Succeeding in the Face of Competition. The Little Guy Can Win

[00:00:00.000] - Alice

Hello. Welcome to Books in the Biz, a podcast that looks at both the financial and operational sides of success. Please welcome our hosts, Dan Paulson and Richard Veltre. Dan is the CEO of Envision Development International, and he works with leaders to increase sales and profits through great cultures with solid operations. Rich is CEO of the Veltre Group and a financial strategist working with companies to manage their money more effectively. Now on to the podcast.

[00:00:30.180] - Dan Paulson

And here we are for the fourth and final part of our interview with Brian Weavel from perfectcrust.com. You want to be sure to check this out. He's going to talk about what it takes for the little guy to succeed in business. And it's not as much as you think. You can actually do it, and any company should be able to pull this off. So be sure to listen to this next episode, part four of our interview with Brian Weavel. Yeah, let's dig into that a little bit further, because as you pointed out, from a town of 3000, You've done all these national events. You've connected to, I guess, Pizza Royalty. And you might have to drop some names because most of us don't know who Pizza Royalty is. We're not in that industry. What interested me, and why I wanted to get you on the podcast, because I have a number of clients and people I talk to that are like, we can't compete with people who have budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars or whatnot. Yeah, as you point out. And that's why I want to get into a little bit more, because there are so many companies out there that they look at the the 800 pound gorilla in the room and they go, I don't have the budget for that.

[00:01:39.620] - Dan Paulson

I can't compete with that. How do you do it? Because I think you We've talked about different pieces here, but if you could roll it together, how does the little guy compete against the big guy?

[00:01:50.800] - Brian Weavel

So I can go back two different ways. I can go back to my own restaurant or I can go to Perfect Crust.

[00:01:54.970] - Dan Paulson

I would do both, actually.

[00:01:56.910] - Brian Weavel

I'm going to say from my restaurant, for me, it's like I never feared any big... If a chain pizza came to want a big, I wouldn't have cared. If I have to spend the energy caring about what somebody else is doing, I'm doing something wrong. I have a strong belief system in community. I had a strong... And I was embedded in it, and I still am. I still do a lot of things in my community, but it's different. I'm not doing food fundraisers for anybody or anything like that. For me, as a town of 3,000, I never feared anything. I never feared any of the big competitors. I got best pizza in the Rockford area one year. It's because I put myself out there and I was genuine and I always supported other people. Whether it's a basketball group or whether it's somebody that's sick, we did fundraisings for people. We kept our name out there because we're genuine, not because we're looking for that recognition. It's because we're genuine and looking to help I have an opportunity in life. I had the greatest job in the world as a pizza operator. It gets stressful and it gets crazy.

[00:03:10.490] - Brian Weavel

But you know what? It's like I went to work every day. I love doing what I did. Times changed over the years, family and everything like that. Now you bring me out to Perfect Trust Pizza Liner. That's one of the reasons why they hired me because I fit their philosophy. If you look at... We're going to Vegas for this Pizza Expo. And Tony Giamminati is a world pizza champion 13 times over. I mean, this guy is the go to the industry. He does this big party at the beginning of the year, beginning of the Pizza Expo. And there is everybody who's anybody. There's Macchio cheese, Grande cheese, Stanislaw's, every performance food groups. I can't remember who else advertising with them. I mean, everybody who's anybody in the industry. These These are corporations that are 100,000, 200,000 people. I don't know how many. I'm making up numbers like that, but they're huge companies. And in the same breath, there's Perfect Crust Pizza Liners, and there's eight of us that work for them. So we're on the same... And you walk into this party and we do a photoshoot, and there's this big backdrop that says, Perfect Trust Pizza Liners, Tony Geminadi's It's like restaurant's name and everything like that.

[00:04:32.100] - Brian Weavel

It's Perfect Crust is doing it. Everybody wants a picture with Perfect Crust. We walk in a room, it's almost like our company is, I call it a mini-celebrity. But there's eight people there. So we're dealing with these big people in this industry, and we're really a small business when it comes to numbers. There's no fear there. Be genuine, support people, connect with people, and don't ever bash anybody. I mean, if you got a competitor that's doing, we never bash anybody. We're always supportive.

[00:05:09.970] - Dan Paulson

Those are all great points. And how long has Perfect Crust Pizza Liner has been around?

[00:05:16.140] - Brian Weavel

I believe it's like 11 years.

