Our franchise owners are the heart & soul at MOOYAH. This month we are recognizing Alfredo & Martin Arguello as our Franchisee Spotlight.
The father & son duo opened their first location in Brentwood, Tennessee in May 2020 and will be opening their second location in Franklin, Tennessee in the next few weeks. We caught up with Alfredo and he provided some great insights on ownership & the MOOYAH brand.
Q: What attracted you to MOOYAH?
A: It was my son that discovered the brand when he attended college in Birmingham. Over his college years, he enjoyed eating at MOOYAH. Upon graduation, my son (Martin) knew he did not want to work for a large corporation. Martin wanted to do something unique that would provide him with long-term pride and satisfaction. The desire to create something unique in middle Tennessee brought memories of his eating days at MOOYAH in Birmingham. Somehow, Martin knew it was his calling. Martin wanted to serve communities in middle Tennessee, and MOOYAH was the vehicle for delivering on his personal dreams.
Q: How do you describe the MOOYAH culture?
Fun & exciting. Curiosity for learning new things. A burning desire to satisfy customers. A strong sense of connection with employees and incoming guests. A genuine desire to be the best.
Q: How do you retain your Team Members & keep them engaged?
We follow three principles/themes:
(1) Treat people with respect. Treat others the same way you want to be treated. Understand & appreciate every member of the team.
(2) Develop the right working environment by developing team members into a high performance team. Make the environment fun, flexible & challenging. Provide lots of personal motivation that make people want to come to work every day. Have a healthy environment.
(3) Pay people right! We get out of the mold by paying people right, and above our competition!
Q: How has the evolution of sales outside the four walls impacted your restaurant?
45% of our sales are dine-in. So it implies that 55% of our sales are outside. Digging into the 55% outside sales, we learn two things:
(1) Half of outside sales are online customers using the MOOYAH app.
(2) Half of outside sales are 3rd party delivery platforms (Uber Eats, Doordash, Grubhub, Google Rails and ezCater for Catering).
To manage this dynamic, we are excited about the evolution of sales outside the four walls. Why are we excited? Our dine-in seating capacity is only 73 seats. Outside sales allows us to sell more beyond dine-in guests. So we are focused on driving more outside sales by taking proactive steps as follows:
(1) When customers dine-in, motivate them to download the MOOYAH app on their smartphones. It drives loyalty and engagement both for dine-in and online ordering experiences.
(2) We work diligently with ezCater to drive the catering business.
(3) We signed up with Uber Eats, Doordash and Grubhub for increased sales.
(4) We pay a great deal of attention to our packaging to get it right. We want our food to arrive hot, tasty and accurate. We pay extra attention to make sure the orders go out on time!
Q: Why are you continuing to grow with MOOYAH?
Our sales in 2021 are 40% to 50% higher than 2020. Our Google rating stands at a strong 4.7 implying strong support from our customers. This is driving lots of references (new customers). MOOYAH is a unique experience because the product is simply great.
The spirit to serve is what drives our growth. We have become a destination for families and guests. Guests come to MOOYAH Brentwood to have a great time with great burgers with families & friends. We are more than a restaurant. We are more than a nice place to come. We are providing enjoyable experiences to our guests. Our customers come to MOOYAH because they want to have fun with their families & friends.
Q: What is it about the MOOYAH brand that’s going to take us to the next level?
The MOOYAH brand is attractive. The product (burgers, fries and milkshakes) are truly outstanding. While these are essential requirements for success, MOOYAH offers so much more:
(1) The brand expresses a WELCOME to all guests. The moment you come in, you feel something special. There is a huge map on our entrance that says WELCOME to MOOYAH Brentwood surrounded by a huge doodle of fun wallpaper. Your first impression is a sincerity that you are welcomed. There is a sincerity that we are happy to see our guests. This feeling is essential for all new guests as it drives future references.
(2) The MOOYAH Corporate team has a strong desire to keep the brand fresh, fun and enjoyable. We are constantly trying new ideas in new burgers, fries and shakes. Our Corporate team ensures the brand does not grow old. The brand keeps growing in a very refreshing way. Basically, the MOOYAH Corporate team believes in curiosity to learn new things to keep us relevant in our constant evolution.
(3) The MOOYAH Corporate team knows very well that we are stronger together. It implies that we are no better than the weakest link in the chain. If we bring one bad restaurant owner into the Franchise, it hurts the brand. So our MOOYAH Corporate team spends quality time attracting the industry’s best franchise owners. We are bringing people into the MOOYAH family that share our values to serve our customers. We celebrate every time we sign up a new franchise owner because we grow the brand stronger across the nation. Brand recognition is growing nationally, and that’s essential to take this brand to a whole new level.
For more information on how you can become the newest Franchise Owner at MOOYAH, learn more at 1851 Franchise.
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