CEO Message :-

“I wish i had started my career in franchising 10 years earlier”

“If you are an entrepreneur, you can’t be part-time,” said Hashmi, managing partner of Pure Foods Management, which operates in the D.C. area and New Jersey.

A native of Pakistan, Hashmi, the eldest of seven children, says his parents emphasized the traits of honest and hard work and were “hard on us” when it came to education. After earning a graduate degree from the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1971, Hashmi decided move to “the land of opportunity” where he earned his second MBA in finance at Western Illinois University. He worked as a financial analyst at two large telecommunications companies before his entrepreneurial spirit took over. After 20 years in the corporate world, he found franchising appealing because of the built-in customer base that comes with a strong brand.

“With good brand recognition, you can put up a sign, open the door, and people are waiting to come in,” he says. “With a non-franchise business, you have to build business gradually.”

Hashmi used his own capital and understanding of numbers and projections to grow the company, starting with Popeyes. He added Burger King and ZIPS Dry Cleaners in 2014 and now has two Retro Fitness gyms under construction. In five years, he hopes to have 100 Popeyes, another 50 or 60 Burger Kings, and expand the ZIPS brand into new markets.

His decision to diversify was to avoid “putting all his eggs in one basket.” A former connection with Popeyes introduced him to the New Jersey-based Retro Fitness brand, which provides personal trainers, group fitness, and its Cardio Movie Theater, featuring popular movies to work out by. Initial plans are for two gyms, one in New York and one in Connecticut.

But he’s doing his best to make the most of his time now. The multi-unit franchisee, whose holdings in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions include 45 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchens, 2 Burger Kings, 2 Retro Fitness gyms, and, most recently, ZIPS Dry Cleaners, has hatched an aggressive growth plan that he predicts will top $150 million in revenue in the next 10 years.