jan-2018

140 141 youcan’t chargeawhole lot forbookkeeping. Butwe’renowat thepoint that,companywide, wedothebooks for around110,120restau- rants.Now,it’sadivisionof itsownand it’sa profitabledivisionbecauseof thevolume.” Thenext evolutionofTheFifteenGroup cameabout sixyearsafter thecompanybegan operations.“Westartedgetting involved in helpingpeopleopentheir restaurants,”Hopkins explains.“Thatwaskindofbydefaultbecause wekeptgettingphonecalls frompeopleasking us toopenrestaurants for them.At that time,I’d been involved inopening12or14restaurants overmycareer,andmyconsultantshadbeen involved inopeningrestaurants.Wehadachef comeonboard,aswell,sowedecidedthatwe shouldget involved inthat.Originally,itwas justhelpingpeoplewho justneededguidance; wewereholdingpeople’shands throughthe processbecausewe’ddone itmanytimes,and THE FIFTEEN GROUP mostpeople thathadcome toushadnotdone itbefore, at all.So,thatwasour thirdrevenuestream,andthat’s grown intermsofwhatweoffer. “Thenwestartedgetting involved inconceptdevelop- ment;westartedhiringbrandingpeopleandgot involved inbrandingandgraphicdesign.Andnow,it’s tothepoint wherewe’ll doalmost anything–wedon’tdo interior designandwedon’tdoconstruction in-house-butwe will doabsolutelyeverythingelse that’s required.And,in some instances,peoplewill hireus todevelopand launch aconceptontheirbehalf.Andthat’sbecomeahugepart of ourbusiness inthesense that,rightnow,betweenour Vancouver andTorontooffices,we’reworkingon14open- ings that are inonestageor another inprogress.” Finally,TheFifteenGroupaddeda fourthservice: managingrestaurants for theirowners.“Wedon’t actu- allymanage theday-to-dayoperations,butweoversee thebusiness for them,”Hopkinsexplains.“Sothegen-