Andy Sehremelis on Running Multi-Unit Operating Businesses

By Andy Sehremelis · October 29, 2026

Andy Sehremelis founded Parkcrest Construction in Chino, California, in 1992 and has since built, owned and operated restaurants, gas stations and express car washes in Southern California. He is a licensed real estate broker and serves as CEO of Delphi Energy. Operating several locations at once, across more than one type of business, requires a different discipline than running a single store.

Andy Sehremelis on Why Multi-Unit Operation Is Its Own Discipline

A single location can be managed largely by the owner's presence. The owner sees the line at lunch, notices a dirty restroom and hears customer complaints directly. Once a business grows to several locations, that direct observation is no longer possible. The owner has to rely on systems, reporting and the judgment of location managers. The quality of those systems determines whether each additional unit adds value or adds problems.

Multi-unit operation is therefore less about doing more of the same work and more about designing work so that it can be repeated consistently without the owner on the premises.

Andy Sehremelis on Standard Operating Procedures

Written procedures are the foundation of consistency. Opening and closing checklists, cash handling rules, cleaning schedules, food safety practices and equipment inspection routines give every location the same baseline. Procedures should be specific enough to be followed by a new employee and short enough to be used in practice. A procedure manual that no one reads does not create consistency.

Procedures also need an owner. When equipment changes, a menu item is added or a payment system is updated, someone must be responsible for revising the written standard and training staff on the change.

Andy Sehremelis on Location Managers

In a multi-unit business, the location manager is the most important position. A capable manager protects the customer experience, controls labor and inventory and identifies maintenance issues before they become failures. Hiring, training and retaining managers deserves as much attention as any capital decision.

Clear authority matters. Managers should know which decisions they can make on their own, which require sign-off from ownership and how quickly they can expect an answer. Ambiguity in that structure slows response times and frustrates both managers and customers.

Andy Sehremelis on Reporting and Measurement

An owner of several locations needs a small number of reliable measures reviewed on a regular schedule. Sales, labor cost, cost of goods, customer counts and maintenance requests are common examples. Comparing locations against one another and against their own prior performance shows where attention is needed.

Measurement is only useful when it leads to action. A report that shows rising labor cost at one location should prompt a conversation with that manager about scheduling, not simply be filed. Regular visits remain important, and reporting helps the owner decide where those visits are most needed.

Andy Sehremelis on Operating Different Business Types

Restaurants, gas stations and express car washes have different customers, margins and staffing models. A restaurant depends on food quality and service speed. A gas station depends on fuel pricing, convenience store merchandising and a clean, well-lit property. An express car wash depends on equipment reliability and throughput. Running all three requires recognizing what each business needs rather than applying one model to all of them.

There are also shared lessons. Every one of these businesses benefits from clean facilities, well-maintained equipment, trained staff and a predictable customer experience. Shared back-office functions, such as accounting, purchasing and maintenance coordination, can support several business types at once.

Andy Sehremelis on Maintenance Across a Portfolio

Equipment failure at one location is an inconvenience. Deferred maintenance across several locations becomes a significant cost. A preventive maintenance calendar, a shared list of qualified service vendors and a record of repairs by location help an owner plan spending and avoid emergency repairs.

Because Parkcrest Construction builds the types of buildings that these businesses occupy, construction knowledge supports maintenance planning. Understanding how a building and its systems were installed makes it easier to maintain them over the life of the property.

Andy Sehremelis on Growth

Adding locations should follow operating readiness, not precede it. A business that has documented procedures, trained managers and dependable reporting is in a position to grow. A business that relies on the owner to solve daily problems is likely to find those problems multiplied with each new unit. For a multi-unit operator, the systems that support existing locations are the most reliable indicator of whether the next location will succeed.