Career entrepreneur and cancer survivor Zak Omar is the owner and CEO of Atomic Wings. He has plans for both international and domestic growth with the New York City-based Buffalo wing chain. Omar’s story is so much more than Buffalo wings. He gets his business chops from his father, an Afghani refugee who started a Wall Street mobile food business before food trucks were popular. Inspired by his dad’s hustle and success, Omar became a multi-unit Dunkin’ franchisee alongside his brother, Ray. The pair then chose to invest in Atomic Wings in 2013. The company’s founder was so impressed by Omar that he turned the company over to him. That same year, Omar’s father passed away and Omar was diagnosed with leukemia. Rather than slow down, Omar used his diagnosis as inspiration to grow his business. Today, the brand has 11 locations open for business in New York and Maryland. There are an additional 16 locations set to open in the near future, including abroad in Abu Dhabi and Southeast Asia and in the U.S. in Nevada and Arizona.
Key Takeaways:
[0:18] Today’s episode of Franchise Euphoria is brought to you by IndyFranchiseLaw.com, a leading resource in the franchise space. Head over to IndyFranchiseLaw.com learn more!
[0:59] Josh introduces today’s guest, Zak Omar.
[2:20] Josh welcomes Zak to Franchise Euphoria.
[2:56] Zak shares about his past franchise experience and what led him to purchase Atomic Wings from the original founder.
[4:56] Zak discusses how some of the other franchise brands he is involved with have changed over the years.
[7:25] Since Zak’s involvement with Atomic Wings, they have grown from two to eleven brick-and-mortar locations.
[8:16] Zak shares about what the experience of visiting an Atomic Wings location is like and describes some of their product offerings.
[10:58] Atomic Wings recently rolled out their new chicken sandwich that can be prepared with any of their wing sauce flavors.
[13:49] Zak touches on how COVID-19 has affected Atomic Wings, especially with many of their locations being in New York City.
[16:26] Zak reflects on some of the lessons he’s learned throughout the pandemic and how he’s changed the way he runs the Atomic Wings franchise system.
[19:28] In Zak’s opinion, the biggest challenge in franchising is finding the right people to join your team.
[22:12] Josh and Zak discuss the pros and cons of using third party delivery services.
[24:36] If you want to learn more about Atomic Wings, visit their website listed below.
[25:05] Thanks for listening, and please, reach out to Josh anytime through email at josh@franchiseeuphoria.com. If you enjoyed this interview, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.
Mentioned in This Episode:
