I changed the rules for allowing people to buy into my system as a franchisee. I explained in detail how tough running a Jimmy John's can be. I explained the long hours, the unforgiving weather, the late nights, the weekends, and all of the sacrifices that go along with the industry. I made it tough for people to get into the system.
— Jimmy John Liautaud
I think the kids that struggle are way more prepared for real life.
God bless the U.S. court system.
My team and I are excited to bring to our new partners at Roark the same energy and commitment to excellence that helped make our partnership with Weston Presidio so successful.
You can't forget where you came from.
I could sell more franchises than I'm selling right now, but we're pretty deliberate about where we're going.
I think my service is better than my food... I focus so much on the service.
We have more franchisees that want to pay us money than we have locations to go into.
I think I'm in the service business. I mean, our sandwiches are pretty good; I don't know if they're extraordinary. But our service is.
I was a bit of a rebel.
Customer loyalty comes from consistent experience. They learn to count on you.
I've always liked food - a lot.
Government intervention only hurts; it doesn't help.
Could we grow faster? Yes. But I don't want to be the biggest. I want to be the best at what I do.
I was absolutely blessed. And I'm really fortunate that my parents were there for me. And I hope that I can give back to society the way they have and the way - I just - I was very fortunate.
We offer an extremely controlled, disciplined, and completely systematic franchise package.
We will continue to pursue anybody who violates our franchise covenants, trade agreements, or anything, for that matter, that is ours.
My dad was the guy who wanted to teach a man to fish. He was very, very curious, right up until the day he died. He was insatiable for information. He was the pursuit of awesome.
I was at this fancy school, and I felt out of place, so I rebelled.
I'm so genuine about what I do and how I want to do it, and I get anxiety when I'm pressured from the outside.
I'm a good operator: good with food and good with math.
Jimmy John's is what it is. We strive for a consistent experience that is consistently good.
My college options were nil.
My airplanes are necessary machines, as necessary to this business as our meat slicers.
I wanted all my stores to be the same, to offer the same customer experience, whether I was there or not.
My customers come and go, cycle in and out. They eat others' foods, too. It's cool. They move on, and they come back. My quality, in food and execution, speaks for itself.
Money has no feelings.
I don't hunt big African game anymore.
When I see kids who naturally get A's and who naturally score high on tests and the teachers naturally like them because they require the least amount of management - when they come out into the real world, I find they're very poor at getting through obstacles. And life is about solving obstacles.
We want a system that creates the same exact sandwich, very rapidly and very consistently, every single time.
NASCAR is Freaky Fast, just like Jimmy John's.
If you're going to do a job, do it right. If you're going to throw a birthday party, make it amazing. If you're going to do anything, do it awesome.
I don't think my wheelhouse is comfortable in Wall Street. My wheelhouse is small-town America.
As soon as I go to Wall Street, my customer - all of a sudden, I'm working for people that don't know me. They don't know how much I love what I do.
We're not going to be the fastest-growing or the biggest. I think there's plenty of room for a little old sandwich shop like ours.
I've never offered coupons or deals. I'm not fancy enough to do soup or salads, hot breakfasts, or smoothies.
I loved the taste and smell of Chicago hot dogs.
It's so difficult to make the money we produce at Jimmy John's.
You have to live in reality: not in what might happen but what is happening.
We deliver. We are consistent. Customers trust us. Our restaurants are cleaner than most. Our meats are natural, the bread is best in class, the chips are best in class, and we are a group of very systemized and disciplined operators.
I assumed when I was first selling the franchises that everyone would be as excited as I was to wake up in the morning to bake bread and slice vegetables.
I choose to hunt, and I choose to fish. Everything I've done has been totally legal.
