Codi Bates truly does it all. It’s been 17 years since she and her husband Simon launched the Burger Stand. The neighborhood joint became a staple in their little corner of Lawrence, Kansas. And soon, it became the flagship establishment in a growing enterprise. Today, as Bates Co., Codi and Simon also run Taco Zone, Bon Bon, and Cider Gallery.
They also moved into the retail space once they saw just how popular their trademark sauces at the Burger Stand had become. This led to the founding of the Parallel Sauce company. (Sidenote: We love the retro-future vibe of their site.)
Meanwhile, Codi is also an Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) board member as well as a founding board member of the Lawrence Restaurant Association, a James Beard Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership Fellow and a Chef Boot Camp alumnus. So obviously, the big question is, how does she find the time for it all? We just had to know, so we invited Codi to share the whole story with co-hosts Claudia Saric and Spencer Michiel on the most recent episode of So You Want To Run a Restaurant.
Homeward Bound
The story begins more than 500 miles from home. As she recalled, “Simon was working crazy hours in Chicago as a fine-dining chef at a large catering company. I was a student slash barista and sandwich maker. I didn't know what I wanted to do.”
“Then we had an opportunity to move back to Kansas, where we're both from, to run a catering company and be closer to our family,” Codi told us. “I was 22, so we were like, ‘Let's go back to Kansas and figure it out!’”
Unfortunately, that opportunity proved extremely fleeting. As they packed the moving van for their return home, they learned that the catering company would soon be shutting down permanently. The owner hired them to help close down the business. That gave Codi and Simon one month to come up with a new gig.
Pop-Up Business Management 101
“So we hatched a plan to do a gourmet pop-up burger spot until we could figure it out,” recalled Codi. “This was the beginning of 2009. Gourmet burgers were a thing on the coasts and in the big cities. They weren't quite as big in Lawrence. And so that was a fun thing for us to bring back to Kansas.”
It also wasn’t necessarily the long-term plan for Codi and Simon. As she told us, they benefitted from their contacts at the catering company and cooked up an extremely affordable startup concept.
“There was this Irish pub that had a kitchen they weren't using,” said Codi “We scrubbed it and cleaned it, and with about $2,500, we flipped on the hood. I had my little cash register that I programmed, and we sold 52 burgers the first day."
Five Takeaways From Our Chat With Codi Bates
They never looked back. At 52 burgers a day, Codi and Simon figured that they could at least make enough to stay afloat. And then, Codi noted, “It grew fast. We're a college town, so everyone goes downtown. It was one street off at the time, and it was this quiet thing that people just knew about from word of mouth.” .
That local buzz proved enough to get the Burger Stand off to a fast start. And, Codi pointed out, this was before the omnipresence of social media marketing. As she told us, “we had a lot of luck at the beginning, and then, very quickly, so much hard work, so much blood, sweat and tears went into keeping it sustainable for so long.”
“Did we plan it all out? We didn't. We chased it and we have been chasing it ever since,” Codi explained. Check out our podcast above for the play-by-play. And read on for the highlight reel.
1. Finding the Secret Sauce
Codi pointed out that their new pop-up was hardly the first good burger joint in the area. But they found quick success by putting their own spin on a familiar concept. Naturally, it starts with quality ingredients. As Codi explained, “We have half-pound patties. Everything's made from scratch, and we sourced really great buns.”
The focus on producing gourmet burgers does set the Burger Stand apart. But Codi said that the real secret to their success is their sauce. She credits Simon for this formula.
“Simon's favorite station in any of the places he worked was Saucier. So our sauce bar is really popular,” Codi told us. “Think of really delicious, innovative sauces to go on burgers and fries. It was really a niche thing at the time. And I think everybody was ready for it.”
2. Chasing the Wave of Success
Codi and Simon wasted absolutely no time seizing the moment. They may have started without a plan, but they were quick to jump at opportunities for expansion as they arose. Naturally, this approach came with plenty of learning experiences. Codi explained that “we've been growing and shrinking and growing and shrinking ever since, which has been a learning experience in itself.”
“We opened our next concept in tandem with a second burger stand location. It's no longer around, but we opened another concept that was similar to gourmet burgers,” Codi told us. It was a counter-service taco shop in a historic spot on our downtown Main Street. So we had three restaurants within the first two years of operating.”
They were also newlyweds and new homeowners in the midst of a major restoration project, all of which Codi admits was crazy. But, she told us, “we really chased the wave. A lot of it was consumer-driven. We also had a lot of staff and people that were really excited for new opportunities so after four months of operating, we asked ourselves what else we could be doing.”
3. Taking Care of Your People
With this question in mind, Codi and Simon quickly parlayed their success into their own space. The Burger Stand moved out of the Irish Pub kitchen after just a few months in operation. As their business grew, Codi developed a very thoughtful approach to staff management. She recognized that her team members were vital to the success of this growing business, and she was determined to reward these contributions with fair pay.
“We all need to make sure that we're distributing that profit and wealth through employee salaries,” Codi explained. “And as we've grown – it hasn’t always been easy but we have really tried a lot of different things to make sure that our staff is making a livable wage.”
“We've really had our eye on what an aggregated wage looks like,” Cody explained, “So we do what we call a guaranteed wage, which is a base wage with tips”
4. Connecting With the Community
Codi acknowledged that bringing something new to the local food scene in Lawrence, Kansas was a bit of a risk. On the one hand, there really was an opening in the marketplace for a gourmet burger. On the other hand, were consumers in Lawrence prepared for the elevated ingredients and pricing of a gourmet burger?
It turned out they were. Codi attributed a lot of this success to the connection between her restaurants and the community around her. She explained “that for every dollar that's spent at a small, independent restaurant, 85 to 95% of that dollar is going back into the community. That’s a huge impact.”
Codi and Simon’s customers seem to understand and appreciate this impact. Locals have shown a willingness to try new ingredients and, even more importantly, they’ve shown a willingness to pay a premium for the experience.
5. Mastering the Tech
Of course, a lot has changed since Codi and Simon launched that first burger stand. But Codi estimated that the biggest change is the role of technology in her operation.
“I’m surprised by how much I know about plumbing and tech systems,” Codi told us. “Our POS, printer, kitchen displays. I'm really proud that I’ve been able to solve a lot of these little things on the fly.”
Codi explained that understanding how to use, troubleshoot, and take advantage of the technology can actually be extremely empowering for her as a business owner. As she told us, “I feel like a superhero when I can swoop in and just fix a tech issue because everyone else is head-down, working, but also dealing with this problem. It’s my favorite thing to support the team.”
Mastering The Right Tech For Your Operation
Is your team getting all the support it needs? Today, we have access to all kinds of amazing, advanced solutions for streamlining workflow, improving efficiency, and reducing waste in the kitchen. But the right combination of solutions is different for every restaurant.
For all the tools and tech you’ll need to start or grow your business, schedule your free, personalized consultation with one of our in-house restaurant tech experts and we’ll figure it out together.
