Hosted by Jeff Walter, Founder and CEO of LatitudeLearning
Building a franchise brand is one challenge. Building one around an entirely new customer experience creates another layer of complexity. There is no established category to lean on, no familiar customer behavior to inherit, and no proven formula that can simply be replicated from market to market.
That is the challenge Danielle Mahon, founder and CEO of Topsail Steamer, has been navigating as she grows a seafood concept that sits somewhere between retail, meal kits, restaurants, and experiential dining.
In this episode of the Training Impact Podcast, Jeff Walter talks with Mahon about the entrepreneurial journey behind Topsail Steamer, the decision to franchise the business, and what it takes to create consistency while still giving local franchise owners room to understand and serve their markets. Their conversation offers a practical look at franchise growth from the perspective of an emerging brand that is simultaneously building locations, developing systems, educating customers, strengthening supply chains, and learning how to support franchisees.
Topsail Steamer did not begin with a traditional restaurant business plan. Mahon’s professional background was primarily in sales, including roughly a decade in life sciences. Entrepreneurship, however, had always been part of how she viewed opportunities. Her father was an entrepreneur, and Mahon describes herself as someone who regularly looked at ideas through the lens of whether they could become viable businesses.
The idea that eventually became Topsail Steamer emerged during a trip to the Outer Banks with her mother and sisters. At a restaurant, Mahon noticed customers picking up seafood steam pots, taking them home, cooking them, and returning the pots afterward.
The concept immediately connected with her own experience.
Growing up in southern New Jersey, seafood had been associated with family gatherings, summers at the Jersey Shore, and meals shared around a table. That tradition continued after she moved to North Carolina. At the same time, she understood the inconvenience involved in recreating that experience at home. Customers might need to visit a seafood market, grocery store, and other shops before they even began preparing the meal.
A ready-to-cook seafood steam pot could eliminate much of that friction while preserving what made the experience special.
Just as importantly, Mahon recognized that the business could avoid many of the complexities associated with a full-service restaurant. Topsail Steamer would not need traditional restaurant cooking, waitstaff, dishwashing operations, or extensive back-of-house preparation. The idea stayed with her, and after months of research into sourcing, seafood handling, costs, preparation, and the business model, the first Topsail Steamer location opened in Surf City, North Carolina, in 2017.
One of the most interesting lessons from the Topsail Steamer story is that simplicity can become an operational advantage.
Customers receive a single-use seafood steam pot filled with their selected ingredients along with the accompaniments needed to complete the meal. At home, they add water or beer and cook the pot directly on the stovetop. There is no on-premise dining and no cooking inside the store.
From an operational standpoint, that distinction matters.
Stores primarily portion ingredients and assemble orders. Seafood arrives ready to be weighed and portioned, while other preparation is relatively limited. Customers can watch their pot being assembled in front of them before taking it home.
That streamlined model gives Topsail Steamer an important advantage as it expands. Instead of attempting to reproduce a complicated restaurant kitchen across multiple franchise locations, the brand can concentrate on a smaller number of critical processes and standards.
The menu itself reinforces that simplicity. Mahon explains that Topsail Steamer works with roughly a dozen primary items rather than the hundreds of ingredients a conventional restaurant might need to manage. Fewer ingredients do not eliminate operational complexity, but they make it possible for the brand to focus more closely on specifications, availability, quality, and consistency.
For training and franchise leaders, there is a valuable principle here. Scalability is not only about creating more documentation or adding technology. Sometimes the strongest training system begins by simplifying the operation itself. When a business clearly defines the behaviors and processes that matter most, it becomes easier to teach those behaviors consistently across a growing network.
The conversation becomes particularly relevant to franchise training when Mahon discusses seafood sourcing.
Topsail Steamer operates in markets stretching from New Jersey to Alabama and Florida, along with inland locations such as Charlotte, North Carolina. A seafood concept expanding across that geography cannot simply assume every market has identical customer expectations or access to identical local products.
The solution is a balance between standardization and localization.
Local seafood can be incorporated, but it must meet Topsail Steamer specifications. Shrimp, scallops, clams, and other ingredients have defined requirements around characteristics such as type, size, and quality. At the same time, the company recognizes that regional preferences matter.
Mahon shares an example from Gulf Shores, Alabama, where customers expected Conecuh sausage, a regional product she had not previously encountered. Because the sausage worked within the Topsail Steamer product and preparation model, the brand was able to respond to the local preference. Similar conversations are happening as the company looks toward Long Island, where customers have strong expectations around local clams.
This creates an important distinction for any organization operating through partners or franchisees. Consistency does not always mean absolute uniformity.
A scalable system needs to identify which standards are non-negotiable and where local flexibility creates value. Topsail Steamer can maintain specifications around product quality and preparation while allowing franchisees to develop relationships with approved local seafood suppliers and respond to regional tastes.
That is a more sophisticated form of consistency. The goal is not to make every market identical. The goal is to ensure that every variation still produces an experience that unmistakably belongs to the brand.
Localization, however, creates another challenge as the franchise network grows.
In the early stages, individual locations may develop relationships with suppliers they know and trust. Those relationships can work extremely well when a system has only a handful of stores. As more locations open, purchasing independently can begin working against the economics of the larger franchise network.
Mahon explains that Topsail Steamer is experiencing this transition now.
The brand increasingly needs to leverage one or two larger distributors for certain products so that it can combine purchasing volume, negotiate better pricing, maintain supply reliability, and ultimately improve franchisee profitability. That can require a franchisee who has worked with the same local supplier for years to change an established practice for the benefit of the larger system.
This is where franchise growth becomes as much a change-management challenge as an operational one.
Emerging franchisors are not simply teaching franchisees how to execute a finished system. In many cases, the system itself is evolving. Processes that worked with five locations may no longer be appropriate at 20, 50, or 100. Franchisees need to understand not only what is changing, but why the change improves the economics, consistency, or sustainability of the network.
Mahon is candid about that reality throughout the conversation. Topsail Steamer is still an emerging brand, and part of scaling involves strengthening systems while continuing to learn what the larger organization will require.
Topsail Steamer began with corporate locations before Mahon reached a familiar crossroads for growing businesses.
Opening additional company-owned locations would require substantial capital. She could pursue outside investment and continue building corporate stores, or she could explore franchising as an alternative path to expansion.
She chose franchising.
Today, Topsail Steamer has expanded from its original Surf City location into a growing network of corporate and franchised stores, with additional locations planned. But Mahon emphasizes that growth depends on finding the right franchise partners.
For an emerging franchise, that means more than financial qualification.
Culture fit is critical because new franchisees are joining a brand that is still being built. They cannot expect to open the doors with the immediate awareness of a massive national chain. They need grit, determination, local involvement, and a willingness to participate in the evolution of the system.
Mahon wants franchisees who understand that reality.
That perspective has direct implications for franchise training. Training an emerging franchisee cannot focus solely on operating procedures. Partners also need to understand the maturity of the brand, the expectations associated with local ownership, and their role in building awareness within their communities.
The franchisee is not merely operating a Topsail Steamer location. Especially during this stage of growth, the franchisee is helping build Topsail Steamer itself.
That local responsibility becomes especially important because Topsail Steamer does not fit neatly into an established restaurant category.
It is not a quick-service restaurant. It is not a full-service restaurant. It is not exactly a traditional meal kit. The average purchase is substantially higher than a typical QSR transaction because customers are often purchasing a communal meal or experience.
