UQ alumnus Greg Flynn has leveraged his multidisciplinary tertiary background to build a billion-dollar food franchise empire in the US.
Now based in San Francisco, Flynn founded Flynn Restaurant Group in 1998 and oversees a business that runs more than 480 Applebee’s restaurants (25 per cent of all stores in the US), 250 Taco Bell franchises, and more than 90 Panera Bread bakeries. He also runs Flynn Properties Inc., a firm that deals in commercial property and North American luxury hotels.
Flynn said it was his family who inspired him to get involved in franchising.
“My father owned two Burger Kings and my uncle, at one point, owned three McDonald’s restaurants.”
“I observed in these big franchise models how the performance was so steady. Notwithstanding the fact that my father paid no attention to them, they weren’t going through various economic cycles and just kept performing.”
Flynn – who managed to maintain and grow a successful business even during the global financial crisis of 2007–08 – attributes his success to a decentralised business structure and focus on staff empowerment.
“Our brands are run independently and the only place they come together is within the senior leadership team. For example, we have no operators that are expected to run both Panera Bread bakeries and Taco Bells. We let our operators focus on their areas of strength and don’t stretch them too thin.”
To learn more about the Flynn Restaurant Group, visit flynnrestaurantgroup.com.