Success Stories: Juan Gavilan

At age 23, Spaniard Juan Gavilan decided his future lay in America. Industrious and hard-working, the personable Juan just knew that if he could get to America he could find the success that he so desired. So, Juan borrowed enough money for a ticket to America from his grandmother and he set off for Florida.

"My first job when I arrived was working as a cook in a KFC restaurant," he says, retracing his pathway to success. It took six months of cooking for Juan to be able to repay his grandmother. "I did not come to this country to work for minimum wage," Juan says. He had a dream of owning his own business someday.

Over a five-year period, Juan moved from cook to assistant manager to RGM and Market Coach of nine KFC Corporate restaurants in Miami. In 1981, Juan bought his first KFC restaurant in Delray Beach, Florida.

Today, Juan's company, JAHA Chicken, Inc. owns one KFC restaurant in Delray Beach and two KFC restaurants in Boynton Beach and each average $1.4 million a year in business. Juan's franchise has been #1 in CHAMPS scoring for the last 8 years. In 2004, one of Juan's restaurants in Boynton Beach achieved three perfect "100" in a row on announced CER. Three weeks ago, his restaurant in Delray Beach achieved another perfect "100" CER score. "When it comes to serving customers and treating people well, I feel like we're the best," he says of his KFC team.

Juan has made KFC his life, and he feels rewarded for it. "The best thing that ever happened to me, second only to meeting my wife Maria-Elena and having three children, was to become a franchisee for Yum! Brands. I've been able to do so many things in my life that I never would have been able to do otherwise. I thank KFC, Don Parkinson and Steve Early for this great opportunity."

Recently Juan's 25-year-old son has joined the family business, running a KFC in Boynton Beach. "He was going to be a doctor," Juan says of his son. "But he came to me one day and said he saw more opportunity working for me than being a doctor. His store is up 20% but I think it can do better. I think he can get it up 50%."

"I have great leaders working for me," Juan adds. "With this brand and this team, I know we're going to continue to have great success."

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