Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2011 | Page 16

DOMINA
TORS

I admit I used to be more of a micro-manager,
but I’ve learned to back off and trust my people.
The key is to surround yourself with bright
people who think like you do.
honors for sales over the years. Nearly a
decade later, Ansley has 22 Buffalo Wild
Wings units in Michigan and Florida.
In 2006, looking at other concepts that
were not so reliant on chicken, Ansley
noticed that “Every town has a burger
joint or tavern.” Before creating his own
concept, he called his uncle, an investment banker. “I said, ‘Teach me how to

do this,’ and he said, ‘Use other people’s
money.’ So I worked with a designer on
my ideas for Bagger Dave’s Legendary
Burger Tavern.”
Ansley was ready to dive right into
franchising the con cept, but friend and
veteran Buffalo Wild Wings franchise
developer Bill McClintock told him he
was not ready for that. “He told me I

M A N AG E M E N T
Business philosophy: I believe in taking care of employees. They’re our
most important assets. They’re the ones who are challenged to delight the
guests at the end of the day. I remind our team all the time that I may sign
the paychecks, but our guests pay all our salaries. I also believe that a clean,
organized, well-groomed manager equals a clean, organized, well-groomed
restaurant.
Are you in the franchising, real estate, or customer service
business? Why? We’re in all of them. We’re franchisees and we’re going
to be franchisors too, so we’re definitely in franchising. We’re in customer service because we’re in the restaurant business, and we’ve become involved in
real estate through building, buying, and leasing.
What gets you out of bed in the morning? Every morning I’m starved
for information. I want to know the numbers right away.
What’s your passion in business? Developing, building things, floor
plans, leases, deals—all this excites me more than anything. On the other
hand, it’s rewarding to see former kitchen employees who are now regional
managers. A great example is our COO, who started as a prep cook at Buffalo
Wild Wings’ first location when I was GM.
Management method or style: I admit I used to be more of a micromanager, but I’ve learned to back off and trust my people. The key is to surround yourself with bright people who think like you do. I don’t like a lot of
meetings—they’re unproductive—but I’m in regular communication with my
team.
Greatest challenge: My greatest challenge has been coming from a singlerestaurant background to moving the company forward as a larger entity. We’re
growing at a good clip, and every day is a challenge. We’ve had a field day in
real estate in the past three years. We’ve taken advantage of the situation and
found some good stuff. But with no new development or malls or strip centers

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being built, it’s only going to get harder.
How close are you to operations? I’m less involved with finance and
accounting and more involved with operations and marketing because of my
background.
Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the
economy? How? Not at all. When we started Bagger Dave’s, we decided it
would be about the food first and the atmosphere second—not about discounting. Our pricing isn’t bad. It falls into a price point like Buffalo Wild Wings or
Chipotle. Our food is as fresh as you can get it and our sauces are made inhouse, so we don’t have to get into discounting or coupons.
Personality: Passionate, intense.
How do others describe you? Intense.
How do you hire and fire? When we hire, everybody interviews with at
least three people. We look for people with personality traits that are common
in our company culture. We’re working on a personality assessment test that
will have candidates answer 60 questions before getting an interview. When
it comes to firing, we’re pretty quick. If you’re here, we take care of you. If
you’re not cutting it and not fitting in, you’re not here. We’re not afraid to admit when we make a mistake, even if somebody’s been here for only a couple
of weeks.
How do you train and retain? We’re dealing with young people, especially at the restaurant level, so we try to (as the saying goes) hire smart, train
hard, and manage easy. It makes sense, and we’re spending extra money to
intensify our training program.
How do you deal with problem employees? We have a strict process: a verbal warning, a couple of write-ups, and you’re gone.

Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue IV, 2011

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