Local entrepreneur shares experience
By Adam Knoll
Correspondent
Scott Gittrich, the founder of Toppers Pizza, located in Whitewater, has been a busy guy the past couple of months – speaking at two big events in an effort to give back and share his experiences with other small businesses and franchise owners.
Small businesses are the backbone of communities as they add something special to the area and can help acquire more customers which, in turn, can bring in further revenue through online platforms, where they utilize services like https://www.easypaydirect.com/merchant-accounts/high-risk-merchant-accounts/ so they can meet the expectations of their customers, potentially growing their business even further.
The International Franchise Association holds an annual convention in New Orleans open to all 32,000 of its members and franchise owners throughout the country. The conference, held in February, is a meet and greet for business owners looking to gain information on how to build, and maintain a franchise in the United States and one that a local man attends each year.
- Governor Scott Walker (from the left) greets Toppers Pizza founder Scott Gittrich, and business success expert Steve Kaplan at a USASBE forum at UW-Whitewater last month. (Craig Schreiner/UW-Whitewater photo)
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Last month, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship held a public forum that welcomed entrepreneurs and small business leaders from throughout the country.
Governor Scott Walker was one of several big names in attendance, kicking off the forum by proclaiming May 5 as “Small Business and Entrepreneurship Day” in the state.
Other featured speakers included Steve Kaplan, a multimillionaire businessman and New York Times best-selling author, and on the local front, Scott Gittrich, CEO of Toppers Pizza.
Gittrich told the audience he had two intentions that day: “To share something of my story that will be useful to them in their endeavors and to sell a franchise.
“After all,” Gittrich said, “almost half of all Toppers stores are owned by franchisees that went to UW-Whitewater or lived in Whitewater at some point.”
Gittrich focused on key lessons of his story as an entrepreneur, including the discovery “that we had built a distinctive brand that simply needed professional management of every brand touch point to own that distinction.”
Shares values of all Toppers team members “are the ties that bind us together and make us unstoppable,” Gittrich said.
According to Gittrich, entrepreneurial success is a “noble endeavor and the part of the world that is preaching that profitable business owners are greedy and selfish are lying.”
Gittrich said great businesses are the driving force of the future. “It’s not simply the backbone of a healthy economy and a healthy middle class, it’s the only real conduit for innovation and efficient deployment of society’s assets into the service of everyone.”
As far as advice given to others in attendance, Gittrich said the message is simple.
“Your drive, perseverance and attitude will determine your success. Every day is a gift so use it,” he said.
The event, held in Timothy J. Hyland Hall, was consistent with the university’s goals, according to Christine Clements, dean of the College of Business and Economics, said.
“We’ve cultivated an entrepreneurial ecosystem where new business ideas flourish,” Clements said.
A panel of young, successful alumni from UW-Whitewater who shared their success stories and best practices included: Henry Schwartz, founder and CEO of MobCraft Beer, a crowd-sourced brewery; Matthew Bartel, founder of Digital Measures, a Web-based solution that revolutionized the process of course evaluations; and Joe Scanlin, co-founder and CEO of Scanalytics, which produces devices and software to understand consumer behavior.
Patrick Snyder, executive director of USASBE, said there was a “ton of talent on stage and in the audience. We couldn’t be more excited about our partnership with UW-Whitewater.”
According to Gittrich, Toppers Pizza “has been associated (with the IFA) for at least 10 years. Every franchise company who is anybody is represented at the conference. It’s an absolute must.”
Gittrich said there are several strengths of a conference such as the IFA’s.
“You meet with other heads of franchisees, hang out with presidents and CEO’s of corporations – development people, marketing people, from nearly every franchise,” Gittrich said.
This year, Toppers sent 12 people to the conference, “a delegation,” as Gittrich described it. He and his team were involved in a “taste the franchise” event held the opening night, where he was able to introduce Toppers Pizza to those not familiar with it.
“We were excited to present our concept to executives from around the country,” Gittrich said. “(Perhaps) they’ve heard about us, or they read about us, but they live too far away. It’s an opportunity to eat Toppers Pizza.”
The International Franchise Association (IFA) is in its 54th year and also sports 600 national suppliers among their members. After a brief dip in membership between 2007 through 2012, membership is again on the upswing. IFA spokeswoman Melanie Bergeron said the reasons for the dip were obvious.
