The people who doubted the concept of Raising Cane's motivated company founder and co-CEO Todd Graves to turn his idea into a successful business, Graves recently said.
"Every one of those nos fired me up that much more," he said on YouTube talk show “Hustle Meals.”
Much of the opposition was due to the chain's small menu consisting of chicken fingers, French fries, coleslaw, and Texas toast. Graves pitched the idea in his college business class, but the professor said the limited options left him susceptible to the "veto vote," and that he should add more items.
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"The professor just lost the fact that people love craveable food," Graves said. "Serving craveable food that you can execute on a great level every day is always going to be a success."
His desire to prove his doubters wrong paid off. Raising Cane's is the third highest-selling chicken restaurant behind Popeyes and Chick-Fil-A, according to industry publication QSR Magazine.
The Chicken Finger Bible
Raising Cane's menu wasn't the only thing Graves had figured out by the time he proposed the idea to his college business professor.
"I knew what aprons would cost to get cleaned," he said on "Hustle Meals." "I wrote the Bible on chicken fingers."
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Despite his thoroughness, Graves received the worst grade in the class because the professor thought the small number of menu options wouldn't work.
"I didn't let it deflate me," he said. "That first no, it just fired me and I used it as fuel."
He took the business plan and pitched it to several banks in an effort to secure a loan to open his first location, only to have the bankers echo his professor's remarks.
"You want to serve just chicken fingers?" he recalled them saying.
Raising money in Alaska
Not everybody doubted Graves' idea. He convinced the landlord of a property near the north gates of Louisiana State University to hold the space for a year while he raised money.
"I just knew I needed to make as much money as I could," Graves said on "Hustle Meals."
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Unable to secure a bank loan, he worked as a boilermaker in oil refineries and on Alaskan fishing boats. The people he worked with at those jobs were one of the first to tell him his restaurant idea would be successful and also helped him out with small investments, he said.
Building up Raising Cane's
The small investments from coworkers and other friends was instrumental in allowing Graves to open the first Raising Cane's in 1996, he said on "Hustle Meals."
Graves never intended on opening multiple locations, but his plans changed when he opened his second restaurant and noticed people other than college students started buying his food on a regular basis.
"That's when I got the fire to really grow it," he said.
Raising Cane's now has nearly 1,000 locations worldwide and is in every state except four.
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Image: Shutterstock