That differentiation is one of the company’s strengths, but it also creates a marketing challenge.
Customers need to understand what Topsail Steamer is, when they would use it, and why the experience belongs in their regular rotation rather than being reserved only for a special event or vacation.
Mahon describes a multi-pronged approach that combines digital marketing, local grassroots activity, and strategic partnerships. Franchisees need strong search visibility, social media activity, and local digital marketing, but they also need to be physically present in their communities.
That can mean farmers markets, school fundraisers, shopping-center events, real estate partnerships, local sampling opportunities, tailgates, and collaborations with breweries.
The brewery example captures the strategy particularly well. A franchisee can bring seafood pots to a local brewery, cook them on-site, and introduce customers to the experience. The immediate sales matter, but the greater objective is awareness. Customers experience the product, learn how it works, discover the local store, and potentially return later.
As Walter observes during the conversation, it is essentially an opportunity to get paid to market the business.
That lesson extends far beyond restaurant franchising. Franchise training has to prepare owners not just to operate the business inside their four walls, but to create demand outside them.
One of the strongest themes in the conversation between Jeff Walter and Danielle Mahon is that franchise success requires far more than teaching an owner how to assemble the product correctly. For an emerging brand like Topsail Steamer, franchisees must learn how to become active representatives of the concept within their communities.
That distinction matters because once customers experience the product, Mahon says the response is extremely positive. The greater challenge is getting people to understand what Topsail Steamer is and why they should try it in the first place. The brand therefore supports franchisees with local marketing plans, brand assets, social media, promotions, campaigns, and examples of approaches that have already worked in other markets.
At the same time, the local owner brings something the franchisor cannot fully replicate from a corporate office: knowledge of the community. A franchisee understands the local events, businesses, organizations, traditions, and partnerships that can create awareness.
That relationship illustrates an important principle for franchise training and support. The franchisor provides the system, standards, tools, and accumulated knowledge of the network. The franchisee applies those resources within a specific market. Neither side can maximize the opportunity independently.
As Topsail Steamer grows, strengthening that relationship will become increasingly important. Each new location creates another opportunity to capture what works locally, determine what can be repeated elsewhere, and turn individual franchisee experience into institutional knowledge for the entire system.
Topsail Steamer is also approaching geographic expansion deliberately.
Rather than attempting to become a national brand by opening scattered locations across the country, Mahon describes a hub-and-spoke approach that keeps expansion concentrated primarily along the eastern United States and gradually moves inward.
The reasoning is closely connected to franchise support.
For a young franchisor, opening locations everywhere might create impressive dots on a map, but geographic dispersion can make it significantly more difficult to support franchisees effectively. Concentrating development allows Topsail Steamer to strengthen its infrastructure while building density in regions it understands.
Mahon expects the company to continue growing along the East Coast and into adjacent inland markets before eventually expanding farther. Her longer-term ambition is for Topsail Steamer to become a recognizable national seafood brand, one where consumers no longer need an explanation of the concept.
That measured approach offers another useful lesson for emerging franchisors. Selling a franchise and supporting a franchise are two different capabilities.
The number of units a company can sell should not necessarily determine how quickly it grows. Sustainable franchise expansion also depends on whether the organization has the people, systems, supply chain, marketing capabilities, training infrastructure, and operational support necessary to help those new owners succeed.
Perhaps one of the strongest indicators of the Topsail Steamer experience is where many of its franchisees have come from.
They started as customers.
Mahon explains that many franchise owners discovered the concept by walking into a Topsail Steamer, experiencing the product, and having a reaction similar to the one she had years earlier when she first encountered the steam-pot idea in the Outer Banks.
They saw something different and wanted to become part of it.
Topsail Steamer received another wave of attention following Mahon’s 2024 appearance on Shark Tank, which generated significant franchise interest. More recently, the company has begun using targeted franchise-development marketing in selected areas, including Long Island, where leadership sees a particularly strong potential fit for the concept.
There is an important brand lesson behind that growth story. A strong franchise proposition begins with a compelling customer experience.
Franchise development, operational training, marketing, supply chain management, and partner support are essential, but the foundation is still a product people want to experience again. When customers become enthusiastic enough about a business to consider investing in it, the consumer experience and franchise opportunity begin reinforcing one another.
Mahon is also refreshingly open about what it means to lead an emerging franchise.
Topsail Steamer does not have everything figured out, and she does not pretend otherwise.
The organization is substantially further along than it was several years ago, with stronger systems, more infrastructure, and greater organizational capacity. At the same time, growth continues to reveal processes that need to evolve.
That reality is especially relevant to training leaders working inside emerging franchise organizations.
In a mature franchise system, training often teaches established processes that have been refined across hundreds or thousands of locations. An emerging franchisor faces a different challenge. Training is being developed while the operating model itself continues to mature.
A process may work perfectly with five locations and become inefficient at 20. A purchasing practice that gave individual owners flexibility may eventually prevent the network from leveraging its collective buying power. A marketing tactic that works naturally in a coastal vacation destination may need to be explained differently in an inland residential market.
Training infrastructure therefore cannot remain static.
As the franchise system learns, training has to capture those lessons and make them available to the network. As standards change, franchisees need to understand the reasoning behind those changes. As successful practices emerge from individual markets, the franchisor needs a way to identify, evaluate, standardize, and distribute them.
For Topsail Steamer, that learning process is happening alongside physical expansion.
Toward the end of the conversation, Mahon describes one of the most meaningful outcomes of building Topsail Steamer.
Customers tell her that the experience has become part of their traditions.
For some families, Topsail Steamer becomes a birthday meal. For others, it becomes something they do during vacations or gatherings. Customers develop their own “Topsail Steamer night” and return to the experience because it has become associated with spending time together.
That connection returns the conversation to the original insight that inspired Mahon to start the company.
Seafood has traditionally been communal. A crab boil, clam bake, or seafood steam is rarely just about getting food onto a plate. People gather around the table, spread everything out, eat together, and spend time with one another.
The obstacle is often the preparation.
Topsail Steamer removes much of that barrier without removing the communal experience itself. The customer still cooks the meal and gathers around the table, but the sourcing, measuring, portioning, and much of the preparation have already been handled.
That combination of convenience and experience has become the core of the brand.
From a franchise perspective, protecting that experience is ultimately what all of the systems, sourcing requirements, product specifications, franchisee support, marketing strategies, and training are designed to accomplish.
The Topsail Steamer story provides an especially useful example of why franchise training should be viewed as infrastructure rather than simply onboarding.
A franchisee needs to know how to assemble a steam pot correctly, but that is only one piece of operating the business.
Owners also need to understand product specifications, approved sourcing, local supplier relationships, community marketing, brand positioning, customer education, operational economics, and how their individual decisions affect the larger franchise network.
As the organization grows, those requirements become increasingly interconnected.
The training challenge is therefore not simply transferring knowledge from the franchisor to the franchisee. It is creating a repeatable system that allows the entire network to learn while maintaining enough consistency to protect the brand.
Topsail Steamer demonstrates that standardization does not have to eliminate local personality. The organization can establish clear product specifications while sourcing appropriate local ingredients. It can provide a centralized marketing strategy while encouraging franchisees to build community relationships. It can create common operating standards while recognizing that different markets may require different approaches to customer awareness.
The key is defining where consistency matters and where controlled flexibility strengthens the customer experience.
Mahon’s long-term vision is clear. She wants Topsail Steamer to become a nationally recognized seafood brand and an experience customers immediately understand.
