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How restaurant investment firm leader Lauren Fernandez aims to support small businessesHow restaurant investment firm leader Lauren Fernandez aims to support small businesses

Through her firm Full Course, Fernandez is supporting those independent businesses that lack the resources to grow.

Sam Oches, Editor in Chief

July 13, 2023

1 Min Read
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Most restaurateurs dream of expanding their businesses, whether through new sales channels or additional locations. But many lack the resources necessary for growth, from education to leadership to capital.

Lauren Fernandez wants to change that. Formerly the general counsel for Focus Brands and franchisee with Chicken Salad Chick, Fernandez launched her investment firm Full Course in 2020 as a way to offer both capital and educational resources to small business leaders who are struggling to scale their concepts.

Fernandez joined the latest episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches to talk about this mission and what emerging restaurateurs should be doing today to prepare themselves for an investment partner.

In this conversation, you’ll learn why:

  • Training in your restaurants gives you a foundation to know what the brand needs

  • Servant leaders don’t talk about doing the work — they just do the work

  • Leaders should seize the moment to invest in themselves

  • Most American restaurants are independents who just need resources to get to the next level

  • Global fast casuals are the category to bet on

  • You never know where the next best idea for your brand is going to come from

  • If you’re looking for capital, prepare by having clean books and a clear purpose

Contact Sam Oches at [email protected].

About the Author

Sam Oches

Editor in Chief

Sam Oches is an award-winning Editorial Director with Informa Connect Foodservice and editor in chief of Nation's Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality. A graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, Sam previously served as Editorial Director of Food News Media, publisher of QSR and FSR magazines. He’s a past president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC) and a past board member with the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE). His foodservice insights have been shared in national media outlets such as the New York Times, USA Today, National Public Radio, and CNBC. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife and three kids.

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