Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2016 | Page 56

MULTI

BRAND

“We’ve got plenty to keep us busy,
and I like it that way.”
All this activity and growth have kept
his construction department hopping. He
had previously told us that he can do about
90 percent of the building himself, which
allows him to do it for about half the cost
a typical franchisee would have to pay to
get started. Since 2011 his crew has been
busy reimaging some Little Caesars stores
and are preparing to do the same for some
Church’s locations.
“We can get things done quicker and
save money,” he says. They recently finished
an addition to Dekker’s that added more

than 70 seats and a bar that can now be
used for private parties and receptions—
and don’t forget the outdoor deck. He says
there’s more building on the horizon. His
Dekker’s has done so well that he has plans
for an Italian restaurant on a plot of land
overlooking a river in suburban Houston.
“We are looking to get that under way this
year,” he says.
When he’s not working, Knobelock loves
to get away to relax and hunt at his ranch
on the Rio Grande near Laredo. “It’s full
of white-tailed deer, wild hogs, and other

wildlife,” he says, providing him with a great
opportunity to unwind and spend time with
his family. He and his daughter have traveled to Africa for exotic safaris and hunts.
Another African trip, this time to Namibia,
is in the works.
He still loves his work and has no intention of letting up anytime soon. “We
plan to keep building Church’s Chicken
and Little Caesars locations as well as continuing to handle the reimages,” he says.
“We’ve got plenty to keep us busy, and I
like it that way.”

BOTTOM LINE
Annual revenue: $60 million.
2016 goals: We are seeing commodities relief, so we are sharing that with the
customer to increase transactions and help improve incremental profits.
Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? Last year we
measured by average check. This year we are measuring transactions as we are
seeing commodities reduced.
Vision meter: Where do you want to be in 5 years? 10 years?
In 5 years, 100 stores. In 10 years, I’d like to transition the business over to my
children.
How is the economy in your region(s) affecting you, your employees, your customers? In our home base of Houston we are hoping the
oil industry will rebound. The Affordable Care Act caused many of our employees
to go from one full-time job to two part-time jobs. The unemployment rate still has
not decreased in many of the inner city markets compared with the national average, thus our customers have less discretionary income to spend with us.
Are you experiencing economic growth in your market? No.
How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business?
It depends on all the economic variables. We focus on controlled growth by taking
advantage of profitable opportunities, while improving our margins and maintaining adequate cash reserves.

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How do you forecast for your business? Through complex models we
have used in the past and input from all levels.
What are the best sources for capital expansion? I prefer to use GE
Capital.
Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other
institutions? Why/why not? We’ve used local and national sources of
funding. We use local banks when possible to help our community. But we use GE
Capital to help with cash flow.
What are you doing to take care of your employees? Paying competitive wages and making sure we provide a clean and safe environment. We
also provide advancement opportunities.
How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum
wage, healthcare, etc.)? We have reduced the hourly workforce from predominantly full-time to predominantly part-time.
How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees? We
have quarterly bonuses for our salaried employees. We do period sales incentives
for our hourly employees. We have done yearly holiday bonuses.
What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? To hand over the
reins of operations to the next generation in my family.

MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE IS S UE II, 2016

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