How Do You Roll Sushi Franchise Update | Season 4
Brothers Yuen and Peter Yung, had worked in the restaurant industry with their parents for their whole lives. Now they’ve created a venture of their own. Will their fast and casual option for sushi lovers earn them a deal on
Shark Tank How Do You Roll Update
- Entrepreneurs: Yuen and Peter Yung
- Business: Fast-casual sushi restaurant franchises
- Ask: $1 million for 12% equity
- Result: $1 million for 20% equity, plus a monthly disbursement to all shareholders
- Shark: Kevin O’Leary
Yuen and Peter brought their sushi restaurant How Do You Roll, to the tank. Peter invited Barbara Corcoran to select the wrap, protein, and sauce of her choice, so he could roll her fresh sushi live on the tank. Of course, they had signature rolls ready for the other sharks so no one went hungry.
Once the sharks were fed, they began diving into the numbers, and learned that the brothers had established their company as a franchise option for other hopeful business owners. After two years of running operations, they had forty franchises sold, fifteen open, and two corporate locations which the Yung brothers operated as sole owners.
Kevin O’Leary asked how much the brothers expected to make that year, and Yuen answered that they would gross $250,000 in royalties from the franchises alone. In terms of sales of the two restaurants run by him and his brother, the two were expected to gross just over $1 million combined.
Barbara asked how much franchise owners were paying all-in to open a location. Yuen shared that between the franchise fee, supplies, equipment, and more, the all-in cost was between $270,000 and $300,000. Once a franchise was open, the Yung brothers collected 7% royalty on all sales, which they deducted from the franchise owner’s corporate account each week.
Mark Cuban jumped in, and said that he did not want to be in the sushi business, so he went out. Daymond John wasn’t sold either. He felt the margins were too low, and their use of fresh fish was problematic, so he too was out. Robert Herjavec was next to go out, with Barbara following. They weren’t too keen on the business model.
With all sharks out except for Kevin, Mr. Wonderful decided to make an offer of $1 million, in exchange for 22% equity and “one caveat.” He wanted a monthly disbursement made to all shareholders, so he could guarantee a return on his investment. The amount would be negotiated later by Yuen, Peter, and Kevin, but he would not make the deal without this guarantee.
Yuen and Peter asked if they could discuss in the hallway, and Kevin agreed. When they returned with a counter, they asked Kevin if he would drop the equity down to 15%. Kevin said he would not, but he’d meet them in the middle at 20%. After some time, the brothers accepted the deal. How did things fare after the tank? Keep reading our How Do You Roll update to find out!
Unfortunately, the deal never closed with Kevin. The company performed well, and grew steadily over the years. Then, in 2015, the brothers sold How Do You Roll to a private restaurant group. Details of the deal were undisclosed. While they remained in business for years after the change in ownership, as of August 2021, they are sadly out of business. This will be our final How Do You Roll update.
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Jennifer is an avid Shark Tank fan that has been watching the show for years. She serves as Senior Editor at Shark Tank Recap and ensures that all our information is accurate and that our posts are up to date. Her favorite Shark Tank products are Le-Glue and Ring!