Nelson Lang - The Founder of Pita Pit

Nelson Lang is the Founder of Pita Pit, a quick-service restaurant with over 600 locations worldwide. Nelson founded the company in his late twenties and built it into the massive franchise restaurant brand it is today before selling the company to Foodtastic in 2021. With no intention of retiring, Nelson bought Lightcaster Brewery and is now the managing partner. Listen in as Nelson shares his story all the way from getting kicked out of the house in grade 11, owning his first restaurant at 21, to founding Pita Pit and turning it into a global success.

Chapters:

1:00 - Childhood and Early Years

3:00 - Nelson's First Restaurant

9:00 - Kingston Restaurant Market

13:00 - First Customer

15:00 - Franchising and Expansion

20:00 - First Competitor

25:00 - Work Hours

28:00 - Pita Pit Adversity and Financial Trouble

31:00 - New Venture: Light Caster Brewery

34:00 - International Franchising

36:00 - Fraud Pita Pit in Korea

38:00 - What makes a good Franchisee?

41:00 - Partners and Ownership

44:00 - Restaurant Industry Finances

48:00 - Advice to Aspiring Entrepreneurs

53:00 - When the switch flipped to become an Entrepreneur

55:00 - Career Paths out of University

58:00 - Competition

1:00:00 - Fear of Failure and Perseverance

1:02:00 - Family Owned Business's

1:05:00 - Selling Pita Pit

1:08:00 - Nelson's New Venture

1:14:00 - Nelson's First Jobs

1:15:00 - Being the Boss

1:16:00 - Final Takeaways and Advice