In my previous blog post about Amanda’s, I said
“Amanda is making a bold statement, that healthy fast food can be
SEXY
AFFORDABLE
DELICIOUS“
Last week, I attended another Cal Cooking Club meeting. Finally, I got to meet Amanda West, of Amanda’s, and she graciously answered some interview questions.
After all, Campusfork blog aims to help aspiring restaurant restaurant owners.
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West said,
“I grew up working in restaurants, but went into technology after college. I always wanted to run a company that was founded on a social and environmental mission, so I went back to business school to focus on this and something that was close to the customer.
I was interning at Niman Ranch the summer that the movie Super Size Me came out. I also read Fast Food Nation and realized the need for better fast food. I wanted to get good quality, healthy ingredients out to a wide range of people.
So, I spent my second year of business school learning about the business side of the restaurant industry and putting the plan together with the help of many classmates and professors. When I graduated, I put the team together to design the restaurant and menu and started looking for people to help fund the investment and looking for the perfect location.”
Q1. What is the hardest part about being an entrepreneur?
A1. The hardest part about being an entrepreneur is that everything that goes wrong is my responsibility and because of my own failing in training, setting up processes, or just running out of time to do an errand. Everything that goes well is the result of our amazing team.
Q2. Did you have previous background in the industry?
A2. I grew up working in restaurants in high school and college and did a management training at a restaurant chain in Houston, but I don’t have a ton of restaurant management experience.
Q3. What is your marketing strategy?
Flyers? Social Media? Press Releases?
A3. Our number one marketing strategy is to be in a location that is accessible and visible to our customers. We also have a blog: http://www.feelgoodfas… that our team has been writing for over 2 years. We send out newsletters to our community and have in-restaurant events planned.
We also have a Facebook group Feel Good Fast Food that we really haven’t done much with yet – thanks for the reminder. We do have a press release and a PR person who has been helping us connect with people like yourself. So far, we’ve been been in the Chronicle What’s New section, Narsi David’s KCBS radio show review, East Bay Business Times, Bay Area Business Woman, and The Daily Candy.
Q4. Any funny or inspirational stories along your journey?
A4. One of the most inspirational thing for me was when we had all our team members around our big common table during our pre-opening training. One of our team members, Ann, said that it felt like a family (and this was after only a few days of working together). We had gone on a hike together, cruised the farmers market as a team, and cleaned up our block. This brought tears to my eyes, as this is exactly the environment that I hoped to have for our team and our community of customers.
My conclusion.
After meeting Amanda West, I can truly affirm that she has done well because she focuses on 1st producing a great product. Next, she is solving a problem. People are busy but want to eat healthy.
You heard it first hear. I would not be surprised if Amanda’s scales (grows) into a popular chain around college campuses. I wrote a post on the growth of Chipotle and their growth in a few years.
