Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2013 | Page 18

2013 MVP
with people talking from table to table
about what was going on.”
Baliva, the recipient of Multi-Unit
Franchisee magazine’s 2013 Noble Cause
Award, says he wasn’t thinking about
making money during the storm. “We’re
stable financially and we have insurance,
so it wasn’t about what kind of business
we’d do. We have so many employees
who live paycheck to paycheck, and
they needed to get back to work immediately. Our goal was to get open,
give people a sense of normalcy, help
where we could, and get people back
to work.”

MANAGEMENT
Business philosophy/management style: I try to allow people the
room to do their job without being micro-managed. I expect a lot but people
need to feel they own it.
Greatest challenge: Letting people make mistakes and learning from them.
How I give my team room to innovate and experiment: Again, I
allow them to run the business and try to manage each person’s style.
How close are you to operations? Very. I am very active in day-to-day
operations.
What do you rely on/expect from your franchisor? Since I have
three different franchisors, I often get three different answers, but communication about what is happening is most important.
What do you need from vendors? We need support for initiatives we
are pursuing and quick follow-up on any issues the GMs experience. It truly is

a partnership.
How is social media affecting your business? We are very active in
Facebook and email blasts. The speed of getting the word out today versus 15
years ago is amazing.
How do you hire and fire? We have a pretty lengthy interview
process involvi