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precision. So long term, I’ d love to bring in someone more operations-focused and let me do more of what I’ m naturally good at. Right now, though, I’ m still kind of winging it; so pray for me,” he jokes.
Creative collaborations
Alongside building the commissary and headquarters, Joe continually explores potential opportunities and new restaurant sites.“ We’ ve also found that people really love collaborations,” he adds,“ so we do quite a few of them with other well-known restaurants around the Chicago area. This year alone we’ ve got four collaborations planned.
“ One of the most exciting is with a popular local donut company. We’ re creating a donut fried chicken sandwich using one of their glazed donuts as the bun for a one-day special. It’ s a little over the top, but those are often the ideas people get most excited about.
“ We’ ve also got a collaboration coming up with a pizza company. We’ re supplying them with our chicken, sauces, and seasonings, and they’ ll be creating special pizzas inspired by our menu. It’ s a fun way to introduce both brands to new customers while giving people something unique they can’ t get every day.“ Over the next five years, I think we’ ll eventually raise a proper investment round. Up to this point, we’ ve largely funded growth ourselves. Once we reach around $ 20 million in revenue, I think the timing will be right to bring in outside investment and accelerate the business in a much bigger way.
“ Our goal is to grow from ten locations to somewhere in the region of 30 or 40 restaurants over the next five years. There’ s going to be a lot of hard work and plenty of challenges along the way, but the exciting part is building the team that can help make it happen.
“ Looking further ahead, our ten-year vision is to build a business doing around $ 200 million a year in revenue. At that point, we’ d have some interesting decisions to make, whether that’ s expanding through franchising across the country or potentially selling the business,” he concludes.“ For now, though, the focus is on building the right foundation, growing the brand the right way, and continuing to create something that people genuinely love.” ■
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