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Hattan Bakor on Why the First Franchise Opening Is Hard and What Fixes It
In this episode, Ashish Tulsian and Hattan Bakor unpack the gap between how restaurants look from the outside and how they feel to run. From margin realities to franchising foundations, Hattan shares lessons on standardization, brand risk, and building systems that make growth predictable.
Hattan Bakor
Former CEO, Dhahia Juice
Hattan Bakor is a Saudi F&B operator and former CEO of Dhahia Juice, where he led multi-outlet expansion and strengthened operational systems. Earlier, as CEO of Abu Zaid, he supported franchise growth across Saudi Arabia. A Business Administration graduate from King Abdulaziz University, he began his career at Abdul Latif Jameel before moving into hospitality leadership.
In this episode, Ashish Tulsian sits down with Hattan Bakor to unpack what it really takes to scale a food brand in Saudi Arabia without losing consistency. Hattan shares how entering the business with “fresh eyes” helped him spot operational gaps quickly and why he insisted on a learning window before making changes.
They discuss the harsh reality behind restaurant economics, how margins look big from the outside but feel thin once you’re operating day to day. Hattan also reflects on how COVID forced the team into trial-and-error, ultimately pushing them to become more efficient than they were before.
A key theme is franchising done right: building SOPs, manuals, and standards first, then creating repeatable launch playbooks after early mistakes. Hattan ties it all back to customer experience because at scale, experience isn’t a tagline; it’s an operational discipline.