Right About Now with Ryan Alford - What A Rush! From Stock Options Trader to Healthy Food Bowl Pioneer | Andrew Pudalov

Episode Date: July 9, 2024

TAKEAWAYSAndrew Pudalov's background in finance and transition to founding Rush BowlsUnique aspects of Rush Bowls, focusing on texture, flavors, and nutritious ingredientsDifferentiation of Rush Bowls from other bowl and smoothie offeringsChallenges and experiences of running a franchise businessMarketing philosophy and approach to business expansionNational distribution strategy and category creationPersonal and lean operation approach within the companyRole of social media in brand promotion and growthFuture plans for Rush Bowls, including lifestyle brand expansion and new product developmentInformation on Rush Bowls and franchise opportunitiesTIMESTAMPSBreaking into the Food Industry (00:00:00) Challenges and costs of entering the food industry, including shelf space and slotting fees.Andrew's Background in Finance (00:03:11) Andrew Pudalov's career in finance, working for banks and trading derivatives.Life Changes and Starting Rush Bowls (00:04:20) The impact of 9/11 on Andrew Pudalov's life and career, and his decision to start Rush Bowls in Boulder.Unique Aspects of Rush Bowls (00:09:42) The early concept of Rush Bowls, its diverse flavors, and the difference in ingredients and processing from other similar products.Wholesale and Franchising Challenges (00:16:26) Challenges of entering the wholesale market, including the dominance of major food companies, and the complexities of managing franchisees.Franchisee Relations and Business Model (00:18:38) The dynamics of managing franchisees, the balance between following the business model and individual preferences, and the benefits of buying a franchise.Marketing Philosophy and Franchising Approach (00:22:56) Andrew discusses his unique marketing philosophy and the strategic decision to expand Rush Bowls nationally.Category Creation and Evangelizing (00:25:14) The importance of category creation and evangelizing the Rush Bowls brand, and the personal approach to operations.Role of Social Media and Marketing Strategy (00:27:31) The impact of social media on brand visibility and the combination of marketing strategies for driving store traffic.Rush Bowls Brand and Customer Demographics (00:30:52) Defining Rush Bowls as a lifestyle brand and describing the changing demographics of their customer base.Future Plans and Expansion (00:33:58) Andrew's vision for the future of Rush Bowls, including new flavors, textures, and the focus on being a sustainable and accessible business. If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. 

What people don't realize is nine food companies basically control 99% of the food you eat. So to break into these areas costs a lot of money. And to break into shelf space, there's slotting fees, there's all sorts of stuff. It's not for the faint of heart. This is Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. We are the number one business show on the planet with over 1 million downloads a month. Taking the BS out of business for over six years and over 400 episodes. You ready to start snapping next and cashing checks? Well, it starts right about now. What's up, guys? Welcome to Right About Now, where we're always right, and we're always right now.

Hey, speaking of now, what's in these days is at least an attempt to eat healthy. You know, I'm attempting it daily, you know, trying to, you know, I think we're all conscientious of it, but we just don't have all the options that we want. And that's why I really admire what this guy's doing. He's the founder of Rush Bowls, Andrew Pudlov. What's up, brother? How are you, Andrew? Great. Thank me. Thank you for having me on the podcast. Yeah. You know, if it's radical, we cover it. And, you know, I'm always in a hurry. So, you know, Rush Bowls kind of it hits me on all levels, Andrew. I'm like, I'm in a hurry. I'm trying to eat good.

When the hell is it coming to Greenville, South Carolina? As soon as possible. Certainly, I can tell we need to get one there. Yes. We'd be your biggest advocate. It's a booming area. It's probably like the perfect market for you guys, too, because it's like not too big. So, real estate's probably not like, you know,

in outer space, like the big markets are, but, but affluent enough that it would be a good market. So we'll have to talk about that. For sure. Man, let's set the table for everyone. You know, I've teed up a little bit of a teaser for what Rush Bowls is. You know, you are the first like derivative specialist we've had on right now. You know, it's just not, you know, when I get my show notes and I'm learning about my guests and like some, you know, what attracted me to your brand and you doesn't always like equate to like something I have firsthand knowledge to, you know, derivatives. It was not like my specialty. So we'll dig into that. But let's talk a little about who the hell is Andrew Pudelov. Sure. Again, thanks for having me on.