Reaching that point will require considerably more than opening locations.
The supply chain must continue evolving. Franchise support must scale. Marketing has to build awareness in markets where customers may never have encountered the concept. Franchise partners need to be selected carefully, and the organization’s infrastructure must mature alongside the network.
Mahon notes that one of the milestones for a growing franchise organization is reaching the point where royalties and franchise activity can sustainably support the franchisor’s infrastructure, something she associates with getting closer to roughly 50 locations. Her five-year ambition is to reach that stronger, more sustainable stage while continuing to build consumer recognition.
The journey from one Surf City seafood shop to a recognizable national franchise will therefore depend on the same principle that shaped the concept from the beginning: make the experience simple for the customer without underestimating the systems required behind the scenes to make that simplicity possible.
The conversation between Jeff Walter and Danielle Mahon offers a practical look inside the realities of building an emerging franchise brand. Topsail Steamer began with a simple observation about making a beloved seafood tradition more convenient, but turning that idea into a scalable business has required thoughtful decisions around operations, sourcing, franchisee selection, marketing, local adaptation, and organizational infrastructure.
For training and development leaders, the larger lesson is that successful franchise training extends well beyond teaching tasks. It gives franchisees the knowledge, context, tools, and support necessary to reproduce the brand experience while responding intelligently to their local markets.
For emerging franchisors, Topsail Steamer also demonstrates why systems need to evolve alongside growth. What works with a handful of locations will not necessarily work at 50. Building scalable infrastructure means identifying what must remain consistent, determining where local flexibility adds value, and continually turning experience from across the network into better practices for everyone.
Ultimately, Topsail Steamer is not simply scaling seafood steam pots. It is attempting to scale an experience that customers associate with family, friends, celebrations, and time spent around a table. Protecting that experience as the franchise grows is where thoughtful training, strong systems, and franchisee support become essential.
Learn more about Topsail Steamer.
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Jeff Walter (00:00)
Hi, I’m Jeff Walter, and welcome back to the Training Impact Podcast, where we explore scaling performance through training infrastructure. My guest today is Daniel Madd of Top Sale Steamer, a growing franchise brand known for its unique take-home seafood steampots and memorable customer experience. Danielle joins us to discuss how with thoughtful training, operational consistency, and strong franchisee support.
Has helped TopSale protect its brand experience while successfully scaling across many new locations. Danielle, welcome to the program.
Danielle (00:36)
Thank you so much, Jeff. I’m really happy to be here.
Jeff Walter (00:39)
And I’ve I’ve been looking forward to talking to you. we we first met face to face over at IFE in New York. and that was a that was a fun conference. very you know interesting conference to attend, but it was it was good. It was fun. so but my you know, as my listeners know, f first thing I’m always really interested in is like how did you get where you’re at? So, you know, top sale steamer, you’re founder, CEO, what
How did you end up there in your career? I’m I’m gonna go on a limb and guess it wasn’t what you were dreaming of when you were ten.
Danielle (01:10)
No, no. And it wasn’t what I was dreaming of when I was 40. If you would have asked me if when I was 40, if this is where I would be, I had absolutely no idea. so how did I get to Topsel Seamer? Well, I think I’ll, you know, I I definitely am always one of those people that even throughout my career, which my career was in life science and sales, the last 10, 10 to 12 years of it, but always in a always been in sales.
a sales capacity in different industries. So you know, I went to school for business marketing management and but I’m always I’ve always been the person that looks through the lens of, ooh, I wonder if that could be a business or that’s interesting, right? Always lots of ideas throughout throughout my entire life actually. And my dad was actually an entrepreneur. So
Jeff Walter (01:57)
Okay.
Danielle (01:58)
he modeled that for me that you can work for others and then also
move over to working for yourself or build your own business. So I but I really I I never knew what it was going to be. And I certainly did not really have much knowledge or interest in seafood aside from eating hit, right? Because we love to eat seafood. But I think because I was always looking at things through the lens of business opportunities
I actually it all started. I went on a girls’ trip with my mom and my sisters, and
Jeff Walter (02:31)
Uh-huh.
Danielle (02:32)
we went to the outer banks, and we went to the outer banks in the off season, so it wasn’t even very crowded, but we went to a restaurant for lunch and we noticed, I noticed that people were coming in and out to a counter they had. And what this business was doing was they were making
In the old black and white enamel enamel lobster pots, you know, they were making seafood steampots and the customers were coming in, they were grabbing the pot, they were taking them home, and then they would bring the pots back the next day. I found out when I when I inquired what what was going on here. And and I just thought when that when I saw that, I just thought, my gosh, like the light bulb for me went off and I just thought that’s that’s a what a great idea. And I think the reason that I thought that was such a good idea is because I grew up
Wh I’m originally from New Jersey, spent my weekends and summers at the you know, the Jersey shore. But it it was always a big part of that was always seafood, right? So for us, it was blue crab where you’d lay out brown paper and sit around the table and pick blue crabs, but always some sort of family gathering, friends around a table eating seafood. And that extended into my adult life when I moved to North Carolina. we had a home, we
We have a home in Topsail and same thing. We get down here and have friends and family and go to the seafood market and get a bunch of seafood. So when I saw that, that’s I just thought, wow, that’s a great idea because I know there’s such demand for it, but I think that could be a business model without a full service restaurant or without a seafood market. And so for me, that’s really when the wheels started turning. And that was the
That was the the March of 2016.
Jeff Walter (04:18)
Okay.
Danielle (04:20)
and it was one of my many ideas. You know, my husband will tell you, you know, he’s been through a lot of them, friends and family. That one, that one just wasn’t going away. And because I started to be able to see it, I started to understand how it might work and timing was right. I shared some of the ideas with friends and family and
I had some families say, Hey, we’d love to we’d love to invest in that. So now I had some initial startup funds and then before you know it, March of twenty seventeen I opened up the first shop here in Surf City, North Carolina.
Jeff Walter (04:52)
So so a lot of interesting things there. So let’s stok let’s go back. So a career in sales and you said life sciences and so
it but but an entrepreneurial environment with your dad. So you’re always looking for things. And also
Danielle (05:08)
Yes.
Jeff Walter (05:08)
you’re from New Jersey. And I was like, that’s the accent I was I was when I was started talking. What what
Danielle (05:14)
Yes.
Jeff Walter (05:14)
what part of Jersey were you from?
Danielle (05:16)
I grew up in southern New Jersey. So I grew
Jeff Walter (05:18)
Okay.
Danielle (05:18)
up in the like I always say Cherry Hill ’cause people know that where that is. the the Cherry Hill Marlton Tabernacle area. But you know, we South Jersey, the Philadelphia side of New Jersey, we like to say, right? So I’m a Philly
Jeff Walter (05:30)
Yeah.
Danielle (05:30)
sports fan, still to this day. So yeah, yep, that’s where all my family’s from and really nobody nobody followed me down except for my mom’s here now, but every all our all of our family, my husband’s family and
A lot of our friends still live up in that area.
Jeff Walter (05:44)
Yeah, I I used well I grew up on Long Island, but I I used to live in northern Jersey and that’s where my second daughter was born. But we used to go down to Cape May every every summer and
Danielle (05:52)
Yes. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (05:54)
and and vacation there and and but I know what you’re talking about. As a Long Island boy, yeah, it was it was more clams and lobster. Right? Yeah, it’s lobster roll
Danielle (06:02)
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Walter (06:04)
and and and fried clams and and s steamed clams, right? That’s that’s what we did. Yeah.
