In this testimonial, Steve Honner, VP of Operations and operating partner for 83 Subs, explains how the ClearCogs data‑analytics platform has transformed the operations of his 17 Jimmy John’s locations across Kentucky and Indiana. He outlines the concrete ways ClearCogs supports the franchise: price‑increase analytics tied to guest counts and transactions, labor‑planning insights, and hourly/shift breakdowns that drive cash to the bottom line. The tool delivers a streamlined, assumption‑free reporting process that lets time‑stressed managers access the numbers they need instantly, enabling faster, more confident decisions. ClearCogs also serves as a developmental resource for junior managers, standardizing decision‑making across stores so that any manager can step in and understand par levels. Honner emphasizes the partnership aspect—ClearCogs provides ongoing, customized support rather than a one‑size‑fits‑all product—making the relationship a strategic advantage for the franchisor and its franchisees.
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My name is Steve Honner. I'm the VP of Operations and operating partner for 83 Subs. We currently operate 17 Jimmy John's kind of spread between Paducah, Kentucky, Louisville, and Indiana, just across the river. I've worked with the Qdoba brand on both the franchise side and the corporate side overseeing 80 locations scattered between 10 states. Clearcogs has been fantastic in partnering with us on pulling data and manipulating it to give us the answers we need. They've worked with us on price increase analytics, what that has done to our guest counts and guest transactions. Looking at labor pieces, there's a lot of pieces that they're giving us information that we can make better decisions for our organization. The approach ClearCogs takes on the basic necessities, it's a very straightforward and assumptive process that the general manager, area managers see. We know our managers in their 45-hour work week are time stressed. So ClearCogs has been a way that a manager can come in, have the numbers and the data right in front of them, communicate, and execute. It gives the young managers a real developmental tool that helps their growth into future positions. So ClearCogs eliminates for us a lot of gathering data, running reports, making some assumptions, cutting right to the communication piece with our team. We're seeing a confident management team making confident decisions that affect us financially. ClearCogs has also given us a very definitive system. Each store makes decisions throughout the day the exact same way. So if we had a manager out or sick or on vacation, we can move another lower-level manager that could step into that location and understand the par levels that they needed to build to. ClearCogs would be a clear value for a franchisor to offer their franchisees, especially if there's some complexity in making their food, keeping it as fresh as possible, to have this very direct tool that gives you hourly or shift breakdowns that helps ensure that that cash is getting to the bottom line when it is so important to a franchisee. The biggest value ClearCause has offered us to date is the clear partnership. They've never given me the answer, this is all we can do, that's the product, you're on your own. You really feel that they want us to succeed. They've had calls with my area managers. They want to know in the field, how are you using this product? How can we customize it to make it easier for you? And your team to make decisions. And when you find partnerships like that, they're rare. It's somebody you want to hang on with and work with directly for a long, long time.