So I'm pretty financially driven guy, math guy, honestly. And, uh, I'm from New York. Uh, and obviously at a young age, when I graduated college, I went right to work in finance, started my career at Bear Stearns and then, uh, spent a lot of time at Morgan Stanley, Credit Lyon A, um, and Global Head for National Australia Bank. All basically started in the derivative trading environment, institutional. So to put it in layman's terms is I was a professional gambler for the banks, taking positions on behalf of the banks. I'm glad you finally admitted it.

You at least admitted it, Jay and Drew, because that's what I try to tell people. The stock market, yeah, it really is just like legal gambling. And banks are the number one bettors. It's the house, really, if you want to think about it. Well, that too, right? They're the house and the gamblers too, aren't they? Are they kind of playing on both fishbowls? Whatever side wins, they're on pretty much.

Yeah, exactly. But yeah, so basically I started my career right away and then I went into CMOs, Cloud Eyes Mortgage Obligation, then got recruited to Morgan Stanley to start trading derivatives institutional. So smallest trade I ever done was 25 million. So these are big trades. And, and it's a tough job. It's, it was a job that very few had. And then you were treated like, like a king.

You were treated really well by the bank because you're generating significant revenue. At some point during this, I was moving ahead, moving up, up, up, up. And then 9-11 really happens. And I'm living in New York City during 9-11. And it was pretty catastrophic for myself and my wife. My wife was in the tower in 93. Everyone forgets that they bombed the tower in 93. And then on 9-11, it was her first day back from maternity. I'm in Midtown, she's in the 20s, and she literally saw the plane crash in. And a good friend of mine ends up jumping. So I kind of, I think, reassessed my life. And to be fair, I was reassessing it at the time because, A, you can't do this forever.

The job is just incredibly stressful. And even if you're really good at it. And it's just not, it wasn't that fulfilling for me. After a while, the highs are lower and the lows are lower, you know? So you become numb to it all. And I wanted to do something I had zero knowledge about and build it from scratch. And I wanted to move to Boulder. So hence, I moved to Boulder in 2004 and started a bowl business 20 years ago. So way ahead of anyone else doing bowls.

Yeah. But I think, you know, Paul's there, Andrew. I think the big aha for me, one, I mean, glad you made it out alive, you and your wife. And, you know, I hated y'all had to go through that. I lived in Manhattan in 2008 as the Freedom Towers were being built. And so even then you could still feel like it was palpable, like, I don't know, the impact seven years later. But I think the real unlock for you is like, and for a lot of people listening to our show, it's like trying to get off the schneid

and the balance of doing what you love to do what you enjoy doing versus what you're good at with this combination of passion and desire and you know a lot of people don't take that leap and so uh congrats to you for taking the leap i know there's a lot more to the story but uh i think that's a big unlock for some people. It does sometimes take those moments in life where you look in the mirror and you go, all right, what are we doing here? And I just hate it was that sort of experience for you, though. Yeah. And in this life, you're not rewarded for making those leaps.

You are if it's successful, but it's people making those leaps. I was lucky I had the capital to do this for previous successes, but I really encourage people to take leaps of faith because it may not work out the first time, but it will put you in a position that it may the second or third. And as well, you know, you know, sometimes it's not the first shot that's successful. I was luckier than most. But, you know, it's it's it's really kind of nice to change things up. At least it was. Yeah. And I think, you know, it's failure is not fatal.