Danielle (06:09)
Yeah. And they call steamers up there, right? The steamer
flams, right? Yes.
Jeff Walter (06:12)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you
pop in and they open up for you and you don’t have to do any work at all.
Danielle (06:17)
Yes.
Jeff Walter (06:18)
what was it about the concept that kinda like I’m like I can I can see the career, right? You’re you’re doing the corporate thing, you’re sale you’re a very energetic salesperson. Sounds like you they’re you were in a couple of different industries over time. The last one was the life sciences for over a decade. but what was it about
the steampots, the seafood steampots that like I get what you’re saying. You saw people come and go and come and go,
Danielle (06:45)
Yeah.
Jeff Walter (06:46)
but but how did that stick under your craw? How did that get under your craw?
Danielle (06:50)
It did because I had a love of the actual, you know, I I could I could relate to how much I loved the experience of fresh seafood, good seafood, sharing it with friends and family. So I loved the product and the idea of it. I also knew because we had done it so much that there was a lot, there’s a lot of pain points in that, you know, several, so many different places to go. Where do you go? How do you know you can get it fresh?
when you’re doing something like a steampot like that, four different places to shop to get what you need, the store for the butter and the cocktail and the
Jeff Walter (07:24)
Yeah.
Danielle (07:24)
the seafood market. And then you gotta go get the sausage and you know, you ultimately get home and you’re you you’ve you’ve got you you forgotten something. And then the prep of it all, right? So I already knew the pain points around it when I saw the convenience of, somebody’s gonna give it to me in a pot and all I have to do is put it on a stove. So I think for me the the the
the idea of the actual product offering was really I could I could relate to it and I could definitely
Jeff Walter (07:52)
Yeah.
Danielle (07:53)
immediately see why there would be a demand for that, why it could be successful. And then secondly, it was the model, right? Because restaurants are hard, cooking is hard. All of the things that come with a restaurant, that’s a
That’s a that’s a tough business. you know, I worked in restaurants through college, but only and you know, but so I’ve been in the backhouse of a restaurant and I know all the all of the things that go into it. And when I started to build this model in my mind about how we would do this, it was really interesting because you were you were definitely able to you were able to provide this product, but you didn’t have to have any of the
the typical components or characteristics of a restaurant. We wouldn’t cook anything, right?
Jeff Walter (08:37)
Mm-hmm.
Danielle (08:38)
The I knew that there’s be very low labor in a restaurant, you have to have a hostess and a waitress and a cook and a, you know, a dishwasher and all those things. None of that would happen here. It would just be a very simple model. So, you know, the the products I could I could relate to from growing up and what I like to do personally and then even now. And then the model from a business perspective of
what what would that look like, right? and so when I when those two things combined, I started to build it in, you know, I started to say, okay, well, what if? How what size of a place would you need? What would that rent look like? how much does the food cost? How would you go about doing that? Right. how would I even know how to layer a steampot? So so I so I I wound up, there was lots of different areas in my in my probably six to eight months of research that
really, really helped me. We had a good friend at the time who, he was actually in our wedding who had worked for one of the major distributors for his whole career, so I could get some good information from there. My husband and I on the weekends would head to over to Sneeds Ferry. Sneeds Ferry is the just the next town over, but that’s where the docks are. That’s where the fishermen come in with the fish with their their shrimp and their clams. And you we I I talked to people over there just to learn, well, how would I do this and how long?
How long do clams live and where would I source them? And how would I you know, like just to learn like how would I do the how would I build the product?
so so what
Jeff Walter (10:04)
Right. Well well and
how did you do that to to make sure that it’s fresh? ‘Cause seafood just generally doesn’t stay well for a while.
Danielle (10:15)
It well, it’s funny you say that. It just depends on the type of seafood, right? So like a clams, believe it or not, clams we’re are very happy for a week or two as long as you keep them in the right temperature and they’re alive and they’re, you know, happy as clams, right? So, so that so I we learned a lot. And then right now, like we especially this time of season when they’re catching the frit the the shrimp, we get them right off the boat, right? So they come in fresh. we also have we have also we have
vendors or k or you know, the people that catch them for us, they’ll catch them and freeze them because you know you can’t catch shrimp all year round. So,
Jeff Walter (10:51)
Right.
Danielle (10:52)
so we work with the with the local fishermen to try to to freeze so that we have fresh frozen shrimp, right? When or whatever that it is that’s not in season that we’re offering as a component of our pots.
Jeff Walter (11:06)
So i is your is your supply ma chain then mainly local in in in in in the Outer Banks area or
Danielle (11:15)
Yeah. So
it’s where whenever wherever we are, because we have stores up and down the coast, right? So
Jeff Walter (11:21)
Okay.
Danielle (11:21)
from New Jersey to Gulf Shores, Alabama, down to Atta Maria Island, Florida. So what we do is we offer we offer the ingredients that are local to the market from local sources. So I would say, you know, you don’t you don’t catch shrimp in New Jersey, so you cannot get New Jersey shrimp. But however
They ca the catch scallops are plentiful there. So there’s a place to go right and get the local scallops, the local oysters, the local clams. but we do commit to offering domestic, right? So we’ll source domestic shrimp for our stores that are not in areas where you’re actually catching shrimp. And then we’ve also opened stores inland. So for example, we have a store in Charlotte, North Carolina. So
You know, they can’t go to the to the neighborhood dock and pick up their food. However, we made sure as we were scaling, and that’s that kind of goes into what are the things you had to think about when you’re scaling. And the the number one thing was there to make sure that we had a very reliable supply source, supply chain.
Jeff Walter (12:24)
Right. Well well and I asked the question ’cause you know, I I’d interview some other restaurant throwers, you know, franchise restaurants, and and it was the supply chain well that was always the the big challenge, right? Like you know, not only reliable but of certain quality and and I and I’m and I’ve as I’m thinking of the steampots, it’s like okay, that’s a lot of very
distinct ingredi like very distinct ingredients, right? Like if you’re doing a b a burger place a burger and fry place, just to you know, it’s like not a lot of different taste profiles, right? So so but with you just you just rattled off half a dozen different ingredients that all have very unique taste profiles, right? And
Danielle (13:07)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (13:08)
and and therefore you know the the challenge gets multiplied. And then it’s really interesting, I I just think
That your your the your solution is i has been it sounds like you’ve built around the coasts and now you’re penetrating inland. And so
Danielle (13:25)
Yes.
Jeff Walter (13:25)
but as you penetrate as as you’ve built around the coasts, you’ve tried to do as much local supply as possible. You know, but yet can’t maintain a consistent product. Is am I getting that right? Very interesting.
Danielle (13:35)
Yeah. That’s exactly right. So that’s exactly
right. And and and part of that, the way that you do that too is building a solid relationship with the major distributors so that I can source the the the I can source the products that I want in the inlands, right? So for example, we have a you know, we work we work closely with Cisco on some things in some markets, right? And so
Jeff Walter (14:01)
Right.
Danielle (14:02)
So at that point we say, okay, well, we only want domestic shrimp. And so when you work with good partners, they’ll bring in the the items that are s you know specific to you. so we’re we’ve been lucky enough to have that because that’s exactly right. The the great thing about the model is we only have about twelve items, right? You go you go into a restaurant and they’re they have, you know, hundreds of items that they have to stock. We don’t, but
have to make sure that those 12 items are exactly to the spec that we want, you know, from the source
Jeff Walter (14:31)
Mm-hmm.
