Shawn Shariff’s journey is like a page out of the American Dream playbook. He immigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan in the ’80s, and at age 18 he got a minimum wage job at KFC. He worked there for four years before making his way into the insurance industry. Then, in 2002, Shariff was presented with the full-circle opportunity to operate a KFC of his own. And he has only grown from there.
Many franchisees come to own units of multiple brands, but Shariff decided to expand exclusively inside his corporate parent. KFC is owned by Yum! Brands, which also owns Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill. Shariff became the first franchisee to own each one of them in Southern California and now operates five locations throughout the region. He says he has had plenty of opportunities to expand beyond Yum! but has stayed loyal because the parent company always extended him generosity in hard times—and Shariff has been able to pass that along to his employees.
This story is from the December 2021 edition of Entrepreneur.
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This story is from the December 2021 edition of Entrepreneur.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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