And I think, you know, it's failure is not fatal. And, you know, and, you know, you were one of the rare ones to get it. I mean, I've fallen on my face more times than I can count. I didn't get it right the first time. But you learn from that. And you also learn that, I don't know, the scars from that do make you stronger, even if in the moment it doesn't feel that way and so but you have to like always it's always so cliche and true but like that saying you know when people say you have one life to live but it's like it's so fucking true because it's like we have one fucking life to live like and you know you can play it safe and

you can and there's nothing wrong with that if you're comfortable but i don't know man i want to uh yeah the success rewards the risk takers yeah and and it reward could be a lot of ways too you know like you know it doesn't have to just be monetarily either you know there be a lot of ways, too, you know, like, you know, it doesn't have to just be monetarily either. You know, there's a lot of rewards in doing things for yourself and everything. And just knowing you built something that's widely popular now is a kind of a reward, too. Yeah. So way ahead of your time with the bowl. Where did we go? We went to boulder

yeah boulder's a kind of a nice town for it because it's you know when i when i started the company i wanted to start in like a college town because i figured the college atmosphere would they'd be more apt to adapt quickly you know know, and I even laugh at my father when I started the business. He's like, why would someone eat this? You know, but it was a different generation. You know, he was, you know, a World War II vet. You know, like they didn't get it. But the college kids got it pretty quickly.

And for me, it's about texture. It's about a meal. I didn't want to be a smoothie place. I wanted to be a meal to go with very interesting textures. I remember back and then no one was putting granola mixed with it or fruit or fresh fruit or honey. It was really not being thought of that way. And we, as a company had a very diversified palette of flavors. So from green tea to, you know, apple pie to peach to very tropical to acai, obviously. So we were very narrow focused in bowls and smoothies, but we were very, very diverse flavor set to accommodate everyone's needs. And that's just, we were very dietary friendly.

So right away in this business model, when I structured it, it was to be extremely dietary friendly for people with allergies. So we were way ahead on that too. And, you know, that was even before the gluten-free craze or whatever it was at the time. I think when most people, even myself included, you know, you hear bulls. And again, we have we get recency bias because, you know, we're talking, you know, when you started 20 years ago, 2004, 5, 6, you know, like. But now speaking now, I think when people hear this, you think the acai. I think my my mind goes there like immediately. And, you know, like there's, there's guys around here even that have things similar to this,

but the more I've kind of dove into a lot of what you guys are doing and your ingredients, there is some differences, but, you know, maybe, maybe delineate there for what most people might think of when they think of this and maybe what you guys are doing yeah that's that's you know and that's one thing i think we as a company can even do a better job of making making that case because what we do is way different we don't use surveys we don't use you know we make the base in front of you so uh you know our ingredients are pure so there's this actual fruit.

We grind our own peanut butter and make our own jam for our peanut butter and jelly bowl. So a lot of companies out there, I would say most because it's simpler way of processing it, use a scoopable sorbet, a flavored sorbet, which has tons of sugar and has gums and junk in it. We don't do any of that. We actually take the fruit without whatever base, whether it's almond milk, oat milk, whatever milks you want, whatever 100% pure juices you want. We take the fruits and blend it and then add in the pure acai, so not a sorbet or anything like that. And the reason obviously other companies do that is a, the sorbets are way cheaper. Um, it's more of a dessert opposed

to a meal. And, and I would say that the, it's way easier to serve, right? So we actually do a lot of training on our employees to make sure every bowl and smoothie gets out with under two minutes. actually do a lot of training on our employees to make sure every bowl and smoothie gets out with under two minutes. So if you have a scoopable something to throw it in, what people and businesses don't realize is when you use real fruit and we do such a big delivery business and catering business, it stays together much more because the fruit or the veggies are very fibrous. So not using a sorbet like that, A, it tastes better. B, it's much more nutritious and doesn't have the sugar content. And C, it holds together way better and is a better mouthfeel

and better experience across the board. So that's something we're really proud about. And having an extremely diverse flavor set. So we have something called Power Bowl proud about and having an extremely diverse flavor set. So we have something called Power Bowl has tons of whey protein in it. Then we also have super smoothie that has our fresh ground peanut butter, 40 grams of protein. And it is all nutritious foods, kale in it to go. So we're really proud, except, you know, we're not preachy about it. You know, you want Nutella on top, put Nutella on top here. We're not judging. We just want to provide you with really good nutritious food.

