Doubling a Business in 18 Months | The Pappagallos.com Case Study | Wins of the Week

Audio Transcription

On today’s show. We interviewed Dave, Tricia and Nick. These are the founders of Pappagallos pizzeria. Well, Dave and Trisha are the founders of Pappagallos pizzeria. And Nick, the quick helps run the business. It’s a real business called Pappagallos in satellite beach, Florida. Now check this out. These guys have grown this year. By what? What? What do you think is a good percentage? Well, according to Forbes nine and a 10 small businesses fail, right? Nine out of 10 fail. So if they’re not failing, they’re doing something right. But how much do you think they’re growing this year as a percentage? I mean, according to the, the GDP, the average American business that is solvent is growing by 3% a year. So would it be amazing if they were growing by 10% a year? What about 12% what about 13% what about 30% what if they have doubled the size of their business and just the past 18 months? Ladies and gentlemen, these are diligent doers. These are people who have reached out, people who listen to the show just like you, who have decided to not just listen to the show and to watch other people or to listen to other people have success. They have decided that they deserve success and they have decided to diligently reach out to us and to implement everything they have been taught. If you’re looking for a feel-good success story, a small business that’s having big success. Today’s show is for

alright, Dave. Tricia, welcome onto the thrive time show. How are things in the eye of the hurricane out there and beautiful satellite beach, Florida?

Oh, well we made it through. We dodged another bullet. So just kind of ran by us into a panic and kept on going. So we got lucky this time.

Well, you, uh, Dave, you had, you started a company, I believe, called Pappagallos. How many years ago did you start Pappagallos. And can you tell us what Pappagallos is?

Uh, we started in 1990. Um, I was, my parents had a restaurant going at the time. I wanted something that really still sounded Italian cause we had a pizza restaurant. And the logo we came up with was a parrot and parrot and Italian is of gala. That’s what probably came from and that’s where our logo came from.

Wow. So you guys, uh, and by the way, the listeners out there want to go to your website and kind of learn more about it to verify you are in fact a real company. What’s your, what’s your website?

It’s Papa gallows. It’s P a P P a G a L L O s.com.

And uh, just bragging on you guys, I mean you guys. Trisha, how long have you guys been business coaching clients?

A little over a year.

And I think you guys have worked with Marshall on our team and Andrew on our team and now you’re stuck with me. Um, you guys have been doing things the right way for a long time. Can you, can you explain maybe how much you’ve grown year over year during this past year?

Um, let’s see. I don’t know the best way to put that. We’ve almost doubled our business in the last probably a year and a half. We did do some expansion. Um, so we, we’ve gone from about 20 employees to 45 and we’ve added from 72 seats to 151. So we’ve, we’ve done a lot of growing in the last couple of years.

Now you guys, um, there’s a lot of people that listen to the podcast and, and that’s great, but I don’t know how many people, uh, implement. And that’s what I’m focused on is implementation. I know some people listen for a good conversation, but I’m all about implementation. So I wanted to brag on you guys and I want the listeners to all go to Papa gallows.com. It’s P a P P a G a L L O. S to brag on you guys and I’ll brag on Trisha first and I’ll brag on you, Dave, let’s go back and forth. This is bragging mageddon here. So here we go. Tricia, you guys diligently gathered Google reviews on a daily basis. Can you explain the most number of video reviews or Google reviews that you guys have actually gathered on a day and maybe what the average number is that you get per week?

Yeah.

Um, we had some super moves with some of our employees that just went crazy with the video reviews and I think we got like 37 on one day, which was just, yeah, crazy. And our Google reviews go probably about 15, 20 a day.

So you guys, uh, do you get a lot of people coming in saying, Hey, I read your reviews, or Hey, I found your top in Google, or, Hey, I mean, do you ever hear that people found you as a result of being top in Google?

