Shaz Khan of Tono Pizzeria & Cheesesteaks on Navigating Friendship + Business

Takeaways from this episode:

Proactive Progress is Beneficial — Shaz Khan began Tono Pizzeria & Cheesesteaks with his greatest close friend, Antonio Gambino. It is generally to in no way blend friends or family members with enterprise, but Khan, Gambino, and crew did the necessary work early to help navigate the tricky times of doing just that.

Brand Traction is a Long Participate in — In a local weather the place heading viral and fast fame looks to just take priority, Shaz Khan understands that a regular consumer base connects finest to an reliable tale.

Scale Can not Be the Only Evaluate of Good results — Shaz Khan and Antonio Gambino have been strategic when it will come to constructing their crew. With trust as the foundation, the journey of scaling has turn into the results tale.

***

Shaz Khan understands the outdated adage of not mixing buddies and household with business or funds. But when he started off a cafe corporation he realized how to combine all 4.

Shaz Khan was an electrical engineer by trade just before getting on the cafe market with his very best mate.

“The issues are quite a few, and I think I was underprepared for lots of of them,” Shaz Khan suggests of going into organization with his mate, Antonio Gambino. “So we obtained pretty obvious on what questions we require to ask and what design of conversation we desired to implement in buy to convey all the things.”

The duo commenced their restaurant journey by opening Andrea Pizza and Frank from Philly individually. Tono Pizzeria & Cheesesteak combines the two cuisines less than 1 roof, and destinations the target on the eating working experience in a quickly-informal natural environment.

The Minnesota-dependent cafe now has 4 destinations throughout the condition, and Khan has employed his engineering history to implement powerful growth techniques.

“Part of the scaling dialogue is logistics and devices,” Shaz Khan tells Cafe Influencers podcast host Shawn P. Walchef of CaliBBQ Media.

A single of all those systems was to handpick employees to guarantee the enterprise scales productively. Deciding to go with buddies that possess a particular skill set that could be utilized to even more the manufacturer.

“We understood these two individuals ended up not only definitely great close friends of ours, also owning good acumen, but also bringing a piece of the puzzle to the group for us to keep on to develop and scale.” states Khan of the persons he chose to start out forming his crew.

As strategic as they may possibly have been, Khan and company continue to faced challenges when developing and introducing places to eat. Once more, Khan’s know-how of procedures due his formal coaching has designed him pliable adequate to recognize that individuals processes are not composed in stone and may need to be tweaked as organization wants improve.

That incorporates switching to Toast goods to support the programs put in area become additional economical. Shaz Khan’s potential to give worthwhile opinions has assisted Tono Pizzeria and Cheesesteaks expansion and permitted him to be on the Toast Buyer Advisory Board.

As the Tono brand prospers, it is important to Khan to continue being reliable and fully grasp the tale that his model is telling. According to him, that story is what creates the connection that results in the migration of potential prospects to types who choose one particular brand about yet another.

“We make sure that almost everything about the model, from the hues to the logo to the food items, to the food stuff, to the knowledge, to the scent, I necessarily mean, every little thing is agent of what that tale is and what working experience we want men and women to live with.” Khan states.

Extended perform. Actionable actions primarily based on knowledge derived from placing units into place and producing required changes when wanted.

That is the framework of sustainability that has propelled Shaz Khan and Tono Pizzeria and Cheesesteaks to the amount they are today, and the continued ascension that is on the horizon.

***

EPISODE Hyperlinks:

NOMINATE A Restaurant INFLUENCER — Do you know someone who is killing it on social media? Let us know by emailing [email protected] or sending the @calibbqmedia group a DM on social media.

ABOUT Cafe INFLUENCERS:

Restaurant Influencers is brought to you by Toast, the impressive cafe point of sale and management method that can help eating places make improvements to operations, boost profits and create a better guest working experience.

Toast — Powering Productive Dining places. Master a lot more about Toast.

Popmenu is also a sponsor of the Restaurant Influencers podcast. We preferred to share with our audience this highly effective option to help your cafe reclaim the electric power of your cellphone now. Understand extra about Popmenu Answering.