Train. Believe. Support. The Formula for Building Great Teams
Oct 14, 2025
A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed Nadeem Bajwa, a 275 Papa John’s Multi-Unit Franchisee, for Franchise Wisdom, one of the series from my Franchisee Success Formulas Podcast.
During our conversation, Nadeem shared how he went from a pizza driver to one of the brand’s largest domestic franchisees in the US. He was also generous enough to share some highly valuable leadership lessons for franchise owners about people management, including how to build a great franchise team, how to train and motivate your team members, and how to support your employees’ growth and success.
This is the formula he has followed for building a great team of nearly 5,000 employees in multiple countries, with all his businesses combined. Let’s dig in!
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Train Your Team to Grow Skills, Confidence, and Results
Nadeem started working for Papa Johns in the early 1990s as a pizza driver, and as time went by, he moved up the ranks to Unit Manager, Area Manager, and Operating Partner. He had mastered the operations and, a decade later, he became a Franchisee.
His first restaurant opened in Ohio in 2002. Since he didn’t have a lot of money to start the business and didn’t want to fail, he did most of the labor and management personally. However, he did not skimp on the marketing or the hiring because he wanted to reach a specific sales goal for his inaugural week.
He hired 30 employees to run the unit, but forgot to give them the proper training! He was so busy trying to bring people to the business that he did not pay enough attention to how they would serve the pizzas or deliver the service he was promising.
Nadeem paid for this mistake with a disastrous opening day. He had to shut down twice during rush hour because only five of those hirings were left! The rest of the employees were gone, and the pizza orders and the clients kept coming in.
Within a week, he was able to put things back in order and manage the business operations as he was supposed to.
Lesson: Developing and training your people, not only on the brand systems but also on your business systems, is crucial. Otherwise, they won’t be able to succeed in the role and tasks they were hired to do.
Let’s face it: nobody wants to fail! So, if you don’t give them the knowledge and tools to feel confident and satisfied with their job and performance, they will likely leave your organization.
If you missed part 1 of our conversation, click below to read Nadeem’s inspiring journey:
Believe in Your People to Build Trust, Loyalty, and Performance
By the time he finished that first week, Nadeem knew he wanted to scale his business, and that same year, he opened his second and third locations. When he reached five stores, he hired his first District Manager, selecting one of his top-performing employees to give him the opportunity to level up.
“From day one, I have believed in good attitudes first, and then skills. I prefer promoting people from within, unless I don't have that skill set within the organization. Only then, I look outside”, he assured.
“The reason is that if you surround yourself with good people, they will expect something in return. And if they are following the systems and model, and they share the passion, they deserve the first ride”, he explained.
Up until today, whenever there is an opening in a leadership role, Nadeem continues to promote from within. This has allowed him to build a very long tenure, and he proudly highlights that he has people who have stayed with him for 15, 20, and 25 years. He even has leaders who have been with him since day one!
He also mentioned that while some of his restaurants were franchise acquisitions, including some from underperforming markets, he didn’t replace the management team when he took over the business. “I do not make any changes. I try to work with the same people, because I truly believe that their performance was a reflection of someone else,” he said.
“Everything funnels from leadership, right? That is how my passion, culture, and style will carry and be copied throughout my whole organization. And, at the end of the day, the majority of the people end up changing their ways.”
Lesson: Promoting from within your organization is not only an excellent recruitment source. It also shows that you are committed to your employees’ growth and willing to help them reach their goals. This approach will boost their loyalty and motivation.
And yes, people will rise to your expectations; I agree 100%. If you expect them not to be so good, they will perform poorly. But if you expect highly of them and you can communicate that, then they will rise to that level of excellence.
Keep learning: Internal vs. External Hiring in Franchising. 5 Factors to Consider
Support Your Team’s Dreams to Inspire Engagement and Long-Term Growth
For Nadeem, humility and passion are the two key components that have helped him win and go as far as he has. That’s why, whenever he hires people to bring them on board, he looks for these two things in the candidates.
“You must find people with the same passion that you have, that's the only way to grow”, he assured.
As a Multi-Unit Franchisee, he understands franchising is not “a solo game,” but a people’s business based on relationships and trust.
That’s why he believes that, as a business owner, you must always involve your people in your plans and strategies and be mindful of their dreams, goals, and expectations, especially if they want to advance in their careers and succeed personally and professionally. Otherwise, he warns, they won’t stay with you for long because those who want to grow will seek opportunities elsewhere.
This mindset was actually what sparked his scalability.
“My original plan was to have between 10 and 12 units. But then I thought this was not going to be enough because the people I'm bringing around me to help me grow also have dreams, and with 10, 12 units, I wasn’t going to be able to fulfill everybody else's dream. That's when I started thinking about scaling”.
He also advised business owners always to keep their people excited and motivated, and to reinforce their sense of belonging by letting them know they are contributing to the organization’s goals and that they are valued. Listening to their feedback on how the business can improve and what opportunities they see for becoming more efficient is also essential.
“That plays a huge role, because they are important. It's all about people; it is a people business. If you surround yourself with good people, the rest will follow”.
Lesson: Developing employees with the potential and desire to become leaders will help you build your leadership bench. This way, they’ll be prepared to take over when opportunities arise.
It will also allow you to motivate them and keep them engaged with your organization. Most people want to advance their careers, and if you let them know that your organization offers a clear path for them to do so, it will inspire them to work hard so that they can eventually reach the next level.
I love Nadeem’s commitment to his people, and I know that every business owner can learn from his vision and get inspired by that. In fact, I believe that one of the franchisee’s roles is to protect and care about their people, and he definitely embraces that for his 5,000 team members.
“Every major decision I make, I think that I am responsible not just for the well-being of my family, but for 5,000 families. And I take that very seriously”, he assured.
This makes a huge difference! And I definitely see how this mindset is a big part of his success.
“My goal is to make sure that I continue to surround myself with great people, grow, bring efficiency to the table, and inspire people. So far, that has gotten me here, and I'm sure that's going to take me even farther”.
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