Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2013 | Page 19

M U L T I - B R A N D

PERSONAL
First job: Picking up trash in the neighborhood of my dad’s A&W Root Beer
stand when I was 7. First real full-time job: assistant manager at a KFC.
Formative influences/events: There are many. My parents, my uncle,
my older brother Mike, and my friend of 20 years, Willy Theisen, founder of
Godfather’s Pizza. One of my formative events would be in 1989, when I left
my position as president of a local KFC franchise and started CMC with one
restaurant.
Key accomplishments: Staying in business for 24 years in maybe the most
difficult, competitive business there is. Creating many
jobs and opportunities for thousands of people over
the years.
Biggest mistake: There have been many, but
the one that stands out is assuming the lease of a
troubled location and assuming I could make it work.
That “free restaurant” will have cost me over $3 million by the time I buy out the lease.
Smartest mistake: It started as a mistake when
I overbuilt Famous Dave’s in Omaha. I turned four
profitable Famous Dave’s into six not-so-profitable
ones. I looked smart when I converted the oldest
location into a Twin Peaks. The sales more than
doubled at that location, and the remaining locations have continued to improve. Several concepts
we have now were former locations of other brands
we have. We got into Domino’s to fix a “too close”
Sonic location that should have never been opened
there (less than two miles from an existing Sonic).

can. I am taking my COO to golf school with me in Scottsdale this April. He tells
me we have been talking about this for 10 years. I also enjoy my Harleys, and
playing sports with my 11-year-old, Chase.
Exercise/workout: Last year, for the first time, I hired a personal trainer
who works me out twice a wee