Yeah, we found that out. It’s like, it’s forced me to kind of recap how I felt about it. I thought, you know, we’re a small family restaurant. I thought, well, we’re not going to get a whole lot from Google. That’s an international thing. But I had to kind of rethink that. When you hear people come in and say, Oh yeah, we read your reviews were from North Carolina and we’re just visiting and we were looking for a place and we find you on Google. And I’m just blown away by that. But I’m not going to argue with what works.

So you’re having people, you’re having people that are traveling from out of town, maybe on a vacation or something and they’re coming in because they’re finding your Google reviews.

Correct.

Dave, this is something that’s interesting and I’ll, I’ll pick on Dave now. Um, yeah, well you got to get people in the place, but if your product is terrible, people aren’t coming. And Dave, you’ve worked very hard to make a great customer experience and that starts with having great employees. Can you tell us about implementing the group interview and what kind of impact that’s had on your business?

I think the first thing we did, the group interview and now we went from, you know, trying to have enough people to cover shifts to go into having too many shifts or having too many people for the shifts we have, which is a huge change if you have to deal with that at all. We split the scheduling up. It’s kinda dumped the front of house on my son. He runs the bar and the front of house. So I’ve kind of gave him all the server drama so to speak. And I handle the back of house and we kind of, he flows back and forth in the bar. I, I’ve handled kitchen and all the big problems, but um, so we kind of divide and conquer I guess is the best way to put it. And Trish handles all the stuff that’s payroll and all that related. So I’ve learned over the last few years that you think you can do it all alone, but you really can’t.

And talk to me about the, the quality of employees when you’re interviewing that many candidates all at the same time every single week. I mean, I’ve heard from the video reviews, I’ve heard from your team, it sounds like you have a great team now. Can you contrast that to the team maybe had two years ago?

Uh, there is no contrast really on the group interview. It’s funny you’ll have 30 or 40 people RSVP that they’re going to come of that maybe seven or eight will show enough that maybe you get one or two that you can actually use and have stay here for awhile and that sounds discouraging at first, but when you look at how much time you didn’t waste on the 30 or 40 that might’ve showed up and just get down to the two that you can actually put into place as as staff members, it’s, it’s really kind of encouraging cause you didn’t wait two weeks and all that money training people who you know right away aren’t going to show up.

All right, Nick, the quick, could you explain your role with Pappagallos? What do you do at Pappagallos or are you, are you the experience guy or you’re the chef guy or you’re the bar guy? What? What do you do?

Um, so I’m going to a bar in the front of house guy take care of scheduling and hiring to the front of house. As far as like new drinks like that.

Well you have been, my understanding is kind of instrumental in spearheading the gathering of Google reviews and making sure the actual experience is a place where people would want to come back to. Could you share with the listeners out there some of the biggest changes that you have made this year and perhaps maybe some of the things you’ve learned that have impacted the business the most?

Sorry, the phone is kind of breaking up, but yeah, the uh, the Google reviews have been huge. Um, and the video reviews basically just the content. Um, you know, getting, getting people to get more video reviews for our websites and, and even getting the Google reviews cause all interlinked into it, into each other. Um, and, and, and not even that, it kind of builds a culture within our employees. I kind of get them more involved. They feel more, um, part of the business.

Right. You know, I,

I know that like your, your team is awesome now. I mean you have a great team of employees. Could you share your, your, your take on this, I mean a couple of years back versus now with, with the teammates. Cause you have a great team now. We do absolutely. Like I said the culture is a almost like a hundred, 180 degree turn around it. Before it was kind of just like it was work. Now it’s like everybody’s like a family. Everybody’s kind of joking around. Everybody’s, everybody hangs out after work, they work together. Our training, even our training is better, you know, as far as like new employees coming in. Um, everybody healthy toddler that we also have like lead servers in play that are kind of taking the new hires about hand, making sure that they’re good. So overall culture is just more family oriented and more efficient.

