We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Efrem Yates a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Efrem, appreciate you joining us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today

Starting over, I would undoubtedly optimize our store layout and design to support the robust online ordering and takeout business our industry now supports. Before the pandemic, we were 80% dine-in traffic, now we’re about 60% takeout.

Reducing indoor seating capacity in exchange for important items such as heated pickup shelves, or to install an additional preparation line dedicated to online & catering orders would easily allow us to meet our guests’ needs for dine-in or takeout. We’re considering retrofitting existing stores to best accommodate these things. Any future stores will be designed with this in mind.

Those businesses who were already well equipped to handle the transition COVID brought thrived. While we adjusted and survived, I plan to position us to thrive in this new normal.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

My name is Efrem Yates, I am 38 years old and I have been married to my wife for over 10 years. We share a 7-year old daughter, and a Labradoodle pup named Biscuit. I’m the Raleigh-Durham franchise owner for Your Pie Pizza. The thing that sets us a part from other pizza franchises is that we serve artisan-quality, brick-oven style pizza FAST! We use fresh ingredients and local produce. Each location features a local craft beer selection. We also cater to most diets: Keto, Vegan, and Gluten Free

Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses.

I discovered Your Pie because my daughter and I would frequent the Your Pie-Brier Creek location on our dinner dates. What attracted me to Your Pie initially is that our business is a truly refreshing take on a timeless staple dish. Being able to pick from over 40 toppings to create endless combinations means never having to eat the same pizza twice!

I fell in love with our concept more as I went through the due diligence process, met the leadership team, and talked to existing franchise owners. We acquired our first location via the purchase of an existing store in 2019. In 2021, we acquired the Brier Creek store, a full-circle moment considering that location introduced me to Your Pie in 2018. Note to anyone considering a franchise investment—do not rush the due diligence process! You will need a solid plan to finance your venture and always do your research! Finally, hire an attorney well versed in business and franchising law.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

The Raleigh-Durham market is a highly saturated, competitive foodie market. I knew that to have a chance at success we had to get creative in how we acquired new guests – especially with a finite marketing budget. I was confident that I had to embrace off-premise sales opportunities by establishing relationships with our guests and other businesses via catering. Since we’ve made catering an important focus of our sales strategy, we’ve seen 4X-5X sales growth in that area. It’s helped us increase brand awareness and expand our reach beyond the walls of our brick-and-mortar locations. We’re doubling our off-premise efforts with the launch of our Your Pie mobile pizza kitchen this Fall. We’re excited to engage with current guests in a new way and thrilled to meet a host of new Your Pie guests at festivals, food truck rally’s, rodeos, and more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yourpie.com/locations/raleigh-triangle-town/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourpienc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourpie/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/YourPie

Image Credits
Brandon Grate for LEPR Agency