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Sebastian Ritscher
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A SLICE OF THE PIE

Nick Sarillo

How to Build a Big Little Business

Nick Sarillo is the founder and owner of Nick's Pizza and Pub, the fifth busiest independent pizza restaurant business in the country. Sarillo has been profiled in Inc., Newsweek, and the Chicago Tribune for his innovative, purpose-based tools and techniques.
In 1995, Nick Sarillo opened Nick's Pizza and Pub with the simple goal of creating a family-friendly restaurant where guests couldrelax with a great meal. He had no experience in the restaurant industry, except for working in his father's pizzeria as a kid. People told him he was crazy that he'd have to work 20-hour-days and monitor every employee because no one else would care about the restaurant's success.
But Sarillo saw things differently, and today Nick's has grown to be the fifth busiest independent pizza restaurant in the US (out of about 70,000) with two locations serving the greater Chicago area. In 2009 alone, each Nick's locations brought in over $3 million in sales, about six times that of the typical pizza restaurant. And in an industry where most employees work part time or seasonally, Nick's boasts an annual turnover rate of less than 20 percent..
So how did he do it? Sarillo credits his success to his purpose-driven company culture, one in which every member of the staff from the waiters to the chefs to the managers is equipped with the tools necessary to not only do their jobs but advance the overall mission. Rejecting the command-and-control management style where the person in charge dictates everything, Sarillo has adopted what he calls "trust-and-track." This is a system that allows employees to express themselves and exercise judgment while also training them to further the company's purpose. Sarillo argues that with a purpose-driven approach to company culture, you can transform even the smallest, simplest, and most ordinary business into a successful, high-performance organization.
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Book

Published 2012-09-01 by Portfolio

Book

Published 2012-09-01 by Portfolio

Comments

Nick Sarillo understands how culture can make or break an organization, and the work he's done at his restaurant is a testament to that fact. A Slice of the Pie lays out a perfect pattern for turning even an ordinary business into something extraordinary.Every business owner should read this book.

A Slice of the Pie isn't just about creating a transforming, inspiring business culture. It's about the importance of developing a nurturing, supportive, evolving, compassionate community. Nick Sarillo's story will change the way you think about leadership, no matter who you are.

A Slice of the Pie is more than just a great business story. It's a testament to how a great culture can transform an ordinary company into something extraordinary.

We hear a lot of fancy talk about creating a transformative culture, but A Slice of the Pie offers tangible steps and processes any business can apply right now. Nick's experience shows it's possible for a new generation of leaders to make a difference while also turning a profit. I found Nick's passion for human potential inspiring, and I'm sure readers in any industry will feel the same way.

There are only a few CEOs today who have the courage to put people before numbers, Nick Sarillo is one of those leaders. The best part is, his numbers are vastly better than everyone else's. We can all learn a lot about how to treat people and how to run a business from Nick. Inspire on!

Nick Sarillo's restaurants are living proof of trust-and-track's effectiveness in bringing out the best in people-not just employees, but managers, customers, and members of the communities that a business serves.

A wealth of publicity (in Inc. magazine and the NBC Nightly News, among other media) and a well deserved reputation as a family and communityeating place doesn’t happen overnight. Readers may have encountered the Nick Sarillo story in a TV feature demonstrating how a town rallied to save a restaurant from financial downfall. Crystal Lake, Illinois-based Sarillo, CEO of an eponymous pizza and pub, chronicles his journey from purpose to profit, giving those interested in both small and large businesses some relevant insight into his restaurant’s culture. Most of his principles are characteristic of global corporations. What is really significant and culture-changing in his outlook are the ways those principles are put into practice. One is transparency. Many leaders profess to an open-book policy; in fact, for publicly held companies, it’s a mandate. Yet most of them don’t spend the time to educate employees about financials and how employees can help. Sarillo emphasizes learning and development, building managers into true coaches, creating leaders in every nook and cranny of the business. The personal stories add even more oomph to Sarillo’s message, “Our dedicated family provides this community an unforgettable place—to connect with your family and friends, to have fun, and to feel at home.

Gearing his work toward fellow entrepreneurs, Sarillo, founder and CEO of Nick’s Pizza & Pub, offers a personal account of being a small business owner, sharing his perspectives, challenges he’s faced and overcome, and the way he’s transformed his company into a thriving success. More than a mere autobiography, it’s also the story of his company and the people he works with. Read more...