Los Angeles and Pasadena, California, are finally getting their own Toastique locations, and it’s thanks to Ali and his Uncle, the empire-minded family duo!
If there’s one prime territory that already has the demand and love of healthy food concepts, it’s Los Angeles! While Toastique may have opened its first location in Washington D.C., it was clear this was a model that would thrive in the booming California market – eventually. All we needed was the perfect Franchise Owner – or two – to help us make it happen. Today, those Owners have finally joined our franchise, and we couldn’t be more excited to introduce them to you! Allow us to introduce you to Ali and his Uncle, the empire-minded duo bringing Toastique Gourmet Toast & Juice Bar to the City of Angels!
Please Welcome Ali & His Uncle, the Family Bringing Toastique to Los Angeles!
The Pair’s Diverse Background
For over 30 years, Ali’s Uncle has worked in a variety of tech-forward companies as an engineer. He accepted his first corporate role in 1993 after graduating from college with an engineering degree, and he stayed there for just over 25 years. Since leaving, he has held a few different positions, but he continues to work for Cisco today, where he can put his love of technology to good use.
On the other hand, Ali is a long-time, dedicated logistics professional. While he began as a warehouse employee, he worked his way up to people and third-party maintenance and logistics management. Today, he’s been putting his entrepreneurial drive to work by starting his own LLC and learning the long-haul trucking business before he creates his own innovative new solutions and introduces them to the field.
Choosing Franchising
For some, joining a franchise is not about finding an escape from the corporate world but about finding something to supplement their day job and allow them to follow their dream of becoming an entrepreneur. That’s exactly the approach Ali’s Uncle is bringing to the venture with Ali as he and his wife looked into franchising investment opportunities that allowed them to play an oversight role so they could maintain their corporate roles.
“It’s not necessarily wanting to get out, it’s more like following a passion, and that passion is entrepreneurship. Obviously, when you work for somebody, you get to a point where you start managing the business, managing the P&L, the resources, the operations, and so on. It doesn’t take away from the passion that I have for corporate, it’s just that I’ve always liked to have my own business, which I had in the past. But the food business, the QSR, is very attractive.”
While the uncle/nephew duo began their franchise search by pursuing an LA-based bakery concept they enjoyed that happened to offer franchising, the pair quickly realized that they didn’t want to build a business based on a sugary menu. It wasn’t until they connected with a franchise consultant who introduced them to a healthier quick-service restaurant option: Toastique.
Getting to Know Toastique
After their franchise consultant introduced them to the Toastique healthy breakfast concept, the pair were immediately hooked. They recognized the potential of introducing this business model to the health-conscious market of LA right away, so they chose to learn as much as they could, even attending our Balboa Island grand opening and looking into our Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
During the process, they absorbed all the information they could, from Toastique’s history to our support team, even taking the time to evaluate the unit economics to make sure our business model aligned with their financial goals. With this and their love of the healthy menu, it was clear to Ali’s Uncle that Toastique was the franchise best fit for their dream of starting a family business together.
Meeting the Toastique Team/Approval Day
While Ali and his Uncle were confident in both their ability to successfully launch and scale their own business empire with Toastique and the profitability potential of our model, they still had a variety of questions they needed answered before they could make their final decision.
“[Approval Day] just got us over the hump. Meeting the whole Executive team and understanding the roles of the different members, [and] sitting down and digging deeper into the numbers, the unit economics with the team, the process, how to start, and how to finish. All of that complemented everything else, which – overall – made it a perfect day.”
By attending Approval Day together, Ali and his Uncle were able to assess the Toastique model from their own unique perspectives and get even more excited about joining our franchise family. From visiting four different open and operating locations to see the different flavor and layout of each to connecting with Brianna and Kyle, the duo had all the proof they needed to officially become the newest Toastique Franchise Owners.
The Duo’s Thoughts on Introducing Toastique to the City of Angels
Now that both Ali and his Uncle have returned from their Approval Day and signed on to launch their first three – of hopefully many! – Toastique breakfast franchise locations, they’re busy preparing for their first opening. However, they still made time to sit down for a quick Q&A so we could hear more about their perspective on the education process and what excites them most about bringing our gourmet toast and juice concept to the prime LA territory.
Was it important to find a business you could do as a family
Ali’s Uncle: “Yeah, there was something about Ali and I and, hopefully, we can prove in the future that we complement each other. He’s really good on the operations side because he’s managed people, he’s managed the day-to-day activities, and so on. My current job is [as] a Senior Director, so I manage the business and strategize around the business so between the two of us, we could complement each other.
So, he’s the one family member who [has] the experience and got the know-how to actually tap into. There [are] some other family members that we may get [on board] later on, but at this time, it’s just me and Ali.”
Is there anything specific that excites you about the territories you’ve chosen?
A: “Obviously, there is something magical about Downtown. I think all Downtowns are the same, but LA is on a much grander scale if you will. That excites us a lot. There are so many events with the presence of some sports teams like the Lakers, the Clippers, the LA Kings, and so on. So, just the excitement around the city, and that there [have] been a few years now [where] the city has been revamped and continues to be revamped.
And the last thing I’ll tell you is that LA [will be] hosting the 2028 Olympics, so it’s going to continue to get revamped, and we think it’ll be a good thing for us to capture that market.”
What are you most excited about with getting your new Toastique location open?
A: “Getting cash flow, [but] there is a lot that we’re excited about, not just one [thing]. When you build a machine, you give it a little of oil, a little bit of gas, a little of all of this, and then you see it operating – to me, that’s probably the most exciting part. But there is another part that excites us even more, and that is growth. We’re not satisfied with one, we want to build multiple, so [we] can’t wait to see the first one operating – and then seeing that little baby grow and grow, that’s very exciting.”
Are you looking for a franchise model that could help you build lasting generational wealth and create business opportunities for your family in the future, like this Uncle/Nephew duo? If so, you’ll likely find the same exciting potential in Toastique as the uncle/nephew duo bringing our healthy toast and juice concept to Los Angeles! See if you qualify to be the next Franchise Owner to join our system by taking our quick qualification quiz today.