How to reinvent franchising with tech and transparency

Within the next few months, Dodo Pizza will come to Belarus. We’ll open eight pizzerias at once—seven in Minsk and one more in Brest. The first Dodo Pizza is scheduled to open in the capital on September 15. All these Dodo Pizzas will be launched at the locations that used to belong to Sbarro.

Vadim Tkachuk has become our first partner in Belarus. Vadim is a co-owner of the companies that managed Burger King and Sbarro in his country. A few months ago, he decided to change Sbarro over to Dodo Pizza. Within the next five years, Vadim’s company is planning to open at least 29 Dodo Pizza shops in Minsk, Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno, and Mogilev. Also, we’re actively looking for new franchisees in other cities.

All of the Sbarro restaurants were located on busy streets downtown or in popular trade malls. Now they are all closed for reconstruction. They will be completely rebuilt. Everything will be changed: equipment, design, recipes. Now Vadim Tkachuk’s team and our managers are working together around the clock to get fully prepared for launching that many stores at the same time.

That’s what the Sbarro pizza shops looked like. Soon, they all will be replaced with Dodo pizzerias.

By the way, I’ll be in Minsk on September 29 while taking part in a forum called “Business of the Future.”