Danielle (14:31)
where we want them, and that they’ll always be available. So that’s something that was really important that we did. And that’s really happened through the relationships, the existing relationships that have developed since we’ve started. And then also as we move into new markets, making sure that we identify which you know, purveyors, sources that
we can that we can utilize when we move into a new market where there’s local catch available.
Jeff Walter (14:59)
Yeah, well and qu well, question for that. You you just got my brain going, so
Like I I’m I’m I’m juggling my head the consistency of product versus the the the difference of local sourcing. You know, like
Danielle (15:13)
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Walter (15:14)
that does that play a factor?
Danielle (15:17)
Yeah, so no, because the the local sourcing has to meet our specs. So for example, we use a 3135 size shrimp, right? White shrimp. And so, so we want to make sure if you’re gonna in Florida, say you somebody if they want the gulf shrimp, well, okay, that’s great. Well, we have to make sure and we have to make sure that it’s a thirty-one thirty-five that it meets our quality specs and all of that. So, absolutely. But so there’s like there’s little differences, right?
Jeff Walter (15:40)
Yeah.
Danielle (15:41)
So, so there’s but
But for our scallops, we’ll use the same size scallops and the same type of scallops. But we, you know, in some if we’re if we’re not sourcing them locally, we’re getting them from New England and we’re making sure that the sizes are all consistent. So there’s not a big difference between there might be a little bit of d taste for profile difference for sure in our shrimp. for example, when you get to the in the area in the Florida area where people want Gulf shrimp, even in the mi in the Alab Gulf Shores.
They they prefer a gold shrimp. That’s a different shrimp than a North Carolina shrimp. And it has a different taste profile. So, so but but we’re gonna we’re gonna we’re gonna make sure that we have the the type of product that the people in that area want. And so but but the specifics of it, they’re gonna be the same size and they’re gonna they’re gonna have some commonality, but but we are certainly open to having the
the local flair per se of like what people want.
Jeff Walter (16:41)
Yeah.
Danielle (16:41)
Like I’ll give you another example. In in when we went into Gulf Shores, I didn’t know really anything about like we just have Andui sausage in Kabasa. Well they have a certain sausage that it Kineca, Kineca sausage. It had to be Kineca sausage. I had never heard of it. But I mean every other person that came in said, well do you have the I hope I’m even saying that right. I’ve never
Jeff Walter (16:59)
Right.
Danielle (16:59)
even
And so then we thought, well, for sure, we’ll bring that in. It it fits our profile. It looks the same. It cooks the same time and all. And if there’s a demand for it locally, then we’ll do it. Like crawfish. We we were asked for crawlfish down there. So we did crawl fish for a while. That’s a that’s a little difficult, but but yeah, we’re always open to if there’s something locally that’s in demand, fits in the pots, fits into you know, into our overall menu that we’re happy to look at it and and give the customers what they want.
Jeff Walter (17:29)
You know, it’s it it it’s interesting because as I’m listening to you, I did an episode with the chief marketing officer of Blaze Pizza and and and
Danielle (17:37)
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Walter (17:37)
they’re international. We were talking about international and and needing to to tailor, you know, the taste profile to the the the the taste preferences of the
of the market, right? And so but he was talking in terms of country, right? Like in in you know, in
Danielle (17:56)
Yeah, right.
Jeff Walter (17:56)
in Indonesia it was you know, there the you know, we needed to include this because but you that would never sell in the US. And then over and it’s really interesting because I I never thought about it this way, but it’s almost like it’s it’s it’s like a cool little it’s a cool micro version of that because as I’m listening to you, I’m like, it’s like, it’s this
It’s this common experience, it’s this consistent experience. Like I’m just thinking about what you’ve been able to create. It’s really cool. It’s a consistent
Danielle (18:24)
Thanks.
Jeff Walter (18:26)
consumer experience in that the can the convenience of the steampot, you just pick it up and you go.
And then all the great social things that happen. Like I’m going back to you what you talked about a couple of minutes ago, the the social connections and the way you know, it’s a it’s a different dining experience than you know putting burgers on a grill, right? You know,
Danielle (18:48)
Yes. Yes.
Jeff Walter (18:49)
for the consumer. And but then it’s it’s cool ’cause it’s like tailored to micro tastes because you’re using local as much local ingredient as you can.
And there’s slightly different taste profiles like you were just saying. And it’s like it’s really that’s really cool. Like it’s it’s it’s just cool.
Danielle (19:08)
Yeah. Well
well thank you. And I’ll give you an example. Right now we are we have we’re expanding to Long Island and
Jeff Walter (19:17)
Yeah.
Danielle (19:18)
we’re currently, you know, looking for partners in Long Island. And one of the things I’ve heard time and time again, you have to have the steamer clans here. You know, we use little necks everywhere, but if I come to Long Island, I better have a steamer clan, right? So that they’re the type of things that’s exactly Yes. Right.
Jeff Walter (19:29)
Right. Yes.
Danielle (19:33)
I’ve already been told do not open here.
And not have a steamer plan, right?
Jeff Walter (19:37)
Right.
Danielle (19:38)
we call them steamers, but our steamers are littlenecks. So clams, right. They’re just clams for you, right? But they’re that’s exactly right. But I better not show
Jeff Walter (19:41)
Yeah, we we we just call clams. Yeah, that’s right.
Danielle (19:49)
we better not show up in Long Island without the,
Jeff Walter (19:51)
Right.
Danielle (19:52)
you know, the the clams that the Long Islanders are
Jeff Walter (19:54)
Yes.
Danielle (19:54)
used to in one.
Jeff Walter (19:55)
Yeah, ’cause we’re gonna get out of the South Bay, right? The Great South Bay. So, you know, yeah, they that they that’d be what we’re expecting, right? Yeah. Yes, it’s it’s Well it’s like the c
Danielle (19:59)
Right, right. That’s right. That’s exactly it. Yes, yes. It’s like the Kineca sausage. They couldn’t believe we didn’t have it.
Jeff Walter (20:07)
I yeah, when you said that I’m like, yeah, Long Island Claps. Like they gotta be Long Island Claps, right? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That’s
Danielle (20:10)
They gotta be long out. That’s exactly right. Yes, yes.
Jeff Walter (20:13)
but that but it’s so co but I the I mean, that’s a hard I mean that’s a that’s a very difficult logistical thing to pull off. But I I
Danielle (20:23)
It
is it Yeah, i I’ll tell you it sounds compli
Jeff Walter (20:23)
I it’s just or complicated, or but but so cool that you’re pulling it off.
Danielle (20:28)
it I’ll tell you it sounds complicated, but what makes it a little easier is the fact that there’s we only have s you know so many ingredients. If I had to do that
Jeff Walter (20:36)
Right. Okay.
Danielle (20:37)
for an entire menu, but for us and there’s only maybe one to
Jeff Walter (20:41)
that’s interesting, yeah.
Danielle (20:42)
one to two items in in the areas that we are that are available locally, from all of our items. So so it is, but I think it really just
The the the I I would say the hardest part of it is just making sure that you find the right partner in the area, right? The established
Jeff Walter (20:59)
Right.