[00:05:17.950] - Dan Paulson

Okay, so they're relatively new, too.

[00:05:19.830] - Brian Weavel

No, yeah. They got a great story. I mean, it's an incredible company.

[00:05:24.720] - Dan Paulson

So how did you guys get from basically nothing 11 years ago to where you're at today? I know You hinted it, be genuine, connect, that type of thing. But what was the process that it took to get there?

[00:05:37.210] - Brian Weavel

From what I get from the humble beginning, the owner, Jeff, is an amazing brain. I mean, this guy is I don't know how to explain it to you. It's like this guy's brain goes a million miles per hour. I don't know how he sleeps even. It just goes, goes, goes. Very creative, very naturally gifted. And I think they created the product and they have patents and everything like that. I think they went to the first Pizza Expo and had a booth there. That's expensive. I don't think they had a client yet. It was taking that risk of believing in a product that you've tested and you love and putting it out to market without risking that. I mean, really risking that. That's a risky move. But I'm going to tell you what, over the years, it's grown and grown a little bit, grown a little bit, grown a little bit, go on a little bit, go on a little bit. Eric Bam, which is my boss, comes in and introduces them to social media. The social media presence prior to Eric was nothing. Maybe it was a little nick will probably kill me by saying it was nothing, but it wasn't that much of a social media presence.

[00:06:51.510] - Brian Weavel

But once Eric came on board, social media went crazy. I knew about him. Anna's a little bit of pizza place in Winnebago, Illinois. I knew about them because Eric Eric Burns, Eric Bam, he would send me information, send me stuff. And he drew that. And then the next thing you know, you bring a guy like me on board who comes from a different background. I'm not a salesperson. I'll never say I'm a great salesperson. I learn every day. They embrace me, learning every day. I come from a pizza world that match their process. They bring me in as a salesperson for the Midwest, and I utilize my... He called me a unicorn. I don't know what that means, but he called me a unicorn because I'm different. I'm different. I'm that little guy who speaks. I'm the little guy that speaks my mind. I'm the little guy, pizza operator that, man, appeared in 20 different national pizza magazines, different articles and stuff like that. I was genuine. I kept myself focused. I always was out there supporting people, and they liked that. They brought me in, and that's what I'm doing. I'm connected like crazy.

[00:08:09.260] - Brian Weavel

In this area, I thought of it as a pizza expert. Tomorrow, I have a radio interview with 967 The Eagle in Rockford talking about pizza for a couple of hours. It's funny because I put in the air post and anybody willing to bring us a pizza at nine o'clock in the I already have somebody that said, We're bringing pizza. I think it's that. Humble Beginings was a thought process of a great product, bringing in the right people like Eric. Then we've added two more. Elaine and Ben is a salesperson that's been there since the beginning. Greg Good is our national salesperson that does the national... I mean, we have little Caesars that we do liners for. So now we got this team that's just incredible. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. My strength is my genuine go up and get them. So these guys are salespeople in their past. So we all have our strengths and weaknesses. I love the mix. It's a great atmosphere. It's a great company. I love my job every single day of my life. I wake up, I drink my coffee, and I think about how wonderful I have.

[00:09:28.090] - Dan Paulson

And what pizza you're going to eat that day, right?

[00:09:32.090] - Brian Weavel

Yeah, that's true. I get to eat a lot of pizza, which is who doesn't like that, right? Yeah.

[00:09:40.600] - Dan Paulson

So let's talk about what's coming up, because you mentioned Pizza Expo. Most people probably didn't even know there was such a critter. And I'm sure the pizza lovers out there would love to learn more about what is the Pizza Expo and what do you do at a Pizza Expo?

[00:09:58.660] - Brian Weavel

So Pizza Expo, which is the first time I came in a Pizza Expo, I was a judge. So I didn't really get the sample, but I walked because as a judge, you're behind the curtains type thing because there's big money in there. I think the top prize is like a $10,000 prize. Plus, most places that win the best pizza in the world, their sales go through the rough. Can you imagine putting that on your resume as a pizza operator? We were voted number one at Pizza Expo. So Pizza Expo is this. It's anything you could think of. It's related to pizza in anything. It's there. I mean, you walk in, it's at the Las Vegas Convention Center. And it is filled. The first day I walked in there, I remember, oh, my gosh, what the heck? Oh, my gosh. I just sat there. I mean, it's everything from products to to pizza, to crust, to sausage, to pens, to liners. But you knew I was going to get that in, right?

