Franchise Euphoria From Pro Baseball Player to Multi-Unit Franchisee with Bobby Malek
Bobby Malek is a multi-unit franchisee for Jimmy John's. He currently owns four Jimmy John's franchises in Florida and has another in development. Prior to opening his sandwich shops, Malek played professional baseball where he was a part of the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers' systems. Originally from Canton, MI, Malek was also a 3x All-American and Big Ten Baseball Player of the Year at Michigan State University. Malek and his wife Michelle have twin daughters, Harper and Riley.
Key Takeaways:
[0:22] Today’s episode of Franchise Euphoria is brought to you by The Franchise 5 package. Head over to franchiseeuphoria.com/franchise5 to learn more!
[1:01] Josh introduces today’s guest, Bobby Malek, a Jimmy John’s mulit-unit franchisee and former pro baseball player.
[2:26] Josh welcomes Bobby to Franchise Euphoria.
[2:56] Bobby briefly goes through his history as a professional athlete, getting his start at Michigan State University then moving onto getting drafted by the New York Mets.
[4:04] Wanting to invest in his future as a businessman, Bobby reflected on his time in college when he would frequently eat at Jimmy John’s and decided he wanted to pursue them as a business venture.
[7:16] Bobby was really impressed with the recruitment process Jimmy John’s put on and felt that he had an extremely smooth transition from his playing career to an entrepreneur.
[8:07] The first two stores were opened by Bobby, the next two were purchased from existing franchisees, and now Bobby is looking at opening a fifth one. All of his stores are in Florida.
[10:32] Josh points out that you can draw on the same concept of having to communicate messages to your team in both baseball and franchising.
[12:46] For Bobby, adding the second location was a challenge, but it forced him to be prepared.
[16:22] As a multi-unit franchisee, there is no such thing as a “typical” day. But Bobby’s advice to the listeners is that you must be present in order to succeed.
[19:59] Bobby does his best to replicate the Jimmy John’s mantra of love, hugs, and smiles to propel the success of his locations.
[23:21] Thanks for listening, and please, reach out to Josh anytime through email at josh@franchiseeuphoria.com. If you enjoyed this interview, please leave us a review on iTunes.
Mentioned in This Episode:
www.franchiseeuphoria.com/franchise5
@JimmyJohns
www.jimmyjohns.com
www.jimmyjohns.com/franchising