Danielle (21:00)
partner in the area that knows that that local seafood and knows everything about it. The seasonality, the you know, when you might have supply issues, all those things. So for us that’s really been probably the best part. And then
And when we’re and when we’re moving, you know, we’re we’re expanding through franchises, the the franchisees, I mean, that’s what’s really nice is they they’re the local owners, so they really develop the the relationship. You know, we have a franchisee in in Long Beach Island who he
Jeff Walter (21:30)
Mm-hmm.
Danielle (21:30)
goes regularly to Viking Village to the docks to grab his scallops and you know he has been doing it for years and they know him. And so there’s just a there’s also that’s really nice because each each local owner can really get to know
their seafood sources in their market.
Jeff Walter (21:45)
and that so so so a a franchisee can go source locally, but it has to be within your like like that stealth has to be within your specs.
Danielle (21:53)
Yeah, we we that’s right.
We just have to approve it. We just have to approve their vendor.
Jeff Walter (21:58)
Right.
Danielle (21:59)
and then once we do, we actually encourage that because it’s much easier for those types of things to manage those on the local level, right? so
Jeff Walter (22:07)
Mm-hmm.
Danielle (22:09)
yeah, we we definitely now there’s now we have there’s for our other items, right? I mean it it for us we have more of a
It’s as you scale, you realize that it’s it’s it’s not only necessary, it’s better and it’s necessary to to leverage one or two distributors so that you can start to leverage your buying power, right? And ultimately bring the price down for your franchisees to increase their profitability. Right. So you start you and that’s one of the things that we’re learning is scale. In the beginning, when there’s a couple stores, everybody wants to buy from from their person that they like and their market, but
actually that works against franchisees as you scale because then that doesn’t give us as the franchise or the ability to to leverage our collective buying power, right? So, and at that point, and that’s really where we are right now. And sometimes that gets uncomfortable for franchisees because they they’ve been buying some Joe for the past five years and Joe’s great to them and all of that. But you know, at that point you we we gotta we might have to buy from someone else so that we can pull down a price and have consistent supply and
That’s that’s probably one of the you know, the pain points that we’re going through right now in as we scale is it’s hard to keep things localized, because it’s you know, we we wanna make sure that we’re being able to optimize and create efficiencies as much as we can as we as we scale and and and increase our location.
Jeff Walter (23:32)
Yeah, well that well that’s what I thought was really interesting ’cause the the well, you you started in twenty sixteen, you y you got the idea y and let let’s talk about the the journey from from the start. Wha how how many how many units are you at today? What what’s been what’s been the trajectory, you know,
Danielle (23:49)
Yep.
So I we’re at 11 units today. I started I opened the first in 2017 here in Topsell. And then location number two the following year in an adjacent market here in North Carolina. But then I knew we just talked about it, being from that, you know, that growing up and my husband too, right along that southern Jersey shore, I was really familiar with those markets. And so
I opened store number three in 2020 in Ocean City, New Jersey.
Jeff Walter (24:18)
Okay.
Danielle (24:19)
so that was my third store. Fourth store was an adjacent market up there, Seattle City. and then and then after our fourth door, that’s when we had our first franchisee in Long Beach Island. So we continued to go along the maybe there was Delaware. Delaware put pupped in there somewhere too, Bethany Beach, Delaware. So at at one point, I had five corporate stores.
and that’s when we we had to make a decision at that point. We just knew that there was opportunity to scale. But in order to continue opening stores at that rate, I had bootstrapped the whole thing from the beginning. It started with a $75,000 loan. Cause when I started, I had I and one of the reasons too, the the timing was right for me because I my youngest was just going to college, so it’s just becoming an empty nester. but you know, I had two kids in college, so here I was quitting a
fairly lucrative lucrative job that I had and and opening up a seafood business, you know, I always laugh, I always joke and say my husband tried to ignore me for a little while to hope that wasn’t happening over there, right? and so so I had to I you know I had to I had to bootstrap it. And so when we got to that point where we’re like, how are we gonna scale? You either have to go and get money and investors to continue to open up brick and mortars because there’s you know there’s a significant amount of money.
Jeff Walter (25:33)
Very expensive.
Danielle (25:34)
Right, it’s expensive.
and I I started to go that route. I started to go down that road. And then I just I decided that that’s not really that didn’t feel like it matched what I wanted to do and how I wanted to scale at that point. So that’s when I really took a hard look at franchising and and we decided to scale through that path. So in 2019, we started to get
all of the things, you know, legally that you have to get together to become a franchise. and and we started our f I guess to twenty twenty twenty, twenty nineteen, twenty twenty we we started. And now today I’m down to three corporate stores and we have eleven stores open. two more will open this year and we expect three to four to open next year.
Jeff Walter (26:23)
And so let so let’s shift towards that. When you are when you’re looking to f so I can understand the reason to shift to the franchise, right? It’s like I’m either gonna go raise a bunch of money from an investor or I’m going to go raise a bunch of money from franchisees. Yeah, in that and it’s now but it’s theirs, right? And they’re raising the money and that and I’m gonna through these partners rather than those partners, right? It’s a different way of getting that financed.
So when you made that decision, how did I you know, as I’ve talked to other folks, one of the biggest challenges they always that always comes up is like, how do you get the right fit partner? The right fr you know, like what was how did how did that go through your head and what does that mean to you?
Danielle (27:10)
Yeah, I think for us, for you know, and that’s a question every franchise or is still trying to answer, right? Because there’s so many things you wanna you wanna make you you do your best to try to choose the right people that you think will be the most successful because people are they’re investing in you and your concept, but
you know, and they and they and they wanna be successful and you want them to be successful, right? So
Jeff Walter (27:38)
Right.
Danielle (27:39)
for me, we always look for number one, we always look for a culture fit. We want to make sure that that there’s a good culture fit. They’re coming into an emerging brand. emerging brands are not easy.
Jeff Walter (27:51)
Mm-hmm.
Danielle (27:51)
we’re you’re not gonna open up your doors like a Dunkin’ Donuts or a you know, a Starbucks, and people aren’t just gonna come.
So it’s gonna take a lot of grit and determination to have your store succeed. So we wanna make sure that we’re we’re partnering with people that are ready to do that, right? And that also understand that they’re not, they’re also not entering into a brand that’s got it all completely figured out right now because we don’t, because we’re growing, you know.
As we’re growing, we’re we’re I mean we’re so much further along than we were three years ago in terms of systems in place and you know and and and and people capital and and all of those things. Like we’re learning as we go, but we’re not again, we’re we’re a very, very young brand. So we wanna make sure that we’re partnering with people that are really looking to build something because this is building something in in your own community. And there’s there’s so much involved with that, you know, especially
one of the biggest things is just that boots on the ground marketing, right? Getting out into your community, making sure people know you’re there. Cause we, you know, we’ve got inside the four walls and in the box, people love the product. They absolutely love it. you know, cons product consistency, reviews, all those things are just through the roof. But now it’s how do you create awareness? Because we’ve kind of we’re we don’t really fit into any segment, right? So we’re not we’re not really QSR
Jeff Walter (29:22)
Right.
Danielle (29:22)
We’re not a quick
service restaurant, right? Because you’re not getting it cooked, and our average price point is right now hovering around $175. That’s way above QSR pricing, right? We’re not a full
Jeff Walter (29:33)
Uh-huh.