And if you want fresh ground peanut butter on top and jam, and it's an acai bowl, which by the way, is an awesome combination, fresh ground peanut butter, uh, i'll say um fantastic you know i you know i number one i didn't need before this so i'm hungry and like dreaming daydreaming of that peanut butter and jelly uh bowl but number two don't judge me if i bring cookie dough and peanut butter cups to the to the table can we Can I throw those in there for my dessert? And it's, you know, it's customer support. We're not the ones to judge, right?

We just want to start at a base that gives you the healthiest option. And like I said, we have Nutella, we have chocolate, you know, chips to put on. We have stuff that's more of indulgency. We have a chocolate covered strawberry bowl, which, you know, again, it's fulfill the needs, but we're starting at a very healthy place. If I fall out of my seat while you're talking, Andrew, it's just because I'm, you know, hungry. That sounds delicious. It sounds delicious talking with Andrew Boulav. He's the founder of Rush Bowls.

So, Andrew, talk about, all right, what did we learn? I know you said you're lucky enough that it, you know, you made it on the first try. But I bet you got a few bottle scars, you know, in those first few years. Yeah, you know, nothing's easy. So, anyone, you know, you always say, oh, it's like this. No, it's up, down, up, down, up, down. Hopefully it's higher highs. And certainly we launched a wholesale company in 2010 that went to 2016 when I started franchising. And that was really an interesting experience. And the one thing I love about this business is a retail store is very different from franchising, which is very different from wholesale, which other than sharing a name is three dynamically different businesses. And I love that. You know, I like a lot of stuff going on. So I appreciate the different actions of the different businesses. But the wholesale was an interesting thing.

And when I say wholesale, we were in 40 states with Whole Foods. We were in a Costco as a frozen form of a Rush Bowl. And way ahead, actually almost too far ahead because people didn't even know what bowls were at the time. And this was created because I was trying to get people in and out of my store fast. So I started freezing. I'm like'm like hey this is a good line now we dealt with co-packers to make it and then distribution through unify which is a big distributor for wholesale products but that's a game until it's shell until itself and and you, what people don't realize is nine food companies basically control 99% of the food you eat. So to break into these areas costs a lot of money and to break into shelf space, there's, you know, slotting fees, there's all sorts of stuff. Um, it's not for the

faint of heart, honestly. It's once you're, it it's it's a dynamic interesting business but it's a tough business being uh you know uh not a major player are you still doing the wholesale no my co-packer and this is one of the challenges my head my co-packer actually shut down overnight and he was co-packing seven brands and we couldn't even get our stuff out of there. So I plan to relaunch it at some point in the future with our 50 plus stores and 75 in development. It's something that we're going to probably have in stores to take out module, but also we're going to explore again, relaunching it in other institutions. So it's something I'm pretty passionate about. I think it's a really interesting way to get nutritious food to people in arenas or whatever

else that may have dietary issues that want something that tastes awesome. So, you know, I'm very hopeful to get going on that at some point in the near future. get going on that at some point in the near future. What's a, maybe like you said, three unique things, retail, wholesale and franchisees. Right. You know, franchise open it, you know, as you, I'm sure you knew it going in on some level, but it's one thing when you own your own store and you're doing your thing and

every kind of input and output is sort of on you. Once you got franchisees, you know, they're kind of like your babies in a way, right? You're the mothership and, you know, they're getting the blueprint from you. But how was it suddenly having to serve other store owners? And, you know, because I think, because I think people listening might be in franchise, might be considering franchise or learning about it, you know. But there's a I would imagine a learning curve there and and sort of I'm sure you've got lessons from what it takes to kind of keep them satisfied. Talking about scars, you know, for sure. five talking about scars you know for sure um yeah you know listen people buy a franchise because you want to follow it's paint by numbers right we know what works and really do it and

the key is to get those partners and their partners there's a marriage that that want to follow the rules and follow the partnership. Where it comes to fowl and where you have more challenges, if they start, hey, I want to do tuna fish sandwiches in store. Well, that's not the business model. And we know, and I'm exaggerating with tuna fish sandwich, but we know what's worth. There are some oddballs, though, I'm sure.