[00:11:10.790] - Dan Paulson

Oh, you got to get that in.

[00:11:12.560] - Brian Weavel

I mean, delivery bags. I mean, there's so much there. It's like this... How do you want to do? You've been to one of those swap meets, whatever, the flea markets, whatever. Times that by 50 to 100 times more. I It's just huge. I don't know how many football fields full of pizza products. And there's demonstrations, there's lectures, there's competitions. I was lucky last year, they chose me to be a judge of the dough tossing competition. And that was cool. That was really cool. So there's competitions at night and parties all night long. It's crazy. It's this wild moment that if you're a pizza operator, you have to go to Pizza Expo. If you've never done it, go at least once because it's an incredible experience.

[00:12:07.670] - Dan Paulson

It sounds pretty wild. I can only imagine what a Pizza Expo in Vegas could- Oh, it's crazy. Turn into.

[00:12:15.500] - Brian Weavel

We do a booth there. It's just packed. It's wall to wall people. I don't know how many people come through there. This year would be the 40th year. Pizza Day magazine puts it on through their Pizza Expo.

[00:12:29.800] - Dan Paulson

That's That's crazy. So as we're wrapping up here, why don't you tell us, how do people get a hold of you?

[00:12:36.540] - Brian Weavel

You know what? Don't be afraid to call me or anything. I'll give you anything you want.

[00:12:41.660] - Dan Paulson

Let's stick with the email. We'll leave the phone numbers to They can reach out to you first. Yeah.

[00:12:46.680] - Brian Weavel

You know I'm on all the social media. I'm on Facebook, Brian Weavel, of course, Twitter, Brian Weavel, Instagram, LinkedIn. And my phone number appears on there somewhere, so go ahead and call me. I don't care. One of the easiest ways to get a hold of me is brian@perfectcrust.com

[00:13:09.270] - Dan Paulson

Okay. So to visit the site for the company you work at, that's also perfectcrust.com

[00:13:15.620] - Brian Weavel

Perfectcrust.com. Right. Yeah. And we also have a company called incrediblebags.com. So we sell pizza delivery bags, too.

[00:13:23.150] - Dan Paulson

Wonderful. Rich, how do they get a hold of you? Email rveltre@veltregroup.com. And you can get a hold of me at danpaulsonletsgo.com to catch not only Brian's interview, if you miss any of it, but also all the other interviews and other podcasts we've done. Please go to booksandbiz.com. That is B-O-O-K-S, the letter N-B-I-Z. Com. Brian, maybe we got to do a live while you're at Pizza Expo.

[00:13:51.500] - Brian Weavel

That would be cool.

[00:13:52.460] - Dan Paulson

Do something back and forth there while you're at the booth.

[00:13:55.620] - Brian Weavel

Let's do it. I'll be at my booth most of the time, but It'd be interesting for you to see it. I mean, your clients would be amazed by that.

[00:14:05.120] - Dan Paulson

Well, like I said, who doesn't love pizza? That's right. And now you have six football fields of pizza.

[00:14:10.730] - Brian Weavel

And you get to eat all day long.

[00:14:13.810] - Dan Paulson

That is wonderful.

[00:14:15.630] - Brian Weavel

Free products all day long. This is an opportunity for these pizza operators. It is an opportunity for them to everything at one place where especially like, Richard, you're talking about open a pizza place. If you wanted to, you go out there and you find information on every single thing, everything in a pizza place at one spot. You'll eat a lot. I'll tell you a funny story about it because when I judged the first time, my family came out with me. My family treated it like a vacation. We stayed in a hotel. I judged pizzas for four straight days. And on average, I ate 36 pizzas a day. When you're judging, you don't eat a whole piece. So my kids, when I get back at 2:00 in the afternoon, I can feel like, I'm like, Oh, I'm lethargic, carb overload. And then my kids are like, Dan, let's go check out this. Let's go check out this. I'm like, Oh, no, I got to take it easy for a couple hours. But it's such an amazing event. You have to experience it. And Dan, let's do a live thing.

[00:15:23.640] - Dan Paulson

We will have to work that out. We can coordinate that. Brian, thank you again for your time here. This has been a blast. As we say, who doesn't love pizza? This has been a fun conversation. We'll have to get you back on again. That'd be awesome. Talk about business a little bit further and give people some gold nuggets of learning. There you go. But thanks again. And to everyone else, we will see you next time. Take care. Thank you. Take care.