Ker’s WingHouse: Ker’s Takes Flight - Strategies, Solutions and Best Practices for Business Leaders

When an economy experiences a squeeze of the magnitude Americans are currently enduring, disposable income becomes a luxury for more people. That means restaurants can be hit the hardest as people choose to eat in instead of going out for meals.

Crawford Ker, founder and president of Ker’s WingHouse Bar and Grill, says this means restaurants like his must distance themselves from the competition by staying with the fundamentals of the business and executing them perfectly.

“With inflation and cost of goods going up a little bit, and the economy is a little tougher, there are more competitors in the market and less room for errors,” Ker says. “In this market, you have to be better at your basics and be more on top of your business.”

So far, the plan has worked as Ker’s WingHouse is looking to further expand beyond its footprints in Florida and Texas.

Its first wing house opened in Largo, Fla. As of 2006, Ker’s WingHouse employed 1,700 people at 16 locations throughout Florida.

This summer, the restaurant launched its national franchise program.

With 19 locations in Florida and Texas, it expects to add six by the end of 2008 and 48 by the end of 2011.

Ker and a business partner originally started a sports-themed restaurant in Largo, Fla. Ker later bought out his partner, and developed the idea for a wing-oriented eatery with a sports bar atmosphere which opened in 1994.

After the restaurant’s style was in place, Ker focused on being the best at the basics of the restaurant industry. Today, the restaurant’s menu not only features a variety of chicken wing flavors and styles, but also other sports bar fare like burgers, sandwiches, a bevy of appetizers and a desserts.

“We have a very good product for a wing-oriented restaurant, and we’ll always continue to improve it,” Ker says. “We have to execute the little things better than our competition. It’s all about execution and making customers happy.”

Employee Enhancement
In order to keep ahead of the competition, Ker’s WingHouse has employee-training programs that encourages employees to climb up the ladder through their contributions to the company. “A key component of our development is that good people have been with us from the start,” Ker says.

As the company embarks on its franchising program, Ker believes the only thing keeping his restaurant from growing as quickly as possible is finding the right people.

“In the last three or four years, it’s been difficult to find qualified people to do the right thing and do well,” he says. “So, we have to grow and develop from within, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Ker admits his company’s culture is demanding of its employees, but the rewards justify the means to the end. After a career in the National Football League (NFL), Ker makes his business all about winning. “It’s a demanding culture, but it’s a fair culture,” he says. “We have a ‘get-it-done’ culture.”

Dodging a Bullet
In 2004, Hooters sued Ker’s WingHouse, claiming Ker’s business stole the concept of its attractive, female-only hosting personnel dressed in formfitting tank tops and shorts. Hooters lost its $4 million suit, however, and Ker’s won its counterclaim for $1.2 million.

Ker took the victory like any former professional athlete might: ready to go after the next prize. “With that success, it personally made myself hungrier,” says Ker, who played in the NFL with Dallas and Denver from 1985 to 1991.

“I want to do bigger things. I believe in always moving forward and trying to do your best. There’s never a destination; it is just the journey.

“The strong survive, and if you execute and stay with the fundamentals, you will always do well and have a profitable business,” he adds. “You also need to have the innovation and marketing to change with the times like the brands that survive for years on end.

“You need to roll with the changes and adapt to certain circumstances that you’re dealt.”