How This Trio of Entrepreneurs Found Wild Success in Texas With MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes

All it took for this team of passionate hometown guys was a brand with a commitment to the Dallas-Fort Worth community and a delicious burger like none other — and they were hooked.

Agape Management Company was formed by entrepreneurs Sean McCullough, Ted Beaman and Greg Stevens in the fall of 2020. Since then, the trio has been hard at work in the Dallas Metroplex, creating a multi-unit partnership with MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes, one of the biggest up-and-coming names in the better-burger industry.

“We had been working together previously, and as we were moving on to our next ventures, we decided we’d keep working together because we really share a lot of the same interests and values about giving back to the communities in which we operate,” Beaman said. “We love to help others grow and achieve their dreams, and we wanted to be able to partner with a franchise like MOOYAH that allowed us to do that.”

MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes — a better-burger franchise that provides a fun, accessible, family-friendly environment where Guests can relax and enjoy themselves — is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after brands in franchising. For ambitious Franchise Owners, MOOYAH offers plenty of room for growth.

The owners at Agape have two MOOYAHs currently in operation, one under construction and multiple locations with either letters of intent or purchase agreements in place and negotiations under way. Ultimately, their plan is to open 10 MOOYAH locations in the DFW area over the next four years.

Why These Texans Are Eager To Spread the MOOYAH Message

With longstanding ties to the area, the Agape team shares a real passion for DFW. McCullough spent his youth playing sports in the community and said his familiarity with the locals is a huge part of what drives him to connect with the people around him to help grow the MOOYAH brand.

“This brand is very community-friendly,” McCullough said. “We immerse ourselves heavily in the community. That’s one of our pillars of execution on the operational side. We love giving back, and we’re spreading the word that MOOYAH is a helper in the community. For us as an ownership group, as well as the operators at each of our locations, we really try to get out to places like local Chambers of Commerce to understand how the city works and figure out how we can become a part of that.”

Agape opened its first MOOYAH location amid COVID-19, in December 2020. Beaman said the MOOYAH team’s response to the pandemic was part of the reason they chose to partner with them in the first place.

“We saw how MOOYAH reacted to things in the early part of the pandemic, when it was starting to get really bad, and they had pivoted to a more significant online strategy, really accelerating the development of the MOOYAH proprietary app, which allows Guests to interact with the business in a way that they choose,” he said. “MOOYAH really understood how consumer behaviors were changing and what they needed to do to continue to provide the best experience for the Guests.”

Why Agape Management Company Chose a Partnership With MOOYAH

Americans eat about 50 billion burgers every year, and 68% are eaten by millennials, who make up the largest demographic of consumers and are at the height of their spending power. And with 82% of consumers saying they’d pay more for the premium ingredients used by better-burger brands, MOOYAH is poised to take the top spot in the huge $119.54 billion-per-year burger market.

“Partnering with multi-unit Franchise Owners like Sean, Ted and Greg has been a perfect collaboration,” said Mike Sebazco, MOOYAH Executive Vice President of Operations and Development. “They’re hungry and eager to grow, and that, combined with their expertise in the field and knowledge of the DFW area as locals, has set them up for huge success. They have the financial backing, the business acumen, the understanding of the market and the desire to grow necessary to achieve success.”

MOOYAH has a range of available territories across the country, most of which are primed to support multiple units. Today, MOOYAH offers prospective owners the rare opportunity to partner with a franchise that has widespread brand recognition and Guest loyalty while still maintaining substantial room for growth. MOOYAH has been riding a wave of expansion and is currently on track to add 45 new locations across the U.S. by the end of 2023 to its 90-unit fast-casual franchise system.

For the guys at Agape, there were three main elements that sold them on the MOOYAH partnership: the better-burger franchise’s superior products, its culture of support and growth opportunities for owners who want to buy in to multiple units.

“It starts with great-quality products, and from there we took a look at the business and what the franchisor was doing,” Beaman said. “We really liked the support team, as a brand. We felt like the team was focused on the success of the Franchise Owners and really wanted to make sure that we were getting what we needed.”

“The partnership and the relationship is key to us, and that's how we do business, period,” McCullough said.

Why the Sky's the Limit for MOOYAH’s Multi-Unit Owners

The joint effort with MOOYAH gave the Agape team the confidence they needed to work toward opening multiple units in the DFW area.

“MOOYAH has been around for several years but had primarily been growing through single-unit Franchise Owners,” Beaman said. “So we were in this situation of having a real opportunity to come in and get a multi-unit deal and bring our expertise to try and grow many restaurants and develop stronger brand awareness. We thought by putting multiple restaurants in one market, we'd be able to really leverage the sales.”

As multi-unit owners, Beaman said they’re also able to leverage the economies of scale provided by several locations.

“So, as we’re working with general contractors in the area, we're able to tell them there’s one restaurant that we need you to bid on right now, and then there's another one coming up for bid in two months, and then we've got three more coming up for bid after that,” he said. “It allows us to get better pricing from them, and it also allows us to get a better, more dedicated service, because they know they're going to be working with us across multiple jobs."

That same concept applies to all elements of the Franchise Owner experience, with easier access to furniture and equipment packages, financing and all the things that go into getting a restaurant open and running.

“When you come in as a Franchise Owner and say we're opening 10 restaurants over a four-year time period, that gets their attention,” Beaman said. “As multi-unit owners, we’re seen as people who are serious about growth, and so we’re given the best possible service and pricing we can get.”

Why the Future is Bright for These DFW MOOYAH Owners

The Agape team is looking forward to continued growth in the future.

“This brand really resonates with communities, and the way that they are embracing us, it makes sense for us to continue to move forward,” McCullough said. “This truly is the best-quality burger out there in the better-burger category, and to be able to help grow this brand into a really recognizable staple for communities and individuals is a huge goal for us.”

Beaman agreed, saying he still sees plenty of growth potential with MOOYAH.

“As we get more brand awareness and as more people understand what MOOYAH really stands for and the quality of the product relative to other things that are available in this market, we just see the potential for internal growth within each restaurant. We plan to continue to add locations within this market and potentially in other markets,” he said. “As long as we see that growth potential and the opportunity to continue to build, I think we’ll want to keep developing more and more locations.”

For more information on MOOYAH, its menu or franchising opportunities, please visit http://www.MOOYAH.com. Connect with MOOYAH on Facebook.com/MOOYAH, follow MOOYAH on LinkedIn, Twitter @mooyahburgers, Instagram @mooyahburgers and TikTok @mooyahburgers.

The investment range to open a MOOYAH is $551,918 to $715,161. Learn more about franchising with MOOYAH at https://franchise.mooyah.com/.