A Hometown Business: Space Cowboy gets "Knee-Deep In The Pizza Dough"

Name: Bill Aseere
Title: CEO
Company: Space Cowboys Restaurant Group
No. of units by brand: 17 Donatos Pizza, 3 Guthrie's Chicken, 2 Whit's Frozen Custard
Age: 41
Family: Wife Sara, stepdaughter Caitlyn, 25, daughter Brooke, 12, son Bryson, 12
Years in franchising: 8
Years in current position: 8

Bill Aseere transitioned from a teenage dishwasher to the largest Dontaos Pizza operator. He has spent his entire career in the restaurant industry and drawn on that experience to build a multi-brand operation that includes three brands in his hometown of Cincinnati.

Aseere began working at LaRosa’s Pizzeria when he was 14 and enjoyed the experience so much that he continued with the company in various roles for the next 17 years. He eventually felt the entrepreneurial itch and partnered with two lifelong friends to start Space Cowboys Restaurant Group. They started with Donatos Pizza before adding Guthrie’s Chicken and Whit’s Frozen Yogurt. The group currently operates more than 20 franchise locations.

“It has always been about relationships in the restaurant industry,” Aseere says. “That is with our employees, vendors, customers, and community partners. It is very rewarding to be involved with them. I am a type A personality and like to be in control. I guess I was destined to be an entrepreneur. Vision, ideas, and leadership are all parts of my innate drive. I pursued that several years ago and haven’t looked back.”

While many multi-unit franchisees may own units across several states or regions, all of Aseere’s franchises are within 30 miles of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It is a strategic decision to make an impact within the market and be a part of the community.

“I feel like we are combining the consistency of the products and services of a national franchise with also having a local presence,” he says. “We are committed to our staff and the involvement we have in the community. We’ve had opportunities to expand outside our region but have continued in our desire to stay local.”

Looking ahead, Aseere plans to continue to grow his franchise group and anticipates another 20 years in the role with the possibility of one day getting his children involved in the business.

PERSONAL

First job: I started working at LaRosa’s Pizzeria as a dishwasher when I was 14. 

Formative influences/events: I had the opportunity to do the work-study program in high school at Covington Catholic High School, which taught me at a young age about hard work and follow through. It also gave me the opportunity to go to a great school that provided an education and a work ethic that has translated into success as an adult.

Key accomplishments: Family-first leader, largest Donatos franchise partner, a member of the Independence, Kentucky, City Council for eight years, and VP of franchise development for Whit’s Frozen Custard Corporate.

Biggest current challenge: Combating inflation. The restaurant industry in particular faces rising prices on products along with increased wages for labor. Pay is becoming more competitive, and we have to keep up with these changes. 

Next big goal: Continue growing the Whit’s franchise in Cincinnati and beyond.

First turning point in your career: I worked at LaRosa’s for 17 years and knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I decided to leave that job in 2015 and partner with two lifelong friends to form Space Cowboys Restaurant Group. We started with a Donatos Pizza franchise. 

Best business decision: Going into business with my best friend since kindergarten, Mike Ash.

Hardest lesson learned: Trust but verify. I once gave blind trust to a manager and later learned he was stealing from the business I was overseeing. 

Work week: As an entrepreneur, there is no answer to this question. No week ever looks the same. I support the team whenever and however they need me. It is something I enjoy. I like to say I get knee-deep in the pizza dough. It keeps me feeling like I know what is going on in the stores on a daily basis and helps me understand the perspective of our employees.

Exercise/workout: Walk nightly with my wife. It gives us time to talk about anything and catch up on life.

Best advice you ever got: “Take the best and leave the rest.” I have worked with many great mentors and influential people in my 25-plus years in the workforce. A mentor of mine told me once to take the best attributes in business leaders and leave behind anything you don’t like in regards to how they handle their businesses.

What’s your passion in business? My passion is to provide a life for my family that I didn’t have growing up. My work ethic is relentless. I am driven by opportunity and financial freedom.

How do you balance life and work? Family comes first, so that’s an easy one for me. If I don’t have family obligations, work always takes priority. 

Guilty pleasure: Playing poker.

Favorite book: Start with Why by Simon Sinek.

Favorite movie: “Rounders” and “Bad Boys.”

What do most people not know about you? I was born in Florida, and I want to live in Florida again. I just have to convince my wife. 

Pet peeve: I am a really good listener, so when people don’t listen, it frustrates me.

What did you want to be when you grew up? FBI agent.

Last vacation: I went to the CMA Fest in Nashville in June. 

Person you’d most like to have lunch with: Michael Jordan.

MANAGEMENT

Business philosophy: Be a people-first leader. I make sure I am constantly available to my team through calls, emails, and messages. I serve my team and care about them as employees and as people. I always want to see how I can help them.

