Five ingredients for good leadership according to Grill’d founder Simon Crowe

The best advice Grill’d founder Simon Crowe ever received was that small businesses with a growth ambition need to grow into their shoes.

The advice was drummed home to him by a former chief financial officer, Crowe tells me from his Melbourne office.

In his view, when you’re growing a business fast you need to get the structure and systems right ahead of the growth curve, otherwise that curve becomes uncontrollable.

As founder and managing director of the burger chain Grill’d, and owner of artisanal chocolate brand Koko Black, Crowe has tested and validated that advice.

Leadership lessons

1.  Get your systems and structure right ahead of the growth curve.

2. Don’t dumb down when you scale up by pursuing growth before quality.

3.  Establish internal programs to help talent rise to the top.

4. Be an ambassador for your brand’s purpose.

5. Don’t abandon your values during challenging periods.

Since launching in Melbourne seventeen years ago, Grill’d has become a highly recognisable burger brand with 145 restaurants.

Artisanal chocolate brand Koko Black, on the other hand, was bought out of administration in 2016. In five years, Crowe has resurrected the business, investing in its factory, hiring new staff and expanding its offering across 14 physical stores and an e-store.

Long before entering the burger game, Crowe knew he wanted to run a consumer-facing business.

Crowe’s pathway to leadership can be tracked back to how much he enjoyed psychology and consumer behaviour subjects at university. 

He took his first job at the multinational consumer goods corporation Procter and Gamble, before leaving to work for an entrepreneur at Davenport Industries, eventually embarking for an international career at Fosters.

“It was the best and worst time I’ve had but the ambition to discover and then establish my own business was never lost,” he says.

About 15 half-finished business plans later, Crowe bought the rights to set up the American toy company Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Next, he united his soon-to-be co-founders Geoff Bainbridge and Simon McNamara to establish the business in Australia.   

“That didn’t happen, and then I found the burger game and invited them to join me on that journey,” he says.  

The burger game

The Grill’d network of 145 restaurants falls under the premium end of Australia’s $8.5 billion burger restaurant industry and has a market share of 4%. 

The 35 franchised and 110 company-owned restaurants are known for their RSPCA-approved chicken burgers, plant-based options, and beer and wine.

Grill’d burgers. Source: Grill’d website

IBISWorld analysts expect industry revenue to rise 1.4% yearly over the next five years, all thanks to the popularity of premium burger products.

Crowe has deliberately steered the business towards ensuring growth is not pursued at the expense of quality.

“I think most businesses, particularly in food, when they scale up, they dumb down,” he says.

Grill’d makes a point to be proud of its menu by guaranteeing that its burgers are made by hand after they’re ordered. And, produce is sourced from quality, artisanal suppliers.

“We’ve always put quality at the pinnacle and therefore it has trumped everything,” he says.

A leadership journey

Crowe describes his career in leadership as an evolving process that shifts as his responsibilities change.  

“I’m on a leadership journey,” he says.

Initially, his approach was focused on mentoring staff on a one-on-one basis. However, more recently administrative duties have dominated his schedule, leaving him with less time for coaching.

Despite the shift, Crowe still views leadership as being about “championing the people of calibre”.

“It’s about being an ambassador for the brand’s purpose, and therefore setting up programs internally to have talent within our restaurants or support office rise to the top,” he says.

But challenges often arise, pulling him away from what he views as the core purpose of his leadership.

“I’ve been trying to fight fires, playing like a wicket keeper behind a wicket keeper.”

Trials of a decentralised business model

One year before the COVID-19 pandemic shook the hospitality industry, Grill’d became the centre of a wage dispute.

A group of employees alleged the company was using government-subsidised traineeships to reduce their hourly pay, and their complaints were investigated by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Asked about that period, Crowe says when disappointing scenarios arise leaders have two pathways they can take.

“Left is put your head in the sand and stand for nothing, right is stay true to your values, your convictions and your beliefs,” he says.

Crowe says he chose to accept the challenges that the dispute brought with it, while never accepting a poor job on the fundamentals.  

It was an example of why a decentralised business with a growth ambition must get processes right from the get-go. 

“You have to put the effort and the capital into investing in those systems early, or it becomes uncontrollable and unsustainable very quickly,” Crowe adds.

From burgers to chocolate

In 2016, Crowe bought Koko Black out of voluntary administration, giving the business a second life.

Under Crowe’s direction, Koko Black expanded its range, upgraded its factory facilities, and recruited a fresh senior management team and head chocolatier.

Koko Black chocolate. Source: Supplied

Crowe has never been ingrained in Koko Black’s daily operations, choosing to direct the business without having any managerial duties.

But his team managed to achieve a 250% increase in online sales in 2019, compared to the previous year.

The business pivoted in March, ramping up its e-commerce channel after its 14 stores faced COVID-19-related closures and restrictions.

And it’s now boosting its presence on online shopping platforms in Asia.

“There’s no doubt now that I have an advisory board now of some really capable and confident people,” Crowe says.