The Great Franchisee: Ali Alabyad, Checkers & Rally’s, Missouri

• Ali Alabyad, a franchise veteran with Checkers & Rally’s, has opened his third location with the iconic drive-thru burger franchise.

He began franchising with the brand in 2017, but his career with Checkers & Rally’s goes back decades. Alabyad started as an employee at the store level before working his way up to the corporate team, where he served as a director of operations for more than ten years.

As a Checkers & Rally’s director of operations, Alabyad managed the operations of 65 restaurants across six states in the Midwest. In 2017, the franchise veteran decided he wanted to spend more time with his family, so he retired from his fast-paced corporate role and opened up his first Checkers & Rally’s restaurant.

• Alabyad's journey began in 2006 when he was a director of operations for Checkers and Rally’s corporate. He started at the Checkers and Rally’s store level and then ended his career as a director.

As a director of operations, Alabyad managed locations all across the Midwest. After a few years as a director, he had a total of 65 stores and six states in the Midwest that he managed. It was a lot of traveling to go to all the locations, so he decided to resign a few years ago.

• The person that was with him all along from store level to director was the former CEO, Enrique Silva, and he was one of the people trying to convince him not to leave.

Being a director of operations requires you to be available to employees from every level. They all need to be able to see you as much as possible by sending an email or popping into their restaurants once a month. But when they see you working in every position and being hands-on, it makes a huge difference.

• Alabyad initially found out about franchising in 2011 when he became a director. He started looking because he knew it would be less travel and he could be around his family more. Owning your own franchise helps you stay local.

• When asked why he picked franchising over starting his own business, Alabyad replied, "It’s something I’ve known for the last 15 or 16 years. You get a feel for it, and that’s what you stick with."

• What excited him most about opening his own franchise with Checkers & Rally’s was the growth back then and how quickly he could move up. He started at the store level, but he heard it was possible to become successful if you put in the work. Sometimes even that can be hard at other brands. Within a year, he was promoted from general manager of his restaurant to district manager, and then within two years after that, he became a regional manager.

• Alabyad's dreams with the business include opening more locations in the St. Louis area. He currently has locations in St. Charles County and downtown St. Louis. He's going to open one more this year, and he's potentially looking at another two more.

• The St. Ann location will bring a lot more jobs to the community and hopefully help with unemployment. Alabyad is currently working on hiring for about 50–60 jobs and then, once they open, they will eventually continue hiring.

• When asked for advice for others looking at buying a franchise, Alabyad replied, "You have to know the business, especially with this economy, and you need to know what kind of people you want to invest in. If you do it correctly you will get a return on investment."