How Southern Steer became an exceptional franchise opportunity
Southern Steer was founded in 2013 after Greg Snyder visited a butcher shop in the North East and recognized that there was a need for a similar shop in his hometown of Clearwater, Florida.
A community butcher shop is a niche business that is a local pillar of the community. People visit their local butcher because they want a specialist, they want to know where their food comes from, they want to know the story of the beef or the chicken they’re eating, and they want an expert to tell them how to cook it properly. It’s a service that can’t be replicated in a grocery store and it’s a business model that has thrived for decades.
There’s simply no replacement for a neighborhood butcher.
“I was in the restaurant industry for years, but this business is so much more fun,” Snyder says. “When I visited the butcher shop in the North East and saw the service it provided, my partners and I saw an opportunity to open a butcher shop here – and eight years later, it’s been incredibly successful.”
A continued success
You don’t get to enjoy eight years of continued success – let alone eight years of sales increases – as a local butcher shop by accident. Snyder and his team at Southern Steer designed a business model that worked to reduce waste and labor costs to maximize profitability, as well as implement a loyalty program that encouraged people to return by offering daily specials and discounts.
Snyder also developed products that consumers couldn’t get anywhere else, such as marinated chicken and beef, gourmet sausages, take-n-bake sides, and more. He tied his speciality products into his daily specials to make his customers feel like they’re getting good value for their purchases.
And you know what happened? He created a loyal customer base and an incredible loyalty program with thousands of members.
“Our customers buy from us a lot,” Snyder says. “We see people who come to us four days a week or people who drive to us once a month and stock up. We also see people who come just for the specials, or people who want the best steak in town. If you have the ultimate customer service, a great product, and the desire to build a business, we’ve found that you can do really well.”
The decision to franchise
After eight years in business and proving the business model in two locations, Southern Steer is now franchising across the United States.
To help facilitate franchise expansion, Snyder developed a comprehensive training and ongoing support platform. He also partnered with franchise veterans, such as Jack Lapointe, the founder of JanPro, who built one of the largest commercial cleaning franchises in the world and has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs excel in business.
“I’m passionate about entrepreneurship,” Lapointe says. “Corporate America is very uncertain right now and a job doesn’t provide security. Owning a business is the best way to take control of your future. This is a business whose time has come and Southern Steer proved to be essential, recession-resistant, and profitable during the pandemic. That’s an amazing validation point. When you have an essential business and one that provides a service that strengthens communities, you have a recipe for long-term growth.”
Ready to Take Advantage of our Southern Steer Franchise Opportunity?
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