Pizza Today - September 2018 - 58

our industry. I am currently expanding
my brick-and-mortar location to add
a wood-burning mobile fire truck to
establish a catering pizza business. In
this business, it will be me and a partner
doing most of the work with a couple
of other part-time employees at the
beginning. Hopefully, we can expand on
this and get some more mobile units in
the future.

Now, we constantly keep our eyes on
the weather, play weather forecaster and
adjust to our environment to produce
excellent results.
The science of weather changes the
science of our pizza dough. When
making pizza dough, you have those good
dough days, just ok dough days and bad
dough days. Why? If you do not change
any of your variables, it's the weather!
Rainy or humid? Hot and humid? Hot
and dry? Cold and rainy? What you
gonna do? We've been using a wireless
weather station that is extremely accurate
and have logged weather patterns/temps
and humidity for the past couple of years.
We look up our recorded data to help us
produce consistent excellent outcomes.
We have enough data now to say goodbye
to our bad dough days.
PT: WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE NO. 1
OPERATIONAL MISTAKE MOST OPERATORS
MAKE IN THEIR EARLY DAYS?
JOHN ZOZZARO, OWNER AT THE
DOWNTOWN CAFÉ IN GLEN COVE, NEW YORK:

I think adding too many items to the
menu. Having an extensive menu might
mean having to hire more qualified
people to make extra items. So that
would mean more payroll. Also having
to order more food and making sure all
these extra items aren't getting thrown
away because of spoilage. So unless you're
opening a diner, try not to go over the
top on menu options right from the get
go. Just add new items to the menu as
you go along and you know what your
facility can handle better at that time.
5 8 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8

DAVE GARCIA, OWNER OF HALFTIME
PIZZA IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS:

"I've learned that not having your
systems in place before opening can
be detrimental to your operations and
training. If you want to set yourself up for
success, it starts at the beginning.
MEGHAN O'DEA, CHEF/OWNER AT
PI GOURMET EATERY IN ST. JOHN'S
NEWFOUNDLAND:

I think the biggest mistake to make
in the early days of opening is to go
overboard on purchasing too much
product and have too much staffing.
Having too much product and staff
means wasting too much money and
time. Until you know your business needs
and how many staff you need to make it
work. Also thinking that you can do it
all until you really do know what you are
doing will hurt you in the end.
SANCHEZ: Early on people get shell
shocked at the cost of expenses, from
buying equipment and taxes to permits
and food costs fluctuating. Plan to budget
and only buy what you need, not what
you want. (I have learned the hard way).
PT: HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU'RE READY
TO GO FROM ONE TO TWO STORES? IF YOU
HAVEN'T OPENED ANOTHER STORE, WHAT
ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
ZOZZARO: I am just now expanding
for the first time after 20 years in the
business. My concerns have always
been finding the right people to run the
new business, and I feel it's just getting
harder every year to find these people in

GARCIA: We opened our second
store after three years of operating our
first location. Opening a second store
is risky. One is hard, two is harder. I
hear that three gets easier. I would say
if your systems are in place and have
been tightened over the years - and
you feel that you have some of the right
employees who believe in you and your
concept - then you should go for it. Just
don't sacrifice the first store to keep it
going. Remember who you are and what
you stand for. Don't sacrifice quality!
O'DEA: How do you know when to
open another store? When you truly
feel that your product will continue the
same in another location and you have
loyal staff that will continue your value
of standards in the other location.What
am I waiting for to open another store?
Money! And time.
SANCHEZ: When one store can run
itself or you have an operations manager
who is highly trained and cares about
every aspect of the business. If you
haven't opened a store what are you
waiting for? Searching for a great
location is always a challenge.
MICHAEL ATHANASOPOLOUS, OWNER
OF THE LAMB & THE WOLF IN AUBURN,
CALIFORNIA:

After you feel established with the first
business (around three years) and you
know the market, have positive sales and
have systems in place, then you can go
for the second! The biggest difficulty is
identifying and processing your systems. n
MANDY WOLF DETWILER

editor of Pizza Today.

is managing
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - September 2018

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