How did you come to be Sumo Salad franchisees?
We had been looking to go into business for ourselves and had been looking at a few options for about a year. We decided that purchasing a franchise was the best strategy as it would minimise the risk for us given that we had never run our own businesses before. We wanted to bring something new to Adelaide and were holidaying in Melbourne when we saw the SumoSalad outlet in the QV Building. After some phone conversations, a face-to-face interview, a visit to headquarters and a tour of some stores in Sydney we purchased our first store at the Myer Centre in July 2007. Four months later we opened a second store at City Cross.
Do you work in the business full time?
Angela was working in the business full time from day one but I kept my salaried job until the end of June 2008. At a management level, Angela is in charge of store operations, staff management and recruiting. I look after all the business administration, marketing and supply chain issues. At store level, Angela works mostly in the City Cross store and I am mainly in the Myer outlet. We change stores one day every week to give each other a fresh perspective on our home stores.
Sell the brand to us
SumoSalad — eat large, stay thin! SumoSalad is the healthy and tasty fast food option. Our customers keep coming back for the great food and the fast and friendly service. We sell wraps, rolls, yoghurts, soups and a range of pre-made and design-your-own salads. Catering is available and there is something for everyone. As a franchisee you will enjoy a low royalty and marketing fund fee and the great support of the team at our Sydney headquarters. SumoSalad is growing rapidly with more than 70 stores in Australia and a number of stores in the UK, India, Dubai and now New Zealand. With a growing focus on obesity and eating better, SumoSalad is well placed to give you healthy profits.
How much investment have you put into the business so far?
After the initial investment in the two stores (around $360,000 each plus GST) the businesses are now self funding. Our ongoing investment is our time and energy to make it a success.