She sees her restaurants as an extension of her home’s dining room and is always ready for company. The Franchise Hound speaks with Laura Leigh Drake, multi-unit owner of Moe’s Southwest Grill franchises in Alabama.
Franchise Hound: How did you decide to become a Moe’s owner?
Laura Leigh Drake: For my 40th birthday a good friend brought me to Moe’s for dinner. I had a hard time deciding what to get since everything sounded so good on the menu. I decided on the Homewrecker burrito and it was the best thing I had eaten in my entire life – no kidding. I kept thinking about it and couldn’t wait to get another one. About a year later, I had some money to invest and my husband had stumbled upon a Moe’s that was for sale. I had been working from home running my own marketing business while I was raising my kids, and I wanted to use that knowledge plus the entrepreneurial skills I had learned in college and do something different.
I went through training and had a successful start at the first location. After 10 months my husband, who has an accounting background, left his job and we purchased three more Moe’s locations. Since then we have opened two more for a total of six locations!
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