I guarantee you that. Once you've got 50 stores, you've had some oddball things happen. Yeah. And that's the challenge, because we really do know what works. And not only that, we have the data of what works. And we do share a lot of that with the franchisees and just finding the ones that are going to find the path. And then, you know, you know, be open proper hours, have customer service. And sometimes to be fair, even on a franchisee level, you're as good as your worst employee and a, an employee has a bad day and gets attitude. Well, that doesn't help anybody. Right. So, you know, it's,

it's, it's not easy. It's not an easy business. Ours is as easy as you come because there's no food spoilage. Everything comes in flash frozen and fresh toppings. Don't, obviously. But there's no food waste, smaller square footage, very narrow kind of set menu opposed to a broad like salad paninis that nothing tastes good. A lot of competitors out there will do a salad, panini, this and that, and you can't do anything right in a way. So it's really being a focused kiss.

Keep it as simple, right? And that's actually why I started the business is I didn't have a clue about this stuff. Like I came in from my new finance, but I didn't know how to, you know, a lot of the food, running a food business. So it's been rewarding and challenging at the same time. But I think it's really making sure you pick the right partners. And that's a different partner when you're starting out from zero to 10 stores, 10 to 20, 30 to 40, and then say 50 to 1,000. Like there are different incremental partners also, and the partners are more and more experienced in it too.

Does that make sense? It makes a lot of sense. And, you know, I think there's lessons. I mean, I can totally see like the types, you know, and it's like, it's just weird dichotomy though, for me, because they're like people that buy franchises, they do have an entrepreneurial gene to them right oh for sure so it's the balance of hey you've given them the blueprint because that's what they wanted with them wanting things to be their way and sort of the you know i i don't know

what maybe not the tuna fish sandwich extreme but but like I could totally see like, OK. And then balancing, well, you know, the I told you so. You know, when they change their hours or do something on kilter, right? And to be fair, I would never start a business other than a franchise again. Like if I was to do this, I would only buy a franchise because to create a business from scratch, it is hard. Like, you know, I was lucky I did it and I was capitalized to do it and with trademarks and everything organizationally, how to do this. To just blindly do it as a mom and pop, A, your cost of goods are way higher,

like 40% higher, like not a little higher. But B, it's really hard to create something from scratch. And for me, if I say, you know, hey, I want to do something different, I would buy a franchise because it's all there. And if you follow the rules, not just rules, but if you follow the game plan, you know, there's a great chance for success. Much higher than just starting your own business, like incredibly higher. rules but if you follow the game plan you know there's a great chance for success much higher than just starting your own business like incredibly higher yeah talk to me about like your marketing philosophy as you grew you know like your franchises and in general the brand and stuff i mean normally when i talk to guys like you on the finance side, it's, it's, you know, data numbers and all that.

And there's art and science to marketing. What's, what's been your philosophy? Well, I'm kind of unique skill set. I'm not only a finance guy, but I'm also a professional gambler, right? So, but I'm also financially. I think there was two sets of this. A, what's a bowl? And you never want to get into the education business. But early on, that was our business. Get it in people's mouths. And we also took a different track.

Most companies that start franchising start in a particular region, which is an easier way to do the business. You're in a particular say, I'm going to only own the state of Colorado because you got distribution and distribution is a huge part of this. And you know that what we did is we went national kind of early on. So we're in 22 or 23 states. I don't remember off the top of my head,

but because I understood distribution from the wholesale. So I was able to facilitate that distribution carefully in the states that we're in. So we could take a more national approach because honestly, within the bowl arena, I don't think anyone is doing it well nationally and i think there's a need to fill there uh and you know the winner will fill it whether it's us or someone else i you know hopefully it's us um because we do have a superior

