Personal
First job:
My very first job was for a rancher in northern Colorado, digging and setting miles of fence posts. My first job in the restaurant industry was in Phoenix as a dishwasher.
Formative influences/events:
Working on ranches in Colorado, and my uncle’s farm in northwest Kansas during the summers was very rewarding. My uncle was the smartest, most humble person I knew, and he taught me how to work smarter, not harder. Sports were also a great influence in my life. They taught me how to work as a team and with a team to win, while everyone plays a part. Taking a job as a dishwasher in a 24-hour restaurant after dropping out of college showed me that every position is important and deserves respect. Each role serves a purpose for the greater good, adding value to one’s family, one’s self, and the business. When I leave work or any other task, I feel the best when I did everything I could to make a positive difference for my family, for our employees, and the others our business relies on. It is just the best.
MANAGEMENT
Business philosophy:
First and most important, we give thanks to God for the opportunities he has provided. I firmly believe decisions need to be made as close to the guest or vendor as possible, and they need to be the right decision for the situation. “Do the right thing and do it well.” I promote or search to hire the best person, the best fit, and compensate them well. I require experienced management, with recent (within the last 2 years) legitimate and verifiable successes. When the right individual is hired (or preferably promoted from within), Golden Corral has an excellent training program to teach and guide, while working with one or more of our experienced general managers to better understand our culture. I have confidence in who I’ve hired and trust their decisions and actions. My responsibility is to provide them with the assets, tools, and opportunities they need—then let them do what they do best! They have a great amount of autonomy, staying within obvious guidelines to do what they believe needs to be done.
Bottom Line
Annual revenue:
$69 million for our 14 restaurants.
2022 goals:
The same as every other year: to grow our market share in each market we serve.
Growth meter:
How do you measure your growth? Guest count growth. Economic factors may dictate price; we look at sales and expenses on a per-guest basis. If we aren’t growing guests, we aren’t growing.
Vision meter: Where do you want to be in 5 years? 10 years?
Enjoying life and hearing about the successes of this organization, moving forward, sideways, or upward, whatever they may be.
Do you have brands in different segments? Why/why not?
We ventured into other businesses/franchises (well-known fast-casual and full-service) and divested them within 2 to 3 years, as it wasn’t a great fit.
How is the economy in your region affecting you, your employees, and your customers?
We do everything possible not to allow the economic problems that we are facing to affect our guests. We have been very fortunate in staffing where we could use a few more people, but we are in far better shape than the industry as a whole and other restaurants within our markets. The same goes for food availability. Our vendors have bent over backward to get us the products we need, and we are very thankful for them. Telly Smith, who runs Golden Corral’s purchasing and distribution, has been tremendous in this regard.
Are you experiencing economic growth in your markets?
Across the board, yes.
How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business?
We won’t let the economy affect the way we do business. We may struggle with economic issues, but we do not let them affect the way we do business. That would be a terrible thing to do.
How do you forecast your business?
One restaurant at a time, in small pieces, starting with guest counts by day, then building out from there. We involve each general manager’s input.
What are the best sources for capital expansion?
Preferably from within. Our capital company has been tremendous in supporting our plan and working with us throughout the pandemic after the shutdown.
Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, and other institutions? Why/why not?
Over the years we used all of these except for PE groups. We found that as we grew, we required lenders specifically attuned to our industry. Any smart operator should look at all sources of financing within their scope.
What are you doing to take care of your employees?
I’d say the first responsibility to each employee is to give them outstanding employees to work with. We do what we need to do.
How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)?
With great care. There are a lot of people specifically targeting our people.
What laws and regulations are affecting your business, and how are you dealing with them?
Regulations are constantly being added, and we confront and deal with them. For me, it’s most difficult when a regulation detracts from an individual’s responsibility for themself, their family, and in their decisions and actions.
How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees?
There are countless ways. However, we believe the most important is to recognize top performance immediately and to let everyone else know. Our team knows!
What kind of exit strategy do you have in place?
As far as our business, we won’t be talking about an exit strategy for at least another generation. We are in this for the long term. As far as my exit strategy, as soon as my son Brendan and our leadership team are comfortable, I’ll exit!
You must be logged in to post a comment.