“(The) biggest concern is the affordable care act as well as comprehensive tax reform and unions,” Bergeron said. “All of these put a burden on a small business owner and can be fought through the IFA.”
Bergeron said she sees a great demand for the IFA in both job opportunities and wealth to the nations economy. According to Bergeron, there are 770,000 franchise establishments in the United States, all of which combine to add $4.2 trillion dollars to the national economy as well adding a predicted 200,000 jobs this year. If that number is correct, that will amount to a 2.3 percent increase over 2013.
Bergeron said there is a strong need for the conference. “Franchises all have different things to learn, that why the conference exists.”
Although Bergeron admits that food services make up the highest amount of franchise opportunities, the conference can also be influential to prospective new franchises thanks to the marketing and budgeting strategies that can be learned, as well as the social relations that can be formed through the event.
Not to mention that new growth opportunities, such as expansion of the business on the online front, can also be leveraged with the help of knowledge gained during the event. A franchise or independent business – both can benefit immensely from developing strategies that tackle SEO, Link building, Outreach, Website Optimization, Social Media, and lots of other areas that have the potential to enhance a company’s digital presence; this opens up a whole avenue that was previously untouched.
In all, the IFA can see promise in areas such as Whitewater.
“The Midwest has really good work ethic, and it has good places to find good workers,” Bergeron said. She also touched on Tax Reform and how it can help small businesses.
“Most small businesses have out of pocket costs, such as equipment and inventory, to name a few. Tax reform is needed to protect the small businesses so they can invest more in their businesses and create more jobs,” she said.
Bergeron said she believes franchising is a strong business model, however there is hesitation because “people are apprehensive to spend because of the Affordable Care Act.”
Those are not concerns for Gittrich, however, who said the challenges of starting a franchise are more about upfront costs and proof of concept rather than the health care law.
“First and foremost, the key to franchising is that you have a concept that is proven and resonates with what consumers want from location to location,” Gittrich said. “When I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with a local person, I typically say that it’s been my path to open up a second store to show my product is great. If you make money at the second store, you may have a sustainable model.”
Gittrich’s history shows that he knows what he’s talking about. Though it took 13 years to begin franchising after the first Toppers opened in 1991, in the time since he has seen his corporation increase to 25 stores by early 2012 and 54 stores in nine states as of early this year. Gittrich hopes to have between 73 and 76 stores in operation by the end of this year with a plan to open the 100th Toppers Pizza in 2016.
“We are mostly focused on the eight or ten states right around us,” Gittrich said. “(Toppers is) national with a couple of caveats. We’re not going to the Northeast right now or west of the Rockies unless a big development comes along. However, if we get the right size deal, we will go anywhere.”
Being the head of a booming pizza chain, Gittrich said he is often looked to for guidance, or to have questions bounced off him about possible franchising.
“I’ve been involved with a number of business people in Whitewater, and we talked about franchising their concept. I get asked about the viability of them franchising their ideas.”
Gittrich said he is straightforward about the pitfalls of starting up a franchise.
“Part of it is a math problem. It’s not exactly cheap to start franchising. A person considering it should start thinking about what it will take to get things up and running. There is a decent upfront investment and then a constant investment thereafter,” he said.
There are additional concerns that Gittrich said he did not learn about until he began trying to spread his wings and said he found that the reason it takes a business considerably longer to go from one store to 10, than it does from 10 to 100, is because of the support system that needs to be in place.
“If you have one or two stores you obviously don’t have the type of expertise that you have if you are bigger and have staff,” Gittrich said. “So, I think you need to understand the financial needs and make sure your concept is wanted in the area.”
“You have to be willing to give up some control, as you are not operating each store directly,” Gittrich added. “You need to make some long term relationships with your franchisees. It’s important to make the right types of decisions.”
Though he is seasoned veteran of franchises given his experience, even Gittrich is surprised by what it takes to build an empire.
“If I knew every detail of what (franchising) involves, I might not have done it. I’m not overly afraid of it though, so I move forward,” he said.
Despite the uncertainties and challenges, Gittrich said it’s been worth it.
“We are one of the top 60 pizza chains in the country. There is a buzz around Toppers, but that type of buzz is not available when you are smaller,” he said.
