- May 23, 2025
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William Wolf estimates he has been eating daily at fast-casual restaurant SoFresh for more than seven years.
The entrepreneur invested in his first SoFresh restaurant, in Westchase, in 2018. Now he has four SoFresh stores in his portfolio, including one in downtown Sarasota, one in downtown Tampa and most recently, a location in Lakewood Ranch that he has turned from underperforming to profitable in a matter of months.
Wolf, who lives in Tampa, began eating at the restaurant while a student at the University of South Florida, where he earned a degree in business economics.
“I don’t like cooking or cleaning,” Wolf, 38, says, adding he was also becoming more aware of deficiencies in the American diet. SoFresh offers salads, bowls, smoothies and wraps that are cooked or made to order.
Once he received his degree, Wolf took a position with PricewaterhouseCoopers and became a regular at another SoFresh near his job in Tampa. During the two to three years he was employed at the firm, he says, he realized something was missing.
“I knew I wanted to buy myself a job,” says Wolf, who recalls researching franchises or businesses he could buy to create a new career path for himself. “I can’t work for somebody else.”
From the time he was 16 until he was 24, Wolf says, he was a world-ranked player of the video game Madden NFL and raked in winnings that he was able to put toward purchasing his first SoFresh. He declines to disclose how much it or his most recent acquisition cost.
When Wolf first got involved in SoFresh in 2018, the company had not yet begun franchising, so he was a partner with the founder, John Williams Jr. Over the next several years, the Tampa-based company launched its franchise program and he became a franchisee. Currently, SoFresh has 19 locations in Florida with more in development as well as three stores in Pennsylvania, and the company is coming soon to Tennessee, North Carolina and Maine.
The SoFresh website says $500,000 net worth, $85,000 liquidity and a $25,000 franchise fee are required to become a franchisee.
In January, Wolf acquired a SoFresh location off State Road 70 in Lakewood Ranch that he says was "underperforming."
For Wolf — who was not only a competitive gamer but also a pro poker player and an athlete who played baseball, basketball, tennis and golf — the restaurant represented a challenge.
First, he hired new staff and set out to refresh the eatery's look. He put $50,000 toward updating the store, getting new flooring, new ceilings, updated technology and a new cooler.
“One of the key things that we've done is get these kiosks,” he says, pointing to the machines where customers place their orders if they aren’t using the app.
As a result of streamlining operations with the kiosks, Wolf says he needs about five total employees, in comparison to Westchase, where he needed 20 at the start.
“They're doing the meal prep. They're cooking. Everything here is all made to order,” Wolf says.
Finding employees has been “very difficult," he says, rating it as his top challenge.
One attraction for potential workers is they all receive a share of the tips.
“My employees get tips from the tip pool, out of the kiosks, and that goes a long way,” Wolf says. “We get a lot of tips here, and it all goes to the [employees] on their paycheck. So if they’re making $18 an hour, they’re really making $24 because of all those tips.”
The tips give SoFresh an advantage over competitors in attracting employees, Wolf says.
Wolf says he travels among the four locations he owns and usually has SoFresh for lunch.
“There's not a soul on this earth that eats SoFresh more than I eat it,” Wolf says. “I think that gives me another huge advantage: When I get criticism from customers…I know what they're talking about more than anybody.”
Being so involved helps him gauge whether feedback is “just somebody’s opinion or something I need to check on,” Wolf says.
“Customer service is what I am most focused on right now, as I'm building this up and managing multiple locations,” Wolf says. “I want it to be friendly and nice in all my places.”
So far, his leadership is paying off.
The Lakewood Ranch location is “already performing" well, Wolf says in late April, months after he acquired it. “It's already doing better. Specifically, catering, I've already ticked up big-time at this location.”
While he declines to disclose revenue, he says the restaurant is now profitable.
Next, Wolf has a fifth SoFresh location coming in 2026 in Wesley Chapel in a Publix-anchored shopping center that is still being built.
SoFresh helps with determining where to place restaurants, Wolf says, adding that demographics and neighboring businesses are factors. While some stores are near a Publix, others like the one in Lakewood Ranch, are by a gym.
“You know people are going to see you on a daily, weekly basis,” Wolf says, because of the businesses nearby. “There are enough people that will try you out.”
Going forward, Wolf says he sees himself owning more SoFresh restaurants, growing his team and perhaps promoting someone to regional manager.
“I’m pretty confident that I’ll do more, and keep building it up,” Wolf says. “I like the challenge. … If it’s not SoFresh, I’m definitely not going to stop. When it comes to entrepreneurship, I'll keep going with something.”
