PART TWO: Street Greek checks in with London franchisee

The restaurant franchise recently sat down for an interview with Aston Zorro, who launched his Street Greek location at 49 Fulham Broadway on January 16th, 2020.

Aston’s interview with Street Greek was packed with useful information, and this article is the second of three sharing his insights. Today, you’ll discover Aston’s day-to-day role at Street Greek and the challenges he’s faced during the global pandemic. You’ll also find out how his life has changed since investing in the restaurant franchise, and how he keeps employee retention rates high.

The best word that Aston could attach to his working life, he said, was “diverse”. According to Aston, “being motivated to run a business is being motivated to solve problems”, and he’s never afraid to do the hard things that provide the greatest return. He dedicates a day a week to admin and accounting, a day a week to networking and relationship building, a day a week for creativity and innovation and the rest to his team, and he was proud to say that he’d created “a strong team”, able to manage “much of the operational side of the restaurant”.

Discussing the challenges thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic, including “staff morale, finances and supply chain [issues], Aston explained that the “primary issue was the lack of certainty”, and this meant that “having clear short-term targets and plans was key”. Aston said, “Preparing the store for takeaway only, creating a small outside alfresco dining area, implementing distance in store to eventually create a safe dine in experience is one example of the iterative approach we had to take to COVID related challenges.”

Aston’s biggest change following his investment with Street Greek has been “going from an employed mindset to an entrepreneur’s mindset”, and he said of keeping employees on board that “it’s all about culture”. About “creating and personifying a clear vision, and finding like-minded people who believe what you believe and can operate how you operate”.

If you’d like to find out more about Aston’s franchising journey, keep checking Point Franchise. Part three is on the way. If you’d like to skip right to the good part and find out how to launch your own branch of Street Greek, you can discover more about the growing restaurant franchise via its profile page, linked above.