How This Former Drug Dealer Opened Multiple Successful Restaurant Brands | Ivan Flores E107

Rich sits down with Ivan Flores - Restaurant Entrepreneur, Podcast Host, and CEO & Founder of Encinal Brands, home to several Mexican franchise restaurants including The Buffalo Spot, Blue Burro, and Taco Masa. Ivan grew up in Tijuana, Mexico and in 2013, he opened his first restaurant in Long Beach, California. Encinal Brands now has more than 50 restaurants across the United States and is on track to open 150 more in the next 5 years.

Rich and Ivan start off by analyzing what the drug dealing and smuggling space looked like during Ivan’s childhood in Tijuana. Rich and Ivan then discuss how Ivan got into the restaurant industry, the adrenaline working in a restaurant induces, Ivan’s key to successfully starting a restaurant, how to delight guests during their experience, following the In-N-Out model, soft launching restaurants and businesses, the success that social media creates, how important location is to opening a restaurant, Limited Time Offers (LTOs), the most profitable food at a restaurant, and the timeline to accessing a liquor license.

They also reflect on the restaurant franchise model, ensuring franchisees reach success, how the Chick-fil-a model of franchising works, the cost of opening a new location, the typical gross revenue for a restaurant, what could go wrong with the franchise model, the biggest marketing lever for restaurants, how uber eats can be a marketing tool, and the minimum wage in California.

Lastly, Rich and Ivan talk about consumer being less price sensitive towards food, the current market slowdowns in the restaurant industry,  why Ivan and Rich invest their time in social media, the value of mentorship in the real estate and restaurant industry, the type of person that should open a restaurant, and what Ivan recommends doing in order to start a franchise.

Connect with Ivan on Instagram: @mr.ivanflores 

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