We recently connected with Michael Ball and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

My personal biggest risk I have ever taken was my decision to join an unknown, start-up restaurant concept. George McLaughlin, one of my previous mentors, reached out to me about coming on board to help build out a new concept. I was very apprehensive at the time because I had an established career with Chick-fil-A where I had been for 4 years. Starting over with an unproven concept seemed very risky at that time, especially having a wife, two kids, and a third soon to follow. The uncertainty was daunting. After a few months of deliberation and many heartfelt conversations and support from my wife, I happily accepted the opportunity. I was full of excitement and an unfamiliar anxiety I had never felt before. I had never been involved in starting a company from the ground up, much less given the opportunity to build it the way that I knew how. My firm belief in George’s leadership, his trust in me and my family, and his dedication to success and a team-first mentality quickly put all my nerves and doubts to rest.

As far as the company goes, the biggest risk we at Vicious Biscuit have taken is our growth model during the pandemic and post-pandemic. In a time where so many unfortunate operators are having to close their doors or adjust their hours or days open, we have clawed, scraped, and fought our way through it and are thriving as a brand. We went from a small operation of being the new kid on the block, to creating a sustainable, electric concept with what will be our 6th location by the beginning of next year! With supply chain gaps, record high gas prices, and inflation ballooning the cost of labor, goods and equipment, anyone would be crazy to try and keep opening stores during this period of time, but we are making it work!

We opened our first location as a brand new concept December 22nd or 2018, not really knowing how well we would be received. To our delight we immediately had lines out the door and down the sidewalk, so we knew we needed another location to serve as our proof of concept. We found an amazing spot in the growing area of Nexton in Summerville, began design, and signed a lease…then boom, Covid hit and everything was on full pause. We quickly identified two key philosophies that helped us push through the chaos. The first philosophy was that our team always comes first. We doubled down on culture as our primary focus…identifying and outlining clear core values and working hard to train our leaders how to recruit, hire, operate, and retain based on those values. The second philosophy was that tackling adversity head on always builds muscle and that embracing failure is always healthy, as long as you fail forward. So many things during this time kept going wrong, but we looked at each instance as an opportunity to improve as a brand and as leaders within our industry. Operationally, we pivoted quickly with innovation and teamwork. We built a makeshift drive-thru operation at our Mt. Pleasant location and built out an online ordering model as well. We then erected a large entertainment tent in our parking lot, and before we knew it we were back to capacity and normal sales volume. This allowed us to focus on our new store in Summerville, which opened on July 22nd, 2020 to immediate lines out the door again!

Since then, we have worked diligently on finding ways to continually make Vicious Biscuit an amazing place to work or start a career. We have succeeded in this through adding wonderful benefits, empowering everyone at all times, and keeping constant focus on work/life balance while always maintaining a positive operating atmosphere. We push hard on personal and professional development for all of our team members and are alway looking to add value to their lives where we can. All of this really helped us avoid the staffing crisis that many of our industry peers have faced. We have battled through supply chain nightmares, construction delays, unexpected staffing gaps due to Covid for weeks on end, and enough red tape at times to frustrate even the savviest of operators.

We have found that the saying is very true. With high risk comes high reward. You just have to keep you eye on the prize and always value your number one resource, your people. Your teams should always be your primary focus and the number one thing you invest in, whether it be with time or money. Without truly great people you cannot have a truly great company. Our incredible teams have helped us push forward through all of the risks we have taken.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I met George when I was 21 years old. I was a long-haired hippie kid delivering pizzas at the time with not much direction as to what I wanted out of life after coming home from college. George was a young entrepreneur about to open his first restaurant in Irmo, SC ready to take on the world. I happened to stop by, intrigued by the building and the concept. We sat and talked for a while and as he says, “he saw something in me” that led him to hire me on the spot that day. That was the beginning of what would turn out to be a very fruitful relationship between myself and my first restaurant mentor. Working with George cultivated a passion for serving others and an overall love of all things food related.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Same story from earlier when we had to pivot when Covid hit. We had to change around our entire operations model to keep the business afloat. You have two choices when something like that happens. You either give up and find something else, or you adapt, figure it out, and fight to stay alive. People are counting on you to make decisions that affect their livelihood.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.viciousbiscuit.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/viciousbiscuits
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vicious-biscuit/