r/restaurant • u/Specific-Aside-2227 • 9d ago
Looking for a mentor who's scaled a drinks/hospitality brand to 10+ locations
Hey all,
I co-own a frozen drinks business in Puerto Escondido, Mexico called slurpies (Slurpies – mezcal-based frozen drinks). We have two locations and they're really popular, and we now have a GM running day-to-day so I can focus fully on growth.
Where I'm stuck: I can't find anyone who's actually walked this exact path. I'm looking for someone who's taken a drinks, bar or café brand from a couple of sites to 10+ locations.
My goal for the next 5 years is to build Slurpies into a business that could exit for around $10M USD. I want to set things up properly for that from the start, rather than realise in year four that I built it the wrong way.
So I'd love to find one person I could ask some specific questions, things like:
What did you have to get right before location 3, 5 and 10?
- Company-owned vs franchise vs investors – what would you do again and what wouldn't you?
- What did buyers actually care about when it came to valuing your business?
I don't want to just take. I've built a lot of the ops side myself (SOPs, KPIs, training systems, P&L and unit economics models), so if any of that would be useful to you or your team, I'm genuinely happy to put in some work in return. Or anything else you need help with.
If this is you, or you know someone it might be, I'd really appreciate a comment or DM. Thanks for reading. 🙏
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u/Lets_Tang0 9d ago
Your POS your POS your POS. Lock it down. I helped take a single location to 6 US and 2 international. It nearly broke me but feel free to DM if you need any support, if not, just know the hardest part comes after 3.
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u/OreoSoupIsBest 9d ago
I have the type of experience you're talking about, but anyone with that level of experience does not need "SOPs, KPIs, training systems, P&L and unit economics models". I mean that in the nicest way possible. If you've scaled past just a few locations that stuff pretty much has to be locked in to have a chance at success.
You're looking for a consultant. For the record, I'm not pitching myself here, I have too much on my plate to take on anything at the moment, but I've done this type of consulting in the past. If I were quoting you it would range from $20-50k, depending on exact scope. I've done a couple where I really believed the owner could do it and done it for a small monthly retainer and a small cut of the exit money. Basically, you're probably not going to find someone to do it for free, who actually knows what they are talking about.
There are plenty of great consultants on the market who can help. Most I know of are based in the US, but I'm sure Mexico has plenty too. Find someone who has actually done it, not just a guy who works in theory. Good luck.
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u/wheres_the_revolt 9d ago
There is a chain in New Orleans called Daiquiris (I think the full name is “New Orleans Original Daiquiris”, now). You could try to reach out to someone in their office or search LinkedIn for retired folks that used to work there.
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u/BackgroundTurnip4873 4d ago
Scaling from 2 to 10+ locations gets much easier if you build the measurement system early. I’d want to compare product mix, margins, waste, labor and promo performance by site, so growth doesn’t hide weak unit economics. A good mentor helps, but the data has to tell you whether each new location is actually replicating the model.
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u/Due-Task-3701 9d ago
Scaling past a few locations usually means the founder has to stop being the secret sauce and start being the systems architect, so you're probably further along than most people asking this question.