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GROWING UP IN THE BUSINESS
This young hands-on operator is on the road to success Written By KERRY PIPES
34
Multi-Unit Franchisee
ISSUE 1, 2021
ecoming a Wayback Burgers franchisee was a natural progression for Wasif Saddique. He grew up working in his uncle’s restaurants where he learned the ropes and advanced through the management ranks. Today, at 30, he operates two of his own Wayback Burgers locations in Roseville and Folsom, California. Married with no children, Saddique has been clocking 70-hour work weeks as he approaches his fourth complete year as a franchisee with the burger brand. He says he loves it, is proud of his team members, and from time to time still rolls up his sleeves to help out when things get busy. “I communicate with our managers throughout the day, and I often find myself back in the restaurant helping out in any way that I can,” he says. For Saddique, 2020 has been a year for the record books. Covid-19 forced him to close his dining rooms and transition both his restaurants to takeout-only operations with increased operating costs. But he and his team made adjustments, business remained strong, and his team members were even able to maintain their hours through it all. One of the cornerstones of his success has been his keen focus on customer service and his striving to create repeat customers. This strategy seems to be working, even during the challenging year gone by. He says comparable sales at both restaurants have remained strong. For example, this past October his two locations posted positive comp sales increases of 73% and 34%, their highest increases of the year at the time. “I see this as the ultimate validation that we are doing a good job,” he says. He remains passionate and dedicated to the Wayback Burgers brand and says he would like to expand its presence in the Sacramento market in the future. PERSONAL First job: Gas station manager. Formative influences/events: Managing the gas station gave me experience in numerous important areas: dealing with the different personalities of guests and team members, ordering and inventory management, paperwork and compliance systems, etc. Key accomplishments: I am fortunate to have been able to grow sales with every business I have been involved with, but the sales growth with Wayback Burgers has been the biggest of all. We are doing a good job and the results have been great!
