Advice Line with Brett Schulman of CAVA
1Digest
This episode of How I Built This Lab features Brett Schulman, co-founder of Cava, a fast casual Mediterranean restaurant chain. The episode focuses on the challenges of scaling a business, particularly in the food and beverage industry. Brett shares his insights on how to focus a business, prioritize resources, and overcome imposter syndrome. The episode also features calls from entrepreneurs seeking advice on their own business ventures, including a founder of a spiked root beer company, a creator of allergy-friendly accessories, and a coffee roaster. Brett emphasizes the importance of finding the right people for the right roles, prioritizing tasks, and leveraging the experience of others through consulting or fractional roles. The episode concludes with Brett reflecting on his journey and offering advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, highlighting the importance of building a strong team and focusing on what truly matters.
Outlines
Introduction
This Chapter introduces the episode and its focus on providing business advice to entrepreneurs. It also mentions the opportunity for listeners to join Wondery Plus for early access to the show.
Brett Schulman, Co-Founder of Cava
This Chapter features Brett Schulman, co-founder of Cava, as the guest on the show. Brett discusses his experience scaling Cava from a single restaurant to a chain of hundreds. He shares insights on how to focus a business, prioritize resources, and overcome imposter syndrome.
Caller: Devon Strayhon, Founder of Devon's Spiked Root Beer
This Chapter features a call from Devon Strayhon, founder of Devon's Spiked Root Beer. Devon discusses his entrepreneurial journey, including his previous ventures as a private chef and muffin company owner. He seeks advice on dealing with imposter syndrome and managing the growth of his business.
Caller: Sophia Bowden, Founder of Little Me Allergy
This Chapter features a call from Sophia Bowden, founder of Little Me Allergy. Sophia discusses her mission-based business, which provides allergy-friendly accessories for children. She seeks advice on expanding her marketing reach and sales channels.
Caller: Sean Murray, Founder of Routeless Coffee Company
This Chapter features a call from Sean Murray, founder of Routeless Coffee Company. Sean discusses his coffee roasting business and seeks advice on determining the right time to seek growth funding and the best methods for doing so.
Conclusion
This Chapter concludes the episode with Brett Schulman reflecting on his journey and offering advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. He emphasizes the importance of building a strong team, focusing on what truly matters, and leveraging the experience of others.
Keywords
Cava
Cava is a fast casual Mediterranean restaurant chain co-founded by Brett Schulman. The company is known for its fresh, healthy, and flavorful dishes, including its signature dips and spreads. Cava has expanded rapidly since its founding, becoming a popular destination for Mediterranean cuisine.
Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud. Despite external evidence of success, individuals with imposter syndrome often attribute their achievements to luck or external factors rather than their own abilities. It can manifest in feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, and anxiety.
Scaling a Business
Scaling a business refers to the process of expanding a company's operations and increasing its revenue and market share. This can involve various strategies, such as expanding into new markets, developing new products or services, or increasing production capacity. Scaling a business requires careful planning, resource allocation, and management to ensure sustainable growth.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the process of starting and running a business, typically involving innovation, risk-taking, and the creation of new products or services. Entrepreneurs are individuals who identify opportunities, create solutions, and build businesses to address those opportunities. Entrepreneurship is often characterized by creativity, resilience, and a strong work ethic.
Food and Beverage Industry
The food and beverage industry encompasses all businesses involved in the production, processing, distribution, and sale of food and beverages. This includes restaurants, grocery stores, food manufacturers, beverage companies, and related services. The industry is highly competitive and subject to various factors, including consumer trends, regulations, and economic conditions.
Growth Funding
Growth funding refers to the capital raised by a company to support its expansion and growth. This can include various sources, such as venture capital, angel investors, debt financing, or crowdfunding. Growth funding is essential for businesses seeking to scale their operations, develop new products or services, or enter new markets.
Right People, Right Roles
This phrase emphasizes the importance of hiring and placing individuals in roles that align with their skills, experience, and strengths. It suggests that a successful business requires a team with the right mix of talent and expertise to effectively execute its strategy and achieve its goals.
Prioritization
Prioritization is the process of ranking tasks or activities based on their importance and urgency. It involves identifying the most critical tasks and allocating resources accordingly. Effective prioritization helps individuals and organizations focus on the most impactful activities and avoid wasting time and resources on less important tasks.
