DNAI Engineering
Scaling before the AI era · Restaurant chain · 5 years

Karate Sushi: a franchise from scratch, 8 profitable franchisees and revenue ×10

The Karate Sushi restaurant chain case: how to build a franchise from scratch and grow revenue tenfold in five years. We introduced a management system of 20 tools, standardized purchasing, storage, cooking and serving, packaged and launched the franchise — and all eight franchisees reached net profit.

Published · Breakdown by Anton Ro Baten

Case at a glance

Company
Karate Sushi, a sushi restaurant chain
Scale
Own restaurants, no franchise at the start
Request
A management system, revenue and net profit growth, packaging and launching a franchise
Timeline
5 years
Status
Project completed
  • ×10
    revenue in 5 years
  • 8
    franchisees in net profit
  • 20
    management tools across all functions

Point A: where they started

  • No franchise — only the company’s own restaurants.
  • Kitchen and service processes were not standardized.
  • The goal: a management system and growth in revenue and net profit.

What we did

  1. A management system

    20 tools across all business functions.

  2. Standards

    Purchasing, storage, cooking and serving; menu, kitchen, service.

  3. Manager training

    A system that brings restaurant managers up to the standard.

  4. The franchise

    From the brand book to operating standards: the legal structure and a royalty model.

  5. Franchisee support

    Every franchisee was supported up to break-even.

Point B: results

MetricResult
Revenue×10 in 5 years
Franchisees0 → 8 — all in net profit
Management tools20 across all functions

Takeaways for your business

  1. A franchise starts with standards: until purchasing, kitchen and service are written down, there is nothing to sell.
  2. A franchisee becomes profitable when they are supported to break-even, not just sold a brand.
  3. Manager training is what makes the standard repeatable at every location.

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