Wing It On!’s Matt Ensero on Finding Success Through Patience and People

On today’s episode of the Brick and Mortar Reborn podcast, Bobby speaks with Matt Ensero, President and Founder of Wing It On!, a fast casual concept focusing on serving authentic buffalo wings for takeout or dine-in. They discuss Matt's journey from pivoting from a career in finance and sales to bootstrapping a "wing joint for wing nuts" — and why slow, patient growth was the key to Wing It On!'s success. They also discuss how Wing It On! leverages technology to enhance the customer experience and improve order accuracy, how to hire the best operators for your business, and the necessity of experiencing what your customers are experiencing.

Topics discussed:

• Matt's journey to founding Wing It On!, going from a "fanatical chicken wing eater" as a teenager, to making his own wings on game day, to pivoting from a career in finance and sales to open a "wing joint for wing nuts."
• How Wing It On! scaled to 13 locations and recently completed a merge with Craveworthy Brands — but did so through slow and steady growth to ensure they got things right at every step.
• How Matt attributes Wing It On!’s success to being patient in scaling, and finding the right people who are passionate and have skill sets that fill in the gaps.
• How Wing It On! creates great experiences for their customers through sports content, music, self-service kiosks, and a focus on order accuracy and quality.
• The challenges Matt faced in the early days of developing his restaurant concept, and the challenges Wing It On! faced and overcame during COVID.
• How Wing It On! utilizes technology to create their in-location experiences, and how they're experimenting with automated AI phone ordering to get customer orders correct.
• Advice for those opening new restaurants, and why experiencing what your customers are experiencing is key.