Iranian entrepreneur Ali Saifi reveals how he turned a fledgling food business into a $200 million annual state business
By Guest Contributor L. C. Leach III
In 1973, 18-year-old Ali Saifi emigrated from his home in Shiraz, Iran, to Boston and then later to the Washington, D.C., area. America was immersed in a fuel crisis and Watergate hearings. Few in the U.S. had heard of an eight-year-old company out of Bridgeport, Conn., called Subway.
Saifi began attending college, and held a variety of jobs before deciding in 1980 to buy a Subway franchise. He didn’t realize it then, but Saifi had opened a door that soon led him to the Upstate, and eventually the distinction as “The man who brought Subway to South Carolina.”
What made you come to South Carolina?
I decided to become a Subway franchise developer. So I took South Carolina as a territory and moved here in 1981.
Was it like starting over?
Yes, because 33 years ago, there were no Subways in South Carolina, and only 154 in the entire world. My wife and I opened the state’s first subway in Clemson [on College Avenue], and used it as a model to sell other franchises.
How has it grown here since then?
We now have developed 402 Subways – more than any other fast-food restaurant in S.C. – with 4,000 employees and annual sales of about $200 million.
What were your biggest challenges in opening that first Subway in Clemson?
Well, I came here right after the Iranian Hostage Crisis – a 26-year-old Iranian trying to get people to take me seriously about something they’d never heard of. Banks wouldn’t lend me money. I had trouble trying to convince a landlord to lease me space for that first Subway.
After getting past that obstacle, I had to get a food line set up. I met with a gentleman from Pearce, Young and Angel (PYA Monarch), a U.S. Foods distributor, and said, “If you help me get to where I can afford to make it in this business, I will stick with you.”
Did you come from a food background before Subway?
Yes, but not in the way you mean. I worked in a restaurant in North Carolina with my in-laws and they lost a lot of money in it. And I told myself “I’ll never get in the restaurant business again.”
What changed your mind?
It was the Subway setup. There were no burgers, deep fryers or temperamental chefs. It was just a place with bread and ingredients to make sandwiches.
But Subway now has a non-sandwich item called a Flatizza that you invented. What is a Flatizza, and how the idea came about?
A Flatizza is six inches by six inches in size, made fresh to order with the same ingredients we use in our sandwiches. The 
way it came about was that several years ago, I was conducting studies to analyze consumer habits, preferences, what they liked about Subway, and where we needed to improve. The results showed interest in a healthy, non-sandwich product. We used to sell a small, round pizza that didn’t fit in with our business model. I figured if I could replace the pizza with an item made from scratch, like our sandwiches, it might be great. So I took the flat bread that we already used, and kept trying to prepare it different ways.
Was this effort an example of what Edison called “99 percent perspiration”?
Oh, yes. It took four years of experimenting and testing in our Greenville kitchens until we rolled out the first one on Augusta Road in 2011-12.
Were you ever tempted in those four years to stop and say, “Forget it”?
Absolutely. But it was a passion, something I really wanted to do. So I persisted until I found a way that worked.
Has the effort paid off?
Well, let me answer this way. Most new products have a honeymoon period, but this one didn’t. It began as a steady seller, and continued to steadily build. Right now, Flatizzas make up about 5 percent of our sales.
Did you intend the Flatizza just for S.C.?
Originally, yes. But about a year after we introduced it, we started getting calls from other franchise owners asking us about it because they had customers requesting it. A couple of other markets tested the Flatizza and it did well – and then it went across all of the U.S. and Canada. I think it’s eventually going to go international.
How did the Flatizza get its name?
At first, we called it Flat Bread Pizza. But we did a round of studies with consumers who had tried it and they kept asking why we called it pizza. So we asked them to help name it. At one point I had about 80 names that I narrowed down until finally settling on Flatizza.
Is the Flatizza your biggest business success so far?
No. My biggest success is making this state into one of the most successful submarine sandwich markets in the country. And it took me 10-15 years – until 1995 – before I began to see any success.
What’s the biggest game-changer in the last 25 years in your line of business?
I would say it’s how you reach customers. How they make decisions on where they’re going to eat has a lot to do with the new age of computers and mobile apps and if they can order by their cellphone and get it custom-ordered by their phone. [Consumers are] less patient, more in a hurry, they want a product faster, and they’re not willing to travel as far to get it.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far in business?
Trying to figure out how to succeed. You have to have a goal and continue striving at it. You have to have the passion and personality to stay with your business. You have to keep repeating the process, and sometimes you have to throw it out and re-do it.