Management method or style: Lead from the front. Be present in locations and help when needed.

Greatest challenge: Finding loyalty with employees. It can be difficult to find good employees in the restaurant industry. Many people view it as a stepping stone job instead of a career. It can also have a negative stigma with long hours and rude customers. Our goal is to hire talented and loyal employees and build a strong culture. 

How do others describe you? A hard-working, driven leader who is relentless and always thinking about the next opportunity.

Have you ever been in a mentor-mentee relationship? What did you learn? I have had plenty of mentors over my career and have learned most of the attributes I carry today. I was also a mentor for a local children’s home for teenage kids, and that was an amazing experience in humility and care.

One thing you’re looking to do better: Continue finding ways to make my employees more money while keeping the company profitable.

How you give your team room to innovate and experiment: We are very laid back on management staff and let them operate. We get involved when they aren’t hitting their goals. Otherwise, we let them run things like they want.

How close are you to operations? I speak to my brother, who is my VP of operations, daily. I check the bank accounts and company sales and labor each day, and I visit stores weekly. 

What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor? Hard to put it to just two, but protection/buying power on products and a consistent brand across the locations.

What you need from vendors: Efficiency on deliverables and a fair price.

Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy? How? 100%. We try to be value driven, and we also are more grassroots now than ever before.

How is social media affecting your business? We have a strong presence on social media, but we focus on the community and local partnerships to really grow the brand.

How do you hire and fire? We try to hire from within/close contacts. We hardly hire “off the streets” with a hiring platform but will from time to time if desperate. People typically fire themselves in our company. They know it’s not working out and typically leave before we have to fire them. 

How do you train and retain? Training and development have been the number one focus in our company in 2024. Reinvesting in our people to give them the resources to do their jobs better and more efficiently has been a major priority.

How do you deal with problem employees? We let our store managers have the conversation with them first, and then upper management and ownership get involved as next steps. We always criticize privately and give them a plan to improve.

Fastest way into your doghouse: Lie to me.

BOTTOM LINE

Annual revenue: We are a $25 million company.

2024 goals: Grow sales by 5% as a company and keep turnover as a company under 50%.

Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? Through sales growth, our GM and manager turnover being smaller than the year prior, and expanding our number of locations.

Vision meter: Where do you want to be in five years? 10 years? Where we are now but double every five years top line—whatever that is. That may not necessarily be just restaurants.

Do you have brands in different segments? Why/why not? Yes. We own three different brands because it helps us diversify during slow/busy times. We take great ideas from other brands and implement them across our company. It helps us in the community by offering more than one brand to the people we love.

How is the economy in your region(s) affecting you, your employees, your customers? The economy has been very trying the past two years because we own high-quality brands, which means we offer premium products. Premium typically means a little higher in price because you get what you pay for, and customers just don’t have as much money in their accounts as they used to because of inflation. People are trading quality for transaction. We understand that and are trying to stay creative to compete.

Are you experiencing economic growth in your market? We had a very strong 2023 while 2024 has been a little quieter on growth as customers retract on spend due to inflation/recession.

How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business? We always put ourselves in the customers’ shoes first to see how they are looking at our business and try to react from there. Since we are just franchisees, some decisions are outside of our control.

How do you forecast for your business? We typically take the past four weeks of sales and also look at last year’s trend and then analyze from there. We take into account sales events and local events and tie them all together for a good strategic sales game plan.

What are the best sources for capital expansion? We love local, so we always try to build local banking relationships that we can lean on and grow.

Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other institutions? Why/why not? Yes. We deal with a local banker now who is always there to help us grow.

What are you doing to take care of your employees? We are trying to pay as much, if not higher, than anyone else in the same segment of the industry. We also offer full benefits and one of the most competitive PTO schedules I have ever seen in our area.

How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)? We try to hire the right people and then the pay takes care of itself. We are big believers in less is more if the people are the right ones and do the job. We would rather pay four people higher who will do the job correctly on a given shift than six people at a lower wage who aren’t giving their full effort.

What laws and regulations are affecting your business, and how are you dealing with them? We haven’t had any major issues with laws and regulations that have affected our business now that Covid has subsided. The upcoming January 1, 2025, Department of Labor salaried requirements will cause some shake-up in our sector for sure.

How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees? We have great relationships with many of our local entertainment resources, including the Cincinnati Bengals, Reds, FC Cincinnati, and concert venues like Riverbend Music Center and Heritage Bank Center. We always try to reward our top people with tickets to those events.

What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? To be honest, an exit strategy has never really crossed my mind as I envision myself being pretty active in the day-to-day for another 20-plus years. I already see a strong entrepreneur mindset in my kids and have hope they will carry our company on if and when that time comes. I know my business partners also have younger kids who will hopefully want to carry the company vision on as well.