615: Seven Chan on Taking a Step Forward

Growing up in New York, Seven Chan is a lifetime entrepreneur with over 17 years of experience building and running successful companies. His specialties include business strategy, development, press, and marketing. In 2016, he met business partner, Ken Yu, and one month later they were in business under the Poke Burri Brand. 2.5 years later they've scaled the business to 2 locations with an additional 12 locations expected to open in 2019. Show notes… Favorite success quote or mantra: "Take a step forward on the business every day." In this episode with Seven Chan, we discuss: Meeting mentors early in life Anyone can be a business person Lead by example Thinking bigger/anything is possible Becoming a millionaire at 18 Using what you know and who you are to be successful Being business-savy Marketing Niche marketing The importance of not following rules Create your own vertical Finding a business partner Creating win-win deals for yourself Make being the best at what you do your goal Food court model Becoming an ally with bloggers and local media elites in your area Unique marketing Secret menus Franchising Scaling Fast-casual sushi-is it a trend? Today's sponsor: Gusto offers modern, easy payroll, benefits, and HR to small businesses across the country — they were even named best online payroll by PCMag. And as a listener, you'll get three months free when you run your first payroll. Sign up and give it a try at Gusto.com/unstoppable.  BentoBox helps restaurants grow their business through a connected suite of tools, offering them an integrated website to connect with their guests and drive revenue online. Restaurant owners and operators are able to easily update menus, promote specials, take catering and event inquiries, sell merchandise, gift cards and more. Revel Systems integrates front of house and back of house operations into a single dashboard. Designed to increase security, stability, ease of use, and speed of service, Revel's streamlined ecosystem provides businesses with the right tools to grow. Learn more at revelsystems.com/unstoppable.   Knowledge bombs Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success? Be different What is your biggest weakness? Trying to take on too many things at once What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview? "I need you to believe in us" What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it? "Trying to find good people to add to my team." Trial and error. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team. Be the best. It applies to everything. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff? If you are unhappy for any reason I will give you a free meal. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?  Level Up Your Life GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM  What's the one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough? Don't focus on the business side. Be different. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your four walls restaurant and how has it influenced operations? Social media If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be? Take steps forward every day Plan for every possible scenario Do something you love doing otherwise you won't be able to do it for a long time Contact info: Poke Burri website Lifting Noodles Ramen website Instagram: @pokeburri Instagram: @liftingnoodlesramen Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post. Also, please leave an honest review for the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them. And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Huge thanks to Seven Chan for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!   Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. One of the ways I'm able to make it free is by earning a commission when sharing certain products with you. I've made it a core value to only share tools, resources, and services my guest mentors have recommend, first. If you're finding value in my podcast, please use my links!