{"id":2466,"date":"2014-06-20T08:50:07","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T08:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/indogomagazine.com\/indogo\/?p=2466"},"modified":"2014-06-21T08:34:41","modified_gmt":"2014-06-21T08:34:41","slug":"american-dream-papa-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/indogomagazine.com\/indogo\/american-dream-papa-john\/","title":{"rendered":"American Dream Papa John"},"content":{"rendered":"

Papa John’s Founder: ‘I Am the American Dream’<\/p>\n

In 1984, John Schnatter bought $1,600 worth of used restaurant equipment, set it up in a broom closet in the back of his father\u2019s tavern and started making pizza.<\/p>\n

His business would eventually become Papa John’s, the publicly-traded international pizza franchise that brought in $1.4 billion in sales last year alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the American Dream,\u201d Schnatter told Entrepreneur.com last month at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during National Small Business Week.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>

John Schnatter, founder of Papa John Pizza<\/p><\/div>\n

Schnatter got the idea for Papa John’s at age 15, while washing dishes at a pizza place called Rocky’s in his hometown of Jeffersonville, Ind. When Rocky\u2019s was busy, Schnatter would be pulled away from washing dishes to make pizza. He paid attention.<\/p>\n

Schnatter developed a keen understanding of what customers wanted. \u201cWhere we made pizzas was right where we washed dishes. Right next to it. So, if we made the pizza right, the plate came back empty. And if I didn\u2019t make the pizza right, the plate came back half eaten and they didn\u2019t take it with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to learning how to make a good pie, Schnatter noticed that while national franchises would deliver a pie to your door, the local, individually-owned shops, which made a higher quality product, did not provide the same delivery service. Noticing that gap in the market gave Schnatter the base for his Papa John\u2019s business plan: He would make quality pizza and deliver it.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., Schnatter moved home. His father\u2019s bar, Mick\u2019s Lounge, was struggling financially. To keep the bar afloat, Schnatter sold his 1972 Camaro Z28, a car he loved dearly. With his father\u2019s bar business on more stable footing, he decided to give his pizza shop idea a try. He bought used restaurant equipment and started making pizzas out of the broom closet. \u201cWe were selling $5 pizzas out the back, 50 cent beers in the front.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Young<\/a>

Schnatter making pizza in the back of his father’s bar, Mick’s Lounge.<\/p><\/div>\n

Schattner surpassed his own early expectations. \u201cThe original goal for Papa John\u2019s was to make $50-grand a year and have $50-grand in the bank so I could get a date,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

When he opened a real location \u2013 outside of the broom closet, next to Mick’s Lounge \u2013 he says was doing about $9,000 in sales a week while comparable national chains were doing $6,000 in sales a week. \u201cAnd I went, \u2018If we can beat them in one store, we can beat them in the whole world.\u2019 I thought that at 22.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking a page from KFC and Long John Silver’s, which were expanding rapidly through franchising in the same region where Schnatter was building his business, he decided franchising was the next logical step. \u201cThat was serendipitous, logistically where I am located,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was just kind of instinctive and kind of the norm that if you had a successful business, you franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, there are 4,500 franchised Papa John\u2019s locations, 700 of which Schattner and corporate Papa John\u2019s own. The rest — some 3,800 pizza shops — are all independently owned and operated.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>

Schnatter seen with the prized Camaro that he sold to come up with enough cash to help get his father’s business back on track.<\/p><\/div>\n

While he’s come along way, Schattner isn’t one to forget his journey. A few years ago, he went back and found his very same Camaro that he had to sell in the early 1984 to help keep his father\u2019s bar open. He paid the owner $250,000 to get it back, and says the car is a daily reminder that hard work and sacrifice pay off in the long run.<\/p>\n

Source: Catherine Clifford \/ Entrepreneur<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Papa John’s Founder: ‘I Am the American Dream’ In 1984, John Schnatter bought $1,600 worth of used restaurant equipment, set it up in a broom closet in the back of his father\u2019s tavern and started making pizza. His business would eventually become Papa John’s, the publicly-traded international pizza franchise that brought in $1.4 billion in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communities","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Dream Papa John - IndoGo!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"American Dream Papa John - IndoGo!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Papa John’s Founder: ‘I Am the American Dream’ In 1984, John Schnatter bought $1,600 worth of used restaurant equipment, set it up in a broom closet in the back of his father\u2019s tavern and started making pizza. 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