomes easier because you have the structure level-- You have the VP of operations, you have the general managers, the trainers, etc. For example, [one of my Dave’s locations] just became a training store. So, going forward, I get to open all of my stores myself, and corporate doesn’t have to come out and train me. It just makes it easier. You can more easily support your team.
Future Goals
I'm going to continue to grow Dave’s Hot Chicken in this market, and in my Dunkin’ portfolio as well. I do believe in the New York market, including New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island and I think the brand is just going to get stronger and stronger. It’s going to really take off.