Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2013 | Page 40

D OM I N A T O R S
On Christmas, Holm can be found
working alongside his employees
at a local Golden Corral.

he says. “Then move on.”
Holm came from humble beginnings
and always worked hard. His first restaurant
job was in high school, as a busboy in the
restaurant where his mother was a waitress. He bought his first businesses—four

Dairy Queens—when he was 21.
Later, after struggling as an independent restaurant owner for years, Holm
filed bankruptcy twice before listening
to his friend and former business partner,
Golden Corral founder James Maynard.

“He told me I should get into franchising
with Golden Corral, so I did,” says Holm.
He opened his first Golden Corral in
1996, and within a year turned around four
under-performing stores and won his first
Franchisee of the Year award. Customers
and employees alike were confounded
when the new owner posted his personal
home phone number in the restaurant,
asking people to call him with “the good,
the bad, and the ugly.”
Seventeen years later, Holm, who describes himself as a “risk-taker, but not a
gambler,” continues to lead by example.
On Christmas, he can be found working
alongside his employees at a local Golden
Corral, and on Thanksgiving he and 1,200
volunteers serve up to 25,000 free meals
at the Salvation Army.
In addition to embracing failure
along with success, Holm advises franchisees to “be engaged” in their businesses. “This is not an investor-based
opportunity,” he says. “It’s an operator’s
opportunity.”

franchising.
Work week: I work as long as needed. I’m
always a little on duty.
How do you spend a typical day? I get up
and check email from home, stop by the office,
and ride the stores in the Orlando area. Sometimes I get into my airplane and fly to Atlanta and
ride my stores there.
Favorite fun activities: Going to our beach
house at New Smyrna Beach, Florida; riding my
motorcycles.
Exercise/workout: Not enough.
Favorite tech toys: iPad and iPhone.
What ar H[