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What if the business that changes your life is one you never set out to build?

Gal Danay never planned to sell macaroons. A two-week holiday pop-up in Bryant Park turned into $250,000 in nine weeks, and he and his partners looked at each other and said, Woops, we have a business. In this episode, J. Michael Fischer Jr. talks with the co-founder of Woops! about turning an accident into a national franchise.

They get into why a CPA background saved the company when COVID knocked revenue to zero overnight, why he built a franchise he wishes he’d had as a young franchisee, and how the model keeps changing as shoppers leave the mall for a trailer that comes to them.

If you are building something that has to survive what you cannot predict, this is the operator’s view most founders get too late. Listen now.

Timestamped Highlights

[00:00] – The simple idea that turned into something nobody saw coming

[03:45] – The accounting instinct that carried the company through COVID

[06:57] – The side hustle that pulled in a quarter million in nine weeks

[09:17] – The moment mall leasing agents started calling them

[09:44] – Where the name Woops actually came from

[10:19] – Why he bet the whole company on franchising

[11:34] – Inside the 10,000-square-foot bakery he ran before he was ready

[12:35] – The sourcing move that quietly helped them survive

[15:18] – The uncomfortable truth about the mall business today

[15:33] – The new model that brings the shop to the customer

[18:25] – The four months revenue sat at zero

[19:21] – How a cold call turned into a seven-figure customer

[21:12] – The one document every partnership needs from day one

[24:03] – The small yes that changed the course of his life

Mentioned Resources

• Aroma Espresso Bar
• Holiday Shops at Bryant Park (Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park)
• Westfield Garden State Plaza
• The Mall at Short Hills

About the Guest

Gal Danay is a co-founder of Woops!, the macaroon and gifting brand that grew from a 2012 holiday pop-up at Bryant Park into a national franchise with roughly 50 locations. A certified public accountant and Pace University graduate, he started his career as a managing partner and franchisee of Aroma Espresso Bar in Manhattan, then helped build Woops! from its first mall kiosk onward. He has led the company’s bakery and franchise operations and held senior financial and executive leadership roles, and is widely regarded as a franchising expert. Order Woops! macaroons and gifting at bywoops.com, through the Woops! app, or on Instagram at @bywoops.

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Important Links

• Feel Fully Alive: The 5 Dimensions of Vitality gives you the framework to thrive. Get your copy here.
• Stay Ahead in Business: Michael shares strategies to boost your financial decisions. Read his latest blog.
• Grow Your Wealth: Book a call with DBD Investment Bank.

Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.