Mark Groussman: Turning Pizzas into Profits

Mark Groussman is known for having the magic touch when it comes to turning struggling companies into successful brands. His passion lies in taking a business that has potential but needs better branding, fiscal oversight, and operational strategy to operate at its best. That is why it was exciting when Mark became Chairman of Stoner’s Pizza Joint, a new yet fast-growing pizza chain in the Southeastern United States.

Initially an investor in the company, Mark saw the opportunity and joined as a franchisee with four locations and eventually became part of the leadership. In less than a year, Stoner’s has grown from 11 units to 18 units, with two more locations in the process of opening. Most store sales have increased approximately 20% from the first half of 2020 to the second half of 2020 and continue on an upward trend for this year.

Mark is very active in looking for new locations and franchisees to manage them. He works with every unit to ensure they succeed and have all the tools needed for growth. “After helping countless companies time and time again, it has taught me some fundamental lessons that I can pass on to our franchisees,” added Mark Groussman, Chairman of Stoner’s Pizza Joint.

Starting a business often comes with many unknowns, and a franchise is a successful model already in motion. According to the International Franchise Association, the franchise industry is responsible for creating tens of thousands of opportunities for small business ownership across the country and millions of jobs for Americans. Mark believes that with this framework, coupled with the tools, training, and guidance provided by corporate – franchisees are set up for success. The Stoner’s system has already been tested and proven to work and gives partners the benefits of a big company backing while still operating as a small business.

Stoner’s features fresh, high-quality non-GMO food prepared in-house daily with proprietary recipes for the pizza dough, sauce, and cheese blend. Menu items include a straightforward variety of specialty pizzas, calzones, strombolis, sandwiches, hickory-smoked chicken wings made daily in-house, freshly prepared salads, and baked chocolate chip cookies. They are known best for their specialty pizzas, tender chicken wings smoked for over three hours, and baked chocolate cookies.

His involvement with Stoner’s one of Mark’s many ventures. The serial entrepreneur is involved with a bitcoin mining company, several marijuana start-ups, and consults for TruWomen, his wife’s vegan nutrition bar brand. Born with an entrepreneurial spirit, Mark was always shoveling driveways, mowing lawns, and selling baseball cards to earn extra income during his childhood. He still carries that passion and hopes to continue to impact Stoner’s Pizza Joint positively and beyond.