Hunger for success

Bryant Keil was intrigued by a little
sandwich shop in Chicago where he
was a frequent visitor and often stood in lines out the door.

One day, Keil struck up a conversation
with the owner and asked him why he
hadn’t opened more stores, and the
owner told him he
hadn’t met the right
person yet.

Keil spent the
next year convincing the owner to
sell the business.

Everyone who knew
Keil thought he was
taking a big risk because he paid a high
price for it, but he knew there was the
potential for exponential growth.

In fact, he was taking a huge risk — not
just because of the price, but because he
had never owned a restaurant before.

His belief in his concept, coupled with
his confidence in himself and his willingness to do something he’d never done
before, were key to launching Potbelly
Sandwich Works.

Keil funded the first eight stores himself, but then realized that in order to
grow the business, he needed to raise
outside capital.

A meeting with a venture capitalist
ended up putting him in contact with
Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks
and a celebrated entrepreneur renowned
for knowing a good thing when he sees
it.

With the financial backing in place,
Keil has grown Potbelly from one location in Chicago to 150 throughout
Chicagoland, Michigan, Wisconsin,
Minnesota and Washington, D.C.

Although Potbelly is popping up everywhere, Keil is dedicated to preserving
the individuality of each store to keep it
from becoming just another fast-food
chain.

HOW TO REACH: Potbelly Sandwich Works, www.potbelly.com
or (312) 951-0600