“We’re obsessed with Zambrero,” reveals Tamicka Suidgeest, who with childhood friend and franchise partner Dan McAuliffe, has just opened their third Zambrero restaurant and first interstate location at Sunshine Plaza in Maroochydore, Queensland.

The young, dynamic duo are ardent fans of the Mexican-inspired restaurant brand. As teenagers, they got their first taste of Zambrero’s easy operating model at Wagga Wagga, NSW as team members.

“I loved the food and the fast-paced environment,” says Tamicka. Dan agrees. “This is as good as quick service restaurants (QSR) get. We’ve been eating Zambrero six meals a week for 11 years, and I’m still obsessed with the food!”

When given the opportunity to relocate and open Zambrero in Port Macquarie they jumped at it. It was the perfect next step with an attractive low capital investment for the ambitious pair keen to kickstart their business ownership journey.

From best mates to Zambrero multi-site franchise partners

The investment into Port Macquarie proved its value early on, entering the Zambrero restaurant rankings as a high performer since opening. After three years of business growth Dan and Tamicka were ready to repeat the process in neighbouring Lake Innes. And again, in the following months expanding their multi-site ownership interstate with the purchase of Zambrero Sunshine Plaza in Maroochydore, Queensland.

Dan says “I believed if we could do well in Port Macquarie and Lake Innes we could do well here. It has lots of growth potential, it’s an untapped market,” he says.

Tamicka adds, “We want to keep growing the brand and this is our ideal demographic. Zambrero seems to thrive in coastal areas; with people already living a feel good lifestyle and healthier fast-food options continuing to trend upwards it goes hand-in-hand with Zambrero’s brand appeal.”

Collaborative strategy and support enabled growth

The shift to an interstate restaurant brought new challenges. However, Dan and Tamicka had already developed a smart, collaborative approach to expansion.

“We’ve been very fortunate for the opportunities granted to us so naturally we wanted to give our hard-working managers that shared ownership opportunity too. We have three managing shareholders who help run the restaurants day-to-day operations,” says Dan. “It is a great opportunity for them to grow, and we want to grow our business together.”

Ownership gives you a whole different perspective, says Tamicka. “When you walk in and realise ‘I own a piece of this,’ you have a different attitude and perspective” she says.

“The support of Zambrero, particularly in operations, supply chain, systems and marketing, proved invaluable”, says Tamicka. “We had fantastic support from the whole head office, and everyone was so encouraging and confident in our abilities to grow the business,” she says.

Zambrero multi-site franchise opportunities and initiatives

“We’ve found our place; Zambrero is giving us brilliant opportunities to expand,” she adds.

“We’ve come such a long way. When we first went into partnership, we didn’t have a plan or think we would have the capital, but Zambrero offered competitively low capital investment costs and extensive training to get us started” she says.

Dan reveals his grandfather’s tales of entrepreneurship inspired his business mindset. As for Tamicka, “I thought my career would be university and then becoming an employee. I didn’t know ordinary people could do this, I didn’t realise I could be a business owner,” she says. The opportunity to own a Zambrero restaurant, and grow the business to multi-site operations, has served them both well.

About to become a first-time parent, Dan also appreciates the financial freedom and security of being a Zambrero franchise partner. “It’s hard work but the easy operating model provides flexibility and a lower barrier to entry for recruiting team members to support day-to-day operations, that’s ideal for balancing family life,” he says.

And what’s more is their success makes an even greater global impact. “When we started, Zambrero’s Plate 4 Plate initiative was the only initiative in franchising giving back to communities. With a mission to help end world hunger collectively the Zambrero network has already donated 80 million meals to those in need. To date we’re grateful to have personally contributed over 714,000 meals donated through our three restaurants. That was important to us,” Tamicka says. Dan was also lucky enough to go on a Vision Trip to the Philippines, a life changing experience to see the impact of this Plate 4 Plate initiative firsthand, this has cemented his passion in the brand forever.

When asked about their five-year ambition for their Zambrero multi-site franchise business, “I think we could hit double digits,” says Tamicka. “Ten’s a nice even number, which would be amazing!” We see a lot of growth potential in the Sunshine Coast and we’re working closely with head office to see how we fit into that.

“Zambrero is my place,” she says. “I love rolling burritos, there’s no better feeling.”