819: Clay Dover President, CEO, taco maker at Velvet Taco

With excitement, allow me to introduce to you today's guest: CEO, President, and taco maker at Velvet Taco, Clay Dover. Joining Velvet Taco as president in early 2017 Clay Dover has helped scale the brand from four restaurants to 29 locations by the time of this episode aired. Graduate of Brigham Young University where he studied Sales and Marketing, Dover got straight to work leveraging his degree in Chili's Corporate Offices. He'd continue to focus on marketing working with Houlihans, and Apex Restaurant Group before cutting his teeth as CEO while with Metromedia Restaurant Group. After 10 months of CEO, he put his marketing hat back on and went to work with Raising Canes then Pei Wei as Chief Marketing/President. Check out episode 690 with Chris Schultz as mentioned in today's episode. Check out this RUNetwork workshop with Chris Schultz about knowing when it's time to scale! Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your first 30 days on me!  Connect with my past guest and a community of superfans. Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!) Favorite success quote or mantra: "The harder I work, the luckier I get." In today's episode with Clay Dover we will discuss: Working for Chili's when it was at its height Heading up a marketing campaign with Chili's The importance of ops feedback P and L's "Volunteer for everything." Franchising models Sharing the numbers with your team Growing and scaling during 2020-2021 Today's sponsor: At Popmenu, we know that in today's world, a great hospitality experience usually begins online. Keeping the conversation with guests going beyond the meal also requires simple, powerful, fun technology capable of expression through all kinds of channels. Our team takes pride in helping restaurants put their best foot forward digitally so they can focus on what they do best. We think PDF menus are super boring, we believe 3rd party platforms have had too much say in how consumers find their next dining experience and we deeply feel that sharing your beautiful menu doesn't have to be so difficult, time-consuming and expensive. As a listener of the Restaurant Unstoppable, you'll receive $100 off your first month of Popmenu! 7shifts is a modern labor management platform, designed by restaurateurs, for restaurateurs. Effectively labor management is more important than ever to ensure profitability and restaurant success. Trusted by over 400,000 restaurant professionals, 7shifts gives you the tools you need to streamline labor operations, communicate with your team, and retain your talent. Best of all 7shifts integrates with the POS and Payroll systems you already use and trust (like Toast!) turning labor into a competitive advantage for your business. Restaurant Unstoppable members get 3 months, absolutely free. PlateIQ- the leading AP automation platform in the hospitality industry. Since 2014, Plate IQ has been saving time and money for companies like Cava, Tender Greens, and more. Just upload your invoices into Plate IQ and our proprietary technology will code each line item to your chart of accounts — automatically. For Bill Pay, virtual cards, and end-to-end invoice automation, head to plateiq.com. Knowledge bombs Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success? Hard work What is your biggest weakness? Hard work What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview? Desire What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it? People AND purchasing Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team. Be relentless What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff? Kick ass and take names. We pride ourselves on winning. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?  Oh, The Places You'll Go! GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM  What's one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough? Visit the restaurants, work a shift, talk to customers Name one service you've hired Consolidated Concepts What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influence operations? KDS with Toast 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? Being a father and a husband is the most important Creating a phenomenal company that empowers others Creating companies that improve the community Contact info: Velvet Taco website Instagram: @velvettaco 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 Clay Dover for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!   Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. 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