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While working as a loan broker in New Jersey, Vik Patel became intrigued by the franchising world. “We were helping Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees secure financing for new construction and other endeavors. As I learned more about the business model and brand, I began to like it,” says Patel. “I decided it was something I’d like to try for myself.”
So began Patel’s franchising pursuit. After spending a year attempting to purchase Dunkin’ Donuts stores in the Northeast, he began to look for opportunities in a less mature market. He reached out to a franchisee in Florida for whom he had helped secure financing to ask if he knew of any stores for sale in the area.
“It just so happened that he was also a big franchisee in the Bahamas, but had stores in Tampa that he was willing to sell. Soon after our conversation, my wife and I flew out from New York on a 10 degree day and landed in Tampa, where it was about 85 degrees. We just looked at each other and said ‘let’s do this,’” Patel recalls.
In 2006, Patel began his Florida operation with four Dunkin’ Donuts shops. Over the following two years, he acquired and developed more stores until the economy crashed. From 2008 to 2010, he froze expansions, and waited for the rebound. When signs of recovery appeared, Patel pressed ahead. Today, he owns 23 Dunkin’ Donuts in the Tampa market, a few up in the Florida Panhandle and one in Alabama with another in the pipeline. His goal is to expand his network – through acquisitions and new developments – to a total of 40 stores by the end of 2015.
Having found success with his Dunkin’ franchises, Patel opened his first Brass Tap bar and grill in Florida in April 2014; he opened a second just a few months later.
Patel says the business – an upscale craft beer and wine emporium with a bistro menu – is taking off. He has another under construction in Florida with more in the pipeline for North Carolina and South Carolina. By the end of this year, he is expecting to have seven Brass Taps up and running.
“I wanted to grow and expand outside of Dunkin’. I was born and raised in England, and it’s definitely a beer culture there. I love beer. We were looking for something that wouldn’t compete with Dunkin’ and that would be a nice complement to it in the area that we had infrastructure so we researched brands,” says Patel.
The Brass Tap concept seems well-timed to America’s growing interest in craft beer. According to the Brewers Association, craft beer accounted for 7.8 percent of total U.S. beer sales in 2013, up 17 percent from the prior year. “Beer has been around for hundreds of years and this is the next evolution of beer. Even bigger domestic breweries are coming up with their own craft beer since people are looking for more than Miller Lite and Bud Light,” says Patel.
Before delving into The Brass Tap, Patel took his management team to one of the bars. “I’m a big team player. My team is tremendous and they’re the reason we’ve been able to be as successful as we have. When I saw that they were on board with The Brass Tap and excited about helping to grow the brand to more than a few bars, it really solidified that we made the right choice,” Patel says.
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