Indian-origin man who as soon as labored as waiter now owns complete US restaurant group

Amol Kohli, 37, started working at a Friendly’s outlet in Philadelphia in 2003 as a stressed highschool sophomore searching for pocket cash. He earned about $5 an hour and juggled a number of roles, from cooking and dishwashing to busser and ice cream scooper, Kohli instructed CNBC Make It.

Now, 20 years later, Kohli has added one other title to his resume: Owner of Friendly’s. On July 22, his funding group, Legacy Brands International, acquired Friendly’s, together with its mum or dad firm Brix Holdings and 6 different restaurant chains, for an undisclosed quantity. “This is likely one of the few (industries) in your entire world that you may actually begin from that stage and work your manner as much as a CEO or government,” Kohli mentioned.

From waiter to franchisor

The 37-year-old shared that he has spent most of his life working at Friendly’s in a technique or one other. Even whereas finding out finance and advertising at Drexel University, he continued working on the restaurant throughout the summers, studying the nuts and bolts of the enterprise.

“I began supporting a pair franchisees and simply began studying what occurs after the cash makes its manner into the register. Learning about insurance coverage, payroll, meals prices and all these different issues. I did that each one by school,” he recalled.

Then, after graduating with honours in 2011, Kohli selected a regional supervisor function at Friendly’s over a finance profession. Just a few years later, he took over a closing franchise location with funds from financial savings, credit score, and enterprise companions. “That’s how my franchising profession began. And from there, it simply by no means stopped,” Kohli mentioned.

He ultimately franchised 31 Friendly’s areas earlier than shopping for the model outright. His firm now additionally owns Clean Juice, Orange Leaf, Red Mango, Smoothie Factory + Kitchen, Souper Salad, and Humble Donut Co., overseeing greater than 250 restaurant retailers throughout the US.

Challenges forward

According to the outlet, Kohli’s path to proudly owning his one-time employer began with plummeting gross sales at Friendly’s throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Friendly’s, as soon as an 800-location chain, has shrunk to simply over 100 eating places right now. It additionally filed for chapter in 2020 earlier than being acquired by Brix Holdings in 2021 for slightly below $2 million.

In May earlier this 12 months, Kohli based his personal funding group, Legacy Brands International. The group’s sole objective was to amass Brix Holdings.

The creation of Legacy Brands International was the results of “a combination of a lot of stars aligning, the right people supporting, faith, and a lot of goodwill that all got cashed in at one time,” he mentioned. And his lengthy monitor report with the corporate made him “the ideal candidate for ownership,” Brix founder John Antioco mentioned when the deal was introduced.

The ascent from entry-level Friendly’s worker to chairman of Brix’s board of administrators is “unbelievable,” the 37-year-old mentioned.

Now, Kohli acknowledges the problem of reviving the struggling model however sees alternative in modernisation. His imaginative and prescient is to draw new franchisees and reframe meals service jobs as long-term careers. “Some of the individuals on my government staff now have been dishwashers and cooks,” he famous, pointing to his personal journey as proof of what’s doable.