“If your business relies on having no competition, you don’t have a business”
At the age of just 29, Bayan Abou-Ghanim is already the owner of three restaurants in central Alberta, including two locations of his own brand, the Burger Parlour, which brings high-end ingredients to fast-casual dining.
But he never meant to become a burgeoning burger impresario. It just runs in the family.
Abou-Ghanim (Bachelor of Business Administration ’16 Marketing ’14) was born and raised in Rimbey, a small town northeast of Red Deer, after his parents, Sam and Wafa, emigrated to Canada from Lebanon in 1985.
A few years later, they purchased a local all-purpose restaurant called Roger’s and taught themselves how to run it. Abou-Ghanim “grew up” in it – mostly in the back room, where the TV and VCR were.
It wasn’t until he graduated from the JR Shaw School of Business that he fully embraced the family business. Abou-Ghanim’s parents were looking to get out of running Roger’s. And he was looking for a challenge.
So, Abou-Ghanim moved back home and got to work, setting into motion a journey that would put him up against the biggest players in the world of fast food.
Out of school and into the kitchen
From a young age, Abou-Ghanim knew he wanted to run his own business. He wasn’t sure what kind of business, mind you – only that he had to be his own boss.
“It’s a Lebanese thing, man,” he says with a laugh. “It’s in our blood.”
It turned out that Abou-Ghanim was a quick study. In 2018, following his first year at the helm of Roger’s, he managed to increase sales by 20% from the previous year. Sales went up an additional 25% the next year, and another 20% the one after that. Essentially, he doubled the restaurant’s business in just three years – in the process preserving and revitalizing a local institution for the community of 2,500.
Abou-Ghanim chalks up his rapid success to a few important decisions. First, he oversaw a thorough renovation and rebranding of Roger’s that swapped out the eclectic, pastel-pink décor for a sleeker and more modern look.
“Honestly,” he says, “we’re known for everything.”
He also updated the menu, but not by adding or subtracting items. Instead, he upgraded the quality of many of the ingredients used to prepare the restaurant’s beloved range of burgers, pizza, milkshakes and fried chicken. (“Honestly,” he says, “we’re known for everything.”)
In those early days, Abou-Ghanim leaned on his business training, but he also had to develop new practical skills. Chief among them was something he’d never even done when he was, briefly, a teenaged employee at Roger’s: running the grill.
“It was way harder than I thought,” he admits. “It’s both physically and mentally tiring. People will say, ‘Oh, go flip burgers.’ But it’s not an easy job.”
A brand of his own
The idea for his next venture – a place that would be wholly his own, separate from his parents – came to Abou-Ghanim almost immediately after returning to Rimbey.
“Right when I first took over, I had the name: Burger Parlour,” he says.
In a wave of enthusiasm, he even incorporated a separate business under that title.
Abou-Ghanim was so busy renovating and modernizing Roger’s, however, that it took him a couple of years before he could return to the concept.
He was sitting in his office one day, daydreaming about what his next business might be, when he was reminded by a notice from the government that the Burger Parlour corporation was about to expire due to inactivity.
He thought: What better time than now?
The idea behind Burger Parlour was to create a modern, upscale, fast-casual experience at an affordable price. As a student at NAIT, Abou-Ghanim would go to places like Fatburger and Five Guys and walk out with his to-go bag feeling like he’d paid what he would have at a sit-down restaurant. He wanted to see if he could replicate that quality of food but at a price comparable to industry giants like McDonald’s.
“Your price point dictates your competitors,” Abou-Ghanim says. “I wanted to compete with these chains, but with a higher-quality product.”
He started looking for potential locations and came across an ideal development in Sylvan Lake, a short drive from Rimbey. The first-ever Burger Parlour opened in October 2021, with a focus on handmade burgers – a mark of in-house quality that also saved money, since suppliers charge significantly less for raw beef than pre-made patties. The second location opened in Rocky Mountain House, in a converted Harvey’s storefront, just nine months later.
Competition breeds quality
One of the things Abou-Ghanim liked about Sylvan Lake as his first location was that it was large enough to have already attracted the big boys: not just McDonald’s, but also Burger King, A&W, Wendy’s and more.
It might sound counterintuitive to seek out the fiercest competition possible, but Abou-Ghanim figured that was the only way to know whether his concept was viable.
“If we go into this marketplace and succeed, then we can apply this concept anywhere,” he remembers thinking.
To Abou-Ghanim, competition wasn’t something to be scared of – it was something to run towards, and to learn from.
“If your business relies on having no competition, then you don’t really have a business,” he says.
Others agree that Abou-Ghanim’s strategy, while not without its risks, has the potential to pay off.
“It does sound counterintuitive: Why would you go where the competition already is?” says Drew Wolsey, chair of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program at the JR Shaw School of Business.
"If you’re facing the big dogs in the industry, you’re going to be forced to be better, smarter and grittier.”
“There might be a bit of bravado there, but there’s also some truth to it. It really does work. If you’re facing the big dogs in the industry, you’re going to be forced to be better, smarter and grittier.”
What’s more, consumers everywhere are always looking for exactly that.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding that small towns are full of people who don’t want good food,” says Rylan Krause (Cook '12), executive chef at NAIT’s on-campus restaurant, Ernest’s Dining Room.
“But as someone who’s from a small town, I can tell you that having a nice restaurant, or a fun concept to go to, is exciting. Now you don’t have to drive 45 minutes to Red Deer, or whatever.”
Finding his place
Abou-Ghanim may be a relative newcomer to the communities where he’s setting up shop, as well as to the burger business itself, but he’s embracing both with an attitude that suggests he’s found his place.
He’s made a point of giving back to the towns that have supported his fledgling business empire.
The Burger Parlour chain has already contributed thousands of dollars in gift cards to local silent auctions, and they’re also supporters of the Rimbey chapter of the Boys and Girls Club.
As for growing that chain, Abou-Ghanim shows no signs of slowing down. He has locations for a potential third Burger Parlour already in his sights. Already, both of the current locations boast an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars among reviewers on Google.
Meanwhile, he hasn’t lost sight of where this all began.
Back at Roger’s, Abou-Ghanim takes special pride in carrying on his parents’ legacy, bussing tables and flipping burgers for a tight-knit group of locals.
“I just have a soft spot in my heart for it,” he says, noting that Sam and Wafa, while retired, still follow the progress of the original restaurant.
“It’s a strong business, and it took a lot of effort to build. They’re very proud.”