Ricky Ruthenberg has truly taken a ground-up approach to his career. Adapting to opportunities as they present themselves is clearly a powerful skill. From waiting tables at Col’Cacchio to helping launch the first Bootlegger in Sea Point, he’s gone on to build the team that runs a national chain of nearly 100 Bootlegger restaurants. From espresso to enterprise, this is the story of building something from nothing. Hard work, perseverance and self-belief are the ingredients in this delicious recipe. On episode 5 of The Finance Ghost Plugged in with Capitec, Ricky talks about what it takes to grow a local brand into a national success story. Episode 5 covers: The hard work required when opening a restaurant and why owner involvement is critical in the early days Building the Bootlegger brand and overcoming challenges along the way Why the group runs a mix of corporate-owned and franchise stores and how that creates opportunity The pros and cons of having master franchisees vs many individual franchisees How the retail store model helps drive brand awareness and loyalty How his role has evolved from cooking and closing up the first store to leading a national team as CEO Managing coffee price volatility and the strategies behind it How the Bootlegger survived COVID and thrived afterwards The value of Capitec as a franchise funding partner