product and we're very focused on it but um you know i think having that broad spectrum when the whole landscape is open is a different approach. And I think it will be successful for us. But it's somewhat of a gamble. What's interesting, you know, category creation is a big thing, like, for a lot of people. It's like, okay. And that's really what you've done. I mean, you were kind of the pioneer in the space and category creation and when you create the category you have to evangelize the

what you're doing you have to do a lot of education you know you got to evangelize the bowl and like a lot of the process and with in the theory being and I do believe in this theory, that when you evangelize your category that's new and it has clear differentiation and problems that it solves, you do win. Even though it may seem like you're propping up the entire category. But when you have 50 locations and you have the cost structure, you know, you win that bet. Right. When you talk category and prop it up. And most of these companies that are our size is private equity or there's other people involved. That's not us. Right. I own everything. So we're, we do it a little bit. It's personal for us a little bit, right? Like we try and make it as lean of an operation for everybody. A lot of my employees,

my CMO is my manager of my store 20 years ago. My head of sales was a manager of my actual store 10 years ago. The head of operations is worked the store about eight years ago. And then obviously we have a lot more people than that, but it's personal, you know, and I think that's almost some of the best, right? Because they really care. They care for our success. They care about the franchisees, our partners, and they care about the brand. Most importantly, they love the brand. So you get buy-in from the team, and then that really spreads itself out to the whole network. What role has social media played for you guys? You know, starting in 2004 and now being in 2024, you know, you've kind of come through the whole ring there of start to finish,

not start to finish, but start to, you know, how big it is today. I mean, does it play a role for your growth, the brand and stores? I would imagine. I think it plays a role for the growth in different states, in different areas of the country. I will tell you, and I'm old school about this. I knew it was coming. That's why I changed up, Andrew. No one like you likes social media. That's not true. I think in place, there's a lot of positives and negatives to it, honestly. And I think it's, listen, these podcasts, right? I think it's incredibly valuable.

I think you'll learn a ton of stuff on them. Knowing that Susie went out on Tuesday night and you weren't invited to that crew when you're a young kid. I don't think that's productive, honestly, in a lot of ways. No, but I meant more your brand and marketing and propping up, you know, like how delicious things are and telling your story. I think visibility wise, I think it's a big help. Like getting out to people that never may have known it or seen it. But if you tell me what's going to drive people in a store, I would say coupons. I would say, you know, promotion in that particular store, not every day, but certain promotions, happy hour, whatever it is, that will drive more people in than a huge social media post.

And I don't know if that's because we're not a thousand stores or 10,000 stores, but that's our experience. Not to say I think it's a combination of things and, and I don't think you should be dependent on one or the other and they both kind of come together. But I don't, don't underestimate, you know, talking to people in the store, finding, Hey, you work at this company, you guys cater. Like, I think that stuff still goes a long way. But again, it's, everyone's learning on how this is going to play out, especially with AI. I go to conferences and like a lot of companies say, hey, we're using AI and everyone's using it to whether we're aware or not using it a certain degree, but no one really knows how to use it well yet.

And I think that's going to be the next generation of things. And we'll see how that goes. Yeah, exactly. Is like, when you think about the brand of Rush Bowls and like, what's, what's like, and this isn't meant to be like a creative question, much as like strategy, like, you know, give me your elevator pitch. Like what's, what is the brush bowls brand? What's it stand for? Yeah. And certainly for us, it's a lifestyle, right? It's a chosen lifestyle. They eat healthy, eat food you love and love to be around the people. Right.

So it's having cool stuff having cool clothing having having you know great food having fun hiking we're in boulder for a reason right like be outdoors you know try and enjoy life a little bit and try and really know what goes into your body and and honestly in the business, that's been distorted a lot, as I explained earlier, like we're nutritious, we're healthy food. And you don't want people that do super bowls or sorbets. You don't want that because that's not nutritious kind of goes against that healthy lifestyle thing. But that would be the elevator pitch. It's a lifestyle choice. And it's a fun, inviting lifestyle to to everyone no matter what you're doing

is uh what's i this is just like curiosity i think it's interesting for even our listeners like what's like the the and it's probably different per market but like the demo like who is your describe to me like your your your your average customer. And it's funny. It's changed over time too. So we were really early on when I opened this. It was a very – it's college kids and younger almost. It was a very young demo. That's 20 years ago.

