How One Entrepreneur Went From Waiting Tables to Owning Over 80 Restaurants Dawn Lafreeda, Owner of Den-Tex Central, talks about her path to becoming the largest single-owner franchisee for Denny's.

By David Meltzer • Mar 9, 2019

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Dawn Lafreeda, Owner of Den-Tex Central and judge on Elevator Pitch, discusses her journey in the food service industry, from her beginnings waiting tables to owning over 80 full-service restaurants across the United States, and shares advice for those who want to own their first franchise.

Lafreeda and host David Meltzer discuss topics such as finding the right business partner, the benefits of becoming a franchisee, building an infrastructure that provides advancement opportunities for loyal employees and how technology is helping to streamline the restaurant business. The pair also converse about the ongoing controversy surrounding the tipping of restaurant servers.

David Meltzer

Co-Founder of Sports 1 Marketing, Speaker, Author and Business Coach

David Meltzer, co-founder of Sports 1 Marketing and host of Entrepreneur's podcast, “The Playbook”, is a Top 100 Business Coach, global public speaker and three-time international best-selling author who has been honored by Variety as “Sports Humanitarian of the Year”.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Most Popular

See all

Side Hustle

Want to Start a Simple Business That Helps the Planet? After 'One Night's Worth of Research,' He Started an Eco-Friendly Gig And Now Makes $200K a Year

Environmentally-conscious laws are picking up steam across the country. When one went into effect in Zach Cavacas's home state, he saw a lucrative business opportunity. Chances are, a similar law is coming to your state, or is already there.

By Frances Dodds