[ad_1]
A couple’s idea just one week into their relationship has led to them creating a lucrative business raking in $12 million.
Jess Davis, 33, and Tyson Hoffman, 27, had only just started dating when they decided to pour everything they had into a fast food baked potato company.
As a pro basketball player, Mr Hoffman was pretty much only eating baked potatoes and lean chicken meat as part of his athlete’s diet.
“I was sick of cooking it for an hour,” Mr Hoffman told news.com.au.
At the time, back in 2018, he joked to his new girlfriend, Ms Davis, that he wanted to turn his diet into a fast food chain.
This throwaway comment swiftly turned into reality and within three months the couple had launched Mr Potato, a restaurant which provides customers with the option of baked potato or sweet potato as a base with toppings of their choice.
Fast-forward to today and the pair have 22 different franchise stores across South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and NSW.
In the past financial year they generated $6 million but they are on track to hit between $12 to $14 million in the past 12 months.
Last month, the first store opened in Sydney in the city’s trendy suburb of Newtown and half a dozen more stores are destined to pop up across the country.
Mr Potato has 22 stores across Australia.
The fast food company has recently launched in Newtown, Sydney.
Ms Davis, as a former model, had not touched carbs in years but saw the wisdom in a baked potato business after realising it was still a healthy meal.
A week after her boyfriend floated the idea, she had put together a business plan using her previous experience running her own modelling agency.
Within two months they had launched Mr Potato, in December 2018 in their home town of Adelaide.
“We both went all in,” she said.
All of the savings Ms Davis had was tied up in her modelling company while Mr Hoffman had little in the way of seed funds.
They managed to scrape a cash reserve together with the help of an outside investor.
“Neither of us had any experience,” Mr Hoffman said.
“It was very difficult for the first two years. There were a lot of mistakes.”
Wanting more guidance, the two joined business coaching provider The Entourage, run by Australian entrepreneur Jack Delosi, who has a $100 million net worth.
Mr Delosi was so interested in Mr Potato that he became a shareholder, and this allowed them to open a second store, also in Adelaide.
But then Covid hit, setting the business back considerably.
Jess Davis used her skills in marketing to propel the business forward.
Mr Hoffman got the idea because of the strict diet he was on as an athlete.
Jack Delosi, the author of this recently released book, is part-owner of the Mr Potato franchise.
“Just before Covid, we opened up a third store, we put everything into that,” Mr Hoffman said.
“When Covid hit it was a difficult period. You’re wanting to keep the doors of the business open but you lose money.
If we closed the doors and had no sales we would’ve had a bigger hole.
“It took us a good six or seven months to find our feet again.”
But with the extra time they found themselves with during the lockdown, the couple had the chance to knuckle down and plan to franchise their business.
“A lot of people were making red wine,” Ms Davis said.
“We could put our heads down. We wrote our franchise manual during Covid.”
As a result, they sold their first franchise that year along the Gold Coast, starting their national expansion.
Since then, they’ve opened up 19 more stores, and even sold the original store to a franchisee.
To date, they’ve had more than 650 franchise requests, but have tried to pace their expansion.
Their new store in Sydney opened up last month, and they have several more restaurants slated to launch in NSW and Western Australia.
[ad_2]
Source link