Franchisee Spotlight: Cliff Sadowsky

Cliff Sadowsky
BWW Hedwig Village, LLC                           

Partner(s): Steve Chappelear
Year Became a BWW Franchisee: 2000
Total Number of BWW Locations: 5
Total Number of Employees: 275

How did you and your partner meet? 

He was a franchisee before I was – he was the first franchisee in Houston – and I was investigating franchising opportunities and visited with him.

What drew you to the brand?

It looked like a fun, casual atmosphere where people could come and have good entertainment at a reasonable price. It was a sports atmosphere, which I was interested in. If I was going to have ownership in something, I wanted it to be sports-related.

What is your favorite thing about the brand?

My favorite thing about Buffalo Wild Wings^® is the atmosphere and the fact that people of all ages can and do come there. It’s not geared to just one type of person – it is accepted by young, old, everything in between and people of both sexes. It has got a very large demographic of people who will go there.

What are your current top three business goals?

To operate the business at the highest possible standards, to be a partner in the community for making the community a better place, and to always to be as profitable as possible and to create a business that is as valuable as we can make it.

What is the best business advice you have received?

The best business advice I ever received was from an executive vice president at a company I worked for before I franchised. He told me that I am entrepreneurial in nature and that I should follow that at some point in my life. He saw something back when I was much, much younger and felt it was appropriate to say that to me.

Describe the biggest industry change since you started.

I think that there is a tremendous amount of new competition whether it be local players, regional players or national players, and competition isn’t just wing places or sports places – it’s casual dining options who give people things in a similar price range as us that make it challenging for us to grow.

Describe your current biggest challenge as a franchisee.

The biggest challenge as a franchisee is to develop and retain talent to execute the business model at the highest level on a consistent basis.

What is your favorite BWW wing sauce?

Probably spicy garlic.

If I weren’t a franchisee, I would be

… A CPA. I am a CPA.