Can you talk to me about other changes you’ve made this year? If you as you think back and go, gosh, a year ago or year and a half ago we weren’t doing this, but now we’re doing that cause you are doing, I mean you guys are, you’re, you guys are so good at implementing and yes you are humans. Yes you have a hurricane. Yes. People get sick. Yes, things come up. But you guys are implementing so many things. Nick, what are some of them, some other big changes that you’ve seen implemented this [email protected]?

Uh, well better systems. Um, like you said, the hurricane just came through but we bounced back like the next day. It was no problem. And we had people in here, um, the, as far as like the content and our website and our social media that’s really taken off. Um, just by consistently making sure that we’re keeping up with it. Um, yeah. And then overall just holding ourselves accountable and uh, getting everything done that we needed done.

You guys have enhanced the experience quite a bit. Could you explain how the experience is different inside the inside? The actual a pizzeria versus 18 months ago? I mean, how does it feel from a consumer’s perspective?

Oh, from a consumer’s perspective, if the energy is way different, we have, you know, like we said, the lighting we’ve changed. Um, the music’s a little bit more upbeat, um, interests that earlier we know commercials, we just had the radio plan, um, about a year ago. So now we actually have like just better, more of the music. Uh, we’re, we’re doing more events, just more upbeat, more energy in the restaurant.

Final question I’ll ask you, you’ve been to the business conferences before Nick. Um, could you maybe explain to the listeners out there why they should check out a workshop? Unless they’re in satellite beach and own a pizzeria? Cause if you live in satellite beach and you own a pizzeria, we can’t help you. And we’re not allowed to work with two people in the same city. So if you’re in satellite beach right now and you’re hearing my voice and you want to improve your pizzeria, do not come to our workshop. But on Nick, for everybody else out there, can you explain why everybody should check out the business conference at least once?

At least once. Oh, I’m just being around like minded people and uh, just it’s contagious and, and the, the perspective you get from it, you know, like I went out there and I’ve never really been anything like that going out there at my age and being around it, you see everything from businesses that are just starting out to successful businesses that are from all over the world. I mean for all over the, you know, and I say so, um, I would say just

okay.

The info and the energy that you gained from your guys’ business coaching led workshop was amazing.

Nick, I appreciate you putting up with me and I’m sorry to impromptu you guys, you just are, you survived the hurricane and I felt the need for the thrive nation to enter into the Pappagallos conversation. Thank you so much for lending us part of your Saturday morning. I will note, but for most people even wake up.

Thank you.

No. For the business coaching listeners out there who are going to Papa Gallo’s dot com it’s P a P P a G a L L O s.com when they check it out and attrition, I know you guys are doing construction in the background, you have a lot going on. So thank you for making time. Um, you guys have worked really diligently to make the overall experience better. Can you explain some of the things you’ve done? I mean, cause again, as a business coach when I tell you, Hey, what’s, you know, add up lighting or Hey, let’s add overhead music. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is when I walk somebody through what they need to do and they won’t do it. But in your case, you guys implement that. Can you explain some of the changes you’ve guys have made internally this year that have improved the overall experience beyond just the food quality?

Yeah. Um, the uplighting was kind of a big thing. I did really think we had much room to be able to do that here. Um, but we’ll, we did do it. We actually had customers commenting on it that we love the light and they changed, kind of abide here. Also the music. We intentionally put some music without um, commercials. Then more music per certain times of the day kind of move people, bring them into a better mood. And that’s been a huge change as well as it has for staff.

Now, Dave, final question I want to ask you is you guys have had so much success this year, we could spend so much time bragging on you guys and sharing how you are implementing these business coaching systems, but, but you guys have had so much success that you guys have had the opportunity to open up another location next door. Um, can you share about the new project you’re working on?

