Lloyd Sugarman: Johnny Rockets, $1.7M in Shirt Sales at 19 yrs old, Insights For Founders | #64 WWV

Thank you to our sponsor Coffee and Bagel Connection! Try one of their delicious bagels today and support this show. View their menu and locations here: https://www.coffeenbagelconnection.com/ This is our full conversation with Lloyd Sugarman, the co-founder of the international restaurant chain Johnny Rockets and the current owner of over 30 restaurants and businesses generating tens of millions of dollars a year. From this conversation you will learn how a seemingly unpromising kid, went on to start his first business at 19 years old which generated over $1.7 Million in a weekend ($300,000 in 1975) and what it took to compound that success into scaling a restaurant chain to hundreds of locations and curating his current portfolio of innovative concepts. Visit one of Lloyd’s newest (2024) restaurants, Sugar Factory Boston! Get directions and view their menu here: https://www.sugarfactory.com/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:56 - Growing Up In Cranston, RI 02:10 - Trading Stocks At 16 and Economic Outlook 07:44 - How To Deal With Stress and The Difference Between a Concept and a Menu Item. 10:47 - Concepts Being Copied 12:50 - The Miracle and Miracle Car Wash 20:16 - Conceived in That Theater and ColdStone Creamery 29:48 - Getting Involved In Johnny Rockets 33:59 - Discovering Starbucks 38:38 - Singing and Dancing at Johnny Rockets 44:50 - Timing For Concept Lifecycles 45:33 - The Soup Nazi, Working With Shaq and When to Walk Away. 51:00 - AI and Electric Cars 53:25 - Lessons Lloyd’s Son Learned From Lloyd And Applied To His Own Concept, Mavens 54:02 - First Johnny Rockets Buyout, Lessons Learned and How To Feel Out Locations 56:45 - Trust and Limitations 01:03:40 - Meeting Rhonda, Funky Drawers of America and selling lots of T Shirts 01:17:30 - Salesmanship and Thoughts On Education 01:20:17 - Lloyd Christmas and Dumb and Dumber 01:25:24 - Closing Questions and Quote