Tropical Smoothie Cafe CEO Max Wetzel told FOX Business that one leadership habit has been critical as the fast-casual chain has grown to nearly 1,800 locations.
“We spend a lot of time listening and learning before we lead and decide,” Wetzel said. “And I say ‘we’ because certainly it’s myself, but it’s our whole leadership team.”
Wetzel said the company’s leadership team stays close to the business by regularly talking with franchisees, cafe employees and customers to understand what’s working and where improvements are needed.
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“We believe that our ability to understand our consumer and our business better than our competition can be a competitive advantage,” he added.
Wetzel said some of Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s best insights come from the “moment of truth” when customers interact with employees inside its cafes.
Wetzel said executives recently spent four weeks visiting 12 markets and meeting with many of the brand’s franchisees.
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“We’ve had the chance to engage with the vast majority of our franchisees over the last four weeks, and the sessions have been inspiring, insightful, motivating and everything that you’d want them to be,” he said.
Looking back on his own career, Wetzel said aspiring entrepreneurs should not feel pressured to have every answer from the start.
“It’s OK not to have all the answers, but you need to be willing to learn faster than everybody else,” Wetzel said.
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He also encouraged future business leaders to focus on steady execution rather than chasing breakthrough moments.
“It’s about being consistent and learning from your strengths and the momentum and also learning from some of your failures,” he said.
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Wetzel added, “I believe that teams are what scale businesses, not individual people.”
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