Inside the Blazing Growth of Wayback Burgers

And it all effects the bottom line. Wayback is financially conservative, Chemero says, and operates according to a no-debt ethos. He says the company doesn’t have a dollar of debt. No loans. It runs purely from the royalty flow of its franchisees.

In the early days, owner’s capital kept Wayback going until critical mass became part of the income process. “Next thing you know, the royalties are paying all the bills,” Chemero says. “That’s always been our philosophy.”

When you think from that perch, picking franchisees is a pretty critical conversation, especially since there are currently only two company-run stores. He says every candidate is measured from the perspective of “do we really want to be in business with this person or persons, because we don’t need the [franchisee fee] to pay the bills. We really look at it from what are they bringing to the table.”

Nine years later—and Chemero is hesitant saying this so not to jinx the company—Wayback hasn’t had a single lawsuit. Not one arbitration. No mediation.

Chemero looks at it this way: Yes, it matters if your burger is best-in-class, but there are so many burger concepts in the marketplace that quality isn’t the nuts-and-bolts recipe to franchise success. “A burger is a burger is a burger, to some extent,” he says. “… But it really boils down to customer service. When you really think about it, it’s all about the dining experience for the customer. If the food was good, great. They expect that. But if the service was over the top, they’ll talk about it, and they’ll come back.”

Wayback trains and drills down on service with its franchisees and expects the same from its corporate employees. There are management certification programs every manager must go through and pass. There’s also a Wayback University training program for franchisees, which also must be attended and passed. In-house Wayback employees are held to similar standards.

“We drill and drill and drill with the employees here on franchisee service. We work very closely with making sure the franchisees never go to bed at night with a problem,” he says. “That gets around. That gets around to people who don’t have restaurant experience who are concerned.”

Wayback also believes in development caps. It typically sells no more than three units to any perspective operator. About 34 percent of its franchisees currently have more than one store, and most of them opened one at a time, Chemero says.

The international aspect of Wayback’s future is an intriguing one. There are stores in Argentina; Brunei; Sudan; Morocco; Saudi Arabia; Kuwait; Pakistan; and Malaysia. Wayback has executed master franchise deals to grow in 37 provinces/countries in the Middle East; Northern Africa; South Africa; Argentina; Brunei; Bangladesh; Ireland; Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, Canada; and the Netherlands. Pending letters of intent are out to Western Germany and the U.K. as well.

Domestically, Chemero says the Southwest is Wayback’s current hotspot—Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma. But it really comes down to the operator and the real estate. The chain has an in-house team to go over every location and physically walk the sites before giving the operator the go-ahead.

Right now, Chemero believes there are five factors fueling Wayback’s present growth and its potential.

• No. 1: The aforementioned cost of entry. “There are a lot more people out there who have $400,000 in their pocket than $4 million,” he says.
• No. 2: Menu diversity. Wayback is definitely burger focused, but it offers enough variety to allow for repeat visits. Everything from chicken to a fish sandwich to a veggie burger to salads, and all executable by minimum-wage level employees.
• No. 3: Again, size. This helps operators as well in regards to utilities.
• No. 4: Technology and Wayback’s delivery capabilities. This is important with its locations near military bases, which also offer breakfast. Additionally, some units sell beer and wine.
• No. 5: Catering. This is a growing offering for Wayback.

On a last note, Chemero says Wayback’s stable leadership has steadied the company and built strong relationship with banks and lenders. Combined with Eucalitto, the duo has 60-plus years of restaurant experience.

“When people look at a restaurant they look at the business model. They look at the store. They look at the food. But they also put a high emphasis on how do you run your company. The management team,” he says. “We’ve had many, many, many compliments from people and other vendors that they think our management team and the people who work here are just over the top.”