Fractional CFO/COO
A fractional CFO or COO is a professional who provides financial or operational expertise to a company on a part-time or project-based basis. They offer strategic guidance, financial management, or operational support without the full-time commitment of a traditional executive. Fractional executives can be valuable for small businesses seeking to access specialized expertise without the cost of hiring a full-time employee.
Vertical Integration
Vertical integration is a business strategy in which a company controls multiple stages of the production process, from raw materials to finished goods. This can involve owning or controlling suppliers, distributors, or other parts of the value chain. Vertical integration can provide companies with greater control over their operations, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.
Q&A
What are some key challenges of scaling a business, particularly in the food and beverage industry?
Scaling a business in the food and beverage industry presents unique challenges, including managing production capacity, ensuring consistent quality, expanding distribution channels, and attracting and retaining skilled employees. It also requires significant capital investment for infrastructure, equipment, and marketing.
How can entrepreneurs overcome imposter syndrome and build confidence in their abilities?
Overcoming imposter syndrome requires self-reflection, acknowledging accomplishments, seeking support from mentors or peers, and focusing on strengths. It's important to remember that everyone experiences self-doubt at times, and it's a sign of growth to challenge those negative thoughts and build self-belief.
What are some effective strategies for prioritizing tasks and allocating resources in a growing business?
Prioritization involves identifying the most critical tasks that align with the business's goals and allocating resources accordingly. This can involve using frameworks like the Eisenhower Matrix, setting clear deadlines, and regularly reviewing progress to ensure that efforts are focused on the most impactful activities.
How can entrepreneurs leverage the experience of others through consulting or fractional roles?
Consulting or fractional roles can provide entrepreneurs with access to specialized expertise and guidance without the full-time commitment of hiring a traditional executive. This can be particularly valuable for small businesses seeking to access financial, operational, or strategic expertise.
What are some key considerations when determining the right time to seek growth funding for a business?
Determining the right time to seek growth funding involves assessing the business's stage of development, revenue growth, profitability, and future potential. It's important to have a clear understanding of the business's needs, the amount of funding required, and the potential impact of investment on the company's operations and growth trajectory.
What are some effective methods for seeking growth funding, and what factors should entrepreneurs consider when choosing a funding source?
Methods for seeking growth funding include venture capital, angel investors, debt financing, and crowdfunding. Factors to consider when choosing a funding source include the stage of the business, the amount of funding required, the investor's experience and expertise, and the terms of the investment agreement.
How can entrepreneurs effectively market their products or services to a niche audience, such as those with food allergies?
Marketing to a niche audience requires understanding their specific needs, preferences, and pain points. This can involve targeted advertising, content marketing, influencer partnerships, and community engagement. It's also important to build trust and credibility with the target audience by demonstrating expertise and providing valuable information.
What are some strategies for expanding sales channels and reaching new customers for a mission-based business?
Expanding sales channels can involve exploring online marketplaces, partnering with complementary businesses, participating in trade shows, and engaging in strategic collaborations. It's important to identify channels that align with the business's target audience and offer opportunities for growth and reach.
What are some key takeaways from the episode for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Key takeaways include the importance of building a strong team, prioritizing tasks, leveraging the experience of others, and focusing on what truly matters. It's also essential to be resilient, adaptable, and willing to learn from mistakes.
What are some examples of successful businesses that started as side hustles?
Examples of successful businesses that started as side hustles include Sam Adams beer, which began as a homebrewing hobby, and Spanx, which was initially created by its founder to smooth out her panty lines.
Show Notes
CAVA co-founder and CEO Brett Schulman joins Guy on the Advice Line, where they answer questions from three early-stage founders experiencing growing pains as they scale their companies.
Today we meet Devin, who’s navigating imposter syndrome as his spiked root beer gets picked up by stores across Texas. Then Sophia, a Los Angeles mom exploring new sales channels for the accessories she designed to support children’s allergy needs. And Sean, who’s weighing whether outside investment is the best way to grow his Michigan-based coffee roastery into a national brand.
If you’d like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one minute message that tells us about your business and a specific question you’d like answered. Send a voice memo to hibt@id.wondery.com or call 1-800-433-1298.
And be sure to listen to CAVA’s founding story as told by Brett and his co-founder Ted Xenohristos on the show in 2023.
This episode was produced by Carla Esteves with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by John Isabella. Our audio engineer was James Willetts.
You can follow HIBT on X & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com. And sign up for Guy’s free newsletter at guyraz.com.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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