Danielle (29:33)
service restaurant. We’re not really a meal kit, you know. so we don’t really have a a lane or you know, a category. We’re kind of like on our own in in our in our category. So because of that, it’s exciting and there’s so much opportunity, but however,
There’s a lot of customer education that has to happen too, right? How do we, how do we fight being, that sounds great. I’m gonna do that next year for my graduation party, right? No, you know, how do we how do we how do we make sure, especially as we’re moving into away from coastal markets, because it’s very easy. We call it use case. The use case is really easy when you’re on vacation. Everybody eats seafood on vacation. A lot of times you’re renting a house, you’re in you’re in your house, all that. But
But for us, you know, we we we check all those other boxes. coming out of COVID, there’s been just such a huge demand for off-premise options that are different than takeout was before COVID, right? And there’s a big demand for experiential dining. That’s what, you know, this is definitely an experience. So but all those things are and convenience for cooking. So all these things are part of the brand and and the value that the product offers. However, it requires a lot.
from the franchisees with, you know, a ton of support from the brand to be able to get that message out and get people in their doors.
Jeff Walter (30:49)
So h just just to make sure I understand the the the concept, is it like what you originally described earlier where they’re taking the pots and going and and eating off prem it’s all off premise dining. Right, okay. Yep.
Danielle (31:04)
premise. So we give them a seafood steampot, right?
It’s a single use pot and and it’s filled with we call it our base of corn and potatoes. We give them cocktail sauce, butter, paper to spread out on the table, and then they take it home, add two cups of water or beer and cook it directly on their stovetop.
Jeff Walter (31:19)
Okay. And yeah, that that I just wanted to make sure there was no in s in y loc on location dining, right? So it
Danielle (31:26)
No. That’s what
makes the model also in terms of scalability and and simplicity, there’s no cooking.
Jeff Walter (31:34)
Yeah. Well it
Danielle (31:35)
For that.
Jeff Walter (31:37)
well and and
Danielle (31:39)
And in on premise, you know, for us
Jeff Walter (31:40)
It
Danielle (31:41)
for as the owner.
Jeff Walter (31:42)
Right, well it’s like on premise prep.
Danielle (31:44)
That’s we’re pr it’s we’re really like a seafood retail, right? Because we’re just what we’re prepping honestly is we’re shucking corn and cutting sausage for the most part. yeah. ‘Cause
Jeff Walter (31:52)
Right. Yeah. So
Danielle (31:56)
we’re not prepping the seafood.
Jeff Walter (31:58)
Yeah, okay. Okay. So
Danielle (31:59)
Yeah, ’cause
it’s peel it’s peel need shrimp, it’s crab, clams. There’s really there’s nothing we need to do to the seafood at all except weigh it and portion it.
Jeff Walter (32:08)
so so the prep is portioning. Right.
Danielle (32:10)
Portioning, that’s right. And
we portion on demand. So when they come in, the way the stores are set up is
Danielle (32:15)
all of our seafood is spread out in the on a counter and kind of like subway style. And so you can watch your pot being built along the way for so you can come in, watch it being built, and then you go home with it.
Jeff Walter (32:28)
very okay. Ver so so so I I would where I was going with all that is I would imagine awareness is the biggest thing because it’s not it doesn’t come to it’s not top if if you moved into a new location, it doesn’t come to top of mind that you know what I want to do tonight? I
Danielle (32:43)
Yes.
Jeff Walter (32:44)
I I really wanna go get a a a s seafood steam pot. Like it’s right.
Danielle (32:48)
That’s that’s exactly right, Jeff. That’s exactly
right. So how do we and that’s the biggest challenge for our franchisees is how do we how do you make sure in your market that you’re creating the most awareness that you can? So
Jeff Walter (33:05)
And and and what are how how does what’s that what how do you build how do they build and what kind of support do you guys provide for helping them build that awareness?
Danielle (33:14)
Yeah.
Yeah. So it’s really there’s, you know, several w we call the, you know, there’s several like prongs, like if you think about the ha three-prong approach, right? There’s so there’s so many areas that you really have to dive into and it can’t just be one, right?
Jeff Walter (33:28)
Mm-hmm.
Danielle (33:29)
One of the most obvious ones is digital right now. So when people are searching for a place to go or what to do, they’re going on their phones and they’re Googling. So you have to make sure you have a really good digital strategy, and that’s where we support. So
You have to make sure your Google presence is there. You’re paying for your, you know, your Google ads and search your your SEO. A lot of times Facebook and Instagram that were a a big Facebook brand because people love to and most restaurants are because there’s a lot of Facebook groups that have eat you know where do I eat in Wilmington tonight or where do I go? And just a
Jeff Walter (34:01)
Right.
Danielle (34:01)
lot of so so it’s really nice to be able to be active in those groups to just create awareness for that. And then and then I mentioned Boots on the Ground. So Boots on the Ground.
you know, that’s any events that are in the area, local farmers markets, going out to your realtors, meeting all of the the fundraising in the schools, a anything and everywhere, right? Setting up a tent and doing samples at the at the local we call it a promenade or shopping center. Anything you can think of. And then strategic strategic partnerships are really great. we’ll do a lot. We’ll partner with breweries, right? And we’ll go and maybe we’ll do a night at a brewery because you can take the little tabletop
grills, right? And you can go
Jeff Walter (34:40)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Danielle (34:41)
and sit at a picnic table and so we’ll do go at night and sell, you know, 20 or 30 small buckets at a brewery. But it’s great because that’s not really the revenue. I mean, of course there’s revenue to be made there, but the real value of that is to get those customers to understand who you are and where you are so that they’ll order again when they’re outside the brewery. So definitely strategic partnerships with local businesses, boots on the ground, and then having a really good strong digital presence. And so
The way we support is we help them with local marketing plans and all of those. What’s worked for us, we, you know, pr provide all the brand assets, we run the brand social media. you know, we we’ll do promotions throughout the year or campaigns to help them have something new to talk about or in their in their markets.
Jeff Walter (35:25)
I I l I love that local brewery angle because I I remember earlier you said, you fill it with water or beer, right? And it’s like so
Danielle (35:31)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (35:32)
yeah, so you’re just gonna use whatever the local whatever the the microbrewery’s beer is, right? That’s that’s what we’re gonna make it with there. And yeah.
Danielle (35:39)
That’s what we’re gonna make it. That’s exactly
right. And then and then they’re, you know, they’re hanging around and eating their pot and drinking a few more beers. And so it also allows the breweries to offer something that’s you know, different and so it attracts
Jeff Walter (35:51)
Yeah.
Danielle (35:52)
people to their brewery.
Jeff Walter (35:53)
Yeah, and and what you know, when you said it’s there’s revenue but that’s not really what you you’re you’re really building awareness, it reminds me of a mentor of mine who goes, Yeah, that’s paid marketing. You’re getting paid to market. You know. You know, but that’s that’s brilliant.
Danielle (36:02)
Yeah, it’s paid mar yeah, it’s basically it basically is it. Yeah, I we’ve got some really it you
know, creative owners. We got our Charlotte owners do the have done the minor league baseball there. Tailgating’s really fun to go and set up a tailgate because this is great for tailgating. So just just lots of different ideas.
Jeff Walter (36:21)
And so when they do that, what do they just bring a bunch of pots on ice that they’ve already prepped?
Danielle (36:25)
Yeah, they’ll just sometimes though like we have what are called what’s called a party pot. So you
Jeff Walter (36:29)
Okay.
Danielle (36:29)
can come it what if you you know, think about those giant pots, you know, that you see people do on the burners. So
Jeff Walter (36:33)
Okay.
