Layne’s Chicken Fingers’ CEO ‘Over-Invests’ in People and Infrastructure to Set the Stage for Explosive Growth

Layne’s Chicken Fingers*, the Soon to be Famous™ chicken finger franchise with over 40 operating restaurants and hundreds more in development, has seen incredible growth. From a College Station, Texas classic to a rapidly growing national concept, Layne’s continues to shine with guests, team members and franchise owners, largely thanks to its core values and steady commitment to doing the right thing. As the leadership team prepares for an upcoming sprint with over 30 new restaurants set to open in quick succession, CEO Garrett Reed is confident, saying he’s made the necessary investments in the teams and tools that will support successful growth. 

As Layne’s has grown over recent years, Reed has made concerted efforts to consistently build out teams that have the same level of “GAF” (give a f***) that he does, noting that having teams who care just as much as he does and even teams that buy into his “crazy” ideas about what it means to really do franchising right is a key driver of Layne’s success.

“One of my biggest fears is that people won’t love or worry about my franchisees as much as I do. Are they going to communicate the message properly?” he said. “In the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen unbelievable ownership from this group. If you look at the state of the union in terms of human capital and the quality of people we have, the future is extremely bright.”

With 41 operating restaurants and 28 employees at the home office, Layne’s has an impressive support ratio. Having built the scaffolding ahead of time, which many may see as “over-investing,” Reed is able to take on Layne’s next growth spurt with confidence in both the franchise partners he has welcomed to the system and those throughout the franchise network that will support them.

“Having 28 corporate employees and 41 stores open, people would say we’re crazy. And yeah, we’re crazy; we’re trying to do franchising differently. We’re actually trying to serve our franchisees,” he said. “We’re about to run into a season where we have 35 stores slated to open. The stress test is going to happen quickly … It’s really exciting. So the state of the union is great. Things are fantastic.”

Reed joined 1851 Franchise Publisher Nick Powills on a recent episode of the “Meet the Franchise” podcast to discuss the state of the brand, his philosophy on growth and how Layne’s is preparing for the future. A transcript of Reed’s interview with Powills has been provided below. It has been edited for brevity, clarity and style.

Nick Powills: All right. Garrett, first off, I love you, and I love the brand. I’m just going to get the love out of the way so that’s clear. When someone’s watching this, and they’re like, “Nick’s just blowing smoke the whole time,” it’s out of the way. I love you, and I love the brand.

Garrett Reed: Feeling’s mutual.

Powills: Okay, that’s good. Let’s start with a state of the union. I have a whole bunch I want to unpack, but how are things going? For anybody who watched our previous video, we can see we’re building this thing up to be what I would label a unicorn brand. How do things stand today? How are you feeling? Give me the state of the union.

Reed: Yeah, first of all, things are fantastic. Some neat things that have been occurring — we’ve started to layer in another piece of the management team. We’re at that growth stage now where we need true leaders that have what I call GAF: give a f***.

We’ve really promoted some people who have caused so much excitement on my part. It’s been unbelievable to watch them grow. Marketing, ops and ops services are the three big pieces we’ve added toward the end of last year into this year.

We’re beginning to create structures inside the organization that have very defined roles and responsibilities. What’s neat about it is watching this team begin to gel.

One of my biggest fears is that people won’t love or worry about my franchisees as much as I do. You and I have talked about that. Are they going to communicate the message properly? In the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen unbelievable ownership from this group. There’s still coaching that needs to go on. They need to speak directly in my voice, and that comes over time. But if you look at the state of the union in terms of human capital and the quality of people we have, the future is extremely bright.

Now, does that mean it’s plug and play? No. There are all kinds of opportunities we have. But the team — we’ve talked about this before — Matt and I, when we bought the brand, the idea was always to invest capital early so the team would be ready.

Having 28 corporate employees and 41 stores open, people would say we’re crazy. And yeah, we’re crazy; we’re trying to do franchising differently. We’re actually trying to serve our franchisees. I think we’re getting there.

We’re about to run into a season where we have 35 stores slated to open. The stress test is going to happen quickly. In the last couple of days, my confidence level in this team has increased. I’ve seen the execution in anticipation of this sprint.

It’s really exciting. So the state of the union is great. Things are fantastic. I think our franchisees are happy. They’re making money.

I was talking to a potential franchisee yesterday, and he asked, “How many of your existing franchisees are interested in buying more territory?” 

I said, “We’ve had five existing franchisees who have bought more or are in the process.”

He said, “You’re burying the lead. Why didn’t you lead with that?” 

