The brutal realities of starting a restaurant

Todd Graves is the founder and CEO of Raising Cane's, one of America's most successful and fastest-growing restaurant chains built on a radically simple concept that nearly everyone told him would fail.

He is an entrepreneur and restaurateur widely regarded as one of the most determined founder-operators in the fast-food industry. Rising from rejection in the mid-1990s to building over 800 locations by the 2020s, he became known for his unwavering commitment to doing one thing better than anyone else—serving quality chicken finger meals with the exact same menu he launched in 1996. He became a household name in restaurant circles through his relentless focus on simplicity, his refusal to franchise or take on outside investors, and his missionary-like devotion to a business he calls his "chicken finger dream."

His career highlights include getting the worst grade in his college business class for the Raising Cane's concept, working as a boilermaker in oil refineries and commercial fisherman in Alaska to fund his first restaurant after being rejected by every bank, opening the first Raising Cane's near LSU in 1996, maintaining over 90% ownership while growing to 900+ locations and billions in revenue by staying fanatically true to a menu that has remained virtually unchanged for three decades.

Episode show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/todd-graves

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Chapters

(0:00) The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Sleep and Business Obsession

(2:13) The Birth of Raising Cane's: Overcoming Skepticism

(3:29) Inspiration from In-N-Out Burger

(7:17) The Importance of Quality and Focus

(14:49) The Journey to Success: Hard Work and Sacrifice

(19:21) The Early Days: Building Raising Cane's from Scratch

(21:23) Financing the Dream: Unconventional Paths

(32:28) The Relentless Pursuit of Success

(33:02) Commitment and Oaths: The Camping Trip

(34:02) Fanaticism and Relentless Focus

(34:53) Learning from Others and Continuous Improvement

(35:06) The Never-Satisfied Mindset

(36:04) The Importance of Founders in Business

(39:55) The Purpose Beyond Profit

(51:52) Financing the Dream: Credit Cards and SBA Loans

(55:47) Building the First Restaurant

(57:56) Expanding the Vision

(58:59) Positive Motivational Management

(1:00:51) Creating a Coaching Culture

(1:01:42) Intrinsic Motivation vs. Titles

(1:02:41) The Importance of Being Present

(1:06:35) Respect, Recognition, and Rewards

(1:09:12) The Power of Encouragement

(1:18:10) The Myth of Delegation

(1:22:57) Focus on What You Do Best

(1:30:07) Dining at Jiro in Tokyo

(1:30:59) The Franchise Model Debate

(1:32:50) Challenges of Franchising

(1:35:21) Building a Business Authentic to You

(1:37:07) Financing and Expansion Strategies

(1:49:13) Surviving Hurricane Katrina

(1:55:48) Lessons from Estée Lauder

(1:58:06) Final Thoughts and Reflections

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