Danielle (36:34)
a customer can order a party pot and we’ll pack it all in there and pack it on ice. But if we’ll do a party pot, then we’ll just bring all the seafood in a cooler and then we’ll just load it load up the the pot in the burner and cook it on site.
Jeff Walter (36:46)
That’s that’s so so cool. Yeah, tailgates. well, yeah, actually being up here in in Ann Arbor, I’m sitting there going, Huh, football season’s coming around. You know.
Danielle (36:54)
That’s right. Well, you
can order one because we outside of the franchises, we also ship nationally, right? So
Jeff Walter (37:00)
Okay.
Danielle (37:01)
yep, so we can ship it straight to your door. Mm-hmm.
Jeff Walter (37:03)
very cool. Very, very, very
cool. And so it it sounds like you’ve hitting the east coast up through the Gulf Coast. you’re starting to penetrate intimidate here. What’s the what are the what are the future plans? Where where you where are you going from here and and how you know you said two this year, four next year.
We we didn’t talk you know, what where do you want to go and and how are you finding those folks? Are you using franchise consultants, you know, area like how are you how are you finding these people as you’re expanding your geography?
Danielle (37:34)
Yep. So so two answers there. We’re gonna continue to concentrate in in this area where we are, like more of a hub and spoke model for now.
Jeff Walter (37:42)
Right.
Danielle (37:43)
because I think that’s it with the size that we are, that allows us to be able to provide the best support. and so we’ll continue. There’s so many more places that even even up into the northeast, because some of our stores are seasonal, right? So there’s just a
Jeff Walter (37:55)
Right.
Danielle (37:55)
lot of opportunities.
So we’ll continue to to stay on the on this side of the Mississippi, right? And like up and down the coast and and we’ll go inward a bit. But so so that’s that’s the plan right now. But then how do we find them? I will tell you the majority of the franchisees that we have right now have come through have come through, they were customers. They walked in and they loved
Jeff Walter (38:17)
Okay.
Danielle (38:17)
So that
Jeff Walter (38:23)
Mm-hmm.
Danielle (38:23)
that that generated a lot of interest. So we still see that. Like whenever it airs, we get a lot of, you know, interest from Shark Tank. and we only just started in the last couple of months where we’re actually doing targeted marketing for an area where we’re actually doing paid marketing for franchise development. And that’s in the
Jeff Walter (38:42)
Okay.
Danielle (38:43)
Long Island area, because there’s some markets that we think, my gosh, this would be really good. And so instead of just waiting for somebody to sh to pop up from one of those markets, we’re
we’re doing a little bit of market specific recruiting.
Jeff Walter (38:56)
Okay. Well so so right now it’s it’s all in-house recruit outreach and recruiting. You’re you’re you’ve got a a number of things that are bringing French you know, prospective franchisees to you and you’re doing a little outreach and you know selective outreach in certain areas you’re trying to grow into. very cool. Very, very cool. And and and as you look through you know, you you’ve been doing this now for
a number a few years. As you look into the future five years down the road, what what do you see as your biggest challenges and and where do you want to be down there five years from now?
Danielle (39:30)
Yeah, five years from now, I mean, I I would my ultimate goal is for us to be a well recognized national seafood brand, right? Where we where it won’t be like, what is that? And when do we do it? It’s just people recognize it and say, that’s that’s that’s our tradition, that’s what we want to do. So that’s really what I where I’d like to become in in in terms of awareness and in the mind of the consumer. And and we’d like to just continue to grow. So, you know, after I would say after another two years, we would feel as we’re as we’re
As we’re strengthening our own infrastructure and we’re figuring it some things out, because there’s still there’s still a lot to figure out. You know, you really don’t get your feet, really get your feet under you and get what they call to become royalty self-sufficient, right? That’s really what the goal is to get to the point where you can sustain on the royalties and the and your franchise sales. You typically don’t see that till closer to 50 stores. So I’d
Jeff Walter (40:22)
Right.
Danielle (40:22)
really like to get to that, to that, to that place, you know, definitely by the five year mark.
Jeff Walter (40:27)
Ver very cool. And you know, we’re we’re we’re coming up on time. So I just you know, wanna ask, if if there was somebody out there that wanted to get a hold of you for ever any reason, interested in the franchise, maybe on Long Island or or just, you know, i wanna reach out and pick your brain and ask you some questions ’cause you you’ve just been a wealth of knowledge and you’ve been you
Danielle (40:49)
Thanks.
Jeff Walter (40:50)
and it’s been real you
how would they get a hold of you?
Danielle (40:52)
Yeah, they could just email me directly. It’s Danielle at Topsolsteamer dot com.
Jeff Walter (40:56)
Okay. and we will put top sellse emer dot com on the show notes so people can just click through and get to the website as well. And and is there anything else you’d like to share with the audience before we we head out?
Danielle (41:09)
No, I don’t think so. I just wanna thank you so much for having me here and giving me an opportunity to share all things topsail steamer and tell my story. It’s been wonderful and I I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Jeff Walter (41:20)
Yeah. And and thank you. I’ve talked to a couple of emerging franchise wars and you know it’s it it’s hard, right? It’s it’s hard because you’re you’re well it’s like any entrepreneur, right? You’re you’re building something from nothing. And
Danielle (41:33)
Yes.
Jeff Walter (41:33)
but then what I think makes it even harder, you know, is and you’re inviting other people to join you at and ownership you know that are putting their
you know, not just join you from a career standpoint, but join you as you know putting you know as a franchisee. And you know it’s it’s a it’s a hard thing.
It’s like
Danielle (41:54)
exactly
Jeff Walter (42:13)
Yeah, well, ’cause it’s the th and getting back to just the whole concept and and having grown up in a seafood heavy place myself, it’s like, yeah, the prep is the is the barrier. You know, it like
Danielle (42:27)
Yes.
Jeff Walter (42:28)
you know, the prep is the barrier, especially if you’re doing something as tasty. Like yeah, and that’s why what you do is like, we’re just gonna do a clam steam, right? It’s just clams, because that’s all I’m gonna prep, right?
But to to get all of the different things and go to all the yeah, like it just takes a lot of work to prep. And
Danielle (42:47)
Yes.
Jeff Walter (42:48)
then but then it is a one of the coolest things about the concept that that’s just really cool is it’s it’s probably one of the most communal meals you’ll share with a group of people. Right? It’s it’s a very communal experience. And
Danielle (43:05)
Absolutely.
Jeff Walter (43:05)
so to take the and the cooking is actually pretty easy.
It’s you you
Danielle (43:09)
Yeah, very easy.
Jeff Walter (43:11)
you just turn on the gas and you know, boil the pot. But but it it’s
Danielle (43:13)
There you go. Yes.
Jeff Walter (43:15)
a really cool it’s it’s always every time I’ve done anything like that, it’s a very communal experience and and then memorable, right? And then you
Danielle (43:24)
Yeah.
Jeff Walter (43:24)
and and so it’s it’s it’s a very neat concept. So congratulations, Daniel. It’s just really cool. And
Danielle (43:29)
You. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Jeff Walter (43:31)
and I appreciate you taking time out of your day to to chat with us and and share. and it’s and and the best of luck.
And as you continue to grow and and and be wild at least successful, congratulations.
Danielle (43:42)
Well, thank you very much, Jeff.
Jeff Walter (43:44)
Yep. And to everybody out there, thanks for spending your time with us and chatting with us, or not chatting but listening to us. hope you learn something. I always do. And have a great day.