But our demo is 20s to 40s, I would say, overall. So young families, young people getting out you know hiking whatever it is or more food conscious and then there's a certain sector of food allergies right that might even skew younger so my daughter can't have gluten do you have gluten-free my daughter can't have dairy like our product can be gluten-free dairy- vegan, whatever your heart desires because we're making it from scratch. So, you know, our new slogan is make it yours, right? So really focus on what makes you happy the way you want it to be. So think of McDonald's.

Think of Burger King. Have it your way. We've always had it. Make it yours. So you want to tweak and change. And the reason we can do that is we're making everything fresh in front of you. Yeah, exactly. And you know, like,

I think that's always like the layer of top, like the health aspect is always kind of like that ribbon running through the middle. And I think it gets lost a little bit because you do have the competition, you know, the sorbet places, like you said, like there's sort of this crossing of industries now and i'm sure there's probably constant education you know reminders going on that this is the healthy alternative yeah and i think it's really people have to be really conscious of that because there is a big difference a big flavor difference too you know where's everything headed where's

everything headed andrew like you know what's your crystal ball slap mixed with uh you know, where's everything headed? Where's everything headed, Andrew? Like, you know, what's your crystal ball slap mixed with, uh, you know, your gambling man, um, and a mix of goals, crystal ball and the gambles and the bets you're making. Yeah, no, I mean, bottom line, we're a lifestyle brand. So does that, you you know we're looking to expand within the lifestyle brand that might be acquisition um constantly being creative we're going to be launching a couple new things actually with new flavors i think spices is an area that i want to explore more jams also by the way we're experimenting with all like another layered texture within the bowl so whether it's a spicy mango texture within a, you know,

strawberry smoothie or a strawberry bowl or whatever, you know, or whatever it may be, I'm just throwing it, but we're working a lot with another layer of texture, another layer of flavor. And then, you know, we're lean and mean because there's not like, I'm not in this to, i'm gonna build it every three years i'm selling it to different private equities so we're built to last in a very cost efficient basis and then you know this is a way for people to own their own business this is something that i'm proud of because if you if you were in a situation like myself or wanted to do something different,

this is another avenue to easily own a small business that doesn't have the same stresses. Now, listen, there's stresses. You've got to be open every day other than holidays. And then, you know, there's other stresses of running your own business. But in the food dynamic, it's as simple as you can really have. No hoods and stuff like that. So easy build out. Where can everybody learn more about Rush Bowls and everything you have going on?

Sure. You can go to RushBowls.com. That's R-U-S-H-B-O-W-L-S.com. And then on that, whether you want to know, whether you want to franchise, franchise. All right. We do. We have our internal sales division. Like I said, everyone's really experienced and knows what it takes and knows the challenges. So we don't we're really proud about that, that your experience talking to really experienced people. And also, unfortunately for my employees, I came from the trading background that you answer your phone 24-7, seven days a week. So we have a team that really responds to not only the franchisees, but everyone.

So we really like to, you know, get on it and talk to people and really show them what we're so proud of. Hey, that old fashioned customer service goes a long way. And being available should never be apologized for in my book. I love it, Andrew. It's been a very layered discussion, so I appreciate you coming on today. Hey, guys, you know where to find us. Ryanisright.com. You can find all the highlight clips.

You can learn more about Rush Bowls. We'll have the link there, and we really appreciate Andrew coming on. Any final words, Andrew? Check us out. Taste the difference. And thank you so much for having me on. It's been fun. My pleasure. It's been a lot of fun. Go make it yours, folks. We'll see you next time on Right About Now. This has been Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. Visit ryanisright.com for full audio and video versions of the show or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities. Thanks for listening.