From Busboy to Boss
Ken Nascimento wants to share the success he’s found running subways and Taco Del Mars. In these tough economic times, it is easy to grumble about finances, bemoan gas prices and whine about the price of everything - and we do mean everything - going up. But for local boy Ken Nascimento, he sees it as not only a business opportunity. In these tough economic times, it is easy to
By Chad Pata
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In these tough economic times, it is easy to grumble about finances, bemoan gas prices and whine about the price of everything - and we do mean everything - going up.
But for local boy Ken Nascimento, he sees it as not only a business opportunity, but also a way to help locals weather this downturn.
“With the economy the way it is, the thing I feel secure about with Taco del Mar and Subway is that people have got to eat in Hawaii,” says Nascimento, who served as the master developer for Taco del Mar in Hawaii. “The cost of living is so high that having affordable, good food is a key.”
While you may know the name Subway (Nascimento currently owns three locations), the name Taco del Mar is new to many in the Islands. Developed as a quick-serve Mexican concept that keeps prices down, it opened its first store in Kunia in November 2006.
“The food was the best I had tried,” says Nascimento. “The operation was simple and the prices were affordable for the people of Hawaii, and that was what attracted me to them.”
Apparently, he is not the only one being attracted to the franchise, as shops are spreading like a cold at preschool, with six more locations open on Oahu, a new store in Kona and nine more stores slated to open in 2009.
But who is this Nascimento - some Ivy League business school grad here plying his Mainland knowledge on the local community?
“I went to UH for a couple years, but I majored in goofing off,” says Nascimento.
No, this ‘79 Damien grad took the road many take in the Islands: the service industry. One year out of high school he took a job as a busboy at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, where he spent the next 12 years learning the business, working his way up to waiter.
In 1992 he decided to try his hand at sales, joining the Coca Cola family as a district sales manager. This introduction to how an international company operates sparked a fire in him to seek a way to be his own boss.
“It really opened my eyes to how the corporate world worked, and got me excited about owning my own business, so I started looking around,” says Nascimento. “Working for a big corporation, you get burned out working 60 hours a week, and I kind of wanted to do something on my own while still putting in the same hours.”
Enter Ted Davenport, the master developer for Subway in Hawaii. Davenport has a similar background to Nascimento and convinced him he could open his own store.
“It was so easy to me because of my experience, that we decided to open a second one after the first month,” says Nascimento.
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Those two quickly turned to five, and the busboy had turned into the boss. But running a multiple store operation is not a oneman job. This is where Beth, his wife of 14 years, comes in.
“My wife is the backbone of the operation,” says Nascimento. “Besides running the Subways, she also takes the kids to all the practices. With all the restaurants I own now, it takes me away from home a lot.”
Together they have five children: Lani, 25, and Moku, 21, whom Beth had from a previous relationship, and Kourtney, 13, Kyla, 9 and the baby, Parker, 5. A brood that size and a new business would seem a recipe for disaster, but that is where grandparents pick up the slack.
“If it wasn’t for our parents picking up kids and baby-sitting, we would not have grown as fast as we have,” says Nascimento. “That is what it is all about, having your family support you is the key, because every day is a new adventure.”
The support extends beyond just helping out with the kids:
“My mom even worked in my Subway store for a while,” says Nascimento. “She was probably the highest-paid Subway worker in the state!”
Owning his own business felt good, but the entrepreneurial spirit is a restless one. Nascimento saw what his partner Davenport was doing working as a developing agent, selling franchises to up-and-comers like himself, and decided he was ready to take on the next challenge.
He traveled extensively looking for the right company, but when he found it, the opportunity actually came to him.
“Taco del Mar had a little more than 100 stores, and they came recruiting to the Islands,” says Nascimento. “They were looking for multiple-unit owners and were very similar to Subway with their easy operations, good return on investment and simplicity of everything.
“Also, like Subway everything is upfront. People enjoy seeing their food being made by profes-
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