Once—and arguably still—one of the fastest-growing quick-serve franchise empires in America, Atlanta-based Raving Brands was founded in 2000 by Martin Sprock, the creator of Planet Smoothie.

An admitted former ski bum, dishwasher and busboy, Sprock has said his early years taught him an important lesson; that most people in the restaurant business – including owners, operators and managers – tend to undervalue their employees. In creating Planet Smoothie, Sprock said, his vision was to run a chain that treated affiliates and employees as well as it did owners.

To that end, Sprock shared an office cubicle with three other people, always flew coach, stayed two-to-a-room on the road and took a modest salary.

The results are the stuff of legend: Sprock became an industry rock star overseeing a company wielding several fast-casual concepts and fielding inquiries from 150 would-be franchisees a day.

Then it hit some nails in the road. At least two artists claimed illegal use of their likenesses or work. And a flurry of franchisee lawsuits accused the company of fraud, misrepresentation, and accepting undisclosed kickbacks.

Sprock denies it all.

Stephen M. LaMastra was brought in to run the day-to-day operations in mid-2005 and was named president in early 2006. "We need to continue to put in place strategic and sustainable business practices," LaMastra said in a statement at the time. "My goal is for Raving Brands to be the best..." In 2007, the company sold Moe's Southwest Grill to Focus Brands. LaMastra remains at Raving Brands overseeing the transition of Moe's to Focus, which is expected to end by the spring of 2008.

Sprock remains CEO and major shareholder.

The company says it expects to have more than 500 locations domestically and internationally within five years.

When David Rutkauskas and his wife, Camille, opened their first Camille’s Sidewalk Café in 1996 the goal was to become millionaires by the time David was 40.

“That was pretty easy,” the 46-year-old later told the The Journal Record in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where his restaurant empire began. “In business, you’ve got to have big goals and big dreams.”

Those dreams have since mushroomed into Beautiful Brands International, owner of three concepts “built from scratch,” as Rutkauskas likes to put it. His goal: five new concepts in the next 10 years, 25,000 worldwide units in the next 20 and a billion dollars in annual sales well before then.

“When we began we were just a husband-and-wife team that wanted to work together,” Rutkauskas recalls.

The beginnings of that can be seen in what they’ve already done, Rutkauskas says. Camille’s Sidewalk Café is a California-style deli restaurant aimed at high-end franchisees. Coney Beach, created last summer for middle-range franchisees, is “America’s first true fast-casual gourmet dog, burger, and fries concept,” he says. And FreshBerry is a frozen-yogurt café for franchisees of limited means.

Future concepts, Rutkauskas says, will be designed “from the outside in. First we come up with the idea. Then we come up with the name. And then we get an idea of how the vibe of the place is going to be.”

Finally, he says, they work on menus. New concepts currently under consideration include fast-casual barbecue, pizza, and wings.