Innovate State with Bob Fish - The Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Posted on April 1, 2021
Receiving his degree from Michigan State University’s School of Hospitality Business, Bob Fish has been Chairman of the Board of the Michigan Restaurant Association, Chair of the Small Business Association of Michigan, and was a Founding Board member of MiQuest, a Michigan entrepreneurial incubator. With all of this under his belt, on March 15, 1995, Bob Fish and Michael McFall founded BIGGBY® COFFEE with a single store in East Lansing, Michigan. One year later, and on the cusp of opening a second location, the two entrepreneurs, on a handshake and $4,000, decided to franchise the concept. BIGGBY® COFFEE’s cultural values of Make Friends, Have Fun, Be Yourself, and Share Great Coffee help coffee-lovers and the coffee-curious alike benefit from a less pretentious and fun approach to the standard gourmet café paradigm. Today, there are 239 locations in nine states. Bob enjoys walking, mainly around Saugatuck, MI.
In this live streamed interview with Ken Szymusiak, Bob Fish discusses the franchise business, getting your business started, business in the pandemic, The Moonshot Guidebook, coffee, and BIGGBY® COFFEE's past, present, and what is still to come.