Meatball Shop's Daniel Holzman: 'It Was Moving Faster Than We Could Keep Up With'

Chef Daniel Holzman and restaurateur Michael Chernow opened six locations of The Meatball Shop in four years. The business was successful at first, but at a certain point, the owners realized that they needed to take a step back.

In a new video for Inc., the chef admits that the initial success from opening the Lower East Side location in 2010 sparked the desire to continue expanding, and quickly. Upon opening the second and third TMS locations however, Holzman says that something wasn't quite perfect about them. This, he adds, is when things began to unravel: "Around the time we opened our fourth store we really recognized that the second and the third store, and then even the first store, were failing to maintain their success. But we were pushing through it and saying 'Well we'll figure it out' or 'It will solve itself.' It never solves itself."

In 2014, with their employees and investors in mind, it was time to set pride aside and slow down on expanding. He notes: "Stopping was hard because we built everybody up to believe in this idea that we're going to expand and we're going to get rich, and our employees are going to grow. You're really admitting that you're not ready to grow." The team took this time to re-invest all TMS profits and build a better infrastructure. Now, two years since taking a breather, the team is looking forward: "We're ready to grow. We feel the confidence to open another restaurant and build something special." The video notes that the team plans to open two more NYC locations this year with plans to expand outside New York in 2017. Check the full video out below: