the portrait of the affiliates of La Boite à Pizza

In June 2021, Lea Deschamps And Jean-Pierre Rafoux resumed The Bergerac pizza box which has been in business since 2013. The two young entrepreneurs, aged 25 and 30 respectively, retrace this entrepreneurial adventure which is not always easy, but which is now a complete success.

A couple business creation project

Léa Deschamps and Jean-Pierre Raffoux have complementary profiles. Pure catering product, Jean-Pierre Rafoux he has been head chef for various traditional catering establishments, in gourmet restaurants or even in brasseries. The pizza box it is his first experience in fast food. Lea Deschamps, meanwhile, has commercial experience. Looking for more stability in their personal life, the young couple wanted to combine their skills to achieve a business creation project.

In 2019 they learn that the manager of La Boite à Pizza de Bergerac intends to sell his restaurant. They decide to take this opportunity. “The former executive was an acquaintance, says Jean-Pierre Raffoux. When he told me about his sales plan, we decided to go for it. I had left the restoration shortly before due to time constraints not compatible with a family life. Unlike traditional catering, in fast food, you can have a correct pace of lifewith well-defined times. »

A recovery interrupted by the health crisis

Initially, therefore, he was hired as a store manager with the aim of making the necessary contribution to redeem the fund. But the health crisis of 2020 will frustrate this project. Despite fast food is taking advantage of this crisis benefiting from the transfer of traditional catering customers, no bank follows them in their project.

“The problem is that fast food and classic food share the same NAF code, explains Jean-Pierre Raffoux. Our dossier has been systematically rejected without even being studied. We have looked at many banks for more than a year before finding someone who wants to follow us. We also had a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads with a constantly growing turnover and therefore a goodwill that was increasing in value. »

In June 2021, almost two years after taking office, Jean-Pierre Raffoux finally saw his project materialize. The couple can then go ahead and implement actions to grow their business. Their priority is to improve thephoto of the restaurant. “Our biggest challenge was restoring the restaurant’s reputation that had been degraded by the old team. Bergerac is a small town where everything is known quickly, both good and bad, even more bad than good. We had to start from scratch regarding the image of the restaurant and it was quite complicated because La Boîte à Pizza has been established in Bergerac for almost 10 years. »

The rebirth of La Boite à Pizza Bergerac

The pair then completely revamped the team and formed a new one organization inspired by traditional catering to optimize production in the kitchen and guarantee timing. “In classic catering we have a rather militaristic organization, in terms of movements, production areas, etc., explains Jean-Pierre Raffoux. With our new team and this new organization, we can now guarantee deadlines 15 minutes for take away and 30 minutes for delivery. When other companies advertise hour delays, this makes all the difference. »

Obviously they are also working on theclients receptionsin particular by carrying out development work in the store. “We redid the whole room, changed the furniture and the lighting, to really show that there’s been a change. »

Finally, they are developing their commercial offer and entering into various partnerships. “We are located right next to a large high school. To attract this clientele we have thought of a special formula at €7.95 for a medium pizza and a drink. One of advantages of the La Boite à Pizza franchise is that it allows us to set up promotions as we see fit. This is one of the first commercial actions we have carried out. After that, word of mouth, the fact of using fresh products on our pizzas or on the meet deadlines did the rest. »

Little by little, La Boite à Pizza de Bergerac improves its image, especially as the couple spare no effort to make themselves known. “We approached sports clubs and public services – fire brigade, police, hospital, etc. – from Bergerac to draw partnerships which are extremely important to us. Unlike an advertising campaign that has a limited impact over time, through these partnerships we wanted to bet on the long term. »

The precious support of the La Boite à Pizza network

To carry out this project, they also benefit from the support of the The Pizza Box Network. One animator the network went there specifically to accompany them in the store recovery. The network also plays regular audits to support its franchisees. Being a La Boite à Pizza franchise allows them to devote themselves completely to the development of their store and their customers.

“Given my experience, the web has taught me very little about restoration, reports Jean-Pierre Raffoux. On the other hand, it raises us enormously above all other positions. We have much less to think about why the franchise takes care of everything. We have datasheets for each pizza, everything is very square and we know, for example, how much each pizza earns. The network also manages national campaignsThey cash register software, They hoursThey price, etc. Everything is managed by the network manager. For the supply, we take advantage of it negotiated and locked prices from suppliers, which limits the effects of inflation. We get up in the morning, run our shop and we can do it well because, for the rest, the network takes care of everything. »

For Léa Deschamps, one of the big names advantages of being a La Boite à Pizza affiliate it is also the fame. “The support of a network like La Boite à Pizza brings us a lot in terms of visibility. It is the network that manages all advertising campaigns. We could obviously do without it, but it would cost us twice as much, not counting the time it takes. Without La Boite à Pizza, I think we wouldn’t have so much visibility, so many advertising campaigns and other things that we wouldn’t have thought of or done less well. »

A constantly growing turnover

A year and a half after taking over La Boite à Pizza in Bergerac, Jean-Pierre Raffoux and Léa Deschamps design a satisfactory budget. “Many fast food players have seen their numbers explode during Covid and then come back down. We stayed constant. Not only have we managed to maintain the clientele acquired during the crisis, but we have further developed it and registered a constantly growing turnover. Admittedly, the current environment remains challenging, particularly with rising commodity prices forcing us to raise our prices. But we try to limit the impact of inflation as much as possible to remain competitive. I think we have to take a long-term view. »

Today, the couple want to continue the development of La Boite à Pizza de Bergerac and why not, in a second phase, become a multi-franchisee if they find someone they trust to run the shop. “Today our priority is to build a reliable team, says Jean-Pierre Raffoux. the recruitment it is one of the main difficulties of the catering market even if, for our part, we are lucky not to have too many turnovers. On the other hand, in order to consider opening other stores, we would have to find a store manager as invested as we are and in whom we would have 300% confidence. Which is complicated. »

To project leaders who, like them, want to start a business, they advise “believe in their project, don’t be afraid to commit yourself to the end and don’t hesitate to spend a little money to be able to reap the benefits of this investment”.

Do you want to know more about La Boite à Pizza, the advantages of the concept and the support offered by the network to open a pizzeria? Meet the presentation sheet of the franchise La Boite à Pizza ⇩