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On his first day within the restaurant enterprise, Andrew Ok. Smith was the dishwasher.
Not the investor. Not the strategist. Not the man fixing tech stacks or analyzing labor margins. Simply the man on the sink, scrubbing trays, rinsing off sheet pans.
It wasn’t precisely what he had pictured when he instructed his spouse he was prepared for a brand new problem.
Right now, Smith is the managing associate and co-founder of Savory Fund, a restaurant funding agency identified for serving to manufacturers scale nationally. However earlier than the boardrooms and portfolios, he began the place few buyers do: behind the dish pit.
Rewind a 12 months. His spouse had launched a bakery, a fast-casual dessert idea that opened in the midst of the 2008 monetary crash. Smith, nonetheless deep in his tech CEO position, did not precisely love the thought. “In my thoughts, I am like, that is the worst concept,” he now admits. “However what I responded? I used to be like, ‘I believe it is an incredible concept. After all. And we must always completely try this.'”
It wasn’t sarcasm. It was marriage. And, as he places it, “due to that, I simply celebrated my twenty sixth anniversary.”
Associated: His Sushi Burger Acquired 50 Million Views — and Launched an Whole Enterprise
Quick-forward a 12 months, and his firm was secure. The bakery was bustling. And Smith was able to do one thing new. One thing much less theoretical. One thing actual. He referred to as his spouse and stated, “I believe I need to come be part of you within the restaurant enterprise.”
Her reply? “Excellent. My dishwasher simply referred to as out.”
In order that’s how Smith, a man who had offered firms, raised hundreds of thousands and constructed tech startups, walked away from the boardroom and stepped straight into the dish pit.
No enterprise playing cards. No title. Simply cleaning soap, steam and a head-first dive into restaurant life. It wasn’t glamorous, but it surely was the start. And ultimately, it led to the creation of Savory Fund.
How storytelling grew to become a progress technique
In case your restaurant would not have a story, it would not have a model. That is Smith’s philosophy, and it is baked into every thing Savory Fund does. Earlier than the techniques, funding and progress playbook, there’s the story. Who’re you? Why do you exist? And why ought to anybody care?
“Storytelling is what galvanizes your client together with your model,” Smith says. “If you cannot clarify your goal, it is a fairly hole enterprise.”
At Savory, storytelling is not fluff. It is foundational. It shapes how a model communicates, hires, markets, scales and builds tradition. From social media presence to inner coaching, it is the thread that holds every thing collectively.
However make no mistake. Savory is greater than a storytelling store. It is a severe progress engine.
The agency combines greater than $750 million in belongings below administration with a confirmed operational playbook developed over 16 years within the restaurant business. Savory companions with high-potential, worthwhile, rising restaurant manufacturers and offers them greater than capital. It gives hands-on help with operations, actual property, advertising, techniques and coaching.
Savory’s workforce of greater than 85 individuals contributes on to all points of progress. The aim is not only enlargement, however sustainable replication. Founder involvement is a should. The early success of a restaurant typically hinges on instincts and insights that solely the founder can clarify. Savory helps translate that into scalable techniques with out dropping what made the model matter within the first place.
It is a deeply private mission for Smith. His spouse, Shauna Ok. Smith, serves as CEO of Savory Fund and leads the cost on model help and growth. Collectively, they’ve constructed an organization that does not simply put money into eating places. It invests within the individuals who make them work.
Household has at all times been central to that strategy.
When his sons have been youthful, Smith introduced them into his world — taking calls on the best way to soccer follow, asking what they observed and discovered. It wasn’t a balancing act between work and life. It was an intentional mix, designed to make each extra significant.
That mindset carries into how Savory works with founders. Enterprise needs to be private. And the perfect manufacturers do not simply serve meals. They serve a goal.
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