Um, yeah. We’re in a strip center and we’re literally right on the ocean and the breakfast and lunch place. I was next door and it’s been there, just had several different owners but it’s been there for about the same amount of time. 30 years. They decided to move up the road and we kind of talked it over and we decided we didn’t want any new neighbors. We needed some room for some people that were here for a long time to, to grow. So we decided, well, we’ll go into the breakfast and lunch and um, some evening it allows us more catering options too. So it was just, uh, it’s right next door so we can bounce back and forth. So that’s what we’re involved in. Now.

What, what would you say for anybody out there that, um, is, you know, listens to the podcast on a daily basis and is maybe, you know, hesitant about coming to a business conference or, um, implementing some of the things that they’ve been taught on the show?

Well, it’s kind of funny that we talk about this a lot. It’s, you know, you come to you guys and you’ve got this great advice and you have these great ideas and yeah, I know how to make a pizza, but I don’t know much about uplighting or music and all that stuff. So you know, we come, we found you guys and you’ve given us all these things to try that we’ve never tried in 30 years. I don’t understand why people would do that and then not implement the business coaching that you asked for. So I mean, we try anything until it doesn’t work and then we go onto the next thing. So when people brag on us about, Oh, you’re implementing new things, it seems like kind of a no brainer. You went for help, they gave you steps to follow. Why wouldn’t you follow those? But you can talk about, Oh, maybe someday we’ll do it, but just, just try it. If it doesn’t work, you can always put it back the way it was. But we found that 95% of what we’ve tried is work.

What has been your biggest thing, Dave? Or you heard it used to go, you were the most skeptical of it, you know, something that you’re doing now that’s helping change the game. Was it uplighting? Was it music? Was it Google reviews? Was it writing content? Was it pricing? Was it,

I’d say definitely Google reviews and writing content. I had a lady who booked a rehearsal dinner. She was from out of town. The bride was actually from around here but not even our same town. And she was looking for a venue to have a rehearsal dinner and she called us and I sleep. She was in

[inaudible].

Okay.

She said she had gone on the website and read our blogs and that’s where I want to go cause she writes me on the passion that we have in it that were owners that are in the business and she wanted to deal with a local company. So we got a huge party and know, made a relationship with people who would’ve never heard almost from Google again, back to the, I didn’t think it would help us. And so the Google reviews are big things like group interview I would have never done on my own. Um, so those are the two biggest things I would say at work.

What, um, if I, if I guess my final side question, what city did you say that she came from? That, that, that woman who found you for the big party? I had to make sure the listeners hear that.

I believe she was a Washington DC area. Wow. And her, her son lived around here and the bride was more local, so they were actually, the bride and groom were actually going to live in Jacksonville, but the bride was from this area, so they were going to get married here. So we had no shot at any, any involvement in that wedding until she read the blog and she came down ahead of time and you know, visited and came in and had dinner and we set up a sampling for her. And um, she just fell in love with the place and it was a big deal for us. I mean, it’s not just a one time catering thing. That’s, I mean I look at that and I explained it to our staff that that’s, that’s a part of being something that those folks are going to remember forever. They’re always going to look back at their rehearsal dinner. For us, it’s just another Saturday night. But for them, that’s the day that before they got married. So we get a chance to be in their memories forever. And that’s how I look at those things. And I think that’s what she read on a blog and that’s what she came for.

Man, I appreciate you guys

taking time out of your schedule. I know you’re rebuilding or getting reset up after this hurricane. Luckily you dodged a bullet there. Uh, and I would just encourage all the listeners, if you’re out there and you listen to this show on a daily basis or a monthly basis, or maybe this is your first time listening to the show, go to Pappa Gallo’s dotcom, P a P P a G a L L O s.com. Check them out. And if you’re in the satellite beach area, stop by their restaurant. You’re going to love it. It’s a great experience. It’s a local restaurant doing some big things. Dave and Tricia, we appreciate you guys so much and I hope you have a productive in, in a safe rest of your Saturday.

Great. Thank you so much. Take care guys. And now without any further ed do

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