Inside Papa John's

John Schnatter, founder of Papa John’s pizza, shared the ups and downs and the problems and solutions he has seen in his – years growing his business into the third largest pizza chain in the country at Thursday’s Hardscape North America keynote speech.

In business, just like with pizza, it’s the ingredients that make success. Without the right people, there’s no chance for success. “You can’t make something good unless you start with something good,” Schnatter said.

Marketing the best.

And it’s important to stay true to those ingredients. In 2005, he said his marketing went off message and he saw a big drop in his sales. But when his commercials went back to focusing on the things he knew made his business great like ingredients and the family feel, sales went right back up.

Another example is the pan pizza he sold for a short time. The quality was no good, and sales dropped 20 percent.

But then in 2009, the company started a new “Papa’s in the house” campaign focusing on Schnatter as a real person with a casual look and sales increased.

The head coach.

At Papa John’s, the leadership model is Head Coach, rather than the Kingship model. That means people earn their bonuses through what they bring to the table and through teamwork, not through currying favor with the boss.

And he makes sure to treat his employees fairly and pay them fairly so that everyone feels like part of the team. “I don’t get a bonus unless they get a bonus first,” he said. Schnatter said Papa John’s gives out $7 million in bonuses annually.

Schnatter said that he pays himself $3 million per year and doesn’t want a larger salary. “If I paid myself $14 million a year, my employees would hate me,” he said.

He said his company just doesn’t tolerate dishonesty. “I don’t care how talented someone is. If they don’t have virtue, you have to get rid of them or they’ll ruin your company culture.”