In creating growth-oriented chains or concepts, it helps to be a dreamer with a grip on the spreadsheet.
Some entrepreneurs come by it naturally and seem destined to succeed.
Consider the six profiled here. They talk about goals of expansion and greater margins in the same breath as they do employee empowerment and having fun. Orion Food Systems banks on America's appetite for burgers and sports in Mean Gene's Burgers. Marketing the image of professional wrestling announcer Gene Okerlund is Orion's edge against established competitors. Mongolian barbecue sounds exotic.