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Name: Pushpak Patel
Title: Founding Partner
Company: CMG Companies
No. of units: 271 Sonic Drive-In, 160 KFC and Taco Bell, 121 Arby’s, 64 Little Caesars, 40 Ace Hardware, 30 Rent-A-Center, 25 American Freight, 9 Valvoline Instant Oil Change, 1 Dunkin’
Age: 52
Family: Parents, wife, and 2 children
Years in franchising: 25
Years in current position: 18
“We never chase money; we chase the right thing to do in running a business.”
As CEO of Mitra QSR and one of six founding partners of CMG Companies, Pushpak Patel often attributes the group’s success to the close relationships among its partners. Each partner is a first- or second-generation immigrant from India. Though they’re not related, Patel refers to them as his brothers, a reflection of the deep personal bonds that have helped shape the company. Fittingly, “mitra” is the Hindi word for “friend.”
“It is a tight-knit family,” Patel says. “We came here together during the same stages of life, and we’ve experienced the same struggles. We have similar values and work ethics. Money is not the driver. The value system is the driver. The village is important. We never chase money; we chase the right thing to do in running a business.”
After several unsuccessful business ventures early in his career, Patel’s franchise journey began in 2008, when he became a partial owner of a KFC/Taco Bell restaurant in Anna, Texas, with a goal of eventually owning three units. Several years later, Yum! Brands approached Patel and his partner, Manish Patel (no relation), about acquiring four underperforming restaurants. When the pair learned Yum! was selling those stores as part of a 32-location package, they saw an opportunity to go all-in and purchased the entire package.
Patel and Manish Patel moved to Missouri to work alongside their team. Their primary focus was to build a strong company culture. In 2012, the partners expanded their portfolio by purchasing an additional 120 units directly from Yum! Brands.
“At that stage of our growth, acquiring existing restaurants allowed us to create value through stronger operations, leadership, and culture,” Patel says. “It was important for us to be authentic and show our employees how much we care for them. We did that by being there with them and not telling them what to do but rather doing it with them. The customer experience will never exceed the employee experience.”
As Patel and Manish Patel expanded Mitra’s QSR portfolio, they also invested in their friends’ business, the Chalak Restaurant Group, which opened its first Genghis Grill location in 2002 and became the brand’s franchisor two years later. Chalak, in turn, invested in Mitra over the years. In 2014, the two groups formalized their partnership by merging to create CMG Companies. CMG ranks No. 10 on the 2026 Mega 99 Rankings with 577 units and comprises 10 portfolio companies across restaurant, retail, automotive, and other businesses. Mitra QSR operates 160 KFC and Taco Bell locations.
Patel and his longtime brothers in business are focused on continuing the company’s growth while positioning the next generation of leaders for success. The close friendships they forged at the University of Texas at Dallas decades ago have since evolved into a billion-dollar business built on trust, shared vision, and enduring partnership.
First job: I bagged groceries when I was in high school.
Formative influences/events: My parents and grandmother were huge influences along with my wife, kids, and my partners at CMG, who are my close friends from high school and college. We grew up together, learned together, and ultimately built CMG together.
Key accomplishments: Coming from India in 1986 and having the chance to live the American dream through hard work is something I will always be grateful for. Professionally, I am proud of what my partners and I built at CMG. Personally, I am most proud of my family for their unconditional love and support.
Biggest current challenge: Navigating change. Consumers, costs, technology, and capital markets are all moving quickly. You cannot control the environment, but you can control how fast you see it, decide, and respond.
Next big goal: To “fill the boat” by helping the next generation of CMG leaders achieve financial freedom and giving all the CMG kids the tools and opportunities to create their own success. We want to develop leaders who think like owners, understand capital, operate well, and can take CMG and its culture further than we did. If the next generation is more successful than we are, then we did our job.
First turning point in your career: Entering franchising with KFC and Taco Bell in 2008 alongside people I trusted. That decision changed the trajectory of my life and career.
Best business decision: Doing business with my partners at CMG. People say don’t do business with friends or family. I disagree because when real trust already exists, you don’t have to manufacture it.
Hardest lesson learned: Know when to let go. If something isn’t working, don’t become a prisoner of hope.
Work week: Entrepreneurship does not come with office hours. I stay available and use nights and weekends to think and prepare. The early bird gets the worm. I like to get there before the bird wakes up.
Exercise/workout: One of the reasons I’d love to meet Warren Buffett is to ask for his workout plan. I have a feeling it’s finally one I could follow.
Best advice you ever got: My grandmother said it far more colorfully, but the lesson was simple: “Take care of your own business before trying to take care of everyone else’s.”
What’s your passion in business? Becoming the best at what we do. Whatever CMG gets into, if we’re going to do it, let’s do it very well or don’t do it at all.
How do you balance life and work? Still working on that one. My goal is to free up more time for the people I care about and for myself.