I don’t even realize how many exciting things are happening. Existing franchisees are buying more territory and accelerating their growth. We have quality franchise groups talking to us. Unit-level economics in the FDD we’re about to release have gotten better. Cost of goods has dropped. We’ve gotten a better handle on expenses.

Construction has been great. One franchisee told me we might be doing too much for them in construction. That’s what I want to hear — tell us to back off!

On all aspects, we’re hitting on the right cylinders. We want to be the unicorn brand. But we’re in the refining fire right now. We’re learning and growing.

It’ll be neat to have this conversation next year when we’re at 85 or 90 stores and talk about what we learned. Right now, things are good. Normal learning experiences, but I’m really proud of this team.

Powills: Awesome opening statement. I have three main things I want to unpack.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this, even conversations we’ve had offline. I’ll start with a story: Netflix comes to Blockbuster and says, “We want to buy you,” and Blockbuster says no.

What caused them to say no versus seeing the opportunity? The best businesses I’ve seen are always startups.

When you’re in startup mode, you’re building culture, infrastructure, stress-testing everything and doing it with fearlessness. Then you get to a place like Blockbuster, where there’s ego and complacency.

You got to 30 units, then said, “Let’s keep this a startup and build another startup to go from 30 to 60.”

How does that connect with you?

Reed: I think it’s neat. Using the Netflix and Blockbuster example, the reason Netflix is great is because Blockbuster didn’t buy them. At the time, Netflix didn’t have streaming. They were mailing DVDs. Blockbuster probably thought, “Why would we buy this? We can do it ourselves.” 

But that rejection put Netflix under pressure. They realized their model wasn’t sustainable and pivoted. Under pressure, if you’re willing to listen and learn, you can create a great company. They pivoted into streaming and became a unicorn.

Powills: I’m also hearing the chip on the shoulder. I once interviewed someone from Netflix who said their core value was “kill Blockbuster.” Everything was built around that. So what’s your chip on the shoulder?

Reed: It helps to have an enemy… a David versus Goliath story. There are bigger brands we respect, and we want to be better than them.

We set goals: be bigger, better, grow faster. I know what other chicken brands are doing. We just have to do it better. That chip is an incredible motivator. It gels the team together. It gives us a common cause.

Powills: I’ll give you a counter view. I think your chip is internal. You said your fear is your staff won’t care about franchisees as much as you do.

You’re looking at franchising and saying, “We can do better.”

Reed: There’s definitely an internal chip. Eric rolled out a tagline: “One great store at a time.”

We want to protect the brand and the franchisee. That’s a difficult lift. Every franchisee has different goals. 

I always want to be great, and I always feel like I’m not. I go to bed frustrated that I’m not better.

Powills: That’s why you’re great. Too many people get lost in ego.

Reed: I hear franchisees say franchisors don’t care about their money, and I don’t understand that. When we took our first franchisee’s money, Matt and I lost a lot of sleep. That responsibility is real. Every time someone opens a restaurant, I’m nervous. I’m pacing, sweating, asking if we missed something.

Powills: What about bumps in the road when expectations aren’t aligned?

Reed: I take it very personally. I probably don’t handle it well.

There’s always something I could do more. Everyone’s coming from good intentions, but expectations can still be missed. Managing all those voices is difficult. It takes a personal toll.

Powills: You’re about to open 30-plus stores. How are you mentally preparing?

Reed: We grew 100% last year. It didn’t even feel like it — you just get into the battle.

There’s no fear, just excitement. I’m more concerned about managing 200 stores than opening new ones.

Powills: What about attracting multi-unit operators and sending the right signals?

Reed: We’re tightening the gates. Even more now. We’re scrutinizing candidates harder. I don’t care who you are; you have to live the brand and meet our standards.

Powills: Did you ever expect to be in a position where you could say no like that?

Reed: No, I don’t think I understood how important that was early on. I had mentors who guided me, but you don’t really know until you experience it. Now I know. And now I protect it.

Powills: Let’s talk about capital. How important is it for growth and mental stability?

Reed: It’s paramount. The better capitalized you are, the better decisions you make.

At Layne’s, we’ve grown with zero debt. No decisions have ever been made based on whether we could afford something. That’s helped us make good long-term decisions.

Powills: When you have the fundamentals and the capital, you make better decisions and think long term.

Reed: Exactly.

Powills: Garrett, I always love these conversations. I’m looking forward to seeing where this is a year from now.

Reed: Same here. Always a pleasure.

Watch the full interview above or on YouTube.

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/layneschickenfingers.