S9 E2: The King of Chicken and Beef: How Drew Gressett Opened 80+ Zaxby’s and Hat Creek Locations

Drew Gressett’s sitting down with the Wolf to discuss his personal journey in the restaurant industry—from his journey founding Hat Creek Burger Company to owning 60+ Zaxby’s. Hear Hat Creek Burger Company’s humble origin story—from starting as a food truck in 2008 to now having 26 brick-and-mortar locations, Drew shares the challenges and triumphs of scaling his business. He shares how building a strong restaurant management team and securing financing helped fuel his exponential growth. What are the unique dynamics of running both independent restaurants and franchise locations? And does Drew have plans to expand into other franchise brands or industries in the future? Tune in now to find out!   00:00:23 - From Food Truck to Restaurant Success 00:07:13 - Lessons Learned from Hat Creek's Expansion 00:08:10 - Growing Hat Creek to 26 Locations 00:15:12 - Expanding the Zaxby's Franchise Portfolio 00:18:23 - Scaling Hat Creek  00:20:37 - Building a Strong Restaurant Management Team 00:24:36 - Leveraging Seller Financing for Growth 00:28:56 - Franchise Friction: Running Own vs. Franchise 00:33:03 - Exploring New Franchise Opportunities and Industries 00:34:37 - New Builds vs. Acquisitions: Pros and Cons   Learn More About Zaxby’s: Website: https://www.zaxbys.com/franchise   Learn More About Hat Creek Burger Company: Website: https://hatcreekburgers.com/who-we-are   Follow Drew:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-gressett-96891621a/   Follow The Wolf:  Newsletter: https://workweek.com/brand/the-wolf-of-franchises/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thewolfoffranchises Twitter: https://twitter.com/franchisewolf Website: https://www.krokit.com   And for exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel. Are you a future franchise entrepreneur? Find all of the tools you need to launch, operate, and expand your franchise empire with the platform created by The Wolf himself, Krokit.com. And if you’ve enjoyed listening to Franchise Empires, I’d be so grateful if you could drop me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast. Thank you so much!