Guilty pleasure: Wine.
Favorite book: Good to Great by Jim Collins.
Favorite movie: A Bollywood movie, “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.”
What do most people not know about you? I really like time to myself.
Pet peeve: When someone says, “It’ll only take five minutes.”
What did you want to be when you grew up? A business owner and entrepreneur.
Last vacation: Mexico with my extended family in the summer of 2026.
Person you’d most like to have lunch with: Warren Buffett and the late, great Charlie Munger.
Business philosophy: I run the company with data and lead people with my heart.
Management method or style: Explain the why, involve your people, and take people with you.
Greatest challenge: Communication. Communication isn’t what you say; it’s what people hear.
How do others describe you? Meticulous and detail oriented—probably sometimes more than they’d like.
Have you ever been in a mentor-mentee relationship? What did you learn? Absolutely, especially with my partners at CMG. We’ve all been mentors and mentees to each other, and the biggest lesson is simple: keep learning.
One thing you’re looking to do better: Use my time more wisely.
How you give your team room to innovate and experiment: Set the goal, explain the why, establish the guardrails, and let them figure out the how.
How close are you to operations? Very close. CMG was built by operators, and I still want to know what is really happening in the business, not just what the report says. But scale also requires great leaders and trusting them to lead.
What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor? Partnership and support. The best systems understand that franchisor and franchisee interests are aligned. Franchisees need healthy unit economics and the tools to succeed, and brands need strong operators who invest in the long-term health of the system.
What you need from vendors: Partnership and support. Both sides need to make money. Singles and doubles are welcome. Home runs at the other side’s expense are not.
Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy? How? Our brands establish the broader strategy, and many have placed greater emphasis on value as consumers have become more selective. Locally, we use targeted digital marketing to make our marketing dollars work harder.
How is social media affecting your business? Tremendously. Marketing has always been about going where the customer is, and today, the customer is on their phone.
In what ways are you using technology (like AI) to manage your business? Every way we can. I use AI almost like another member of my team. It helps us eliminate repetitive work, analyze data faster, spot issues, and make better decisions sooner.
How do you hire and fire? Hire slow, fire fast.
How do you train and retain? Train people until they’re great at what they do and retain them with a culture they want to be part of.
How do you deal with problem employees? Give them the tools and opportunity to improve, but do not chase them. I would rather spend time making our best people even better.
Fastest way into your doghouse: Lying. Make a mistake, and we can fix it; lie to me, and you’ve broken the trust.
Annual revenue: $1 billion-plus.
Goals over the next year: Make the company stronger. Better operations, stronger leaders, healthier businesses, disciplined capital allocation, and being ready when the right opportunities arise. AI and data are also a major focus. The faster we can turn information into decisions and decisions into execution, the better operators we will be.
Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? By the strength of CMG’s foundation and the quality of our people.
Vision meter: Where do you want to be in five years? 10 years? In five years, I want the next level of leaders taking greater ownership. In 10 years, I want the next generation defining CMG’s next chapter.
Do you have brands in different segments? Why/why not? Absolutely. Diversification gives us resilience because different businesses move through economic cycles differently.
How is the economy in your region(s) affecting you, your employees, your customers? Everything costs more. Customers have less to spend, employees’ paychecks do not go as far, and our businesses cost more to operate. We must stay affordable, take care of our people, and remain profitable.
Are you experiencing economic growth in your market? It varies by market, industry, and brand. Different businesses and markets move through economic cycles differently, which is one reason we believe in diversification.
How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business? We adapt. You cannot control the economy, but you can control how quickly you respond.
How do you forecast for your business? Very carefully. At our scale, we have had to become a data and technology company in how we operate. We use data to forecast sales, food, labor, and other key parts of the business. AI helps us identify patterns and turn that data into better decisions faster.
What are the best sources for capital expansion? There is no single best source. The right capital depends on the opportunity, risk, and return. We match the right capital with the right opportunity.
Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other institutions? Why/why not? Yes to all. The best capital relationships are true partnerships with people who understand our business and strategy.
What are you doing to take care of your employees? Money matters but so does culture. We offer healthcare options, free life insurance and telehealth, and a 401(k) with company match. We also invest heavily in training, development, recognition, and advancement.
How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)? By focusing on what we can control: sales, waste, productivity, and technology. We simply need to become better business owners.
What laws and regulations are affecting your business, and how are you dealing with them? Operating across more than 40 states creates complexity. Our job is to understand the rules, invest in the right systems and people, train well, and operate responsibly.
How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees? Recognition is a big part of our culture. Every year, we take our restaurant general managers and above store leaders to Cancun. Last year, more than 300 people joined us. I believe in travel and experiences. People may forget the amount of a bonus check, but they remember the trip they earned, the places they saw, and the people they shared it with.
What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? For me, the exit is not about exiting CMG. It is about eventually stepping out of the day-to-day and knowing the next generation is ready to take it further.