Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenneth Rouche.
Hi Kenneth, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
So I started out in management for years for many companies from Walmart to Waffle House which I was really successful in and really enjoyed being a leader! I found myself getting to a space where I noticed I became the fixer for all these companies I had been with! It was like a trend. I come into a situation that was struggling and had opportunities and I would uproot problems that company had for years and within a year turn in sometimes the best numbers they had seen in history! As I continued doing this, I began to drain myself of the passion and knew it was time for a change! I knew I had all the skills to make a company great and to be successful but I lacked the confidence! One day I sat back and thought to myself “When have you ever lost or failed in life when you put your mind and heart to it?” I had come to the conclusion I had never failed at anything and that’s when I found my confidence to step out!
The name of my business is called Wing-N-It and the funny thing about the name is even if we weren’t selling food the name of the business would have still been Wing-N-It! I really believe in committing first and finding the details out later! That is what Wing-N-It meant to me! I knew I didn’t have it figured out! I knew I didn’t have the money to start a restaurant! I knew I didn’t have the people to help me do it but I committed first! Today our company has done over six figures in less than a year and is on track to be the most impactful new restaurant in Ga! We have been featured in almost every media outlet and local outlet there is at this point and we are on track to 10x that number next year! We are booked until 2023 and we are currently working on a program that will allow local business owners that are in my same field access to jobs and catering we can’t do due to being booked! I really believe in collaboration over competition and I let my actions show as a representative of that statement! Our goal was always to be the example of customer service and creative food worth sharing 📸!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As far as the journey it has not been easy and it is legit the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life! Sometimes as entrepreneurs, we only show the good parts of entrepreneurship but sometimes not all the real parts! It was so hard balancing out support and the thought that everyone around me (friends and family) should be supporting my business but was I sadly mistaken! Also, it was hard really getting people to see the vision because people are so used to trading time for money that they can’t see that what it takes to create something great requires a great sacrifice! Also, I started out in a two door mustang! That’s right, I was running a 6 figure restaurant out of a convertible Mustang which goes without saying was a very challenging task! Sometimes I could only sell what could fit in the car! It was terrible but is what I had to do! Another thing that was challenging starting out was balancing life and business! When you are the one creating and seeing the dream, it’s hard to get others to understand and see the dream also at the beginning! I just expected people to understand and be there for me which I learned the hard way that’s not always the case either!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
So at Wing-N-It we specialize in premium wings, vegan options and seafood! One of our standouts at WNI is our signature wing sauces and house dipping sauces all created in house! We even created our own dipping sauce called the “The Jerk Ranch” which we use in many of our recipes! I would say outside of those things, our biggest highlight is our creative sides! We are the home of the “Handcut Fry” where every guest as they walk up sees their fries being cut up from potatoes 🥔! We have also flavors for our fries like our Salt and Vinegar fries, Voodoo fries, garlic parm truffle fries, and our loaded ranch fries! The item that gets the most love on our menu is our “Fried Biscuits”! Yes you heard it right a fried biscuits with a cinnamon honey butter drizzled on top and we also have a chocolate honey butter available also! I know that’s a lot to take in but that was our goal to create a journey with our food that you could never get bored with! Our wing sauce we are the most popular for is our original the “Honey Lemon Pepper” sauce which is a fan favorite that has translated so well amongst our vast variety of guests! Even though we have one of the greatest menus ever created, we really pride ourselves on our customer service! We tell people all the time we give the food away for free but we sell customer service and experience! Our goal is to be the example of outstanding customer service and creative food worth sharing 📸‼️
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We are pioneers of a new market called Social Media Restaurant which is something we actually created! We believe our powerful social media is and we also believe it’s not going anywhere soon in our lifetime so we use it as a tool for our forever customers! I’m dropping some real sauce so take notes! We use social media as our space or marketing and we created a market that gives our customers this feeling that they might miss something! We only post our events the day of the event so people know how to scout our page daily to see if we are popping up and where we are! I understood my market and I had seen so many businesses start and have a great crowd and after a week or so no one even talks or cares about the business anymore and I told the team that would not be us! What we did was create a space that made people want to come and buy! We never tried to sell people but our goal was to make them feel like they were missing out! That simple switch in mental has people coming from different states and cities and by the time they get there, they don’t care how much we are because we had created that thirst through social media to the point where they just wanted the experience they didn’t care about anything else! It’s such a powerful tool and I suggest any business owner reading this take that approach! It takes guts but it’s so worth it!
Pricing:
- We average from $11-$20 per item and our average plate cost is about $30 a person
Contact Info:
- Email: Wingnitsavannah@gmail.com
- Instagram: @wingnitsav
- Facebook: @wingnitsavannah
- Youtube: @wingnitsavannah
- Yelp: @wingnitsavannah
Image Credits
Viva Connections and #NewSavannah
