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On his first day within the restaurant enterprise, Andrew Okay. Smith was the dishwasher.
Not the investor. Not the strategist. Not the man fixing tech stacks or analyzing labor margins. Simply the man on the sink, scrubbing trays, rinsing off sheet pans.
It wasn’t precisely what he had pictured when he instructed his spouse he was prepared for a brand new problem.
Right now, Smith is the managing associate and co-founder of Savory Fund, a restaurant funding agency recognized for serving to manufacturers scale nationally. However earlier than the boardrooms and portfolios, he began the place few traders do: behind the dish pit.
Rewind a 12 months. His spouse had launched a bakery, a fast-casual dessert idea that opened in the midst of the 2008 monetary crash. Smith, nonetheless deep in his tech CEO position, did not precisely love the thought. “In my thoughts, I am like, that is the worst concept,” he now admits. “However you realize what I responded? I used to be like, ‘I feel it is a terrific concept. After all. And we should always completely do this.'”
It wasn’t sarcasm. It was marriage. And, as he places it, “due to that, I simply celebrated my twenty sixth anniversary.”
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Quick-forward a 12 months, and his firm was steady. The bakery was bustling. And Smith was able to do one thing new. One thing much less theoretical. One thing actual. He known as his spouse and stated, “I feel I need to come be a part of you within the restaurant enterprise.”
Her reply? “Good. My dishwasher simply known as out.”
In order that’s how Smith, a man who had offered firms, raised tens of millions and constructed tech startups, walked away from the boardroom and stepped straight into the dish pit.
No enterprise playing cards. No title. Simply cleaning soap, steam and a head-first dive into restaurant life. It wasn’t glamorous, nevertheless it was the start. And ultimately, it led to the creation of Savory Fund.
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How storytelling grew to become a progress technique
In case your restaurant does not have a narrative, it does not have a model. That is Smith’s philosophy, and it is baked into the whole lot Savory Fund does. Earlier than the methods, funding and progress playbook, there’s the story. Who’re you? Why do you exist? And why ought to anybody care?
“Storytelling is what galvanizes your shopper along with your model,” Smith says. “If you cannot clarify your function, it is a fairly hole enterprise.”
At Savory, storytelling is not fluff. It is foundational. It shapes how a model communicates, hires, markets, scales and builds tradition. From social media presence to inside coaching, it is the thread that holds the whole lot collectively.
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However make no mistake. Savory is greater than a storytelling store. It is a severe progress engine.
The agency combines greater than $750 million in property underneath administration with a confirmed operational playbook developed over 16 years within the restaurant trade. Savory companions with high-potential, worthwhile, rising restaurant manufacturers and offers them greater than capital. It offers hands-on assist with operations, actual property, advertising, methods and coaching.
Savory’s group of greater than 85 folks contributes on to all elements of progress. The aim is not only growth, however sustainable replication. Founder involvement is a should. The early success of a restaurant typically hinges on instincts and insights that solely the founder can clarify. Savory helps translate that into scalable methods with out shedding what made the model matter within the first place.
It is a deeply private mission for Smith. His spouse, Shauna Okay. Smith, serves as CEO of Savory Fund and leads the cost on model assist and growth. Collectively, they’ve constructed an organization that does not simply spend money on eating places. It invests within the individuals who make them work.
Household has all the time been central to that strategy.
When his sons have been youthful, Smith introduced them into his world — taking calls on the way in which to soccer follow, asking what they seen and realized. It wasn’t a balancing act between work and life. It was an intentional mix, designed to make each extra significant.
That mindset carries into how Savory works with founders. Enterprise needs to be private. And one of the best manufacturers do not simply serve meals. They serve a function.
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