Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2014 | Page 50

2014 MVP AWARDS

“I was the middle child of eight competitive siblings.
I learned from the older and helped the younger ones.”
been impressed with the work of Neighborhood Centers
Inc., the largest charitable organization in Texas, which for
more than 100 years has been active in community-building
in the Houston area. Among its many activities, the nonprofit provides citizenship, civics, and language classes to
immigrants at nearly 60 service sites to help them adapt in
their new country.
“We’ve created a bigger presence with money, having made
$100,000 in direct contributions to the centers in Houston,
which is a major gateway to the U.S. with large pockets of
Asians, Africans, and Hispanics,” he says. “We sponsor a jillion sports teams and also supply water or personnel at health
fairs and trade shows all over the area. It’s a way of giving.
Yes, we’re promoting our product, but we’re doing more
than that. We’re embedding ourselves into their neighborhoods and helping them to assimilate into the community.
We respect them, and they respect us.”
Moore shares the market with founding franchisors Lani

MANAGEMENT
Business philosophy: My parents taught me that if you respect and like
people—don’t act like you like them, actually like them—they’ll like you
and treat you with respect. That’s what I do in the business, and we don’t
have any turnover.
Management method or style: I empower my employees.
Greatest challenge: A partnership breakup in 1998.
How do others describe you? I think they’d say I’m too demanding
but that I’m fair. We’re all judged by our actions. I’m an alcoholic who’s been
sober for three years, so my people have seen me in a lot of different situations. They definitely like this version better.
How do you hire and fire, train and retain? We have little to no
turnover. We’ve fired only four people in 22 years and one quit. You have to
know who you hire, train, pay well, and empower.

BOTTOM LINE
Annual revenue: $5 million.
2014 goals: Grow in revenue and profit.
Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? By increase
in profits.
Vision meter: Where do you want to be in 5 years? In 10
years? We want to dominate water/ice vending in Houston.
What are you doing to take care of your employees? We always
pay more than the living wage, offer benefits, and provide ESOP empowerment.
What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? I’ll die at the
wheel or transfer to my GM and partner Marco Reyes.

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MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE IS S UE III, 2014

and Don Dolifka, whom he describes as “driven and committed to providing a clean, affordable product to customers.”
Choosing locations is vitally important, says Moore. “We
typically want to go where our people shop. We don’t own
any sites—we have simple ground leases for 250 square feet
in the parking lot. We pull our own utilities. We’d love to
get into a grocery store or more high-traffic strip centers.”

PERSONAL
Formative influences/events: I was the middle child of eight competitive siblings. I learned from the older and helped the younger ones.
Key accomplishments: Being married 40 years to Kim and having three
beautiful and successful daughters.
Work week: Six days a week—half in Houston and half in Denver.
What are you reading? Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and The Patriarch: The
Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy by David Nasaw.
Best advice you ever got: Return all your phone calls.
What’s your passion in business? Going hard and staying tuned to
my market.

2014 MVP

Noble Cause Award
FOR PASSIONATE, UNWAVERING SUPPORT
FOR THOSE IN NEED
Why do you think you were recognized with this award?
Franchisor Lani Dolifka nominated me. We share the Houston market and she
knows how we have given to our customers and community.
How have you raised the bar in your own company? We’ve
offered premium price and quality product in vended water. We demand excellence from our employees to deliver the best.
What innovations have you created and used to build your
company? We recognized early that our product was underpriced and campaigned to show customers that it is worth it to pay more for quality.
What core values do you think helped you win this award? As
John Maxwell says, people follow who they like and respect. I have shown
that I like and respect my employees, so it’s a two-way street.
How important is community involvement to you and your