Sudanese Refugee Turned Purple Heart Army Veteran Becomes A Major Franchisee In Dunkin’ And Smoothie King

Yonas Hagos’ life seems like a Netflix

NFLX
series. And don’t be surprised if it turns into one.   

Hagos morphed from being a Sudanese immigrant to the U.S., enlisted in the U.S. Army after he was outraged by the World Trade Center bombings, and earned a Purple Heart fighting in the U.S. Army in Iraq. Upon returning from the war, he turned into a multi-unit franchisee for leading restaurant chains Dunkin’, Smoothie King, Arby’s and Chicken Salad Chick.

Born in Sudan, he spent time with his parents and four siblings in a Sudanese refugee camp. In 1992, when he was 9-years-old, he and his family immigrated to the U.S. and settled into a cramped, two-bedroom Section 8 apartment in Wheaton, Illinois.

After enlisting in the U.S. Army in 2002 and serving overseas in Iraq, he was wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade and was later awarded a Purple Heart.

Having recovered from his injuries, he first started a painting company and then purchased his first franchise in 2009, Anytime Fitness, a 24-hour health and fitness club, outside of Chicago. Hagos showed a knack for operating a franchise, which led him to running numerous franchised restaurants.

Asked why he turned to franchising, 38-year-old Hagos retorts, “Why reinvent the wheel when the wheel has been invented?”

At one point he operated 17 Dunkin’ franchises in Illinois and Missouri, though he’s trimmed that to seven Dunkin’s currently. He also runs 18 Smoothie Kings in Illinois and Missouri and one Arby’s and one Chicken Salad Chick, both in Illinois.

Dunkin’ started his path toward franchising based on his fond memories of stopping there for coffee with his dad on weekends. He gravitated to becoming a Smoothie King franchisee because of his penchant for healthy and nutritious food.

Based in Yorkville, Illinois, about an hour southwest of Chicago, he noticed that there were no Arby’s located there. So he launched one in that city, which eventually led to his operating three Arby’s, at one point.

Sometimes his personal experience contributes to Hagos’ opening a franchise. When he was participating in Smoothie King’s training in Dallas, a colleague recommended Chicken Salad Chick as a local spot for lunch.

When Hagos joined the line of 15 people already lining up, he sense something special was going on. He loved the food and how fresh everything tasted and contacted them soon after about franchising

When he and two partners acquired their first Dunkin’ franchise is 2013 in Normal, Ill, they had to raise about $1.3 million collectively. They put in 15% of their own money, and the remainder stemmed from an SBA loan and bank loan.

At first the revenue was sluggish, but gradually that Dunkin’ turned into a success. What did it take? Hagos says, “Hard work. I was pretty much working seven days a week and 18 hours a day.”

As Lin Manuel-Miranda wrote in the musical Hamilton, “Immigrants get the job done.”

But there he learned what satisfied customers and staff. “Customers are simple. If you give them the product as promised, in a timely manner, they’re easy to please.”

With employees, “you have to make the job fun, not be so uptight,” Hagos explains. If there was a crowd at Dunkin’ and the pressure intensified, Hagos would look at a staff member and say, “Remember to smile. It’ll make the job easier.”

When Hagos and his partners opened up their second Dunkin’ in Pekin, Ill., they faced the same funding issues, involving obtaining a bank loan and an SBA loan to capitalize it.

“At the end of the day, someone has to believe in you,” Hagos asserts.

Hagos says there are two kinds of franchisees:  those who follow the brand’s proven protocols and those that think they can improve upon them. His philosophy is, the brand has become successful because it knows what it’s doing and “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The pandemic created quite the challenge for several of his franchises. “Sales dropped drastically,” at first, Hagos says.

Having drive-thru locations at most of his suburban Dunkin’s and Arby’s, and some of his Smoothie King’ locations, helped restore sales. And third-party delivery at Smoothie King’s also offset losses.

Hagos now manages a team at his company, the DLH Group that includes eight staff members: an operating partner that oversees all of his Smoothie Kings; a multi-unit manager that handles the Dunkin’ locations; four administrative team members that deal with back office details, and his trusty spouse Kristie Hagos, who runs HR.

He’s expecting a rush in dining out when the pandemic finally fades. He’s looking to develop another Chicken Salad Chick, another Dunkin’ outlet, and already has a few Smoothie Kings under construction.

He describes the three keys to his franchising success as: 1) follow the franchise’s process, 2) put the time in the building to ensure the foundation is solid, 3) the success of your first franchise will determine if you move on to the second and third franchises.