Derek Cha.

Sweet Frog founder: Long-term goals and hard work are keys to success

Derek Cha delivers first School of Business Ten-Ten Talk of the semester

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Sweet Frog, the ubiquitous frozen yogurt shop, almost never came to be, founder Derek Cha revealed at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business’ first Ten-Ten Talk of the semester.

Before he opened Sweet Frog, Cha owned a window framing business that grew into a chain. During the economic decline in the late 2000s, he decided to venture into new territory.

“I was at first discouraged to get into the frozen yogurt business,” Cha said. “I was almost bankrupt, but one day after I took my family to the movies in Short Pump I saw what would become the location for the first Sweet Frog and nothing could stop me.”

Cha took classes from a frozen yogurt supplier and spent eight months thinking up the name of his business. When he started in frozen yogurt, Cha did not know much about the dessert. But he knew that he wanted to improve something that already existed instead of making something new. To get ahead of the competition, he made his yogurt richer than what existed at the time and gave his chain mascots — Scoop and Cookie.

Working hard and possessing long-term goals worked well for Cha. He found himself surpassing his 10-year goal in about five years. He was able to grow his chain on both coasts by targeting niche markets overlooked by his competition. When the market stabilized and stopped growing in 2014, he sold Sweet Frog.

That same year, Cha opened a new food chain, Zzaam! His goal for the Korean barbecue chain is to grow to 100 locations by 2020.  

The School of Business’ Ten-Ten Talks bring distinguished speakers from the Richmond community to share their success stories. Speakers present 10 slides in 10 minutes, followed by 10 questions from the audience.

 

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