Listen to this podcast episode ➔ https://pod.link/beyondthomasward
When expanding a brand across multiple locations, maintaining consistency is crucial to success. However, as any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you, “None of this is easy. You know when the road hasn’t been paved and you haven’t necessarily done it before.” These words from Jeff Perera, co-founder of Jeff’s Bagel Run, captures the real challenge restaurants and businesses face when scaling up. In 2023, Jeff’s Bagel Run announced an aggressive growth plan that included six new locations. Three of those locations are now open and the other three are officially under construction. So, Jeff’s experience with opening multiple locations definitely provides valuable insights into establishing a consistent brand identity without sacrificing quality.
Building a Consistent Brand Experience
The cornerstone of brand consistency is ensuring that each customer’s experience aligns closely with the company’s values and expectations, regardless of the location. For Jeff’s Bagel Run, which started as a simple home hobby and blossomed into a bustling business with several locations, the challenge was to replicate the homey, authentic feel of their original store across all new locations.
Training and Systems
Training staff effectively is another ‘make or break’ element. Employees are the front-line ambassadors of a brand, and their ability to deliver a consistent customer experience is vital. Justin notes, “I think we built a lot on that bagel!”. It’s up to the leadership team to create standard operating procedures – that can be easily followed, understood, and repeated. To scale, you must invest – not only money – but time and energy into the intangible like these robust processes and systems. It’s crucial for your team, in any role, to understand and embrace the unique aspects of the product they are selling. “And it’s really important. So staying connected is important there, but it is about building the right team and having people that you trust because they’re in the role that best suits them that they’re going to deliver on consistently and be able to help you grow,” explains Jeff. This is how to enhance efficiency without diluting the brand’s core attributes.
Local Market Adaptation
While consistency is key, flexibility is also essential. Each location might serve a slightly different customer demographic, which would call for slight adjustments to meet that neighborhood’s expectations without straying from the core brand identity and quality they’re known for. For Jeff’s Bagel Run, this meant adapting their menu and store layout to fit different markets while ensuring the brand’s signature feel and product quality remained intact across the board.
Expanding a brand across multiple locations involves a delicate balance of consistency and adaptability. By establishing solid processes, investing in thorough staff training, developing systems and processes, and adapting to local markets, businesses can ensure that their brand identity remains strong, no matter how many new doors open.
Tune into the full conversation to hear the full story with insights from Jeff and Danielle Perera, and Justin Wetherill, offering a more in-depth look at their journey and lessons learned while on their journey of opening more doors.
Follow us on your favorite podcast platform: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and any podcast platform! This episode featuring Jeff’s Bagel Run releases tomorrow April 30th 2024!
Baked with ❤️ by BrandCrumbs Media in Orlando, FL
