---
title: "Multi-Unit Strategies - Having Great People At The Top"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/ed01d850-2f31-4e40-870f-aa622de327f1
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/articles/multiunit_strategies__having_great_people_at_the_top.html
author: "Multi-Unit Franchisee"
category: "Franchise Industry"
industry: "Franchise Industry"
topics: ["Development & multi-unit"]
published: 2019-12-17T09:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:11:29.052Z
image: https://imgs.franchising.com/art/articles/5017_plate.jpg
---

# Multi-Unit Strategies - Having Great People At The Top

**TL;DR:** Successful multi-unit operators must grow from hands-on management to influential leadership, with a robust support system critical to making the transition. Kimberly Crowell, president of Kalo Restaurant Group, shared her secrets to making the transition, including investing in upper management and hiring a director of operations and an employee relations director.

*By Multi-Unit Franchisee, originally published in Franchising.com on 2019-12-17. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/articles/multiunit_strategies__having_great_people_at_the_top.html).*

## Story

The need to grow from hands-on management to influential leadership is a challenge every franchisee must overcome on their way to becoming a successful multi-unit operator. Though the journey is different with no one-size-fits-all approach, there are well-trodden paths to making the transition from day-to-day management to strategic leadership. Successful multi-unit operators understand that the path to great leadership never ends.

We recently interviewed a number of operators who shared their secrets to making the transition from managing to leading. Here's some of what they had to say. *Kimberly Crowell is president of Kalo Restaurant Group, which operates 29 Jersey Mike's, with five stores in development in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.

* Teamwork At The Top Moving from the operational trees to the strategic forest with a robust support system is critical to making the transition to multi-unit leader. "We probably invested a bit early in upper management by hiring a director of operations by our fifth store," says Kimberly Crowell, president of Kalo Restaurant Group, "but we felt it was essential that we had leadership in place to provide support and oversight for our continued growth." She also recently hired an employee relations director to bolster management support at the store level.

"We preach to our team all the time: 'Stay ready, so you don't have to get ready.

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Franchise Industry (sector)
- Florida (location)
- Georgia (location)
- Multi-Unit Franchisee (person)
- Jersey Mike's (company)
- leadership development (topic)
- Alabama (location)
- franchisee growth (topic)
- multi unit (topic)

---
Originally reported by Multi-Unit Franchisee, Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/articles/multiunit_strategies__having_great_people_at_the_top.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/ed01d850-2f31-4e40-870f-aa622de327f1).